Post by stevewood on Oct 14, 2013 21:04:30 GMT
Saturday 12/10/2013:
Rovers 4 – 0 Milton Reserves
Starting XI
1. Tony
2. Woody
3. Youssef
4. Ade
5. Anto
6. White
7. Ian
8. Damo (c)
9. Manu
10. Mo
16. Nathan
Subs
11. Idris
12. Ben
14. Garry
15. Gavin
18. Chris
Rovers’ excellent start to the season after winning the opening three games and the confidence this brought to the squad was a distant memory going into this game, having lost the next three consecutive games – including a disappointing 5-4 defeat to South Manchester last weekend. Thanks to the random nature of the league fixtures, Rovers welcomed Milton for the return league game having beaten them 2-0 away in the second game of the season and provided us with a clear opportunity to get back to winning ways with a full squad of players all fighting for places.
First Half
Rovers began the half attacking with the wind behind on a blustery but otherwise perfect day for football, and this helped us to build and maintain pressure throughout the first half. As practiced time and time again in training, we boxed their defenders tight in the corners and pressed high up the pitch to use the conditions to our advantage. After a few half chances which should have been taken with more composure the opening goal eventually came our way via the prolific fox in the box… oh no wait, it was Whitey. A free-kick on the left was whipped in by Nathan and Andy White, so high up the pitch his nose could have bled, sneaked in between defence and goalkeeper to knock the ball into the open net with a thunderous 1 yard ‘knee-in’. Apparently the Reserve team playing on the adjoining pitch thought he had suffered a painful injury such was the ferocity of his celebration! But in all fairness, his goal was the perfect start and well deserved for him. Having led 1-0 in two of our three defeats, we knew it was vitally important we pushed on and looked for the second goal.
Although we dominated the entire half, aided by the wind behind us, clear cut chances were not coming our way and we were often left frustrated by the killer ball and decision-making in the final third. The closest we came was through a Yaya Toure-esque run out of defence by Ade, who clearly wasn’t happy with Whitey now being the top-scoring defender in the team, and storm past three players before his cross-cum-shot chip bounced back off the far post. The whole team performance was much better than in recent weeks and the intensity matched the outstanding final 15 minutes of last weekend, with Ian epitomising this by a fifty yard run in which he tracked his man, made a strong interception and continued into attack. When the half-time whistle blew we walked off feeling a little annoyed that we had not made the most of the benefit of the wind.
Half Time: Rovers 1 – 0 Milton Reserves
We walked out for the second half after a harsh but fair style of team talk from Stu, who was clearly pleased we were ahead but knew we were capable of more. The simple instruction for the second half was to score the next goal and see the game off. Thankfully, despite the wind now being against us, the intensity didn’t drop and we kept on the front foot. The wind ultimately worked against Milton, as their one-dimensional attack of the long ball bounced through to Tony or out for a goal kick nearly every time. The second goal deservedly came Rovers’ way soon after the break, when clever play by Youssef on the left got the ball through to Mo who turned and, 25 yards from goal, had a pop which flew inside the near post to put his name into the hat as another early contender for goal of the season. Rovers were now dominating all areas of play and Milton were struggling to string two passes together and their problems worsened soon after conceding when one of their young lads picked up an injury after being turned by Nathan and couldn’t play on. Without a sub to use, they had to continue with only 10 men with over 30 minutes to play.
Rovers couldn’t afford to be merciful or sympathetic and we then sensed a great opportunity to capitalise and improve our goal difference which, after the heavy defeats to Parrswood and Eagle, was in the red. Mo was then substituted for Idris, who impressed with his stunning goal last weekend, and we moved to a more attacking 4-4-2 formation simultaneous with Milton’s desperate switch to a 3-4-2. This opened up acres of space in their defence and Rovers immediately punished them with the third goal courtesy of Idris. The ball was won in the middle of the park and Manu was set free on the right who cut the ball across the area to Idris, who controlled the ball under pressure and finished with ease with almost his first couple of touches of the match. Barely minutes then passed before Rovers found the net again, courtesy of that man Idris once more – who is already beginning to look like a brilliant addition to the team. Again, a quick attack on the right hand side exploited the space and Woody sent the ball down the line for Manu to run onto out wide. He cut past the chasing defender with ease and pulled the ball back which found its way to Idris unmarked just inside the box, and he finished into the top right corner to leave the keeper with no chance.
Stu had the luxury of a full squad to choose from and, with Gavin and Chris waiting on the bench to make their season debuts for the club, as well as regulars Garry and Ben, plenty of changes were made for the final 25 minutes. However, the team continued in the same attacking manner for the remainder of the half and the intense high-pressing never dropped for a moment which is a credit to all of the subs who came on as well as those in the starting XI who kept the team’s shape and discipline - bar a few excitable forward runs by Anto! Unfortunately Rovers just couldn’t find a fifth goal despite a great effort, particularly by Idris who was looking for his hat-trick.
Full Time: Rovers 4 – 0 Milton Reserves
There were no complaints by anyone, including Stu(!), when the final whistle went as we had produced one of our best displays, certainly of this season, as well as our first league home-away double over another team for two seasons. As well as this we had recouped our -4 goal difference back to zero and moved up to fourth in the league. Particularly pleasing was the clean-sheet, especially for Tony who showed great character and motivation after a tough game last week to bounce back and look solid between the sticks. In defence, the whole back four impressed but notably Ade who showed exactly why he had been missed in the last few matches. However, despite a fantastic team performance the clear man of the match was Ian who controlled the game from centre midfield and never stopped running for the full 90 minutes. With confidence restored going into next week’s game against an in-form Staly Lions, we’ll be looking to make it another league double and record back-to-back wins to re-establish ourselves at the top end of the league.
League Table
full-time.thefa.com/ProcessPublicSelect.do;jsessionid=2DC23BF3E5FA206E7E2CBB11B94A7023?psSelectedSeason=462663928&psSelectedDivision=6812786&psSelectedCompetition=0&psSelectedLeague=3194634
Season Goals
Manu - 5
Bills - 4
Idris - 3
Andrea - 2
Pricey, Mo, Whitey, Youssef - 1
NB Please correct any errors, inaccuracies or omissions
Rovers 4 – 0 Milton Reserves
Starting XI
1. Tony
2. Woody
3. Youssef
4. Ade
5. Anto
6. White
7. Ian
8. Damo (c)
9. Manu
10. Mo
16. Nathan
Subs
11. Idris
12. Ben
14. Garry
15. Gavin
18. Chris
Rovers’ excellent start to the season after winning the opening three games and the confidence this brought to the squad was a distant memory going into this game, having lost the next three consecutive games – including a disappointing 5-4 defeat to South Manchester last weekend. Thanks to the random nature of the league fixtures, Rovers welcomed Milton for the return league game having beaten them 2-0 away in the second game of the season and provided us with a clear opportunity to get back to winning ways with a full squad of players all fighting for places.
First Half
Rovers began the half attacking with the wind behind on a blustery but otherwise perfect day for football, and this helped us to build and maintain pressure throughout the first half. As practiced time and time again in training, we boxed their defenders tight in the corners and pressed high up the pitch to use the conditions to our advantage. After a few half chances which should have been taken with more composure the opening goal eventually came our way via the prolific fox in the box… oh no wait, it was Whitey. A free-kick on the left was whipped in by Nathan and Andy White, so high up the pitch his nose could have bled, sneaked in between defence and goalkeeper to knock the ball into the open net with a thunderous 1 yard ‘knee-in’. Apparently the Reserve team playing on the adjoining pitch thought he had suffered a painful injury such was the ferocity of his celebration! But in all fairness, his goal was the perfect start and well deserved for him. Having led 1-0 in two of our three defeats, we knew it was vitally important we pushed on and looked for the second goal.
Although we dominated the entire half, aided by the wind behind us, clear cut chances were not coming our way and we were often left frustrated by the killer ball and decision-making in the final third. The closest we came was through a Yaya Toure-esque run out of defence by Ade, who clearly wasn’t happy with Whitey now being the top-scoring defender in the team, and storm past three players before his cross-cum-shot chip bounced back off the far post. The whole team performance was much better than in recent weeks and the intensity matched the outstanding final 15 minutes of last weekend, with Ian epitomising this by a fifty yard run in which he tracked his man, made a strong interception and continued into attack. When the half-time whistle blew we walked off feeling a little annoyed that we had not made the most of the benefit of the wind.
Half Time: Rovers 1 – 0 Milton Reserves
We walked out for the second half after a harsh but fair style of team talk from Stu, who was clearly pleased we were ahead but knew we were capable of more. The simple instruction for the second half was to score the next goal and see the game off. Thankfully, despite the wind now being against us, the intensity didn’t drop and we kept on the front foot. The wind ultimately worked against Milton, as their one-dimensional attack of the long ball bounced through to Tony or out for a goal kick nearly every time. The second goal deservedly came Rovers’ way soon after the break, when clever play by Youssef on the left got the ball through to Mo who turned and, 25 yards from goal, had a pop which flew inside the near post to put his name into the hat as another early contender for goal of the season. Rovers were now dominating all areas of play and Milton were struggling to string two passes together and their problems worsened soon after conceding when one of their young lads picked up an injury after being turned by Nathan and couldn’t play on. Without a sub to use, they had to continue with only 10 men with over 30 minutes to play.
Rovers couldn’t afford to be merciful or sympathetic and we then sensed a great opportunity to capitalise and improve our goal difference which, after the heavy defeats to Parrswood and Eagle, was in the red. Mo was then substituted for Idris, who impressed with his stunning goal last weekend, and we moved to a more attacking 4-4-2 formation simultaneous with Milton’s desperate switch to a 3-4-2. This opened up acres of space in their defence and Rovers immediately punished them with the third goal courtesy of Idris. The ball was won in the middle of the park and Manu was set free on the right who cut the ball across the area to Idris, who controlled the ball under pressure and finished with ease with almost his first couple of touches of the match. Barely minutes then passed before Rovers found the net again, courtesy of that man Idris once more – who is already beginning to look like a brilliant addition to the team. Again, a quick attack on the right hand side exploited the space and Woody sent the ball down the line for Manu to run onto out wide. He cut past the chasing defender with ease and pulled the ball back which found its way to Idris unmarked just inside the box, and he finished into the top right corner to leave the keeper with no chance.
Stu had the luxury of a full squad to choose from and, with Gavin and Chris waiting on the bench to make their season debuts for the club, as well as regulars Garry and Ben, plenty of changes were made for the final 25 minutes. However, the team continued in the same attacking manner for the remainder of the half and the intense high-pressing never dropped for a moment which is a credit to all of the subs who came on as well as those in the starting XI who kept the team’s shape and discipline - bar a few excitable forward runs by Anto! Unfortunately Rovers just couldn’t find a fifth goal despite a great effort, particularly by Idris who was looking for his hat-trick.
Full Time: Rovers 4 – 0 Milton Reserves
There were no complaints by anyone, including Stu(!), when the final whistle went as we had produced one of our best displays, certainly of this season, as well as our first league home-away double over another team for two seasons. As well as this we had recouped our -4 goal difference back to zero and moved up to fourth in the league. Particularly pleasing was the clean-sheet, especially for Tony who showed great character and motivation after a tough game last week to bounce back and look solid between the sticks. In defence, the whole back four impressed but notably Ade who showed exactly why he had been missed in the last few matches. However, despite a fantastic team performance the clear man of the match was Ian who controlled the game from centre midfield and never stopped running for the full 90 minutes. With confidence restored going into next week’s game against an in-form Staly Lions, we’ll be looking to make it another league double and record back-to-back wins to re-establish ourselves at the top end of the league.
League Table
full-time.thefa.com/ProcessPublicSelect.do;jsessionid=2DC23BF3E5FA206E7E2CBB11B94A7023?psSelectedSeason=462663928&psSelectedDivision=6812786&psSelectedCompetition=0&psSelectedLeague=3194634
Season Goals
Manu - 5
Bills - 4
Idris - 3
Andrea - 2
Pricey, Mo, Whitey, Youssef - 1
NB Please correct any errors, inaccuracies or omissions