Sports 2009/10

Sports Struggle But See Off Winless Wilburton

Two goal Juda stands out in battle against persistent opposition, an unmarked pitch and mile high mole hills.

Sports have an unexplained propensity to keep Wilburton in games whenever we play them. Back in September, we blew a 2-0 lead at home before scraping a winner in the last few minutes. On Sunday we went ahead twice only to let them back in twice. Why is a question for the manager and all the players to address. They are the worst team in the league with a -41 goal difference in only ten games, but Sports can only lay claim to 2 of that difference. Is it an inability to make chances or do we lack a cutting edge? Is it possibly a lack of work rate in the midfield or an inability to do the basic defensive things right? Or are we just a decent bunch of lads who felt sorry for a poor team? I’m akin to go for the last option but the entire team knows we’ve unnecessarily made both fixtures mountains out of mole hills.

No issues for the Sports on meeting, departure or arrival except that as we pulled up, members of the opposition were still trying to mark the pitch with some paint straight from the tin. This continued up until kick-off, along with helpful suggestions offered for alternative sources of white fluid, when the referee decided enough was enough. We’d just have to make do with the wavy exterior pitch markings, penalty box corners and a half way splash.

The team lined up with Rock in goal; Denz, Black, Burling and Dan across the back. In front of them were Lucas on the left, Oliver on the right, and a centre pairing of Kev and Gannon. Leading the line were John and Juda. Subs were Brent, Lee and Buddie Henderson.

Given the performance of this team, we cannot avoid the fact that if we wish to do anything in the cup or the league we’ll have to improve at both ends of the pitch. Our opener and winner were both nice bits of football with good passing, movement and interaction of midfielders and forwards; Mikey and Judah finishing well across the goalkeeper on each occasion. However, this opposition were there for the taking on a nice wide pitch and we failed to replicate the football for the goals enough.

At the other end, the less said about the opposition equalisers the better. Both were a combination of our chief defensive flaws this season – the ball over the top and defensive error. The second was a case of both centre backs calling “Si” for a ball over the top and leaving it to the other. We’ll have to rename one – suggestions below please.

In an otherwise mediocre game there were two key incidences, both after the teams went in 2-2 at the break. The first was Juda learning to combine his doubtless back-to-goal skills with the ability to quickly pick out a team mate and pass the ball. Sports’ attacks had broken down a number of times in the first half when Juda dawdled on the ball before habitually turning into a defender and losing the ball.

That despite team mates’ screams for the ball when better placed. In the second half, Juda continued to bring the ball down beautifully at centre forward but now he was laying the ball off to colleagues. It brought a fluidity to our attacking play that we have only occasionally displayed this season. The other advantage of quick lay-offs was the time it offered to our midfielders to continue our quicker incursions. If Juda can do this regularly, combined with John’s aerial ability, we’ll be a more dangerous team.

The second was the resurrection of our fallen leader, Si Burling. The lad seemed irreconcilable at half time. Was it the missus? Was it the kids? Was it Brent? Nope, he knew he should have done a lot better for both opposition goals and it was hurting him. A few team mates’ supportive words at the break (credit to you lads, you know who you are) and a tasty man and ball challenge a few minutes into the second period (didn’t quite get the ball or much of the man for that matter but we’ll overlook that) saw the skipper rise again from the depths of his personal mole hill. He could head, he could pass, he could tackle and he found his voice. Good to have you back! We need that now week in, week out mate.

Our second goal, midway through the first half, essentially sums up the performance. A corner pinballed around the box until Juda bundled it over the line. By no means exquisite football but goal grabbed. Sports were not great by any stretch of the imagination but at least we had enough about us as a team to grind out a result, muted applause for us all.

Dan did well in his start at right back, worked hard, defended well and combined nicely with Mo. Juda scored a pair and greatly improved his performance in the second half. Brent did well coming on at centre half and solidified the defense. However, no one particularly stood out so man of the match goes with the goals and Juda takes it.

Other points worth noting include a referee putting in a cracking performance, an unpressured fifty yard back pass for a corner from the opposition, Blackie lasting 38 minutes before injury, Brent now questioning his sexuality after getting friendly while defending a corner, and while rushing to clear Rocket managed to stack it and land on his face – fucking mole hills! At least we don’t have any more of those to face this season.

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