A poor performance but a nervy smash and grab win….and I’ll take it!
A slow and cagey start from both teams where the emphasis was not to lose. It took us ten minutes to get into our stride and we had the first chance. In total we had two decent chances in the half. The first was a knock down from a corner. It bobbled around in the box and Cooper got a touch with his right foot which was heading for the corner but Ruddy got down to touch it away. The second was a bit of a mix up in their defence and Watmore got to it first, headed it over Ruddy but it bobbled wide. In amongst all of that was some decent play for Honeyman who was very direct and forceful and some decent play in the defence. Cooper and Tango looked very solid in the middle and Joe added some energy on the left. Leonard had his work cut out looking after Bacuna who was lively all afternoon but Leonard didn’t give him an inch. Sav and Billy were busy in the middle but we did look a bit powder puff upfront. There was no Emakhu on the bench for whatever reason so Oba had to battle it out on his own with limited support from Flem and less than that from Watmore. As hard as he tried Oba couldn’t get it to stick and, although he hustled hard he really didn’t make much headway upfront. They had few chances and Shark was rarely called into action and the half ended goalless.
They must have got a stern talking to to from their gaffer and Ashley Cole, who was listed as their first team coach, at the break as they came out second half all guns blazing. They took the game to us and we struggled to get much of a foothold in the game for the first fifteen minutes. They pushed it wide right, wide left through the middle and their main architect was Pritchard who got dogs abuse every time he got the ball. They had a number of chances. The best was two for Stansfield who looked very lively. He got a great ball into the box and from twelve yards his shot was parried straight back to him and his second effort screwed just wide. I seriously thought he had scored. We got back into it for few minutes but it was only temporary respite. Fresh legs were needed and Longman replaced Watmore and it made a little bit of a difference. They were not taking it lying down and they made copious subs and it really did look like a matter of time. Their mob were going nuts begging for a goal but as hard as they tried they could not blow our house down. With time running out we got a corner on the right. Sav floated it in and Tango gave their defender the gentlest of shoves to make a little room and guided his header down and left of Ruddy for the winner. The Den went absolutely nuts. Tango looked as if he had won the World Cup and was all smiles. NH brought on Hutch and BNC and went to a back five. They weren’t done yet but in their efforts to get forward they played a short pass to their full back and Leonard was on it like a flash and got fouled when he knocked his interception forward and their bloke got a yellow for his trouble. The four added minutes went to six and then the ref blew and Rockin’ All Over the World played loud and proud.
Shark looked assured and dealt with everything they threw at him. Cooper and Tango were solid and the latter took his goal well. Bryan was lively and got the clubs MOM but mine went to Leonard who was irrepressible at RB even though he had a really difficult opponent to harness. Sav and Billy ran their nuts off in the middle and Honeyman was all energy and graft. Flem had his moments but didn’t have as much impact as he could. Oba was even less so. Lots of huff and puff but no real threat. Watmore was similar. Longman had a couple of moments but flatters to deceive and Hutch and BNC hardly broke sweat in their six minute cameo.
This was not pretty or convincing but we won. Ten points out of twelve for NH and the boys. A clean sheet, sixteenth as we speak, five points between us and the bottom three and big smiles on our faces. Things are looking up. Keep believing!
A slow and cagey start from both teams where the emphasis was not to lose. It took us ten minutes to get into our stride and we had the first chance. In total we had two decent chances in the half. The first was a knock down from a corner. It bobbled around in the box and Cooper got a touch with his right foot which was heading for the corner but Ruddy got down to touch it away. The second was a bit of a mix up in their defence and Watmore got to it first, headed it over Ruddy but it bobbled wide. In amongst all of that was some decent play for Honeyman who was very direct and forceful and some decent play in the defence. Cooper and Tango looked very solid in the middle and Joe added some energy on the left. Leonard had his work cut out looking after Bacuna who was lively all afternoon but Leonard didn’t give him an inch. Sav and Billy were busy in the middle but we did look a bit powder puff upfront. There was no Emakhu on the bench for whatever reason so Oba had to battle it out on his own with limited support from Flem and less than that from Watmore. As hard as he tried Oba couldn’t get it to stick and, although he hustled hard he really didn’t make much headway upfront. They had few chances and Shark was rarely called into action and the half ended goalless.
They must have got a stern talking to to from their gaffer and Ashley Cole, who was listed as their first team coach, at the break as they came out second half all guns blazing. They took the game to us and we struggled to get much of a foothold in the game for the first fifteen minutes. They pushed it wide right, wide left through the middle and their main architect was Pritchard who got dogs abuse every time he got the ball. They had a number of chances. The best was two for Stansfield who looked very lively. He got a great ball into the box and from twelve yards his shot was parried straight back to him and his second effort screwed just wide. I seriously thought he had scored. We got back into it for few minutes but it was only temporary respite. Fresh legs were needed and Longman replaced Watmore and it made a little bit of a difference. They were not taking it lying down and they made copious subs and it really did look like a matter of time. Their mob were going nuts begging for a goal but as hard as they tried they could not blow our house down. With time running out we got a corner on the right. Sav floated it in and Tango gave their defender the gentlest of shoves to make a little room and guided his header down and left of Ruddy for the winner. The Den went absolutely nuts. Tango looked as if he had won the World Cup and was all smiles. NH brought on Hutch and BNC and went to a back five. They weren’t done yet but in their efforts to get forward they played a short pass to their full back and Leonard was on it like a flash and got fouled when he knocked his interception forward and their bloke got a yellow for his trouble. The four added minutes went to six and then the ref blew and Rockin’ All Over the World played loud and proud.
Shark looked assured and dealt with everything they threw at him. Cooper and Tango were solid and the latter took his goal well. Bryan was lively and got the clubs MOM but mine went to Leonard who was irrepressible at RB even though he had a really difficult opponent to harness. Sav and Billy ran their nuts off in the middle and Honeyman was all energy and graft. Flem had his moments but didn’t have as much impact as he could. Oba was even less so. Lots of huff and puff but no real threat. Watmore was similar. Longman had a couple of moments but flatters to deceive and Hutch and BNC hardly broke sweat in their six minute cameo.
This was not pretty or convincing but we won. Ten points out of twelve for NH and the boys. A clean sheet, sixteenth as we speak, five points between us and the bottom three and big smiles on our faces. Things are looking up. Keep believing!
another 3pts in the bag COYL 
