Our initial intention to take the game to the opposition worked well for the opening five minutes but we did not press any advantage because we are not providing support for the man with ball. We need to move up the pitch together and provide passing opportunities and use the width of the pitch. Likewise when we lose the ball we are not getting back quickly enough and so, after pressing the opposition at first, we reverted to bunching in the middle of the pitch. This creates open space which the opposition picked up on and played a wider game than we did. We conceded a weak goal after 5 minutes and allowed Stratton to control the game after the first ten. Goals in the 11th and 23rd minutes resulted from us being flat-footed and not getting back when losing the ball. That said, there were plenty of examples of individual skill and endeavour which went unrewarded.

Playing more defensively in the second half, we marked better, fought hard, worked for each other and kept a clean sheet. It was scrappy, ugly, but effective.

Going back to the issue of individual skill, there is no lack of talent in the team, we simply need to keep working on our greater understanding of the gameplan. We need to listen to Pat and Paul, understand our role in attack and defence and move to create space and opportunity. We need to act rather than react and this will help us to better implement the plan and control the game. A little bit more time and thought on the ball.

The work rate of the squad is tremendous and in the second half this paid off. We blocked well, were quick to go after the ball and scrapped hard. As I have mentioned before, the size of the squad demands a real effort from everyone and this, as before, was not missing. Well done. The skill we have in the squad combined with a developing understanding of how to implement the game plan as a team will bring the wins!

Philip Saugman