The fixture calendar has been unkind to us this season pitting us against the Churchdown Panthers twice in succession. Last week, in atrocious conditions, we battled to a 4-2 defeat. This week in better conditions we were on the wrong side of a 4-0 defeat. A match that we struggled to get any break in the final third of the pitch.
With the team resplendent in their new kits adorned with the Lexus Cheltenham logo we took to a windy pitch. Will Fenley in goal, the back four of (right to left) Sam Hansson-Willey, Jordan Pemberton (captaining the side), George Garrad in a MoTM performance and Will Davis. Switching to five across midfield we had Jacob Burgess as anchor, Max Pemberton and Freddie Palmer either side of him. Our flying wingers were Louis Casey and Luca Bosano. Up front Dan Hodgin ploughed a lone furrow and didn't really even get any scraps to feed on. On the bench Callum Dagnall and Dan Griffiths.
For the first half we were playing down hill and with the wind at our backs. Despite this advantage we were unable to break through the strong Churchdown midfield and defence. When we did get within sight of goal we were closed down too quickly to get shots away. This was probably a Cougars first as for the whole match i do not recall a single shot.
It became apparent that this game was going to be all about defence. A task that the Cougars stuck to very well for half an hour when deadlock was finally broken and Churchdown went 1-0 up. There was then a lucky escape for the away side when one of the defence put through his own net only to see it ruled out for offside (the Churchdown player not him!). Will Davis showed bravery in defence putting his head in, time and again to try and win long clearances. Jordan Pemberton was having an excellent game at the back and as the game wore on pushed more into midfield to offer some additional tackling tenacity in there. He has, quite possibly had his best two performances for the Cougars in the past two matches. Alongside him George Garrad was immense. One observer of a game described him as swooping in.... so it might look like the attacking team are going to get a shot away when George Garrad swoops in from the side and takes the ball away. George was excellent today covering a huge amount of ground and being as tenacious and strong as we have come to expect. Deserved MoTM although run close by the whole defence and goal keeper today.
The midfield today linked pretty well but struggled to get the ball forward, this was as much to do with the work rate of the Churchdown midfield as much as their defence putting the ball straight back into the middle of the pitch. This was a day where the ball just did not run for the attacking players. Freddie Palmer and Jacob Burgess linked well under pressure. Jacob's work rate, once again, was superb as he tackled everyone and everything and always looked to pass to a team mate. Max Pemberton had a very strong game playing as the deeper striker, with fantastic work rate and great technical ability he was unlucky not to score with an effort that he controlled inside the penalty area but with the ball not dropping fast enough was unable to make a proper connection with the shot. Another excellent match for our newest signing.
The wingers didn't really get on the ball today in areas to do the damage, both Luca Bosano and Louis Casey showed nice touches and link play but were unable to make their skills tell. With 10 minutes of the first half remaining Callum Dagnall came onto the right side of midfield for Luca who had taken a blow to the chest. He saw out the half and then later in the second half came on up front for Dan Hodgin only for Jordan to then pull up injured. Dan H came back on and Callum was pushed up front. Sam Hansson-Willey playing despite not being 100% fit lasted the first half when fatigue over took him. He had a good first half playing an unfamiliar position against tough opponents. For the second half he was replaced by Dan Griffiths. Dan was called into action in spectacular fashion clearing off the line with the ball rolling into goal.
With three goals (one from a well struck free kick) in the second half securing a 4-0 win, and the points, for Churchdown, this was a game that on the face of it is better forgotten. There were some positives though as there always should be, we did defend well for large parts of the first half and but for this and good handling and distribution from Will Fenley this could have been many more. Despite conceding 4 goals there was little Will Fenley could do and his safe handling and calmness in distribution were very good.
Churchdown are the strongest team we have faced. They will beat teams by a lot more than four goals and we should take heart from the way we defended and did not let our heads drop. Of course there are things we need to do better, attack the ball from corners and set-pieces, move onto the ball and anticipate better. We also need a little more belief in possession. As the game finished the lads looked exhausted, defending for that long is not easy mentally or physically.
A tough day at the office.
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