LRFC Cougars (11) v (1) Cleeve Wanderers
This game could have quite easily been sponsored by The North Face or
by Scottish trawler men such were conditions at the start. With
Cheltenham succumbing to a monsoon over the last 48hrs there was some
debate as to whether the game would go ahead or not. Cue Farmer Fenley
and his trusty pitch-fork. Faster than a subway sandwich in any of the
lads hands he zipped between penalty areas prodding his fork into the
turf to help the drainage. Like Moses he pushed back the water to make
the pitch playable, some games across the town may have been cancelled
but not on his watch.......
To the match....... the final score of 11-1 should make this an easy
report to write but it is only part of the story. Cleeve Wanderers sit
bottom of our division having lost all three of their opening games,
they arrived with only 10 players. It was always going to be an uphill
task for them. While we have not been in good form of late we made
sure not only of the result but also the manner of result.
Lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation the intent, hope, was that we would
start fast and strong, settle the nerves and then build from there.
Not taking anything for granted and showing our opponents the utmost
respect.
We settled almost immediately with Dan bursting through from the right
wing to finish past the keepers dive. 1-0 up, nerves settled and the
tone set. There would be 10 more goals, (Dan with 2 more for his
hat-trick, Luca and Max with a brace each, Jacob, Jorge, Louis and Tom
with 1 each).
The score was 6-0 at half time, Cleeve then opened the scoring in the
first half with a goal following a goal mouth scramble.
We should not get too carried away with this result, but the
performance is something else. We played as we have been playing in
training. The instruction to the lads to use 2 and 3 touches to keep
the ball moving quickly and to play with zip and energy. We did this
today in all positions. We were able to make changes without
disrupting the pattern of play and retain possession. Ultimately
though we need to remember that this was against 10, spirited, men.
We did however score some lovely goals, Dan's hat-trick was all about
power, pace and directness and he was largely the architect of his
goals too. Louis scored an excellent goal from wide right bending it
left footed beyond the keepers dive. Jorge scored with a nice flick
from a great cross from Louis in the left wing position. Luca's goals
both came from inside the box, smart footwork and clinical finishing.
Max scored his brace, with some sweet footwork as he danced through
the throng. Jacob, in a rare role as striker scored from close range
and would also hit the cross bar with a long range free-kick. We
should also acknowledge that the Cleeve keeper made a number of good
saves through the game.
Tom finally got onto the scoresheet after having had more shots than
the team put together. It became a bit of a personal duel between him
and the keeper and the upright. He hit the post twice, had shots saved
or cleared off the line and shots that flew just wide. When his goal
eventually came it was a sliding half volley that left the keeper with
no chance. There was great team spirit as the lads celebrated with
him.
We showed good versatility in this game too with a number of players
playing in different positions without affecting the overall pattern
of play. We also showed tactical versatility in switching, early in
the match, from a 4-2-3-1 to a 3-2-3-2 formation and at times playing
3-1-4-2 as Cleeve withdrew further to protect their lines.
Where we also performed well, but were unable to apply the finishing
touch, was with balls into the box. We sent a number of crosses across
the face of goal but were not able to get a head onto them to apply
the finish. When you consider the performance of the keeper and how
the defence faired this could have been a lot more. Credit to Cleeve
for not letting their heads drop through what was a tough afternoon.
There will almost certainly be sterner tests to come in both the
league and cup - what we should take from this performance is the
confidence to play our way and impose that on any opposition.
We asked for a reaction and the lads gave us that. As a result the
team was awarded the MotM award today as to single anyone out would
have felt wrong.
Next up in the cup are Southside in what will be the quarter-final.
The game will be played at the Burrows on 10th November with a 2pm
kick off. Before that though there is a return to league action with
Cheltenham Saracens away at the Burrows next Sunday.
Let's build on today and take that tempo and work rate into the next match.
The last word has to be "Pete's Trousers" (i know that was two and now
they're not even the final words but still.....)
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