A quickly arranged friendly fixture saw us line up against FGR u16's
at Priors Farm. The match was going to be hard but with only 11
players and with the weather improving it would be harder.
We lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation. The back four of Adam, Lewis,
Freddie and Tom. The holding pair were Ben and Ryan. The attacking
trio of Luca, Jacob and Alf behind Jorge, the lone striker.
From the kick off our nerves were apparent and FGR were quickly in
possession. They moved the ball quickly and with purpose. A couple of
early shots went wide but they soon hit the target for the wide right
position to go 1-0 up. There then followed a period of maybe 15
minutes where FGR seemingly just retained possession. That they never
scored during this period was testament to the work ethic of the team.
There was some excellent defending from midfield right through the
team. Ben was catching the eye with some excellent interceptions,
Freddie and Lewis robust at the back. I the full back positions Adam
and Tom were holding their own under significant pressure.
Where we were struggling was with retaining the ball. When we had it
we did get some passes together but surrendered possession to easy.
Make no mistake this FGR side are a quality team and we will not face
a team as good as them again this season.
FGR were unable to capitalise on scoring early and with LRFC defending
stoutly were restricted to long shots that Will was equal to. It was
not all straight forward though and Will had to make a couple of
excellent saves to keep us within touching of the score line.
Half time and 1-0 down. The lads were shattered but upbeat. The game
plan for the second half was outlined, to keep defending, to
communicate more and keep working. We started the second half in much
calmer and comprised. The nerves gone and the team trusting each other
and the shape. When we fell into our shape FGR had possession but
could not get around us. Up front we struggled with Jorge the target
man, and showing some nice skills to keep possession only to be
snuffed out as the FGR players swarmed him to get the ball back.
Luca was the other outlet with his pace a threat throughout the match.
Hanging out wide on the left he had the beating of his full back and
was able to open his legs on a couple of occasions. Notably when he
outpaced the full back and centre back, his shot was saved and fell
kindly to Jorge who had not given up and was on hand to finish
emphatically. Just deserts for Jorge who saw an earlier shot rebound
off the cross bar and for Luca who I'm the first half had a curling
shot acrobatically saved by the keeper.
Following some sympathetic refereeing we scored our second of the
game. Freddie finishing from close range from our corner.
As the game wore on and both sets of players were tiring our lacks of
subs told and we conceded a couple of further goals. The game
finishing 5-2 to FGR.
While we were outplayed for large parts of this match the lads showed
real determination to keep playing and make it hard for FGR. Defending
strongly and trying to be expansive in possession was difficult but we
had moments. Jacob saw an excellent shot following good work by Ben
saved by the keeper at close range. There were other chances too.
FGR are a classy outfit but we did give them some moments to worry
about and when we played to our strengths did not look to far out of
place. What we needed was some options and with no subs that's pretty
much impossible.
Looking ahead to the season start we need to take the work ethic from
this match into our games and also the quality that we showed in
flashes. More belief and some improved fitness throughout will make us
a force.
Thanks to FGR for the match and good luck to them for the season ahead.
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