Men's 2nd Team Vs Edgbaston 7

Edgbaston 7s 2 v 1 CoBHC 2s

Goalscorer: Robin Stanley

Last time when CoBHC played the reverse fixture they lost 5-0. Although it was nil nil at half time the CoBHC team had to defend for most of the first half. Undaunted the visitors’ Captain was confident his players progression in skill and the increased fitness levels since the early parts of the season should result in a more even game.

Early on the visiting midfield looked “fuzzy” struggling to control the ball and make accurate passes. Soon the home team took an early lead when a loose ball fell to an uncontested striker who swept his shot on the reverse into the net, the defence flat footed. Shocked by this the whole team took a further ten minutes to get their full playing heads on. The team did eventually begin closing down the home team, forcing player errors. They began passing quick short balls through the middle of the pitch. Midfielders Ben, Troy and Parameth started to stretch their legs with good runs into dangerous areas. Breakaways started appearing from all over the pitch, getting the attackers involved for long periods. The home team soon conceded lots of short corners, and Stan had two close chances with his shots, eventually on the third short corner he turned past a defender and struck a powerful shot on target giving the keeper no chance.  1-1 after 25 minutes and the visitors believed they could get another before half time. The team pushed high, pressing the home team deep. Noah got a few runs into the “D” scaring the backline into fouls. Munib got a great shot away but the keeper padded it away. All the visitors shots had unlucky rebounds, the balls spinning away just missing Anthony or Matt for secondary tap in shots. The home team started to battle back and from a few long balls found players in attacking positions. Jahed used his pace to close them down stopping any crosses. Jahed also on a few occasions made runs from deep to midfield to lay passes to the on running Stan, all fractional too fast for Stan ( who was through on keeper). Ian and Edan again thwarted a few more attempts at goal to keep it all even at half time.

The team discussion was how un-switched on we were in the first fifteen minutes of play... as Stan said “it went from ridiculously bad, to bad bad then eventually poor”. A quick reshape to a 3-5-2 formation to strengthen midfield then we restarted the second half.

Again the same uncontested striker found a loose ball in the “D” and struck a free shot at goal and scored after five minutes. 2-1 down early on in the second half could have got players to drop their heads, but credit to the team their dedication to look to turn the game around was impressive. For long periods the visitors dominated possession with a  high press. Troy spotted gaps appearing which the home team could take advantage of, so took a sweeper roll and indeed stopped/intercepted clearance balls by the home team. The second half was again an even affair ( apart from the starting moments in each half!). The visitors again won lots of short corners and the defenders feared Stan’s shots and kept their distance. On numerous attempts Stan managed to turn both No 1 and No 2 runners to get his shots away but the keeper saved them. On the third attempt the visitors all shouted for a flick as again Stan turned the two defenders and as he was winding up for his shot, No 2 defender took Stan’s foot away, in our team’s mind a flick every time. Alas another Short corner awarded,  in the umpires decision, not a goal attempt!. Again Stan turned the two on running defenders but his effort went wide. Another attack had Stan pass the ball to Sean, he turned his defender brilliantly and as he tried to pass to an unmarked Anthony his stick got a clattering. Edgbaston was a strong physical tackling team and powered through players to win tackles. Will our team need to adopt these type of tactics to move forward in this division? I’m not sure. Relying on skill and our good passing philosophy produces good performances but the results are not always guaranteed. The team again came off the pitch at the end absolutely exhausted, every player shattered and after the warm down all crashed in a circle upset not to have won the game. The debrief for the Captain focused on the positives. How close this game was, how completely different and improved the team are since early on in the season when we last played Edgbaston (losing 5-0). Vice Captain Stan managed some constructive criticism to help develop the team further, focusing on the players putting crosses in. For the team to come away disappointed with the loss, feeling they could have won it, just shows our progression. Next week we play at 1 o clock at home to Worcester, the team with two “caggy handed” players we need tactics to defend against!