Bah!

OK, maybe something slightly more verbose...

This match went wrong from the beginning.

The first set-back is outlined in the Lemon-of-the-Match award. We did manage to start the game with 11 men on the field, but those 11 didn’t include a ‘keeper as Lino was still only half kitted up. Fortunately we won the toss, meaning we had push back. This gave us a chance to set the tone, as if we could play keep-ball for a couple of minutes then we would ride out a tricky opening. It was set, as after 3 seconds and 2 passes, the ball was in Bourne Deeping’s possession. The next 90 seconds were panic stations as we scrambled to defend, gave away fouls and saw the ball stuck in our half. We were fortunate not to give away a shot or a short in this period, and it was a great relief to see Lino enter the fray.

Being back to a more usual line-up would see us change the pattern, right? Wrong. Despite the pre-match talk about how we needed to release passes early to work around Bourne Deepings strong tacklers, the ball was repeatedly run into contact and we were playing hugely narrowly. It was, frankly, a mess. To make matters worse, Bourne Deeping were having no such problems, moving the ball off tackle situations to players standing deeper in space, who distributed the ball about, launching attacks.

The other pre-match warning that went unheeded was about Bourne Deeping’s effective short corner routine. Clear-headed thought in our own circle was called for, but the general panic was in effect there as well, and an early set-piece was given away when an attempted pass out through a crowd smacked into the feet of one of our own players. The initial routine actually went wrong, and the ball was briefly on one of our sticks, but again the clearance was too ambitious and got intercepted, with the ball switched back to the top of the circle and struck smoothly into the corner.

The rest of the half progressed in a similar manner, our attacks breaking down due to bad decision making, Bourne Deeping looking more coherent and forcing shorts. They nearly made it two when the ball was on a forwards stick two yards out with an open goal, only for Jan’s desperate slide to deflect clear. It was a temporary reprieve as another short was switched left, and the shot was goal bound until it struck Neil’s thigh. Penalty-flick, which Bourne Deeping’s captain efficiently converted. Time for the half had expired during the preceding short, so we turned around extra deflated.

The second half was better (it couldn’t have been much worse!), as at least we took the game to our visitors more and forced some shorts. However, in keeping with everything else going on, our short routine was malfunctioning rather horribly; I’m not sure we got a single shot off. We did have one big chance, fairly early on in the second period when an attack down the left saw the ’keeper drawn and the ball pulled across the face of goal to Rupert. Unfortunately, he lost his footing on the slippery Catz astro at the crucial moment, and, although he got his shot at the unguarded net on target, it lacked pace and was comfortably cleared. Which summed the match up, rather. I don’t remember another clear cut chance being created after this...

The last ten minute saw Bourne Deeping giving us a masterclass in retaining possession, moving off the ball to allow them to play in triangles and being willing to pass square and backwards as well as forwards. They were in control, as they had been for the majority of the game. There was absolutely nothing undeserved in the final scoreline, the better team on the day had won.

A number of records that we had been proud off disappeared with defeat; our unbeaten home record, having scored in every game and most obviously the leadership of the Division. We have slipped to third as both Boston and Louth won their matches. We must put this game behind us rapidly and get back to winning ways next week when we visit a Wisbech 4ths team who are in good form, having won their last four matches. It won’t be easy...