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South 3rds have a standard operating procedure this season against the top four sides in Division 5NW. Give them a good, hard game and finish it narrowly the losing side. This is becoming hugely frustrating. A perfect example of the kind came against an Alford side that sat second in the table at the start of play.

The opening fifteen minutes saw us pushed back as the pace that Alford played the game at came as a shock. Elementary mistakes like not leading towards passes, dwelling in possession or dribbling much too close to would-be tacklers saw the ball turned over repeatedly and our reshaped backline scrambling around to see off invaders. Despite the backs-to-the-wall nature, we managed to keep the visitors from creating too many clear chances in this period, with just a flicked short corner and a snap shot from high in the circle requiring Lino’s intervention.

Once we had got a foothold into the game the better chances of the half actually came our way. Paul had a good opportunity from close range but couldn’t quite get it on target. James was seemingly clean through, only to stumble at the crucial time. Probes down the right, with Rasmus and James prominent, sent the ball fizzing dangerously across the Alford circle on two or three occasions. We were defintely giving their defence problems and were also struggling less ourselves, as Alford, probably frustrated that their strong start had gone unrewarded, started trying longer passes that we were picking off with increasing comfort.

Half time saw a comedy improv routine from the skipper (see Lemon), the results of which were evident in the opening period of the second half. Paul’s ‘right-back’ cameo was pretty spectacular, as he cast around for someone to mark, found an opponent (not the right one!) and ended up in a verbal confrontation with that player. All inside a minute.

Our structure was all over the show in this segment, until the skipper admitted he had got it totally wrong and put Paul back somewhere he was more comfortable. That defused the tension between the teams and sets us playing again, once more looking the more likely to open the scoring. Our best chance came when a loose ball dropped to Framps, with an unguarded corner of the net at close hand. It had to be taken sharply as defensive sticks lunged in and was, but unfortunately not quite accurately enough, the ball striking the outside of the post. Aargh!

We paid for that with less than ten minutes left. A seemingly harmless ball into the circle was kicked clear by Lino. This rocketed at a defender, who would have had to show the nimbleness of a mountain goat to avoid being hit on the feet [this is how everyone else saw this, right?]. That gave Alford a soft short corner, their first of the half. Of course they scored, Lino getting a pad to the high drag flick but unable to keep it out of his top corner. That all-too-familiar sinking feeling…

Alford added a second as the two minute signal went up, static defending allowing the forwards to twice collect from saves, the final finish being an accurate shot from a narrow angle into the far corner. We could have had one back with the final play of the game as a scramble in the Alford goalmouth hit a defensive foot and broke for Chris, who swept it into the open net, but the ‘goal’ was chalked off as the whistle had already gone for the short. 1-2 would have been a fairer reflection on the match than 0-2, but was not to be.

We will get one of the leading sides somewhere along the line. Better finishing of our chances and better luck is all that is missing.