The M3s completed the seasonal double over Peterborough 7s with something of an up-and-down performance.

We started well, passing triangles moving the ball up the pitch with relative ease and chances being created. The opening goal felt like just a matter of time, and so it proved as a simple move from a right sideline hit allowed Jan to pick out Nev’s run, Nev spinning on the ball and then pushing home from a narrow angle.

With that, everyone relaxed…and our play got worse. Despite repeated warnings before the game that Peterborough didn’t concede many goals because they were strong in the centre of their defence, and that getting heads down and driving directly for goal in the final third would be playing into their hands…we were going directly for goal in the final third! The lack of success of the forwards and midfielders was encouraging the defenders to move high up field to ‘help out’, which left us vulnerable to the counter; it needed two key saves from George to prevent an equaliser that could have spread panic.

If our play in the final third wasn’t its greatest, what we were doing in the rest of the pitch looked neat enough with the ball being distributed around the back decently and moved efficeintly through the middle third, players moving off the ball into space and the ball being passed simply to the free men. There were also a number of good runs from Chris at centre-back that looked threatening, his close control allowing him to glide past Peterborough challenges. And Dave cracked a short corner home on the stroke of half-time, but it was rather too high.

The second goal finally arrived early in the second-half, Simon forcing the ball through two tackles at the top of the circle to find JJ on the spot, who converted with a reverse stick strike into the bottom corner. And thereafter…nothing much. We reverted to type, trying to force a third. Or most of us. There was a fifth column present, Simon positioning himself literally on the Peterborough goalline and getting his size 12 in the way of a shot that was clearly going in. D’Oh!

That kind of summed up our efforts on the day. We were capable of having run up more of a score than two-nil, only for our lack of precision in execution to prevent it. Still, it’s another win, our twelfth from sixteen games. It leaves us eight points clear at the top of Division 5NW with six matches to play.