The RED team set off for Saturday morning's away fixture against St Peter's feeling quietly confident. Last week's performance against the Tollcross Giants was really, really encouraging. They started strongly and dominated large parts of the game but just couldn't find that killer touch in front of goal. Well, they couldn't find their way past the Giants giant giant in goals.
This week the RED team were up against St Peters - an elite team selected from the cream of St Peters Primary School. Only the best of the best get a game for St Peters so REDs would need to start the game well, keep the ball and be clinical in front of goal. No matter what - the REDs had to start well and not give themselves their traditional mountain to climb in the second half.
Arty kick off photo!
Warm up - everyone looking good. Crisp passing, nice movement, everyone looks to be 'in the zone'. Shooting drill - Danny looks brilliant again, though the wind is making things a little tricky. Last minute team talk reminds everyone of their role - Danny in goals, Sasha and Ollie at the back, Jack, Kjartan and Struan in midfield with Ali the striker. Eyvindur and Abhisar starting on the bench. Right - everyone know what to do? Goalie gets the ball wide to defenders, defenders find your midfield players and don't pass across in-front of goal, midfield players get the ball wide and get the crosses into the box but get back to help your defenders, striker don't stand around hoping the ball will reach you. Ok? Great.
Danny saves the day!
The less said about the first half the better. The RED team started poorly, fell out with each other, defended poorly, midfield didn't help the defence, the midfield and strikers stood about hoping to score, the passing was terrible and no-one would listen to the coaches. The worst RED performance of the year by miles and miles and were it not for some stupendous saves from Danny they would have found themselves more than 4-0 down at half time. 4-0 St Peters.
Danny saves the day again, and again, and again...
At half time a sorry looking RED team sipped their drinks and had their first ever half time hair drier treatment from the coaching team. Thankfully the most tactically gifted coaching team in the P4 league had a tactical master plan - "score at least 4 goals". :o)
The REDs started the second half with a more traditional formation. Ali The Goalie in goals, Ollie and Jack providing a no-nonsense approach to defending coupled with superb distribution, Danny, Kjartan and Eyvindur linking well in midfield with Struan patrolling around up front. With the wind at their backs and Sasha and Abhisar ready for action were we about to witness one of those famous RED comebacks? Surely not.
Kjartan with a trademark tackle!
The first 5 minutes of the second half were quite tight. The REDs soon found their feet though and started to dominate. If nothing else their passing had improved and they really were working as a team. A couple of nice breaks from Danny down the right produced half chances in the middle for Kjartan and Struan. The St Peters goalie looked to be in top form with some fine early saves.
Then a fine period of play from the REDs produced a goal. Ollie snuffed out a St Peters attack and found Kjartan. Kjartan collected the ball and spread play out wide to Danny. Danny took off down the line and sent over a great cross. Struan controlled the ball well and fired it past the goalie. Brilliant goal. 4-1 St Peters.
Struan fires home!
A word on the defence. Ollie and Jack were simply outstanding. Their tackling was brilliant and they worked unbelievably hard to get the ball from St Peters forwards and then bring it out to their midfielders. We even had Jack overlapping down the wing then making it back to help Ollie if the move broke down. Superb performances from Ollie and Jack.
The REDS were beginning to dominate. Struan fired another chance past the post, Kjartan tried a tricky first time shot from the edge of the box following some great play on the wing from Eyvindur. Danny had a shot blocked on the edge of the box but was working unbelievably hard to get back to help the defence when required.
Some more great play involving Sahsa and Danny led to a series of RED corners. Danny and Kjartan worked one short corner (a training ground move practiced a couple of weeks ago) and this led to a great shot from Kjartan being pushed round the post by the St Peters goalie. The next corner was fired into the box by Danny and in the stramash the ball fell to Eyvindur, his shot being blocked for another corner. Danny again fired it into the box and the ball eventually popped up to Struan at the back post who volleyed in with his left foot. Woo. 4-2 St Peters.
Another cross fired into the St Peters box
Surely not another mega comeback?
Well, by now the RED coaching team were beginning to dream. The home support were getting very concerned and the pressure from the RED team continued to build. Abhisar, making his debut, was given a special role to pressure the ball all over the pitch. Not an easy task on a big pitch on a windy day but Abhisar was excellent. The St Peters team just couldn't get any possession. Anytime the ball broke to them Abhisar was there trying to get it back, if he failed Jack and Ollie would get the ball, or Sasha would steal it and take off down the wing. Danny and Kjartan were both working unbelievably hard chasing back to help out and were often tidying up following some great tackles from the defenders.
Another storming RED attack starts!
What about Ali the Goalie? Well, as brilliant as the defence was St Peters had three great shots in the second half each of which were saved by Ali. The second save was unbeleivable, a shot deflected off Jack high into the air but Ali threw himself to his left and punched the ball away. A magnificent save that kept the dream comeback on course.
Another flowing move from the RED team. Jack stole the ball and played it wide to Sasha. Sasha played an excellent ball to Kjartan who played the ball through for Struan. Struan stepped inside the defender and smashed a right foot shot into the corner of the net. Great finish. 4-3 St Peters.
Surely not another mega comeback?
The away support were going absolutely bonkers. Abhisar's on field duties were over now and he was screaming exhausted encouragement from the bench. Still the RED team piled forward, but time was running out fast. Eyvindur set off on a great run down the left which finished with a shot just past the post. Kjartan, Struan and Danny were screaming for the middle but the shot was always the only option for a run of that length! Icelandic for “pass it” anyone?
With time running out Kjartan and Danny linked well again. Danny tricked his way past a couple of defenders and fired in a cracking right foot shot. Oh, just wide...no wait it is in the net. 4-4! We have done it! The away support are now officially in dreamland. Then drama - the ref awards a goal kick! Oh, it went in through the side netting. Oh dear, so close, but we will not let the truth get in the way of a good story, so instead I'll say that it was an outrageous injustice. Still 4-3 St Peters.
Some great midfield play from Eyvindur, Kjartan and Danny resulted in Struan being played in behind the last defender. This was the moment. On the run he steadied himself, took aim,pulled back his right foot and shot...no, a fabulous tackle from St Peters majestic defender Callum Simpson prevents a certain goal. The RED coaching team later suggested that best friends shouldn't be doing that kind of tackle on each other. Agony.
There was just time for one final stramash in the St Peters box involving Jack, Ollie, Struan, Danny, Kjartan and Eyvindur. With feet, knees and thighs being thrown at the ball St Peters managed to scramble the ball away and the ref brought the game to an end. 4-3 St Peters.
What a game. The RED team showed once again what a fantastic team they can be, fighting back from 4 goals down against one of the best teams in the league and pushing them all the way for an equaliser. Everyone played their part in the second half, concentrating on playing football, passing more and working hard to help each other.
Well done RED squad!
No comments:
Post a Comment