Felixstowe Hawks 6th December 2008

This was a top of the table clash between two teams who are having a great season. Something had to give and unfortunately it was us. I think the fact that it was against another local team added to the pressure on some of the boys and clearly affected their performance. We perform better when we can just enjoy the football and get on with it.

Due to work commitments and holiday over christmas I'm writing three match reports in one go. As usual my notes are sketchy at best and my memory is unreliable but I'll do my best. If I miss anything out or get something wrong please use the comments section to remedy it.

A Game

The line up was Ollie S in goal, Connor S in defence, Jack, Charlie B and Will in midfield, Dash and Matty up front. Freddie and Sam on the bench.

We started very positively and went straight into attack. Dash shot and just missed the post inside the first minute.

As the game settled down we were playing the better football in patches but the Hawks were clearly more up for the game. They tackled and defended well causing a bit of panic in our team.
unsurprisingly the Hawks took the lead. We got an equaliser when Charlies cross hit a defender and looped over the keeper.
The Hawks always looked the more dangerous on the ball. We were giving the ball away at every opportunity, especially up front leaving us exposed to the long clearance up the pitch. We like to defend from the front but today it just wasn't happening.
Connor coped well at the back but with the ball coming back everytime he got it forward it was only a matter of time before they broke through. He attampted a rash challenge allowing the striker to get past him and power on for a one on one with Ollie. He finished it of very well to restore their lead. 2-1 was the half time score.

We made a couple of changes at half time. Freddie and Sam replaced Jack and Connor. We seemed to be getting more involved in midfield and started causing a few more problems with some good runs and crosses down the wings. Charlie B was by far the stand out player and ran his legs off, being involved in everything. We were still giving the ball away too cheaply and lost two goals which were almost identical to the Hawks second. The only real difference being it was Sam at the back and not Connor. I have to sat both defenders played very well but had far too much to do for my liking.

The game ended with us losing 4-1. Not our finest hour and it's given us some areas we have to continue working on.

Man of the match was Charlie Bance by a mile. He never stopped running and raised his game battling for everything.


B Game

The line up was Harley in goal, Cammy in defence, Dan Keiran and Ollie M in midfield, Curtis and Nat up front. Connor R, Charlie W and Jake on the bench.

This game was a bit more even and pretty much end to end stuff. We battled well and Keiran seemed to have carried on where Charlie B left off in the centre of midfield and battled for everything.

The Hawks took the lead but we carried on battling and equalised when Curtis deflected Nats shot into the net.

Unfortunately the Hawks regained the lead just before half-time. 1-2 the half time score.

Just after half time the Hawks score again to make it 3-1.

To our credit we didn't let our heads down and got stuck in. harley pulled of some great saves and we battled well aginst the Hawks attacks. We managed to pull one back when a great move down the left ended with a cross to Connor who finished well to make it 3-2. We were back in the game.

A few minutes later a move down the left finished with Jake banging the ball into the roof of the net to make it 3-3.
The game stepped up to a frantic pace with both teams going for it. Then in virtually the last minute disaster struck. the Hawks striker managed to get a shot in Harley got down well to it but somehow let it squirm under his body. From my view it looked like he punched it in as he tried to grab it! Either way with the striker almost on top of him one of them was likely to score it. The game ended 3-4. After pulling back 2 goals then losing in the dying minutes the boys were devastated. They had shown fantastic spirit and i think everyone was very proud of them.

Man of the match was Keiran. He was totally drained at the end of the game.