Calverley Hoodoo Continues!

1st Quarter
Ollie (GK), Will L, Thomas, Lennon, William and Edward.
The Dragons got off to a great start dominating the play. Good passing and tackling were both in evidence and Lennon in particular was providing threat down the right. However for all their dominance the Dragons just couldn’t turn the great play into goals.
Unfortunately two late goals put our boys on the back foot. Both coming from indecision at the back where we were missing the calming influence of Harry T.
0 – 2

2nd Quarter
William (GK), Will L, Thomas, Lennon, Ollie, Edward.
Calverley dominated this quarter with the Dragons struggling to make an impact. More defensive frailties were evident with the boys really struggling to clear their lines (something we will be looking at in training!).
Two goals for Calverley gave them a commanding (if flattering) lead. The first came from a real scramble where our boys had several chances to clear but just couldn’t before a Calverley player tapped home from close range. The second was a great, looping effort from outside the box but again our boys had had chances to clear the ball before the ball broke to the Calverley player.
0 – 4

3rd Quarter
William (GK), Will L, Thomas, Lennon, Ollie, Edward.
During the half time break we tweaked the formation slightly. Instead of the 2-2-1 formation we went to 1-2-1-1 with Will L acting as a sweeper, Thomas and Ollie acting as wide men (almost wing back positions), Lennon as an attacking middle man and leaving Edward up front. We also stressed the importance of not giving Calverley any time on the ball and clearing our lines.
The boys responded magnificently! They worked their little socks off, dominated the quarter and were duly rewarded with three excellent goals for Lennon. First Lennon latched onto to a quick throw from Edward to break clear and slot home a low shot. Next was a powerful shot from the right hand side of the “D”, the keeper didn’t stand a chance and a good finish from an Edward cross made it 3-4 and Lennon with a hat trick.
3 – 4

4th Quarter
William (GK), Will L, Thomas, Lennon, Ollie, Edward.
The final period started in much the same vein as the first and third periods with the Dragons dominating but (like in the opening quarter) they were unable to turn this into goals. I should mention here that we only had six players today (so no subs) and as our boys started to tire Calverley ruthlessly took advantage.
Their quick number 9 causing problems and looking very threatening on the break (as he had done throughout the game). Calverley bagged three goals late in the quarter to finish off the match.
3 – 7

Summary.
This may have been a defeat but the result and the score line definitely do not reflect the performance of our boys. We knew that this was a very strong Calverley side and our preparations for the game were hampered before a ball had been kicked when Harry T was taken ill on Saturday evening. We wish Harry a very speedy recovery!
We’d asked the boys to start quickly and try and dominate the play which they did admirably for the first 5 minutes or so but when this hadn’t turned into goals and when we showed some indecision in defense (we were missing Harry T) Calverley took advantage. Finding ourselves 0 – 4 down at the half way point was very harsh on the boys and we had a job on getting them up for the final two quarters but I think everyone that was there will agree they rose to the challenge magnificently.
Given the effort put in by the six boys with no substitutions available, it was no wander they tired and the three late Calverley goals did make it look more one sided than it really was. Edward was awarded man of the match but in reality this was a day when all six could have been given the award.
Well done boys, as always still plenty to work on but we are very proud of you all!