Hertford 3's Vs Southgate Adelaide 1's

Although we lost this fixture 3-1, I do not believe it was an accurate representation of how everyone played. It was a hot day and we only had 1 substitute, however, everyone still gave 110% effort throughout the game accompanied by some great goalkeeping by Andy Smith in his first appearance stepping up to the 3's.
We had some really good plays that led to a few 3 on 2's and 1 on 1's which we were unfortunate in not scoring. One of the more memorable situations was a 1 on 1 between the opposition keeper and Andrew Durbin in which Andrew decided to pass it to the keeper not once but twice landing him the well deserved title of DoD as well as the Gareth Southgate fine for missing a sitter.
Another notable player for better reasons was Robert Davies. He resilience and sturdiness at right back was recognised by the rest of the team and landed him the Man of the Match title for the game! However it was noticed that there were no aerials from him this week which may have been due the discussions of making bad aerials a fine-able offence!

The game itself was back and forth with where we would make decent passing plays to the forwards with some attempts on goal followed by a counter with their few really good midfielders breaking through our midfield. It was 1-1 at half time thanks to a surprising goal by Andy Williamson but deserved though our constant attacks. We had the upper hand at times in the game after a green and yellow cards had been given to the opposition leaving them with 10 on the pitch, an advantage we couldn't capitalise on as we scored no goals in this period and as fatigue set in in the second half they repeatedly broke through our midfield and defence and in that, gained their 2 other goals.

This game should be one that we learn from and showed us where we need to improve. There are some key points that I would like us all individually and as a team to work on this week:
1. Not running straight towards defending players. It was noted that players were getting too close to defending players while running with the ball limiting their time and options.
2. Turning out/ Passing around. Some plays during the game were too forced down the wings which sometimes worked but sometimes ended in a horrible counter attack by the opposition.

I encourage you all to attend Thursday night training as Dickie has been addressing these exact points already in recent training.

So I'll see you all on Thursday and if not, Good luck for the next game!

Captain Arj