It was cold. Very cold. It was windy too and snowing. Not ideal footballing conditions but the boys put a pretty convincing performance in against an always feisty Kingston.
Playing with a force 9 gail in the first-half saw Cumnor create a number of good chances. Adam and Will linked especially well on the flank and both fired in crosses that just seemed to evade Jack, Doddie and Fyn. It felt comfortable with the defensive four of Rory, Harry, Josh and Toby providing a solid platform for the others. However, going in 0-0 meant we had a fight on our hands for the second-half.
The wind was devilish and for 10 minutes every clearance came flying back towards our area, luckily Henry was alert to the troublesome trajectory. Like Henry, Doddie is in a rich vein of form and his flicks and switches kept opening up the Kingston defence. Fyn was working his channels and Ben enjoying a right old tussle in the middle.
It took a while but Cumnor eventually got their foot on the ball and tried to take the wind factor away. Adam was instructed to get back and do his defensive work but he ignored Tim's instruction and found himself in the shooting zone. Bang: 1-0. Minutes later we doubled our score through Ben's excellent strike. Job done. Or so we thought.
Kingston never give in and decided to go all out, using the wind and the pace out wide. They got on the scoresheet after Henry's superb save wasn't cleared. Instead of panicking, Cumnor continued to play football with James holding the ball nicely. Will threatened all day and scored a superb solo goal 3-1. He then went on another mazy run setting up James to score who was deemed off-side.
So the match finished 3-1 with Cumnor extending their recent League run and talking us to 22 points with only Ducklington to play in mid-April. Can we get to 25 points? Yes we can.
Player of the Week: special mention to Toby, Adam, Josh and Doddie but POW goes to our Welsh (okay, he's half Scottish too) wizard, Will.
Monday 11 March 2013
Monday 4 March 2013
Bardwell Blockade
A brilliant defensive performance? Yes. Playing on the back foot? No, not really. Bardwell had some good players and were particularly strong down the right but we actually grew stronger as the game developed and managed to defend a lead for 55 minutes of play, something we've not done before. What was the secret? Commitment, determination and a willingness to challenge hard and strong. A team performance typified by the excellent Henry in goal, the magnificent Josh at the back and Ben taking (and dishing out) the punishment in midfield.
For the last few weeks we've implored the boys to challenge in the air and fight for the second ball on the ground. We worked on this in training and prior to kick off and it was wonderful to see the boys do this. Two headers in particular stand out, headers from boys not renowned for their heading: Ben in the dying seconds from a corner and a magnificent leap by Harry to arch his neck and take the ball from the giant number 3.
Due to a lack of availability there was a slight reorganisation in the set up with James going right, Harry dropping to full back, Jack in midfield and Will wide left. The changes paid dividends from the start with Will tearing down the flank and setting up a corner from which Josh poked home a goal. Cumnor played an expansive game with Doddie looking excellent as playmaker. Rory too drove his players on but slowly, Bardwell came into it especially down our left where Adam and Will were involved in a real tussle. One attack from the flank saw the Bardwell 17 hit a vicious swerving shot which Henry, unsighted to the last milli-second, managed to save by diving low to the left. Amazingly, Henry then got up to block the rebound. Brilliant keeping.
In the second-half the game turned into a real dogfight with chances limited for both teams. Fyn almost got a shot away as the boys shouted penalty and despite our tireless number 9 working hard, the ball didn't quite break for him. The best bit of play in the second-half (apart from the heroic blocks, tackles and headers) came from Will and Adam who put a scintillating move together up the flank before Adam was denied by a very good interception. Will too also knocked in a searing cross from right on the byline.
With 11 players available each boy had to dig deep. Jack, pushed out right, was a willing worker and Ben was involved in some real rough and tumble. We're not famed for our physicality but against Bardwell, we showed we could mix it with the best of them.
1- 0. A truly superb result and here's to a big unbeaten run to the end of the season.
Player of the Week: a very difficult choice but in the end, it came down to Henry, Josh and Doddie with Doddie shading it. Just.
For the last few weeks we've implored the boys to challenge in the air and fight for the second ball on the ground. We worked on this in training and prior to kick off and it was wonderful to see the boys do this. Two headers in particular stand out, headers from boys not renowned for their heading: Ben in the dying seconds from a corner and a magnificent leap by Harry to arch his neck and take the ball from the giant number 3.
Due to a lack of availability there was a slight reorganisation in the set up with James going right, Harry dropping to full back, Jack in midfield and Will wide left. The changes paid dividends from the start with Will tearing down the flank and setting up a corner from which Josh poked home a goal. Cumnor played an expansive game with Doddie looking excellent as playmaker. Rory too drove his players on but slowly, Bardwell came into it especially down our left where Adam and Will were involved in a real tussle. One attack from the flank saw the Bardwell 17 hit a vicious swerving shot which Henry, unsighted to the last milli-second, managed to save by diving low to the left. Amazingly, Henry then got up to block the rebound. Brilliant keeping.
In the second-half the game turned into a real dogfight with chances limited for both teams. Fyn almost got a shot away as the boys shouted penalty and despite our tireless number 9 working hard, the ball didn't quite break for him. The best bit of play in the second-half (apart from the heroic blocks, tackles and headers) came from Will and Adam who put a scintillating move together up the flank before Adam was denied by a very good interception. Will too also knocked in a searing cross from right on the byline.
With 11 players available each boy had to dig deep. Jack, pushed out right, was a willing worker and Ben was involved in some real rough and tumble. We're not famed for our physicality but against Bardwell, we showed we could mix it with the best of them.
1- 0. A truly superb result and here's to a big unbeaten run to the end of the season.
Player of the Week: a very difficult choice but in the end, it came down to Henry, Josh and Doddie with Doddie shading it. Just.
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