Little Baddow v M & G

Date: 26/9/10

Location: Melbourne Park

Score: 6 -3

Little Baddow welcomed M & G to Melbourne Park on what was a cold and windy day. M & G were previously in division one of the Invitation league so were a bit of an unknown quantity. Little Baddow were looking for a strong performance following a good win at Margaretting the previous week. Due to the blustery conditions,  the game plan was to keep the ball on the floor as much as possible. However,  Little Baddow started slowly and seemed off the pace. For the first half hour the ball was continually given away cheaply and we failed to string more than three passes together. M & G took the lead from a shot that on any other day Dave Smith would have saved but unfortunately it seemed to slip through his hands. Dave made up for this moments later with a fine full stretch save which he tipped around the post, a shot which looked destined for the back of the net. With 15 minutes remaining of the first half Little Baddow managed to gain some composure when in possession of the ball, when we move the ball quickly and pick the right passes we are very hard to stop. Following some good work down the right side of midfield, Luke Hornsley managed to get on the end of a cross, finishing high into the net and putting Little Baddow level. Shortly after this Luke was put through on goal, finding himself one on one with the goal keeper. He very rarely misses such chances and with a firm strike he put Little Baddow 2-1 ahead just before half time. The second half started very much the same as it finished for Little Baddow. We were keeping possession well and the movement was good, when we lost the ball we were keen to win it back quickly and put M & G under pressure. However, against the run of play 15 minutes into the second half the ball fell loose to their centre midfielder around 25 yards out. No one closed him down and he fired into the back of the net. Little Baddow continued to control much of the second half and regained the lead with two further strikes from Luke putting us 4-2 up. Darren Sawyer was now playing left wing as Daron Eills was on the receiving end of a pretty heavy tackle leaving him with a chipped ankle bone and damaged tendons. A further two more substitutions were made with Luke and Chris Warwick coming off for Nick Hemsley and Charlie Sharp. Charlie was soon on the score sheet, showing good movement to get away from his marker he latched onto a cross which flashed past the M and G keeper. M & G then scored another goal making the score 5-3, their striker unmarked at the far post. The final goal, coming from James Taylor, was a fine reward for all of his hard work and endless running in the centre of midfield. The final score was 6-3 to Little Baddow, leaving us top of the league on goal difference. A very good start to the season, maximum points from the first four games. Given the players that we have at our disposal I know we can play so much better than we currently are. In certain areas of the pitch the ball needs to be released earlier and the simple option used. This is something everyone needs to think about.

Dean Miller