Huntington res v Sileby Rangers

[maccaceltic]

Well here we go again, after playing these away last week & getting a 3-3 draw it was always going to be a battle. But after a few coments regarding us as no better than a Sunday league team I didn't need much to get the boys motivated.
It was a slow start for both teams & Scrapy to say the least, but the commitment from both teams was there as a few early crunch tackles came in. We probably started a bit to defensive as I sat to deep & was practically 3rd centre back, giving them more space to run into. My diamond formation midfield worked well & alough we had no wide men Lee Mills & Micky had that covered.
Without much in the way of shots at goal the game focused more in the midfield battles & Whitey & Owens winning there battles set the tone. Unfortunately Jake Moore the goalkeeper strained his knee taking a goal kick & was down & out after 30 mins! With no takers I had no choice but reminiss my old days when I used to play for Motherwell in goal & put not the gloves. Even though I was 12 then.
They came out guns blazing & started shooting from everywhere I pulled off at least 20 world class saves, well that's what I was dreaming as the truth wasnthe didn't even have 1 shot for me to save, ht.

2nd half was pretty much the same with a lot of free kicks given away by both teams but the ref seeming only interested in people talking rather than 2 footed Gerard Evans getting a early booking for complaining, 2 minutes later Owens was taken out knee high & ref did nothing. The game didn't spark much & takles were flying in.
A strong tackle by Micky Drage gave a free kick edge off the box which was swung in to the centre of the goal someone had tied my laces together & I fell tonthe ground only fornthe ball to drop right into my hands & to much amusement of everyone there.
A few more balls came into the box which i calmly dealt with lol.
Owens was struggling so Browett made the change Micheal Benning & he made a immediate impact by winning the ball & holding it up to make the lay offs, with that We started getting more opportunities on goal & piled on the pressure. ondre dropped back to midfield to add support & within minutes a shot deflected went out for a corner. Micky Drage swung in a great ball for Ryan Spencer to raise like a salmon & put it in the top corner, goal 1-0.
They made changes to try battle backminto the game but we held strong & defended well, Lee mills Ryan Spencer Tom Hart & Micky Drage were superb & anything that did go past then I swept up. With 10 minutes to go Gerard Evans found himself in trouble again after already been booked for moaning, seen himself in the refs books again & harshly received a 2nd yellow so off he went. I gambled by not changing the system & to be fair the work rate & commitment was superb & we stayed in control.

After 90 mins I was relieved by our performance after Saturday & was more than pleased with the effort. To take 4 points from 6 from them is more than I expected & I'm delighted we have moved up 1 place & with a huge game against Wellingborough Thursday maybe just maybe we've turned the corner?

[carefree]

well done macca, i wouldnt bother with posting on ucl chatter mate, take what they say with a pinch of salt and never raise to all the negitive comments as they are a bunch of mainly northampton w***kers.