Trojans 6th XI vs Salisbury 4th XI

A repeat of the match from 3 weeks ago, only this time with league points at stake.

Both sides seemed to have a few different faces, but early on a surprisingly warm Saturday morning, the action kicked off. Possession seemed fairly even to start with, Trojans using their wide players slightly better than we did, and they were more dangerous in and around the D. Our goalkeeper was tested early on, and Ali Barrett made some great interceptions for us at centre back. That’s not to say we didn’t have attacking moments……we did, mainly through some great distribution from the back from Kev Parker. We did however, for a short period around the middle of the half. have the majority of play in and around the centre of the pitch, and in a well worked attacking move…….Tom McCormack scored! 0-1 Salisbury. Unfortunately for us we seemed to take our foot off the gas so to speak after this, and as a team we dropped a little deeper, allowing Trojans more possession in the midfield areas. More worrying I thought, was that when we did get the ball, we quickly gave it back to Trojans, who once again surged forward relentlessly. The half ended, I thought, with us hanging on a little, but we did go in at the break, one nil up.

One of the things talked about in the half time team talk was slowing the game down, and moving up the pitch together, as we seemed to be giving the ball back to Trojans far too easily and often towards the end of the first half. Refreshed, and in good spirits due to being in front, we lined up.

The second half started off at a cracking pace, at least that’s the way it seemed. And despite talking about slowing the game down, for ten minutes or so, the exact opposite happened. Time after time we gave the ball away needlessly, or our passes failed to go to one of our own players. This of course put immense pressure on our defence who’d played brilliantly throughout the course of the first half. As well, Trojans seemed to have found another gear, and were dominating the centre of the pitch, picking off passes and running through us almost at will. Eventually we dug ourselves out of the hole we were in and started playing some good passes to each other. I do think though, that the damage had already been done, as a lot of players had spent ten or so minutes chasing the ball and making last ditch tackles. With us getting back into the game more, the outcome looked far more certain. But I think a combination of tiredness, a little overconfidence and Trojans’ belief in themselves led to them scoring an equaliser. After this we were deflated, while Trojans themselves were buoyed to be back in the game and looked as though they wanted to win more than we did. More brave tackles ensued, with the ever present Ali Barrett getting two blows to the head for his trouble. Trojans were by now sensing more goals, and with us being stretched even more, giving the ball away and not being able to get back once we had given the ball away, inevitably Trojans scored, not just one more, but two. The last few minutes saw us give everything in a fight back, and we scored from sustained pressure in the D, with Alan ‘Noddy’ Garrett trying to claim it, but being only four feet away, I can assure you it was Jacob Breach’s goal………sorry Nods! Unfortunately for us, it was too little too late, and the umpire’s whistle blew to end the game before we had a chance to mount another serious attack.

Well done Trojans…..good game, played in the right spirit….. Thank You! Notable mentions must go to our man of the match and fantastic keeper Matt Salmon, without whom it might have been very different.

Also to Tim Garston, Dan Hawkesworth and Tom McCormack, who all showed glimpses of their true potential…………..keep it up guys…..more of the same next week! Ohhh…….as well, I should mention our ‘dick of the day’….today the super duper DAVE HILLIER (see picture)….who, as I’ve said before, should just admit that he’s a defender and have done with it. Don’t forget Dave…….watch the ball in training, not where your opponent is looking…haha! More next time……………………