4th Team Vs Lichfield 7

What do you say about a game where you dominate throughout only to lose to a goal in the last two minutes of play?

Leaving the result aside, there were plenty of positives in this game. Our forward line probably played as well as I have seen them do this season with constant pressuire on the Lichfield goal and it took an oustanding performance from the Lichfield Keeper (something he has done to us before as I recall!) to prevent us ending the half 2 or 3 goals ahead. Our younger players also all had really good games with excellent passing and distrbution and the additional of the Myatt father and son combo helped to provide some sytrength in depth. However, Lichfield were dogged in defence and a natural desire to convert our pressure into goals on occasion led us to migrate too far up the pitch and we were caught on the break a couple of times, so the result was by no means assured.

Having ended the first half 0-0 we carried on as before in the second, but as the breakthrough goal continued to allude us an elemnt of nervousness began to enter our play and Lichfield almost took the lead in a one on one breakaway that thankfully came to nothing. With an almost sickening sense of inevitability, just as everyone was probably beginning to accept it was a day of no goals a relatively rare push forward by the Lichfiled front line resulted in a shot that appeared to clip a stick and the deflection caught everyone wrong footed and the ball was in the far corner of the net.

Pretty gutting really after so many good performances (a particular mention should go to Ryan Harding and Hugh Churn who both delivered outstanding performances) but in a game that was played in excellent spirit by both sides Lichfield stuck to it and showed that no matter how much pressure you are under you never know what you might be able to pull out of the bag.

Steve Rowlands