Report

After encouraging back to back victories over Mortimer Hornets and Tadley Calleva Gladiators, confidence was high for our semi final match against Caversham Trents. Caversham had already won the league title and were now focused on completing the double so The Greens knew they would have to be at their very best to progress. The two teams had already met three times this season with Caversham running out winners on each occasion. The scorelines, however, had always been quite close so you could sense that the players were optimistic about their chances.

There was good news even before the match started as The Greens saw Elliot holding the linesman flag, meaning that Kate had been dropped to the bench.

With a place in the final at stake the two teams started the game at a breath taking pace. The early skirmishes are always vital during these sort of games, with the aim to try and keep the ball in the opposition half as much as possible whilst everybody has a chance to settle. The Greens did this well and competed strongly at every opportunity.

The opposition were having the better of the game in terms of territory and The Greens were struggling to get any decent passing moves going (the length of the grass not helping at all). However The Greens were looking committed at the back and both teams were cancelling each other out. Mid way through the first half the opposition opened the scoring with a fantastic strike from outside of the area giving Liam no chance. It was really unfortunate for The Greens to be undone like that as they had not really put a foot wrong, but you had to admire the goal. It was a set back but The Greens kept playing the way they had been and finished the half strongly.

The half ended 1-0 to the opposition which was a fair reflection on the way the game had gone. We had looked solid and committed at the back but were running into trouble in the central midfield areas where we were up against good opposite players. The link up play between defence and midfield and between midfield and forwards had also not been as good as normal and consequently we had not done enough to trouble their keeper.  

Into the second half and it was still quite even when the opposition extended their lead. An awkward bouncing ball was sent into the penalty area where Liam was challenged as he tried to collect the ball. Momentarily the ball left Liam’s hands and the opposition striker bundled the ball home. Some of the players believed that the ball had been kicked out of the keepers hands but my initial thought was that the ball was dropped (I wish we could have TV replays).

However it doesn’t matter who is right or wrong the referee’s decision is always final and the players should never question him.

2-0 down but The Greens never gave up. Suddenly Naomi found space and lofted a fantastic shot over the keeper and into the corner of the net to pull a goal back. 2-1 and everything to play for. The opposition defence in particular was standing firm and Marcus, Robbie and Naomi frustratingly, could never quite get free. The game was on a knife edge but it suddenly swung in favour of the opposition with another wonderful strike. Ultimately there was probably nothing that could have been done, as the shot was so good, but the organisation at the free kick was non existent. No one took responsibility to get in a wall or to pick up unmarked opposition attackers.

3-1 down and with only five minutes left it looked as if the players belief just drained from them. I’m not sure what happened but the team totally lost their shape and positional sense, and in the last few minutes conceded three more goals. It was a shame as they had worked so hard up to that point and the final 6-1 score suggests a bit of a hammering.

Credit must be given to our opponents Caversham Trents who had no weak areas and played the game with real understanding. They were exceptional defensively, tackling with power and purpose, clearing the ball long whenever in danger and never taking any chances at the back, their midfield never over committed going forward, just sat in front of the defence looking to pass where possible and break forward when the situation was right and then took their chances up front. If we are to get better next season then we need to learn from the positional shape of their team.

Player of the match this week went to Jake. When Jake came off he had given everything – he was determined that he wasn’t going to be on the losing team today and you could see that in the way he played. Ultimately it wasn’t to be but when a player buts in that amount of effort sooner or later he will be rewarded for it.

Well done Jake – disappointing result but a positive performance.

Apart from the last few minutes every player should be immensely proud of the way they played today. You all competed admirably against strong opponents and were undone by two quality strikes. It may not feel like it now but the improvement of The Greens this season has been astonishing. Bearing in mind the team played their first 9 aside game only nine months ago anybody watching today would be thoroughly impressed.

Overall, despite the loss today, there have been many highlights for every member of the team and you can all take away your own individual memories of the season. At the centre of this successful season are of course the superb management team of Mark, Andy and Dan, without whom none of what’s happened this year would be possible. A big thank you to all of you from both parents and players.

Well done everyone – keep it up.