Round 1 result: Montrose 5 vs Croydon 4 Never a dull moment.. Thats for sure! Perfect conditions for football as our season kicked off with a scratchy win. Were always the most prepared team in the comp, best exemplified by our gun new recruit Tim Pape pulling out 20 minutes before kickoff because hed locked his boots in his footy club change rooms after a night on the drink, and our central midfield pairing of Dave Ambler and Ben Beech yet to arrive 10 minutes before the game started. Ben showed great leadership and maturity in being absent when he was named vice captain for the year. Good work, numbnuts. We blasted out of the gates with short, sharp passing and swift attacks, breaking through Croydons aging defensive line with ease and precision. Ten minutes in and we were 2-0 up, and a destruction looked on the cards. Being a brand new coach, and being handed two easy tap-in goals on a silver Rhys Burton platter- I was convinced that coaching was easy... And then the Monty of old reared its ugly head and the famous Mountainmen long ball- which has never, ever worked- crept back into our game and we squandered possession and chances and allowed Croydon to get back into the game without having to earn it. The old fossils are smart and took us to school, pouncing on defensive errors to score 3 quick goals and all of a sudden we looked down and defeated. Shapeless, spiritless, voiceless. We nabbed one back after BathSalts Mundy scored on debut, which gave us something positive to focus on at the break. The message at half time was clear- play to our strengths, pass to feet, keep moving and working and play smarter. We only had 3 voices during the first 45, and we needed 15 if we were going to get a result. We moved Rhys into midfield to get him back into the game, which allowed Dave and Ben to sit a little deeper, allowing them to control the game and provide defensive cover. It took a while for that move to pay off, and Croydon struck first with a toe poke to put us 4-3 down. Looking to the bench for answers, I cant describe how pleased I am with what I got from the three that came on. Louie came back on at left back and gave us a solid presence defensively while contributing offensively with intelligent passing. Scotty came back on from a possible concussion to provide genuine speed on the wings and up front, which wed lacked all day. A lot is spoken about various skills and talents that people possess and how to improve them- pace, vision, movement, strength- but Ive always believed that none are as important as effort. I bring it up because Grug came on at right wing and gave me absolutely everything he had. A genuine, raw desire to win the ball and help his teammates. Grugs effort when he came on, in many ways, was the difference between the two sides. He was rewarded for it with a teasing cross which Rhys headed into the bottom corner. All of a sudden it was 4-4, with time to spare, and we looked in control, hungrier, faster and more likely to score. The winner came from nothing. Closter beats a player in defence, Rhys comes deep and tackles his own player, beats three and unloads from distance. Bang. Contrasting day for the AssistKing, who scored twice when it mattered and got two assists in the first half, but was phased out of the game at times. Solid effort from Rhyso who took it upon himself to assert his influence on the game when it was in the balance. The most pleasing thing about todays result is that we have always struggled to get ugly results. Last year we dropped 7 points to two of the bottom sides in scratchy games where we went down and couldnt find a way to wrestle the game back onto our terms. Today, we came from behind twice and simply found a way to win. EVERYBODY contributed something to this result, but special mentions go out newly announced captain, Sam Uhe, who worked hard with defensive partner, Steve Closter, and allowed us to play out from the defence. Dave Ambler was composed and influential for 90 minutes, playing smart and simple and winning his own ball. He and Ben have already formed a solid midfield partnership. Both worked hard for 90 minutes without reprieve and both were amongst our best players. For those that made the journey to watch us today- from Daz and the FFV crew, to former Mountainmen Wobbles, Browny and Brett, to mothers and girlfriends, to the entire Sharks crew that set up camp in the car park like it was Woodstock, we as a team genuinely appreciate the effort and support. Overall, a win is a win and well take our 3 points and work to improve for our long (though very short for some) journey to Shark Park next week, which is a home away from home for some of us. Scorers: R. Burton 2 T. Beech 2 B. Salts 1 Captain: Sam Uhe Vice Captain: Ben Beech
Posted on: Sun, 06 Apr 2014 05:48:28 +0000
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