WHISTON U14S 3-2 GENEVA SOUTH LIVERPOOL SATURDAY LEAGUE 9/11/13 Another nervy performance from Whiston, the second in 2 weeks, was still enough to maintain the Saturday sides 100% record v Geneva in perfect conditions at Jericho Lane. With only Conah missing John again had tough selection decisions to make. His mandate is to try to win this League and not be classed as a development squad. This has also resulted in very limited game time currently for some of the subs, unlike previous seasons, as he strives to find the right balance. LUCAS LOUIE ADAM JORDAN MAX RYAN WILL JOE JOSH JOHNNY JOBO Subs: STEPHEN AARON RHYS RORY MACKENZIE We have a long history with Geneva dating back to before they were formed and were originally Whiston Rangers our sister team. They still have players from those days including Aiden who plays for us on a Sunday when he’s not been injured playing for them the previous day haha. Aiden missed Wednesdays training allowing us to make our plans in secret (as if!) Aiden is now joined by Boyos old boy James who has put his boots back on after a season off fishing. Nice to see him playing again. After a decent warm up were we looked interested (for a change) we started well and created early chances via Will and Ryan but both their shots failed to test the keeper. We had a series of corners and the delivery wasn’t bad but Ryan could only manage to head to over. The first controversial decision came when Jobo put Ryan through with a brilliant pass. He was blatantly pulled back in the area but managed to get off a shot that was well saved. Stonewall pen? No said the ref. Ryan was not amused. Geneva then broke and could have gone ahead as we switched off and a cross flashed across the box. Despite having plenty of possession and chances and ammunition on the bench we only made one substitution, Stephen for Jobo in the first half. The days of 5 subs at a time seem to have disappeared for the Saturday side as the inability to finish our chances recently has kept us under pressure. Geneva then created a similar chance to their first and this time had a man on the end but he slashed wide. Another let off! At the other end Joe, Ryan and Stephen were all guilty of taking too many touches and were dispossessed when well placed whilst Josh was trying a shot from 25 yards! Will, whose form this season has been outstanding, never got into the game at all today but popped up with the first goal when he beat the keeper and Johnny to a through ball to poke home. 1-0 poachers goal. It had taken a long time to come! Some poor passing from Johnny to mystery (invisible) players summed up his first half. Rarely have I seen both Will and Johnny play so poorly at the same time. We had the lions share of possession and territory today and to be fair our defence had little to do and other than switching off twice they coped well. Lucas’s kicks are now reaping benefits as well. Stephen then headed wide from Jordans free kick but he was narrowly offside anyway. HT 1-0 We were disappointed in our first half display. We could have been out of sight (how many half time reports say that!)but also we could have been 2-0 down had Geneva punished us when we switched off. At every level taking your chances is of paramount importance and we are getting into a habit of bringing pressure onto ourselves when we repeatedly spurn them. Subs: Louie off for Rhys, Aaron up front for Joe. We started really well in this half. Stephen had the first chance when he had a one on one with the keeper only to hit it over the bar. Aaron then did exactly the same one on one. Aarrgghhhhh. This was getting frustrating. We again won a series of corners and again delivery was decent. One was headed over by Ryan but the next was a bullet header from Aaron magnificently tipped over the bar. Save of the game. This had the hallmarks of a bum bitter as although Lucas didn’t have to make any saves Geneva were breaking well. Bizarrely our second came as we hit them on the break from a rare Geneva corner. Three passes and it was in the back of the net as Johnny, to Aaron, to Stephen saw him hit a composed finish. 2-0 and finally some breathing space. It looked like we would go on to score more and we were unlucky from yet another corner when Will controlled and hit an overhead kick that again was well saved. Spectacular and sometimes they fly in. I heard John getting the final 2 subs ready with 15 left only to watch in disbelief as our midfield collapsed to let their striker hit a good shot from 25 yards that gave Lucas no chance. 2-1. From being in total control we were now nervy and we seemed to tire rapidly. Both centre midfielders were finally replaced and to be fair they had had shockers and looked knackered. We settled and Stephen had another chance but put it wide. We then had another strong appeal for a penalty when Ryan whipped one into the box from 6 yards out wide which was handled. The ref blew up and we expected him to point to the spot but he gave offside instead???? Bizarre as Ryan was our furthest player forward and played everyone onside. Jordan then sent in a long range free kick which Stephen put wide. Josh then shot but it was saved. Max miss hit a free kick as we continued to build pressure. There was another controversial moment when Aaron played a short corner to Jobo who was on for Ryan, another who was off colour today. He played a short hospital ball back to Aaron who was smashed into the air by a dangerous tackle that studded him halfway up his shin. He went down screaming as did the player who had challenged him who was screaming louder. It turned out he had landed on his wrist and he was taken to hospital with a suspected break. Geneva have a paramedic on their touchline and he sorted it. We wasted the resulting free kick and although Aaron wanted to carry on we had to take him off as he was obviously in pain. Josh was causing them problems with some jinking runs and he was taken down on the edge of the box. Johnny, back on for Aaron, took it and placed it in the corner. 3-1 finally a great free kick and Johnny doing what he does best. Mac and Rory came on with minutes left and Rory was involved in another controversial ref decision when he was adjudged to have fouled a player in the area. This was a bit odd as both Rory and Mac both swore he got the ball and the tackle was outside the area. From our point of view there had been 3 penalty decisions to make and the ref got all 3 wrong! It was more disappointing as it had come from a pathetic attempt at a tackle from our midfield. The ball was lashed home with only a couple of minutes left and thankfully there were no further scares. FT 3-2 Disappointing again! Poor million dollar passes, holding onto the ball too long, poor finishing, slack tackling at the end, dodgy fitness levels and an horrendous hospital pass. I warned the kids before the game about these passes which have crept into our game recently. Today it did result in a hospital visit, unluckily for the opposition (hopefully he gets well soon)and not thankfully for Aaron who can be counted extremely lucky not to have been carried there himself. You can appreciate why all kids have to wear shinpads when you seen what the challenge still did to him. The kids got both barrels about these passes which need to be eliminated immediately! On the flip side we created a bagful, had the 3 major penalty decisions all go against us which on another day may have all gone the other way, our defence were solid overall and although 3-2 sounds tight we were rarely in any danger without ever hitting anywhere near the levels we are capable of. It was strange to note that Will and Johnny both scored whilst having poor games by their high standards. Next Saturday we play this seasons surprise team FC Start. Back to basics at training I think! Well done eventually. COYB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted on: Sat, 09 Nov 2013 19:04:27 +0000
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