Mustangs 4 vs. Thistle 1
4 May 2008
A thorn in our side?
TW Foresters Mustangs 4 vs. Redhill Thistle 1
A 10am Bayham kick off with sunny warm weather greeted the teams. Mustangs played host to Redhill Thistle for our last home game of the season. Redhill are a tough, well organised unit and their League position fails to reflect their quality in play, commitment and desire. Mustangs were heading into this match with thoughts of the 100th goal of the season and probably because of this the players failed to achieve their potential.
Early exchanges were brief and Thistle were holding us off well. Despite numerous attempts on goal and hitting the paintwork on many occasions the Mustangs failed to find the perfect formula for scoring. However late in the first half Josh managed to pick up a loose ball from midfield and after shimmying a brace of Thistle defenders found himself 1 on 1 with their keeper. Josh duly slotted the ball home. With the 100th goal scored Mustangs could now relax. Shortly after the goal the whistle sounded for half time.
The second half still remained tight and although Mustangs had a great share of the ball they failed to pass and move and create openings from it. After a scrap in the Thistle penalty area a waiting Sollie managed to get his boot to the ball the quickest and Mustangs were 2-0 up. Another flurry of activity ended up with a penalty after a goal bound ball hit a Thistle arm. Luke stepped forward and duly despatched number 3. After a change around in midfield Thistle broke and scored a simple but well placed run-away goal. At 3-1 Thistle were looking to get back into the game and by pushing 2 players forward more space could be found behind them. Sure enough a loose ball from defence was picked up by Miller who passed to Josh and then on to Sollie who threaded a well timed through ball for Luke to run on to. Luke failed to disappoint and Mustangs scored their 4th.
The game was well fought and Thistle were stronger than the Mustangs gave them credit for. We failed to prevent them playing and we failed to string good passes together in order to provide good time and space to play. If we are to produce good winning performances in tournaments, which only have 7-9 minutes per half, we will need to radically change our approach.
Last home game well done BOYS!!
Scorers:
Luke 2, Josh, Sollie