After several weeks of indifferent form, at last a return to a more composed and confident team performance.
Before the game, we took advantage of the changing rooms, talked the team through formation and who moves where etc and hoped the boys put the plan into action. 4-1-4-1 was the preferred format for the day with Alfie Brinton providing some support for the defence and giving the midfield license to support the striker.
The game kicked off and the first 10 minutes had Melksham on top as once again Worton started slowly – something we need to solve, but as the game progressed, Worton took a greater foothold in the game. After 14 minutes, Charlie passed a ball through the middle of the defence onto which Harry Davies pounced and placed the ball low past the onrushing Melksham goalkeeper.
Now you would hope that some element of domination may break out but for the next few minutes Melksham came at us again and made things difficult. A discussion between the three coaches resulted in a tactical decision to go 4-4-2 with Charlie and Alfie holding the midfield and Harry supporting Jamo (more later) up front. Instantly a response..after 19 minutes, a cross by Harry was cleared by the Melksham defence and broke to Charlie about 20 yards out and he shot cleanly past keeper for 2-0. Within a minute it was 3-0. Joseph Skinner played a great ball between the centre back and the full back which caused some problems for the defence. Jamo pounced on the indecision of the defender to rob him and strike past the keeper. I think the coaches should be commended on the tactical decisions at this point!! Adam Edwards came on for Jamo who may have been still hampered by back injury sustained last week.
So 3-0 at the half, some changes to be made with Luke Hatch departing after a fantastic first half, winning every challenge made and generally stopping Melksham doing anything on that side of the pitch. James Francis replaced Luke. On the wing, Josh Francis came on for Joseph to provide some terrier tackling .
After 34 minutes another ball into the box was cleared to Charlie who struck past the helpless keeper. At that point, Charlie was withdrawn (to rest him after ANOTHER hat-trick!). After 37 minutes, Melksham broke up their left, Worton missed several chances to make a clearance, the ball eventually making its way across the pitch to result in a 2 vs 1 against James Francis who had no chance as Melksham scored and removed the chance of a clean sheet!!!
Worton added to the scoring in 46 mins, hard work down the right side resulted in a throw-in, thrown in by Josh which the defence semi-cleared and broke to Jamo to slot left footed into the corner of the goal.
After 51 minutes, Jamo in process of rounding the keeper was ‘taken out’ in the penalty box and a penalty awarded. Jamo was in a lot pain (or so he says) and had to be carried off. In future years that tackle may have been met with a sending off – but not at this level. An ice-pack and warm jacket along with some comforting words from his father like ‘You went down like you’ve been shot’ and ‘The BAFTA goes to JAMO’ along with ‘Drama Queen like his…..(cant say anymore here!).
Anyway, as a result of the penalty award, Alfie Brinton stepped up to smash the ball high past the despairing keeper.
Other mentions of the day go to Henry (Henri?) Luzi who had one of his best games of the season and to Simon and Jake for having excellent partnership in defence all match. Franky stopped talking and channelled his energy into attacking down the left wing until it ran out!! (He had recovered by the time we got to McDonalds)
James in goal had a mixed day – no chance with the goal and some good fortune from a shot that rebounded down off the bar and a shot that hit the post – not much else to handle.
I think 4-1-4-1 may work more often, just move some personalities around and I think we have something!!!
So the season goes on and with the news that Warminster beat Bishops Cannings 10-1, we will have to win our last league match against Castle Combe to force a title play-off (assuming Warminster take full points off Derry Hill). We do have a point to prove against them after our poor league performance there.
Next up : Friendly AWAY vs Bishops Cannings 1000 kickoff @ Green Lane followed by League Cup AWAY vs Bishops Cannings!
I think we need to show that last weeks performance against Bishops Cannings was a one-off!
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Well summed up Neil, yes, a great team performance. Charlie had his shooting boots on today, and some excellent work from the unsung heroes of the back 4, with Simon superb bringing the ball out of defence, and Jake making some magnificent no-nonsense clearance headers at corners.