January 2010 Reports

Sunday 24th January 2009

League, Trenham Drive

Banter Central FC 1 - 1 Real Madras
J-Dot

Team: Wuker; L.Dancer (J-Dot, 20 mins), Vidic, Tino, Cling; Doc, Wilkes; Wommy, Hughes, Ridders (Baird, 75 mins); Brownie

Six weeks since the last game and certainly a contrasting performance to the last, particularly at the back. Horley Crickets had smashed nine in, so it was key that Banter remained more alert and tight in this area.

The first game of the new decade also saw a new formation introduced. A more attacking 4-2-3-1 formation, giving freedom to some of Banter’s more creative players. This worked in spells, much the same as the all round play and work rate, but there were sometimes a few too many bodies piling forward unchallenged, along with confusion as to where to be and when at times.

The game had a spicy start, with a few firm challenges being put in. Madras’ skipper seemed pretty intent with stamping his mark on the game, which he did rather literally midway through the first half. More on that later.

Madras had a couple of long range efforts early on, one which memorably hit the crossbar before the rebound was hit wide. Wommy had a potentially great chance when the goalkeeper’s clearance fell to him 30 yards out, left of centre and off his line, Madras’ #1 slipped over too, but Wommy failed to spot it until late and when his shot went was eventually fired, it was blocked by a defender. A half chance. Another went for Brownie when he looked up a cracked a right foot shot which the keeper struggled on and had to push out for a corner.

The away side continued to have the better run of the play and looked quicker to a lot of balls than the all white’s. A rather unfortunate moment came though when Madras’ aforementioned captain, having taken a few swipes already, went in studs up on Legend Dancer, missed the ball but cracked the elder Manhire’s knee. It left him in a heap on the floor as the offender was booked for his troubles. It meant LD couldn’t continue, so from one elder Banter brother to another, Jon ‘J-Dot’ Stewart came on to play in the advanced three attackers as Hughes dropped to midfield and Doc came to right-back. Speedy recovery to Jim, the initial assessment appears to be that it isn't too serious, which is good.

J-Dot found himself in the penalty area shortly after coming on and skipped round a defender on the by-line before his cross was cleared, but there were other chances for either side beyond that.

The most hair-raising moment came during a non-communication between Vidic and Wuker. A long ball over the top saw Vidic get back to chase, Wuker come racing out and the former head back towards his onrushing goalkeeper, only to see it drift past the big man. Fortunately for both, it also drifted inches wide of the post and out for a corner.

It was 5 minutes before half time that the opening goal came and it arrived with some surprise to many players on both sides. A long ball into the box saw Wuker race out and challenge the Madras attacker, he got down and claimed the ball, taking his opponent at the same time. Rather unfortunately for the home side, a penalty was awarded. The ref seemed certain, even if home and away players were not. LD was booked in the aftermath for complaining from the sidelines. As the ref had a word with him though, a contender for quote of the week came up as Madras’ captain, without even the slightest irony, chirped up: “Who is he anyway? Is he one of your lot?” – Yes, he is. He’s also having to do his complaining from the sides because of you.

The spot kick was converted and Real Madras took in a 1-0 lead at half time.

A good half time team talk was had, with some very constructive comments from plenty and not just the usual suspects either. It proved to work as Banter produced a far more pleasing second half display all round.

Wuker excelled throughout the second half, claiming a couple of crosses expertly, coming off his line early to claim the ball, as well as making one fantastic punch away from a cross, clearing the danger and flattening his opponent at the same time.

Banter’s football picked up and grew as the half went on, the one and two touch passes were on display for a couple of fantastic moves which weren’t quite finished off. The turning point appeared to be when J-Dot levelled. Racing on to a deep cross, he had his initial shot saved from close range before picking it up wide on the rebound and chipping in high from a tight angle to make it 1-1. The man himself was delighted and it was exactly what Banter deserved. But sadly it never really can be considered the turning point that it should've been as no more goals were scored, despite a couple of opportunities.

The late arriving Baird was brought on with 15 minutes remaining to replace Ridders.

The remaining chances of the game saw Madras have a header go wide and a long range shot from an unmarked runner fly past the post, whilst Vidic had a header saved from a corner, Wommy saw his own header go agonisingly wide from a Baird cross on the left, and J-Dot had the chance to score his second when he controlled wonderfully but failed to take the shot on before being tackled and then bringing down his opponent in the process. Undeniably the best chance though came five minutes before time when some wonderful play from Wilkes down the right saw him cut back in and swing in a deadly left foot cross onto the six yard box which Brownie touched and then swung a right boot at, only to miss it, as the resulting gust of wind gave everyone in the area a nasty cold. Madras’ goalkeeper pounced and chance went begging.

Another contender for the week's best quote was when another foul throw was given, this time against Doc. The big Scot at the back had plenty to say when Doc disputed it, so Doc asked: "What are you, his linesman?", quite clearly not and without a moment's hesitation, the big man replied: "What are you, 10 years old?" - Quite.

If the second half was 45 minutes long then a few of us might have drifted off to sleep for about 10 minutes of it as it all seemed to end rather abruptly, with both teams taking away a deserved point.

Man of the match: Dan 'Hog Roast' Wilkes. A performance high on energy and dedication, he picked out simple pass after pass in possession and put in a fantastic shift in the centre of midfield, breaking up play very well too.

Definitely a performance to build upon and no shame in conceding just the one goal, either. One concern is how many clear-cut chances we’re creating. Not nearly enough. With that much quality I think we need to encourage one another to gamble a bit more, not only by darting into the area for a cross but also a few more direct ways forward, like a ball over the top or through the middle of the centre-backs for players to chase. Not only would I back most or all of our forward players to beat their markers in a sprint, I’d back them to deliver the final goods as well – be that a cross from wide or a one v one finish. I think four of our goals against Kurdish were scored by being direct and I can’t remember another game where we’ve really given it a go. Away to Madras a couple of times, perhaps. This avenue is definitely worth consideration when our football isn’t at its highest quality, as well.

Overall, I thought we were good and dominated for spells, particularly in the second half. We definitely made ourselves difficult to beat and break down which is excellent. This is always great to have when everyone’s not at their best. Most are a bit rusty and it has been six weeks so let’s take the positives and continue to gather points over the coming weeks, more to come I feel.