Game 5 vs Lindfield C, 14 May
A clear, crisp day at Primula for our top of the table clash with Lindfield C, the only other undefeated team in the division. We were down one player with Georgina away on a Scout camp. We found out just before the game that Lindfield had three players away and their regular goalie with a broken arm, and unfortunately for them one of the missing players was their top goal scorer. For the second week in a row we had a black & white ref.
Everyone was raring to go. Winning breeds confidence and you could see it in the way the players went right from the whistle. Once again, our midfield denied the opposition time and space, and 5 minutes in Nikki and Aynsley took the ball from the halfway. The keeper didn't stand a chance and Aynsley buried his first goal for the day. A few minutes later Josh first-timed a neat pass that crossed the goal mouth. Not too long after that Aynsley crossed one in from the right and the Lindfield keeper came out to challenge Nikki, who neatly sidestepped him and put the ball into an empty net. 3-0 midway through the half, and then Lindfield woke up. Our defence had a fair bit of work to do for the rest of the half, and around the 20 minute mark we were defending one of several corners in quick succession. Lindfield looked like they were in with a chance, then Greg swooped and cleared the ball. Sam B controlled it, and put a beautiful ball through to Aynsley who finished off a length-of-the-field counter-attack. Three minutes later we had a free kick just outside the penalty area. Sam B took it, and virtually laid the ball at the feet of an unmarked Aynsley, who put us up 5-0 with a first-time, left foot shot. Virtually from the restart Lindfield swept downfield and took our defence unawares. Matthew was left covering two attackers and, although he blocked the first shot, he couldn't control it and the other Lindfield player latched on to the rebound to make it 5-1 near the end of a very entertaining first half.
The second half started at speed as well, and we had a couple of half-chances early on but Lindfield started to close up the gaps and we didn't have as much room to move as previously. The next scoring opportunity came midway through the half, with a long throw-in finding Nikki, who passed to Aynsley for a close-range shot. A few minutes later Lindfield counter-punched again, scoring their second goal which was almost a carbon copy of the first. Several more minutes of ebb and flow saw one of our players tripped in the penalty area. It wasn't intentional but it was a bit late, and the ref pointed to the spot. That would have been 3 points in Rugby... By this stage there were 5 minutes to go, and both sides were looking a bit tired but still putting in the effort. In our case the effort paid off. Cam N, Sam B, Nikki and Aynsley all took off towards goal, to be met by a resolute defence. But we hung on to the ball and a couple of quick passes set Aynsley up for a simple finish, his fifth of the day. Another move a couple of minutes later saw Aynsley drag the Lindfield keeper way out of position. A defender managed to clear the ball into empty space, and Cam N saw his opportunity and pounced, sending in a high floater. The keeper was back in position but only got one hand to it, and couldn't stop the goal. Finally, Cam N had another break with about a minute to go and, in a fine solo effort, took the ball from halfway and buried it in the left corner. 9-2, a well-deserved win, but next time we meet Lindfield I'd expect a much tougher game.
With all this talk of goals you can miss the picture of the teamwork that made it possible. Once again everyone played their part. But for a couple of lapses (caused by us moving up in attack) the defence was great, with people there in numbers to snuff out any raids. The forwards had a great day, usually moving up in numbers which gave them options around the goalmouth. Last week we squandered plenty of opportunities, and our shooting was a bit messy. This week... Messi? Of course, without a strong midfield you don't control the game and that has been a feature of our play. Sam B has been the general this season, setting up our forwards with some brilliant passing and helping the team keep its structure. This week he shared the player of the match award with Nikki, who was in everything and, besides scoring one goal himself, was involved in most of the others. Well played everyone, it's a shame we only hand out two gongs per match.
Thanks to Murali for running the line.
Denis (Manager)