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Whilst for the third week running the sun shone in glorious fashion, the dark clouds of youth football fell heavy over Earls Colne. With injuries galore we scrapped together a squad. The late arrival of two didn’t help preparations and as the match started I had that feeling that we were just not ready. We were certainly not ready for the onslaught of blatant fouls dished out by their midfield amazingly urged on by the sidelines. ‘Your men not boys’ was one of the factually inaccurate statements bleated out from the supporters. Some of the others are not printable, and they were from the manager. Thank god for the parents of my squad.
The result was that we either resorted to kicking out or being so nervous of the physical contact that we took our eyes off the ball resulting in terrible first touches. Other players ran with fear in their eyes. Harry C was getting himself worked into a lather as he was being barged, kicked and jumped on which of course meant that he stopped playing football. I did have some sympathy with him as he walked off at half time saying ‘ Well let them win if they want to win like that.’ The ref, a nice young bloke, let far too many terrible tackles go unpunished (from both sides) resulting in a sense of anarchy and resentment all round.
Half time and we were 1-0 down. With the slope and a set of calmer heads I expected us to forge ahead and as the half started the signs were promising. The visiting keeper was screaming about the panic that was setting in, and territorially we were dominant. Some of the tackles from the midfield pair were shocking, but we were finally being awarded some free kicks.
The second half was about one thing – finishing. To their credit, Stanway made the most of almost every opportunity that came their way. Simple passing and moving put their strikers through, and each time they finished with confidence. We had just as many chances but unlike past weeks they would not go in. Only James kept a clear head and struck a confident goal to make the score 3-1. Any hope of a comeback was snuffed out about 30 seconds later when a midfield gaffe let the visitors through for another fine finish. One of the goals looked dubiously off-side, but the others were all well deserved.
At the end of the match we were hobbling about like Eastbourne pensioners. Rest those limbs boys – if you push an injury it will only get worse.
I was impressed with the Stanway defence, and when he was not fouling, their central midfielder, who passed the ball with confidence and maturity. Not so impressed with the rubbish they left behind at the end of the match. Didn’t enjoy today – days like today always make me think that English football is never going to progress beyond hacking and aggression.
Jack was the man of the match – for numerous reasons, but ultimately for his leadership. |