A great performance against runaway league leaders Old Town Boys. We were beaten by a better team, but the Old Town manager said we were the best team they've played this season.
With stand-in captain Tom Ryan missing Chris Newbury played in central defence in the first half, which meant that although we defended well we were a bit short in midfield and found it hard to create anything. Old Town went ahead after seven minutes when a cross from the right wing was put away well, but we defended resolutely for the rest of the half until just before half time when two quick goals effectively ended the match as a contest.
Chris Newbury moved back into central midfield for the second half and new signing Chris Stewart stepped into central defence and had a solid game after a nervous start. Martin Hill picked up our first ever yellow card for a handball that was silly rather than cynical.
We were able to win more of the ball, but went 4-0 down. Then the fightback began as Chris Newble finished calmly and then put Ross McCarter through to score his first goal for the team. We started to close down quicker and put Old Town under pressure, but they managed to score with the last kick of the game.
If Tom Ryan had been playing and we had been able to play Chris Newbury in midfield from the start, I like to think we might have got even closer, as obviously this isn't a team that is used to being put under pressure this season.
As it was it was another glorious defeat, a great team performance with many great individual performances. Jamie Hards made some great saves, the defence coped well for most of the game, the two ex-Wadhurst boys looked more confident and played intelligently, Nick Edwards looks stronger every week and Chris Newble worked hard with little service, but Chris Newbury was man-of-match for outstanding play in defence and midfield. |