Mens 1

One training session after the mince pies, turkey and undoubted glass or two and we were thrown back into the league campaign!  The style of play we are trying to evolve requires work rate, communication and sticking to a plan so that everyone knows what is going on.  Well the first 10 minutes or so were sublime and getting close to one of the best periods of play that we have produced.  The movement and passing was incisive and ripped through Kettering at ease.  An early PC was dealt with on the original effort but a pass back across goal found Jon Dunn in space and he calmly slotted the ball home.

The early goal seemed to spur on the guys and there were numerous PCs and chances, from one of these Dan Carter fired an effort towards goal only to have one of the defenders deflect it on to the post and in, making the finish look better than it was!

Then it all changed...

The shorter passing and moving game that had born us dividends was replaced by a longer looking for the killer ball type of passing game.  This still resulted in several really good chances that should have been put away, but also resulted in turnovers and frustrations.  Gradually Kettering seemed to get back into the game and the only chances that they created were on our sloppy passes.  Halftime came and went, as did our habitual weak period (about the first 30 seconds of the 2nd half!!) and the game plan.  Again we started going longer and turning more over and eventually Kettering converted one of their PCs with a simple strike routine.  We didn't learn and kept creating chances and there could have been at least 3 tap ins and a stack of PC goals if only we had been a little more ruthless!!

And then it happened, turnover, counter break, poor defensive pressure and they won another PC.  Same routine, same result.  I don't think we will concede another 2 softer goals in a game and it obviously annoyed the players.  We then seemed to come back towards the game plan and when we cold retained the ball for long periods and when required we counter with pace.  There were numerous occasions when the last defender or tracking back player made an "interesting tackle" which rightly resulted in free hits, but these never seemed to escalate up into a PC or a card.  In fact it was us who received the 1 and only card in the game when Matt Parker was not quite 5m away and he got pinged.

Eventually, one of many attacking plays resulted in a player being on the far post (there had been other occasions but a key point was usually missed) and David Bond, with his stick on the floor deflected the ball in for a simple finish.  That was how the game finished, but we can only marvel at how Jono managed to miss a golden chance which would have sealed the victory.

In the end training (to an extent) paid off and bit of game management saw us retain the ball and ensure the 3 points.

It will be a much harder next week Derby, but increasing the time that we play the game plan at the pace we can play at  will defiantly make the game an interesting one.  The league table is slightly insane, with only 10 teams in the league, the top 8 places are covered 4 points!!  Win the right games at the right time and this league will be blown apart!

Having won 4-3 the previous week and sitting above Boots in the table, we entered the game thinking we could get something from the game, how wrong was I, from the 1st minute Boots dominated the game and were somehoww only 5-0 up at half time, their speed and running power overwhelmed the players back 4 who were at 6's and 7's for most of the half, this wasnt helped by the STOKE policy adapted by players to constantly aerial the ball around the park, perhaps our thoughts were that while the ball was in the air Boots dont have it so cant score, we did feel that a couple of decisions that might have changed the half didnt quite go our way but that shouldnt have stopped us trying to play alittle bit of hockey.

you could only imagine the half time chat, having to console our players and then try and gee them up,  body language wasnt great, nobody enjoyed the half, we were tired from chasing after Boots but somehow we had to still do it all again. the 2nd half pattern was similar to the first, a relentless barrage of attacking play from Boots. players just couldnt get to grips with this. Boots scored an impressive 10 goals in the 2nd half, Players did get a consolation goal right near the end. Mike Dockrell keeping up his record of scoring in every game so far,

Nottingham Players 4 - Ramgarhia 3

This was the 2nd game of the season where 1 of our new recruits had to face their previous club, to Rich this meant everything, however for some of the others perhaps not as after 20 minutes players were 2-0 down. the first 10 minutes were dominated by players however a lack of craft and clinicalness saw the scoreline remain blank, The Ramgarhia boys certainly upped their game and deservedly scored 2 quick goals and this had players on the back foot

struggling to gain much control after going 2-0 down players were perhaps a little fortunate to score from a short corner, captain steve dockrell striking the ball nowwhere near goal (at least 5 yards wide) saw a deflection from a Ramgarhia player take the ball into the back of the net, half time and 2-1 down and the players boys needed to wake up or this game was gone

a scrappy 2nd half saw a total of 4 yellow cards, one of them a vital advantage going the way of players

with both sides desperate to get goals for different reasons the game opened up and after a couple of incomplete short corners players finally managed to drag themselves back into the game, a well worked routine saw Jordan Obrien deflecting the ball into the goal and 2-2, game on, Ramgahria pushed and scored to make it 3-2, a lack of discipline from captain Steve dockrell left his players fighting with 10 men to try get something from this game, the boys put their foot down and pushed forward, another short corner awarded and up stepped Mike Dockrell with a drag dip (is that what you call it Widdo) into the corner of the goal, sensing the time was now, Players attacked down the left and a determined run from Steve Kettley ended with a karate kick by the Ramgarhia goalie, yellow card to the goalie and a penalty stroke awarded, Mike Dockrell calm as you like fired the ball into the top right corner to claim a 4-3 win

Man of the Match - Mike Dockrell

Dick of the day - Steve Dockrell

This really was a game about 1 player, as much as the score might make it seem like an even match, it really wasnt

Market Harborough's high intensity game plan certainly paid off and they found themselves 2-0 up after only 15 minutes, only several fantastic saves from Rich Harman kept the score line manageable. half time and a score of 2-0  didnt seem fair but we knew we had a chance to try and get something from this game, the 2nd half followed a similar pattern to the first , again with Rich in fantastic form and making a number of top class saves,

several exchanges of attacking play from both teams meant a fairy open 2nd half, both sides scored a goal from open play, Mike Dockrell keeping players in touching distance with a calm flick into the roof of the net with about 10 mins to go, that was short lived as a mazey run from opposition captain Rob Smith down the players right hand side and a couple of quick passes enable an open goal tap in to make the socre 3-1

Man of the Match: Rich Harman (13 out of 14 votes)

Dick of the Day: Joe Burt - turing up over 30 mins late