Great Wall of Maroubra Repels Redfern Raids to Snatch Victory 2-1
Team,
Fantastic result today, another hard fought victory against a formidable opposition and you should all be proud of your efforts not only in this game but for the whole month where we have gone through undefeated. That may not sound like much so early in the season, but considering we have taken points of 2 of the best sides in the comp, it has laid the foundations for a potentially great season and if we can get our full compliment out there, then anything is possible.
Today's victory undoubtedly was built on our strong defence as we repelled Redfern's numerous raids throughout the game and when we had the opportunity, we pounced as was evidenced with our first goal.
Our depleted midfield was once again under the pump but i was extremely pleased with all the contributors, thwarting their attacking midfielders as much as possible. It was great to see the return of Keith who added a great deal of mungrel and control in the midfield, however one other player that was brilliant in midfield today was Frankie.
During the week, we discussed Redfern's attacking threats consisting of "Collosus" and "El Diablo" so who better was there to cut them down than the pint sized (i am not talking about beer yet) Frankie who kept nagging away and creating a nuisance of himself, slowing down play and winning crucial tackles.
I was also pleased with how we kept to our pre game and half time plans. At the start of the game we talked about how we needed to fix our first 20 minutes and we did that really well and then at half time i set the challenge of not losing this game so we can go through the month without a loss and earn the tag of "April Champions".
It appears you guys are thriving on these challenges as 90% of the time we have achieved those targets that either myself or the team have talked about so i will be looking to keep that going throughout the season if necessary.
Moving to the goals....a defence splitting pass from Dennis through the middle found Tom who then started on one of his "rampaging" runs down the middle to subsequently find himself one on one with the keeper. After picking his spot, Birthday Boy Tom calmly stroked the ball past the keeper diving to his right to put us in the unusual position of leading 1-0.
Our second goal came courtesy of the penalty spot. Once it was awarded, our pre-season penalty selection (Rod) was on hand to take the spot kick but no one noticed (except me) that as Rod was jogging up to take the spot kick, his centre back partner clip Rod's heels forcing him to stumble to the ground - Rod's centre back partner shall remain nameless but i think it was his attempt to regain the penalty taking duties!! **just joking**
Big thanks goes to our unsung heroes - the O45s reinforcements in Keeper John, Joel, Stan, Marj and another cameo appearance from Jimmy late in the game. Well done fellas, your assistance and support is most appreciated indeed!!
Also like to thank Con for bringing the shirts and beers today and as per normal has the difficult task of selecting the 3,2,1 Players Player of the Year votes - good luck Con on working that out today. When you have done so, please email our Team Auditor Wayne only to keep record.
Training is on Wednesday so please make the effort to be there at 6:30pm or text either Wayne or me if you are not available.
Well done all and enjoy the 3 points this week.......
Team Sheet:
John, Dennis, Geoff, Rod, Jason, Frank, Keith, Wayne, Brett, Con, Tom. Subs: Marj, Joel, Stan, Jimmy, Napoleon
They were a skilful side and it is a bit lucky that they play at "Home" on the small bumpy pitch and the wind did help break up their ball players. Going in in front 1-0 was huge into the wind. That said we were tight again at the back (John in goals was a great pick up for that sort of game). We're not the most skilful, but I haven't seen any team want it more than us in a fixture yet!
ReplyDeleteGreat, gritty win again lads. The shape we kept throughout the match was superb & it's clear these teams don't know how to adapt to our solid back four & 5 man midfield - kudos to Supercoach Leo there. By the way: I will not be recommending the 'stop a blasted shot with your face' tactic be adopted for future use. Not the highlight of the match for me! (In trouble with the wife for drinking after being felled too - apparently "But we won!" is not the correct response in such a situation :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm still pumped! Knees are sore/bruised - might need to invest in some Robocop gear! - maybe Wayne's supplier will do a bulk discount for the team :)
ReplyDeleteBTW Wayne - will you also be wearing head gear from now on?