Re: Re:Blitzkrieg Football is Back!
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There was a lot to enjoy about Saturday.
First half was quite even, ANG hit the bar, Diedhiou was a toenail away from converting a driven cross, but 'ricay had a couple of good opportunities early on as well. After Tuesday, I guess going in at the break without having conceded was of paramount importance.
They brought on Cunnington and Robinson at the break, and after 7 or 8 minutes where they really came at us but failed to test Tom, suddently Zak found himself racing through on goal and cleaned out by the advancing goalkeeper. The penalty was clear, and I guess it was the fact that he had made a genuine attempt to play the ball that saved Giddins from seeing red. Joseph was just far to quick for him though.
Niko did the rest from the spot and then showed real presence of mind to take an extra touch during a melee in the 6 yard box and then lift the ball into the net rather than stabbing it low through a pile of bodies to make it 2-0 and at this point, the 'ricay back four didn't know if it was Saturday or Tuesday lunchtime.
Interesting point when we scored the second goal, I knew they were beaten. No-one was geeing them up, all of the blue shirts were staring at the floor, hands on hips.
Josh's first goal for 3-0 was magnificent, cutting inside off the right flank and curling a beautiful left footed shot into the top corner and by this point, there was open dissent amongst the ranks with blue shirts arguing with eachother. A fine thing to see from a Hendon point of view. It encapsulated 10 minutes or so of football from the Greens that, if 'ricay's side is worth £30k per week, was worth £100k per week. It was absolutely scintilating.
The sting had completely left the game after that, we were happy to defend 'ricay's long ball game from deep and hit with pace on the break. O'Hara came on and played some nice raking passes from deep in his Jan Molby role, and when he curled a free-kick in with seven or eight minutes remaining, there were brief signs of a revival.
That ended though when a brilliant covering challenge at the far post denied Cunnington a clear header at goal (I think it was Hammond) - Cunnington then had to leave the pitch with a pretty nasty looking facial injury. I hope he's okay and that reports of a fractured eye socket are wide of the mark.
Walker's goal in the stoppage time saw him totally outmuscle Kevin Foley, no less, and calmly wrong foot Giddins with a low left footed finish. Foley was convinced he'd been fouled in the build-up, he hadn't. Walker had shown himself to be too strong for the former Irish international.
I always feel churlish picking out individuals in a performance like that, but Corcoran totally ran things from midfield and the front four, in perfect tandem, caused no end of problems for 'ricay's back four. Arthur was magnificent defensively too, with Rian, James and Luke also very good at keeping the visiting attacking threat to a minimum.
Whilst the visitors did understandably look tired given their schedule, there is a lot more bubbling under the surface there. Tamplin walking out after 70 minutes (flight to Amsterdam or not), a total lack of fight after going 2-0 down - on what I saw on Saturday I cannot see that group of players winning the title.
A mention too for the atmosphere. Excellent crowd, and the place was absolutely rocking during that second half behind the goal. Even I came away feeling euphoric and buzzing - the bar was still packed when I left at 6:00 and there was no real sign of people leaving any time soon. A great afternoon and as others have said above, hopefully a taste of things to come in the next few years.
Edited by John Rogers at 10:25:51 on 26th March 2018
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