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JonInMiddleGA · 03-25-2012, 03:46 AM

Jan 11, 2012 (afternoon)
Blyth (6th, 13-2-8) at Harrogate (16th, 8-5-11)

32 degrees & sleet in the forecast. Our old pal Stuart Duncan as the referee. A match against Gateshead coming up next. Yeah, we're going to keep our key players as far from this mess as possible I think. It's one match out of dozens, but Saturday's FA Trophy tilt is more than that. We'll play 4-4-2 Defensive, hope to shorten this as much as we can.

GK - Hartley
D: Giddings - Seery - Stevenson - Pearson
MF: Osborn - Sawyer - Vipond - McCabe
F: Taylor - Bannister
(Available subs: Buchanan - Whitely - Chinthengah - Christensen - Forster) first time we've not dressed a backup GK

24:45 - A slide tackle at midfield by Nowakowski levels Vipond, no call, and our MF stays down ... the work the ball around efficiently, find Brayson just outside the box on the left ... he shoots & scores, right past Hartley to the narrow space to his right. (0-1) How Duncan could swallow his whistle on that tackle I can't understand. He's up slowly now, wants to stay on so we'll try to squeeze a little more time out of him if we can.

27:30 - Nowakowski gets a yellow for upending McCabe

Halftime - We've been outshot 4-1, have only 32% possession, haven't completed a cross, only completing 59% of our passes, trailing 0-1 ... and I tell the club that we've just been unlucky. Mind game seems to have worked, every player seemed to show renewed motivation.

47:00 - Harrogate appears to be in full on time-wasting mode early, we'll switch to Standard strategy
50:19 - Briggs missed on open net wide left, lucky for us.
58:40 - Osborn comes into the area, marked tightly by two men ... somehow he maintains possession and works his way toward the middle ... shoots ... GOAL !!! (1-1) The veteran has drawn us level with his first goal of the season.
Sub Chinthengah on for Bannister (ineffective) and Sam Christensen makes his first team debut on for Seery (ineffective)
65:00 - Pearson saves our bacon, clearing a ball off the line as Harrogate put us under intense pressure with a pair of shots at close range
66:06 - Chinthengah makes a long run, gets past his man & fires off a shot ... off the post and Liburd puts it out to safety
72:28 - Nowakowski plays the ball to Brayson about 5 yards outside the area ... he turns & fires ... and beats Hartley to the near post (1-2)
Sub Whitely for McCabe (tiring), switch to Attacking
76:27 - Vipond takes it deep into the right channel ... crosses into the area .. Osborn is there and ... GOAL !!! (2-2) A quick shot that simply beat the keeper, a huge clutch play right there ... We switch to Counter strategy
81:00 - Allen finds himself alone in the area, Hartley has to tip it over ... Osborn clears the corner & is playing his heart out ...
83:00 - Giddings picks up a yellow card
87:00 - Pearson gets a foul but avoids the yellow
Fulltime - It's only a draw but there were some positives for sure, the players are delighted by my reaction. What else could I say, we flat out stole a point here. Outshot 12-5, only 38% of possession, but the 39 y/o Osborn would not let us come away empty handed. What a performance, totally unexpected, even moreso since he was playing on the unfamiliar left side today.

Hartley 6.6
Giddings 5.9, Seery 5.8, Stevenson 6.7, Pearson 7.0
Osborn 8.8 & 2 goals, Sawyer 6.5, Vipond 6.9 & 1 assist, McCabe 6.0
Taylor 6.7 & 1 assist, Bannister 5.8
Subs: Whitely 6.9, Chinthengah 6.6, Christensen 6.3

03-25-2012, 03:46 AM	#114
JonInMiddleGA Hall Of Famer Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Behind Enemy Lines in Athens, GA	Jan 11, 2012 (afternoon) Blyth (6th, 13-2-8) at Harrogate (16th, 8-5-11) 32 degrees & sleet in the forecast. Our old pal Stuart Duncan as the referee. A match against Gateshead coming up next. Yeah, we're going to keep our key players as far from this mess as possible I think. It's one match out of dozens, but Saturday's FA Trophy tilt is more than that. We'll play 4-4-2 Defensive, hope to shorten this as much as we can. GK - Hartley D: Giddings - Seery - Stevenson - Pearson MF: Osborn - Sawyer - Vipond - McCabe F: Taylor - Bannister (Available subs: Buchanan - Whitely - Chinthengah - Christensen - Forster) first time we've not dressed a backup GK 24:45 - A slide tackle at midfield by Nowakowski levels Vipond, no call, and our MF stays down ... the work the ball around efficiently, find Brayson just outside the box on the left ... he shoots & scores, right past Hartley to the narrow space to his right. (0-1) How Duncan could swallow his whistle on that tackle I can't understand. He's up slowly now, wants to stay on so we'll try to squeeze a little more time out of him if we can. 27:30 - Nowakowski gets a yellow for upending McCabe Halftime - We've been outshot 4-1, have only 32% possession, haven't completed a cross, only completing 59% of our passes, trailing 0-1 ... and I tell the club that we've just been unlucky. Mind game seems to have worked, every player seemed to show renewed motivation. 47:00 - Harrogate appears to be in full on time-wasting mode early, we'll switch to Standard strategy 50:19 - Briggs missed on open net wide left, lucky for us. 58:40 - Osborn comes into the area, marked tightly by two men ... somehow he maintains possession and works his way toward the middle ... shoots ... GOAL !!! (1-1) The veteran has drawn us level with his first goal of the season. Sub Chinthengah on for Bannister (ineffective) and Sam Christensen makes his first team debut on for Seery (ineffective) 65:00 - Pearson saves our bacon, clearing a ball off the line as Harrogate put us under intense pressure with a pair of shots at close range 66:06 - Chinthengah makes a long run, gets past his man & fires off a shot ... off the post and Liburd puts it out to safety 72:28 - Nowakowski plays the ball to Brayson about 5 yards outside the area ... he turns & fires ... and beats Hartley to the near post (1-2) Sub Whitely for McCabe (tiring), switch to Attacking 76:27 - Vipond takes it deep into the right channel ... crosses into the area .. Osborn is there and ... GOAL !!! (2-2) A quick shot that simply beat the keeper, a huge clutch play right there ... We switch to Counter strategy 81:00 - Allen finds himself alone in the area, Hartley has to tip it over ... Osborn clears the corner & is playing his heart out ... 83:00 - Giddings picks up a yellow card 87:00 - Pearson gets a foul but avoids the yellow Fulltime - It's only a draw but there were some positives for sure, the players are delighted by my reaction. What else could I say, we flat out stole a point here. Outshot 12-5, only 38% of possession, but the 39 y/o Osborn would not let us come away empty handed. What a performance, totally unexpected, even moreso since he was playing on the unfamiliar left side today. Hartley 6.6 Giddings 5.9, Seery 5.8, Stevenson 6.7, Pearson 7.0 Osborn 8.8 & 2 goals, Sawyer 6.5, Vipond 6.9 & 1 assist, McCabe 6.0 Taylor 6.7 & 1 assist, Bannister 5.8 Subs: Whitely 6.9, Chinthengah 6.6, Christensen 6.3 __________________ "I lit another cigarette. Unless I specifically inform you to the contrary, I am always lighting another cigarette." - from a novel by Martin Amis Last edited by JonInMiddleGA : 03-25-2012 at 04:38 AM.