[JonInMiddleGA]

Feb 18, 2012
Blyth (1st, 18-3-9) vs Guiseley (20th, 6-5-19)

So, we've had an awful team meeting, morale is just so-so across the board at best. We've just had our butts handed to us by a team that honestly shouldn't be beating us, not even at their place.

The schedule gods have smiled upon us however, we're hosting Guiseley, losers of four straight shutouts, with a brand new head coach name the day before the match. 45 y/o Steve Castle, most recently an assistant at Bishop's Stortford, has taken over & will try to find a way to steer The Lions clear of relegation. If he can, more power to him ... but not today please.

We played at their place earlier in the season, winning 2-1 on a pair of goals by Mole.

We'll avoid trying to react to their 4-5-1 alignment, something we've hardly seen this year, we'll just go 4-4-2 Standard, try to keep it simple & just win this match. We'll also try to find a lineup that isn't too demoralized to perform. Recently signed Gary Pinch will make his first team debut. We're 4:6 favorites at home.

GK - Knight
D: Giddings - Sinclair - Pinch - Pearson
MF: Kendrick - Matondo - Vipond - Janneh
F: Mole, Taylor
(Available: Jones, Osborn, Armstrong, White, Hartley)

20:00 - 2 shots each, none anywhere near the net
26:45 - Taylor with a run into the area, keeper comes out, Taylor's shot is blocked easily ... the following corner produces nothing
28:54 - Pearson crosses one into the box for Mole, his header is too high
36:40 - Pinch gambles on a steal in the area & misses ... Walshaw plays a pass to O'Connor, who beats Pearson & then beats Knight too. (0-1) That's their first goal in over 400 minutes.

Halftime - 5-4 shots edge means nothing at the moment, neither does the 55% of possession. Our passing has been sub-par, we're getting killed in the air. I try to encourage them that this can still be won. We're switching to Attack strategy, with instructions to be more direct with our passing and to drill crosses.

47:50 - Vipond with a corner to Pinch, his bouncing header is denied, the rebound is knocked over the end line. The next corner provides nothing
52:20 - Mole to Taylor in th earea, his shot is blocked neatly
60:30 - Sinclair gets away with a warning after a foul at the very edge of the area.
61:13 - Free kick, first shot is blocked, rebound is drilled home by Walshall (0-2) That was a 50-50 loose ball that Sinclair should have taken

62:53 - Meechan fouls Giddings at midfield, a lengthy discussion ... a yellow card, that's his second & he's sent off. But do we have time to score at least twice even a man up?
Sub Osborn for Giddings (5.8), (Matondo to LMF, Kendrick to LWB) ... sub Jones for Pinch (5.3)

70:43 - Kendrick with a long pass downfield to Taylor ... he's in space & into the area ... shoots ... past the approaching keeper GOAL (1-2)

71:00 - Sub Armstrong for Taylor ... go Overload & gamble
72:54 - Janneh crosses into the box for Mole ... header is just a bit too high
75:49 - Mole outmuscles Bower in the box & shoots ... Harwood is there but he bobbles it & it's an own goal (2-2) Switch to Control
79:33 - Mole plays it ahead to Armstrong down the middle .. swings a pass to the left for Matondo & he shoots from the left edge of the area, it's blocked by a defender ... rebound goes straight to Vipond at the edge of the box, Harwood blocks that one but the rebound comes right back to Vipond & he stuffs it home (3-2)

84:00 - Switch to Counter
95:03 - Final whistle

Fulltime - Talk about an escape. Conflicting advice from the staff on what to say to the team after that, first time all year I've seen any real disagreement among them on that. Rather than warn against complacency with a team that's having major morale problems, I praise them for the comeback instead. They appear mostly delighted with that reaction, although morale is still a big concern. So too is how awful we played for most of the match before finally overpowering them with our offense. 11-5 shooting edge, 58% possession (so Control was the right call early in the 2nd half I think), we definitely picked up things ... but that's a lot easier to do when they're playing with only 10 men and you get an own goal gifted to you.

Knight 6.8
Giddings 5.8, Sinclair 6.6, Pinch 5.3, Pearson 7.0
Kendrick (MOM) 7.7 & 1 assist, Matondo 6.6, Vipond 7.3 & 1 goal, Janneh 6.7
Mole 6.8, Taylor 7.1 & 1 goal
Subs: Jones/Osborn/Armstrong all 6.9

Feb 18, 2012 (post-match)
Nuneaton beats Corby, Histon beats Bishop's but Hinckley loses again, this time to Gainsborough. Our lead is 1 pt over 2nd, 2 pts over 3rd but now 6 pts over 4th and 8 pts over 5th.

I handle the presser as best I can, trying to keep an even keel but slightly upbeat so as not to add stress to any of our more sensitive players.

Afterwards I hear from Ewen Fairgreave, GK Matty Hunter suffered a damaged heel during a training session & will be out 2 weeks for treatment.