[JonInMiddleGA]

Apr 5, 2014 (morning)
Our U18s played a group match at Farnborough, winning 3-0

It's an important fixture as we've climbed to within 3 points of Woking for the group lead. Branker buries a shot on the move at 12', off a lovely feed from Niall Smith. Branker feeds Madine with a corner, he steps back out of traffic & suddenly fires to make it 2-0 at 36'. Terrible call gets us our second yellow of the match at 50', for the team that is. Just before the end of extra time (93') Branker feeds Egbeku for a little icing on the cake.

Branker is MOM (8.0) with a goal and two assists. Madine sparkled, Dalton was worthy of his clean sheet.

O'Halloran has bruised ribs, he'll be out 6-8 days. Woking lost to Dorchester, leaving us tied with 61 points each but we lead on GD +40 to +23 with four matches left to play.


Apr 5, 2014 (afternoon)
Blyth (11-13-12, 12th BSBN) vs Alfreton (24-9-3, 1st BSBN)
We're a 7:4 underdog at home against the runaway leaders of the league. We'll open 4-4-1-1 Counter again, might as well, despite the enormous temptation to park the bus and just try to steal a point here. First meeting this season saw us salvage a 3-3 draw thanks to a Whitaker PK in the 86th minute.

GK: Dovey
D: Dean-Conteh, Sawyer, Seidu, Groves
MF: Higgins, Ahmed, Smyth, Moke
F: Paratore, Rickard
Available Subs: (Williamson, Whitaker, Cofie, Carruthers, McDonald)

7' - Ahmed free kick is a scorcher but it's high and wide left
8' - Alfreton gets a man completely unmarked into open space on the right flank, behind everyone ... his shot is slapped away by Dovey. He HAD to be offside to be that far behind the defense but no flags in sight
14' - Alfreton's Griffin shoots long but high
27' - Ahmed takes a long shot but it's well wide left
30' - Rees shoots for Alfreton, Dovey saves ... but it hits the post & then hits Dovey for an own goal (0-1)
32' - Moke breaks free down the right flank, looking to center it, gets fouled on the tackle but no call is made
34' - Ahmed has a free kick from the point ... closer but still wide left
37' - Weak shot by Ahmed is no trouble

Halftime - Not a good showing really. They're just faster than we are (or at least as fast) and it's killing our normal opportunities from the flanks. Meanwhile our shots are mostly long and aren't on target. We ask the players to give us more in the second half and try something we haven't ever really done, which is to focus our passing in the middle. We'll also switch to a Defensive strategy to open the half. Planning to use it just for a bit to prevent a cheap goal early.

54' - Ahmed sends a corner to the far post but Seidu's header it harmlessly high ... switch back to Counter
61' - We decide to roll the dice ... switch to 4-4-2 Diamond Counter ... sub Cofie (for Paratore, tiring) ... shift Moke to AMC, shift Ahmed to MR, shift Sawyer to DMC, shift Smyth to DC
65' - Ahmed with a corner played low to the far post, Seidu's point blank shot is saved & clear out of bounds to midfield
66' - Mellor FINALLY gets a foul called against him with a yellow card for tripping Grovers for good measure
68' - Smyth clears a threat with a long ball to the right flank ... Cofie runs onto it with a sudden burst of speed ... he's free and into the box ... shoots ... GOOOOOOOALLLLLL ! (1-1) Alfreton players look stunned
69' - Alfreton reverts back to their usual style of play (had gone Defensive since scoring)
76' - Moke with a takeaway in the offensive end, feeds Ahmed, who feeds Cofie right in front ... saved and turned aside for a corner try
77' - Sub Carruthers (for Higgins, tiring) ... Alfreton appears to be going more defensive now
84' - Groves trips Mellor, gets a yellow card of his own
90' - 3 minutes of added time
91:30 - Sawyer centers a pass for Moke, it's cut out and Alfreton starts a quick counterattack
91:55 - Griffin slips past Smyth on the run ... eludes Deen-Conteh and shoots ... (1-2)


Full Time: Alfreton 2 - Blyth 1

April 5, 2014 (postmatch)
Gut-wrenching defeat. You just want to throw up. The assistants want me to crack the whip a bit, I calmly say it just wasn't our day. The players look to have gained confidence from that, almost to a man. I guess they expected a tongue-lashing, one that I just didn't have the heart to give them. Deep down though, we deserved at least a point today, somehow we didn't come away with it.