A good second half is thwarted by missed chances.

I was the first one there. I arrive long before kick off at around 4:50pm and instead of twiddling with my dipstick, I got the ladder out and put both nets up (one with the help of Daz Snowball).

By the time they were up; still no players. Was it going to be one of those Wednesdays again? Not likely. Everyone showed (even Stoker, Graham, Kyle and Gourlay). I needed a strong side out against Hylton CW and I got it. However, Jimmy was missing for the opening half, so I elected for a 4-5-1 formation. Macca was on up front on his own.

The game was blank for a god twenty minutes until Hylton CW struck from the spot after Stoker swung his leg. Not too long after, Tim (Yes, Tiger Tim) was deceived by the full back and they were 2-0 up. We did have chances. Macca had a glorious one created by Nelly, then Nelly himself was tackled in the box, complaining that no one gave him the shout (what do you expect in a packed box? Turn and shot in one movement like I always do…).

A lot of whinnying and complaining at half time. A lot of it directed at me for removing Paul McConville (who actually took a bit of a knock and was on the sidelines for a few minutes in the first half) and putting Jimmy on in a 4-4-2 formation. Me being my usual self told all the bitches to stick it and fuck off if they didn’t like it. The signs weren’t too good. Players were blaming the tactics, the length of the grass, the fact that some blue shirts were long sleeve and some were short. The point I’m trying to get a across is that these idiots will blame anything else apart from the real reason why we were 2-0 down. We didn’t get tight, we didn’t get tight at them and we didn’t snap at ankles. And we didn’t take what limited chances we had in the opening half.

Second half proved I was right. I actually had Nelly on the right hand side, but Macca wanted to switch, after he missed a sitter in the first half. He actually jumped like Mr. Burns when Nelly played in a perfect cross.

We went at Hylton CW and created numerous chances. Nelly, clean through, saw his chance blocked. Macca had two or three chances. Muers and Dave Graham headed direct to the ‘keeper. At the back we weren’t even troubled at all. We simply marked and stuck tight the way we always should. Tim, who had a bit of a howler in the first was excellent in the second. Stoker eventually pushed up with Macca back to try and grab a goal, but it was not to be.

A great second half, but it shows the difference and why Hylton CW are up there. They take their chances.

As a footnote, a few players didn’t pay their subs and are in some arrears now. If effort isn’t made to reduce it, then it’s likely they will be on the bench until back in the black. Emu’s not getting much left over to get a pizza these days.

Community North Sports Complex
League Division 1
Hylton CW 2
Sassco.co.uk 0
Sassco.co.uk: Dave Simpson, Gareth Stoker, Simon Mulvaney, Tim Gillespie, Mark Muers*, Paul McConville (David Raeper), Dave Gourlay, Neil Richardson, Kyle Robinson, Dave Graham