Avoiding the wire above the pitch and Bear avoiding the goal.
There were a couple of challenges in our repeat game v Sunderland Deaf: Avoiding hitting the two pieces of wire which were elongated just above head height on the pitch, and making sure the wire which tied Harper in defence from snapping and seeing him hurtle forward.
The side we had was better than the last time. Up top it was Col Robson and Nelly, while the midfield had Greener, Bear and Lee Cresswell, making his first showing for Sassco since 2008, when he played in a big win against the same team (report here). The rest of the players were a bit undecided. We had myself and Harper in defence, but Cam Thompson, last times’ goalkeeper was full back as Davey “Pie Chops” Smith was in goal. Bear managed to rope in John Tindall, who turned up looking like the paper round had taken it’s toll. Two were missing and didn’t show up, so it was a few emergency calls and then Davey Smith’s Elliot Wright answered the call and was there ten minutes into kick off.
By then, we were 2-0 down, including one from hitting the wire, but creating an astonishing amount of chances, including a corker for Bear, which we’re not allowed to mention. For almost the entire half it was 2-0, until the 43rd minute when we scored. A minute later it was 2-2. Col Robson and Nelly scoring.
Second half we took control. Barely 10 minutes had passed before we were 4-2 up. A few defensive lapses saw them claw back to keep within distance, but in the end we ran out 8-4 winners. In total, Bear got one (eventually). Elliot, Col and Cresswell got one each, while Tindal and Nelly hit two each. Harper claimed he’d bag any of the chances, but ended up nearly losing the ball a few times with his shots.
Below: Tactical Analysis of James Collinson’s opportunity in the first half.
