Result : WIN 4-1 vs Chelmsford Super Vets
Match Report :
The Titans faced Chelmsford on Saturday to try and make it four wins on the bounce and maintain a top 3 position.
The team were reminded prior to the start of the game about the dire performance away at Chelmsford that saw us waste 2 points. With a bare 12 available, we really had to best make use of the sub especially with the weather in fine form. We started the stronger, our passing was crisp, our movement off the ball created chance after chance and it was at a 3rd attempt that we managed to take the lead with a good passage of play on the right hand side. Without Peds in defence, Biffi took the reins and was able to feed the ball right to Howie Wilson, who managed to throw off the on-coming defender with his trade mark dummy to move in and out and found Shamit who rolled the ball into the path of Woody who was using his NEW Titans stick on the day to dummy the keeper and tomahawked the ball into the empty net.
1 up and the Titans started enjoying the play. Chelmsford by no means are a push over and their recent results showed that. The Injured Captain’s team talk was simple, “put right, what went wrong, I want 3 points”!! It was a joy to see us score a 2nd goal very quickly via a short corner and the pre-game plan of the Zig-Zag worked well with Wiz finally grasping the art of the Zig-Zag and Shamit was able to convert it into goal for our 2nd of the game with only 15 mins gone. “Let’s not get complacent” were the words of the Captain, “We have been in this position at least 4 times before in the league and we failed to gain maximum points. Patience and Game Management are key”. Justin (Mr reliable) didn’t start the game not did he have a chance to warm up due to his Umpiring commitments therefore (Mr reliable 2) – Cliff Peck stepped into goal and it is fair to say his presence was enough to scare off Chelmsford as they failed to get anywhere close to 25. Justin stepped in and was equal to the challenge when Chelmsford began to step it up. He was called into action to stop a lob which all credit to Justin, he jumped to his body’s advantage to stop the effort.
With just over 5 mins to go in the 1st half, Greg stepped up to open his account by coolly slotting in from a fine passage of play down the right again. 3-0 at half time and a great position to be in. Short half time chat, “Let the ball do the work, it’s a warm day, we only have one sub. Keep it simple”.
However, the second half (fast forward 10 mins) became a struggle and a bit of an ill-tempered affair. Titans began to slump in their passing, loosing possession too often, wayward passing, rushing to get the 4th goal, instead a bit of game management would have helped. Chelmsford clearly had other intentions and it showed in their agricultural style of play and were sticking the boot in and were showing signs of frustration of the score line and their own 1st half performance. They came out of the blocks more determined. With only 1 sub available for the home game, Pokey was asked to suit up just in case as Biffi showed signs of a hamstring pull and was clearly struggling.
It was a matter of time and Chelmsford’s persistence paid off when they worked a great short corner to score their 1st goal of the day. They kept pushing us but our defence of Howard Clayden, Nick Hollett and Laurence held off any more threat. Great running and hard work from Wiz, Wilson, Ali P in midfield helped us keep the momentum. The hero from last week Big Hands (Tony James) having doubled up was keen to get into action having missed the 1st game against them helped the cause by being the menace too often stopping Chelmsford playing their game . Luckily we had held them off pretty well for the 2nd half but with 10 mins to go, Woody scored his 2nd goal of the day to round off a great afternoon and dampen any revival from the oppo.
Well done everyone!!