![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
vostoklakeOnehunga Sports 0 - 1 Mt Albert Ponsonby
Gaaah! I'm not sure how many of these 1-goal victories I can handle. Okay, better than draws or losses, but still... Actually, a draw or a loss would have been fair enough today. We weren't on the field for the first half. We weren't calling, we weren't challenging for the ball, and - most damagingly - we were letting OSport's very aggressive playing style piss us off. We were yelling at one another and put off our natural game.
Thankfully we have a coach who knows how to calm a team down and build up their enthusiasm with their team talks. In the second half, we settled down and put some combinations together, and we finally clinched it with a 25-yard volley which bounced straight down off the crossbar, and before their keeper could get to it, our striker had pretty much fallen over on it to make sure it went in! OSports didn't give up, though. They made some great breaks past our backline, but I think the big issue is that their brilliant striker kept trying to dribble it all the way in, rather than take her shots. She was 1-on-1 with me at least five times in the second half and every time I could get to the ball first. I definitely got a far better work-out than I did against Ellerslie - they were very good at dropping it just short of the box and making me run out, and their crosses were dead straight. So, an escape from jail there.
At the aftermatch - great feed by the way, guys - their striker especially mentioned that Mt Albert-Ponsonby's keeper had had a great game and she looked forward to getting one past me in the return feature. There is no truer and more valuable compliment than one from an opponent.
So, that leaves us 3 wins from 3 games so far. A good start. A break for Easter, then away to Lynn Avon, newly come down from Div 1.
Gaaah! I'm not sure how many of these 1-goal victories I can handle. Okay, better than draws or losses, but still... Actually, a draw or a loss would have been fair enough today. We weren't on the field for the first half. We weren't calling, we weren't challenging for the ball, and - most damagingly - we were letting OSport's very aggressive playing style piss us off. We were yelling at one another and put off our natural game.
Thankfully we have a coach who knows how to calm a team down and build up their enthusiasm with their team talks. In the second half, we settled down and put some combinations together, and we finally clinched it with a 25-yard volley which bounced straight down off the crossbar, and before their keeper could get to it, our striker had pretty much fallen over on it to make sure it went in! OSports didn't give up, though. They made some great breaks past our backline, but I think the big issue is that their brilliant striker kept trying to dribble it all the way in, rather than take her shots. She was 1-on-1 with me at least five times in the second half and every time I could get to the ball first. I definitely got a far better work-out than I did against Ellerslie - they were very good at dropping it just short of the box and making me run out, and their crosses were dead straight. So, an escape from jail there.
At the aftermatch - great feed by the way, guys - their striker especially mentioned that Mt Albert-Ponsonby's keeper had had a great game and she looked forward to getting one past me in the return feature. There is no truer and more valuable compliment than one from an opponent.
So, that leaves us 3 wins from 3 games so far. A good start. A break for Easter, then away to Lynn Avon, newly come down from Div 1.
