A Swamp, 6 Goals and a Win
" Winning isn't everything, but the effort to win is "
With an away fixture scheduled following a week of non-stop rain, not many of us held much hope of this fixture being on. The pitch, as expected, could of been mistaken for a farm field or Swamp. With barely any grass on the pitch and mud patches any pig would of thought it was Christmas, an big incline, and the sun full on in your eyes, conditions, it is fair to say, were challenging.
Matt ( being good at tossing ) won and decided to start going downhill against the view of the sun. The pre-game talk focused on us being unbeaten this year and a new start with renewed optimism.
Loko started strong. Shots straight off from a returning Ash went close. James ran everywhere hassling and closing down every ball possible, and not possible. Surrey broke though and there quick forward went through one on one with Colin, who's outstretched body made a great save to deny them taking the lead. Danny too was a rock at right back tackling well on two occasions to deny Surrey attacks.
Loko pushed on. James turn to go one on one, only to be denied. The resulting corner, taken beautifully by James led to a powerful header from our shouting Centre Back Mark Reed! Hall of Fame entered, First ever goal for Loko, No stopping that one. 1-0
Conditions seemed to favour a sliding Mason and Miguel who timed tackles perfectly. Surrey were rocked and A fairly quiet Loko, cracked on. Our defence looked like a defence today. Stepped up at the right time, headed clear, picked up the right players and cleared danger as well as can be expected in a mud bath. Matt out to the right to Hayden who's cross along the box towards Ash was met by a Surrey Defender who put the ball into his own net. 2-0
Tony on for Miguel and Lee back in the centre gave us more possession. A Shot from a weaving Lee just wide and a pass over the top to Ash led to a kick up straight to a volley that just nipped over the bar. Tony full of energy ran at goal and fired away two shots on goal, one wide and one saved. Loko in control, but we have been here before....James chased every lost cause and caused havoc everywhere he ran. Mason pulled up with an injury and swapped places with the oncoming Miguel.
Half Time
We were 2 up, but the performance wasn't as good as it could of been. We were 3-1 up last time at half time we played this team, so focus was needed.
Yet again we started bad!!!! Why do we do this to ourselves?? Surrey had their tails up and pushed forward as they started to take advantage of the down hill gradient. There right winger fired a ball in from their right hand side, shot or Cross? Don't think he knew? However it resulted in the ball in the back of the net over an outstretched Colin. 2-1
Our clubs new year resolution of keeping performance up second half was under threat as Surrey shot and Hit the bar, followed by a nice lob that headed straight for the back of the net, however , as their striker turned his back to celebrate Lee Mustoe was on it! Superb goal mouth clearance on Scott's Levels in every way!
Again a Surrey attack.... This time the ball ended up in the back of the net, however, it was clearly offside and the ref gave it right !
Matt got Angry and kindly reminded us we needed to step up and fight for a " F****** Win "
This is what we done . We held the ball more and chased back every ball, slides to clear, and forward play, along with Scott as a rock at the back, all helped us thwart any more dangers. The tide turned. A long ball forward to Hayden who headed into the box to James who got clattered as he released a ball to Ash who slotted home to restore the 2 goal lead. 3-1
There was no way we were losing this game! Danny started the uphill runs to enhance our attack . Forward he went up to James who went one on one...... No mistakes this time! New Year, New James, Chipped over the keeper with confidence high! 4-1
A rejuvenated Mason was full of energy running up the pitch to run down time. Miguel, Mark, Scott, Hayden and Danny tackled hard as we defended 5 at the back.
An 85 minute cormer from Surrey led to a rare Loko mistake today with an unmarked man at the back post heading in. 4-2
From the resulting Kick off Matt decided to take on the whole team as he went left, right, left, right with four defenders not making the tackle until he reached their box where his run ended.
Full Time
Surrey Wanderes 2-4 Lokomotiv
( Mark, Og, Ash, James )
Weekly 3 Questions:
Did we deserve to win today? Yes
Did we put it in today ? Yes
Man Of The Match?
Today wasn't about skill and individual ability, it was about determination, energy, teamwork and the ability to play in a swamp. Colin, Scott, Mark, Danny, Lee, Hayden, Matt, Mason, Miguel, Tony and especially the energy from James showed all these qualities, however as it was his first game back from a long absence and a lot of involvement with a goal scored as well, Ash just nudges this weeks Man Of The Match.
Quote Of The Week
" The state of the kit tells the story of today "
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