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This was scheduled to be a league encounter, one of our 3 remaining league fixtures. However, as the Tigers were depleted and in order to at least get the boys some game time, the Tigers drafted in some unregistered players and we played the game as a friendly.
With the Tornadoes only having 9 players reporting for duty, it meant that all the boys would get a full game. And whilst this isn't ideal, it is good in the sense that it really rams home the importance of fitness to those lads that are on the pitch.
As we've stressed before, a lot of our boys have the ability to be footballers, it's playing football that they need to learn. One of the most vital components to that is physical fitness. Everything else stems from that, i.e. the desire, effort, attitude, willingness, concentration, decision making. If the boys are not physically fit they cannot add those ingredients in to their match play. With these ingredients in place, then they can play the game and compete.
As for this game itself, whilst it was a relief to get back to winning ways, what I found most interesting was seeing how the boys would respond to not having Oscar and Stewart in the team. Oscar and Stewart have been two of our most influential players this season, so I was hoping to see the boys adapt accordingly.
Thankfully, overall, I think they coped well. We scored 4 goals, 2 of which came from set plays, with Reece and Logan both notching headers. The other 2 were a great solo effort from Paulo and some brilliant passing and moving involving Finn, Reece and Josh, with Josh netting sublimely with the outside of his right foot.
Also, the defence really pushed up the pitch and helped to apply pressure on the Tigers. In fact Dylan, our right back, just shaved the post and had a punt cleared off the line when recycling the ball after two of our attacks broke down.
This kind of mix up in our play, variation, of getting defenders to attack and exploiting set plays, is greatly encouraging and means that we can hopefully adapt our tactics to help compete against different opponents. What I want to avoid is becoming too one dimensional and this display gave me, Wayne and Richard some hope.
Of course, I know that we did let 3 goals in and it was hardly convincing against a team who are bottom of the division. However, as a learning experience, it was extremely useful and quite encouraging to watch the boys adapting and improvising.
In summary, an enjoyable game with a decent outcome and great to see Paulo getting his first goal for the club with a cracking solo run and shot. Therefore, and because of his constant effort and running, Paulo picked up the MOTM award too.
Final Score:
Tornadoes 4 - 3 Maccabi Tigers