Monks Bridge vs Gresley Rovers
Monks Bridge 1-1 Gresley Rovers
Squad: Ian Parker, Lewis Carey, Joe Tomlin, Danny Gee, Rich Foster, Dave Hatfield (c), Tom Fletcher, Joe Swift, Nige Brewin, Sam Worth, Paul Morton, Mark Shorthouse, Dan Woodings, Rich Hanslow, Nathan, Kieran Hatfield, Matt Gee, Danny Henderson, Tyler, Joe Bale.
We were invited to play a friendly, against a newly formed team, by Wes so thanks to him for sorting everything.
We'd spoke midweek about bringing along some of the youngsters who train with us, to introduce them into men's football. We were without several "regular" players through either illness or injury.
Although it was a friendly, Nigel and myself still wanted to put a good performance in, building on our recent strong showings. As we've said before "wins breed confidence" in whatever game you play.
It was great to have Rich Hanslow come along for a game, as we know what he's capable of. We started off with a more regular look about us, as we didn't want to be chasing the game too much.
We got underway, and it was fairly even in terms of possession and chances, however Monks Bridge looked a little more purposeful in attack than us. They got round the back of our defence a number of times, but never really troubled Parker.
However Monks Bridge hit a sweet shot, beating Parker and coming off the bar, but fortunately bouncing off the line and away. This was a "let off" but was the only chance of the half by either side. We made a couple of changes, to introduce players before half time, and it was pleasing to see them settle into things.
At half time, we made further changes including Lewis in as keeper, as he's been training with us for some time. We also added Kieran Hatfield to play along side his dad in defence (think a bit of history was made).
Second half got underway, and we still looked okay, although Monks Bridge started to apply a little more pressure. Fortunately the youngsters stood strong, and looked totally un phased by things.
With about 15 minutes gone Monks Bridge opened their account, when we failed to deal with a corner. I didn't take this as a negative though, because it was one of those scrambled efforts that are hard to deal with.
Hanslow was added, to introduce another attacking dimension, as we battled well. We held firm, with every player getting a good amount of pitch time, as we looked to get back on terms. With 5 minutes remaining, Hanslow received the ball out wide, and produced an excellent shot to draw us level.
Today we've increased our run of undefeated games, but it wasn't so much about that really. As I said earlier, we want to win every game (friendly or not) but more importantly today some youngsters proved their worth.
After a tough game on Tuesday, we've seen another good battling performance, and credit to the lads because they helped out the younger players today. They showed great encouragement, and supported them which is very important as well as pleasing.
At one time in the second half we had no fewer than five 15-year-olds on the pitch together. Three of which were in defence, and one in goal, so today has been very worthwhile. I know from training that they've the ability, but today you've shown it in a competitive game, where the character needs to match the talent that these lads were easily good enough. Well done to all.
