A useful draw in a good contested match.
The Trojans arrived glad for the opportunity to be playing Rushmoor Colts in a friendly as the team sought more match practice and knew the Colts would be a strong test, having lost twice to Colts in close matches last season.
Trojans tried a slightly different formation with Connor and Miles being asked to drop into defence, allowing Morgan to move into midfield and Zac A upfront.
Colts began the match quicker and were soon looking to test Dominic in goal. Certainly for the first ten minutes the match was concentrated in the Trojans half as the clearances were booted cleared but went to Colts who were first to the ball and stronger in the challenges. Liam leading the defence up to lay an offside trap, a dangerous tactic against fast players, caught Colts who were over zealous to attack the goal and kept being caught offside. As the Colts efforts went unrewarded through good defending the Trojans seemed more assured and sought to win more tackles and pass the ball more. Bexxy was knocking the ball forward from the free kicks and players began to get on the end of the through balls. Morgan found Finn who started to attack the Colts defence and get the ball across the goal mouth, but the Colts keeper was able to gather the ball to launch a counter attack. It was from one such clearance that the Colts caught Trojans and went down the right flank, riding a tackle the player pushed the ball forward, Dominic tried to reach and block the ball but the Colt player got there first to push the ball towards an open goal and the ball trickled in. 0 - 1
Fortunately the Trojans continued to improve and push for an equaliser. Zac A was getting the ball from midfield, but found a keeper in good form as he saved the shots and would gather any loose ball. Zac B wriggled free once from midfield to give himself a one on one situation with the keeper, but the keeper again stood up and distracted Zac B, so his effort went unrewarded. Half time 0 - 1
Connor led a team talk to identify aspects to build on for the second half.
Trojans got both wings working well, as James began to win the midfield battle and get the ball wide to Finn and Zac B. Finn bursting through several times on the left side, rounding his marker and pulling the defence out of shape. Several times Finn went straight for goal but had no joy, but he also crossed the ball, one time the ball rolled across the goal as the other Trojans had been left behind. Then another quick break saw Finn break through and cross to Harry, who had his initial effort blocked but reacted first to drive the ball in. 1 - 1 The Colts continued to play well, but found a Trojans wall in front of them as Morgan and Dan helped block the routes through and Dominic played like a sweeper coming out of goal to collect the long ball Colts were trying to knock over the wall. Trojans relied less on trying for offside as Colts had learnt from the first half. Trojans had an effort go towards goal and it turned in to one of the goal line technology debates as the keeper made saved on the goal line and may have crossed it, but it was too close to call and neither the lineman or Trojans supporters could clearly tell if the whole ball crossed the line. The Colts did get the ball across the line once, a shot from the wing was saved by Dominic but the rebound was tucked away by a Colt player who had been stood offside when the first shot went goal ward, if the first shot had gone straight in it would have been a goal. The defence certainly began to work more effectively as a unit as several times the players were covering for each other as the Colts sought a second goal, Miles showed this when winning a tackle in front of goal and having the presence to take the ball forward linking with Morgan and Zac B.
The team had probably put in their best performance this season, with several players responding well in different roles such as Miles and Connor. But for his resolute attitude saves made and covering work Dominic received Player of the Match.
The team should take confidence from the match and learn that the difference between teams they'll meet this season is very small, the key factors being how strongly teams challenge to win and then keep the ball.
Team: 1 = full match.
G: Dominic 1
D: Liam 1, Connor 1, Miles 1, Bexxy 0.8 Harry 0.2
DM: Dan 1, Morgan 1
M: James 1, Finn 0.8, Zac B 0.8, Harry 0.4
F: Zac A 0.8, Harry 0.2