Reserves guilty of not playing football

Thursday, 02 June 2011 11:41

It was BMAFC Senior Reserves toughest match of the season so far against Ellerslie last Saturday, in what has been a very even AFF 3rd Division this year. Only 3 points separated 2nd to 9th on the table, which made any points a valuable gain.

There was an unsettled feeling in the team and some late arrivals that seemed to unfocus the lad's preparation. However we got the rub of the green and started the game as intended, with a strong wind at our backs. The field was smaller than we were used too and the intention to knock it direct and turn the Ellerslie back four around was not working as well as planned. And when the passing in around midfield was attempted, things were breaking down after 2-3 passes. Ellerslie capitalised on this and pressured the mid field and back line into lack of quality and the resulting loss of possession.

Half way through the first half the loose marking that had given the Ellerslie team the opportunity to drag the back three out of position resulted in a well laid cross that a diving Ellerslie striker nailed home after breaking free of some loose defence again on the far post. The rest of the first half was let down by players being caught up in Ellerslie's anti-football style of play and sledging that resulted in yellow cards to a number of players and the tone of the game turning into a highlights package from "Smashed em Bro", with football being a forgotten reason for being on the pitch. The score remained 1-0 for the balance of the first half.

Unfortunately the second half didn't start any better, with Ellerslie conceding yellow cards and continuing to wind up the BMAFC players to keep them distracted from the game. Once again the BMAFC Reserves marked poorly and their was a number of opportunities for Ellerslie back and midfield players to bomb forward and play some neat one touch football that had evaded the away side thus far in the game. BMAFC managed to scramble defensively well enough to keep shots on goal at a long range, with a number of Ellerslie shots from 25-30 yards out hitting the wood work. To be fair, stand in keeper Adam Matthews had them covered and played well through out the game. Player of the day Ross Murphy worked hard again and led the way from his position in deep centre midfield picking up players as they tried to pick up through balls from midfielders or strikers. This commitment was sadly lacking from all around for the most part however, and will be one of the key points to act on in future games.

There were limited opportunities through the second half with only a few shots at goal by BMAFC, and we never really troubled the keeper. A strong back four for Ellerslie had taken everything in the air bar a few flick ons from Brent Cooper and Paul Startin. But a lack of sustained pressure on the Ellerslie goal resulted in BMAFC going down 1-0 to one of the pace setters in the competition.

No doubt there are some pretty disappointed lads, including the writer, who did not focus and bring 100% to the game. The view is forward to Waiuku back at Te Puru this weekend, where the home ground will lift the boys to pick up the intensity in front of the home supporters!

Thanks goes to the supporters and 1st team playes that braved a cold afternoon at Pt England against Ellerslie. There is a commitment from the guys that you will see better against Waiuku.

By Justin Irvine