Wonderboys V Bohos B
Billy Whizz's Wonderboys made it 9 points from 5 games, after seeing off Bohos B Team at Shitters Palace last night. Despite a shaky first half performance, the Wonderboys ran out 4-1 winners to close the gap on 11th place to just 4 points.
The tension around the ground was simmering at the half time break after the visitors - who had yet to earn a point this season before kick off - took an early lead from a set piece. Frustration was setting in among the home players, with several good positions being wasted, and although the hosts seemed to be getting a stranglehold on the game before half time, manager Billy Whizz would have been relieved to get his players back into the dressing room before they gave away a further goal to Bohos, who always looked threatening on the break.
The second half was a different tale, with the Whizzers pressing from the off, and were rewarded centre half Al Owairan took advantage of a goalkeeping mistake to head home from a David Thorpe corner. This seemed to spur the Wonderboys on, and although they had to be patient in their build up play, more goals always seemed likely. Good play by Matt Hawthorn gave Jones an opportunity from the edge of the area - a cool finish from the defensive midfielder gave him a rare goal. The momentum had totally shifted now, and Meredith came close to adding a third, before 4 minutes later a clever run by Mick Richards saw him finish another Thorpe corner with aplomb. It was the striker's second goal in as many matches, after being overlooked at the start of the campaign. The final goal came from Luke Grove, after a defence splitting through ball by Floyd Rooney, who will miss the Wonderboys next match, after he picked up a second yellow card in stoppage time.
Whizz's Verdict
I'm pleased that we got the win - the atmosphere wasn't nice at all when we were 1-0 down, and I think it shows how quickly things can change in football. A loss here today and I'm sure there would have been many people calling for my head - fortunately though we've managed to get through the game, and we showed out class towards the end.
I can't really explain why we were so poor in the first 45 minutes, maybe it was the early goal, and I think the players thought we were going to lose, which was utter nonsense of course at that stage of the game - and I told them as much at half time. They came out with some fire in their belly's after the break; you could tell they really wanted to get the ball in the back of the net, as supposed to going through the motions and hoping.
Call me an optimist, but I refuse to write off a challenge for the top positions. Looking through the next few fixtures, on paper I can't see a loss. Of course, matches aren't played on paper, but we nee to get confidence up, so that the lads can truly believe they can win games. At the minute, they look nervous every time they step onto some grass, but they shouldn't be.
Wednesday will be a tough game, but Man Utd SER are a little short of players. It's a good time to play them, and we should be taking advantage of this. This league is very close, two promoted teams in the top three says it all I think. Despite our current position, this run of form shows we can compete with the teams at the top of the table - however our immediate goal is to get ourselves out of the relegation places.