50s At Home To Margate

Hi All

This was going to be a competitive game against a good but physical side that have a history of never backing out from a tackle. Based on their results we knew we needed to be strong to get a result against this team.

Both teams started strongly. The midfields of both sides saw plenty of the ball and whilst probed, no real chances were made in the initial stages.

We looked solid in defence and confident on the ball as we started to settle and get our passing game going. Margate were getting frustrated when they found that we allowed them to go square and back but limited their forward momentum to our flanks where they were well tracked by Andy and Linden with many of their attempted crosses being blocked or picked up by us and we set off up the pitch.

We were soon winning the midfield battle, Paul with Rob were cutting out the supply up to the Margate striker and our press was disrupting their ability to getting any passing game going. One attempted pass by them was intercepted by Paul who quickly played the ball up to Gareth his quick thinking and deft ball around the corner found Andy on the left in space and, despite the acute angle, his shot beat their keeper at the near post and flew into the roof of the net.

5 minutes later, we doubled our lead with an almost identical move. This time Rob intercepted the pass and freed Gareth who played the ball between the Margate defenders to allow Andy to move onto it and again he beat their keeper at the near post with a shot high into their net.

We were now well on top and our midfield was controlling the game. We were attacking down both flanks as well as through the middle. Gareth, Andy, Linden and Rob all came close to extending our lead further with their keeper making a string of saves to keep them in the game.

We did however, switch off when we attacked with numbers but failed to track properly and Margate found themselves 3 on one with us only having Phil at the back. They worked the ball well and the final low shot flew passed Paul and into the net.

There was only just enough time to restart the game and we went in with a slender 2 - 1 lead.

Our half time talk was to continue to play as we had. Our defence was robust and we looked comfortable in midfield but we needed to remain switched on and make sure we didn't allow them to attack in numbers again without us tracking our men. Our communication had been good and we need to call people back if we were looking out of shape. We had also been guilty of too much non walking indiscipline and had already accrued 3 offences so we knew we needed to watch our speed.

Margate came at us from the kick off. They pushed and wanted to get back on level terms quickly. We were forced to absorb the pressure and defend in numbers which we did well. We could have been more controlled with our balls out with the passes often falling to a Margate player or disappearing deep into their half. They pressed high and we were struggling to give Paul B an easy ball out from goal which gave them the opportunity to attack us but we managed to keep them at arms length.

As the game progressed and Margate pushed more players on to try and get something from the game, space was appearing behind them. Paul intercepted a ball out from their keeper who redeemed himself with a good low save from the resulting snap shot. Having dug in, we now found that we could start to create more chances. Paul was managing to get up and support Gareth and he had chances to restore the two goal lead. Linden, Rob and Gareth also had half chances that flew just wide or were well saved.

Margate did have the final chance of the game though when their striker turned quickly and got off a strong shot that Paul B managed to get a strong left hand to and palm it away to safety.

There were no more incidents and the game finished with us securing a hard fought victory. Canterbury 2 - 1 Margate.

My thanks to the effort given by everyone. This was possibly the best team performance we have given against a strong and most capable opposition.

My special thanks to Andy C for turning up and being an unused substitute.

My final heartfelt thanks goes to all those that turned up to support and give us constant encouragement from the side lines.

For his two goals and relentless tracking up and down the left, The Player Of The Match was Andy B.

Paul