Early Promise Destroyed By Second Half Collapse

Stenny 6-2 Rob Roy

A disappointing result in the end of a game that had promised so much for so long but in the end Stenny deserved the win.

The first half was a really tight affair and Stenny had the best of the opening exchanges, however just as we were growing into the game and getting more possession in their half we were suckered punched by a ball over the top to fall behind after 18 mins.

Credit to the boys they responded immediately and put Stenny under pressure and they were rewarded a minute later to level the game through a sensational strike from Lucas M. The next 5 minutes we had the better of the play and again a sucker punch where we conceded to trail 2-1 and this is how it stayed until half time.

The first 9 minutes of the second half is all us inside Stenny's half as the boys showed controlled aggression to hound our opponents and you get the feeling we are going to get the breakthrough, but then we have an absolutely horrendous 12 minutes where we concede 4 goals and the game is over as a contest.

We did manage to regain a bit of composure in the last 14 minutes to limit the damage and managed a well worked consolation goal where Henry wins the ball inside the Stenny half and slides in Lucas H who slots home well on the angle.

Couple of common themes across our games so far which we are talking to the boys about.

Firstly, cheap free kicks in dangerous areas. We have lost 4 goals in the last 2 games from these situations. Anything within 25 yards is a golden opportunity at this age so we need to stop being so rash in our tackling in these areas but we also need to react to bouncing balls quicker if the keepers make a save.

Secondly, in attacking areas we are taking too many touches on the ball which is closing down opportunities to break for us. Our last two opponents showed us how effective it can be to shift the ball really quickly on the break, however we get in similar situations and our options are being closed down far too often as we are not moving it quick enough. There is also a bravery element in this for the boys to show for the ball as they all have a collective responsibility for the team to perform, and just now there are a lot of boys that are happier just to get rid of the ball when it comes to them, which is the exact opposite to what we are seeing in training.

There's no massive reaction from us, we were competitive enough in the game for long periods but we need to start quickly learning on the above pain points if we want to progress. BIG week ahead in training as there are a lot of places up for grabs.

Man of the Match:

Lucas Hogg - Was defensively sound for much of the game and showed great physicality throughout. Even when we were struggling he kept plugging away, looking to get forward and affect the game higher up and he was deserving of his goal.