15 October 07 - 22:0613th October 2007 - Bulldogs v Sevenoaks Town Juniors
Team: James Smith, Jack Golding, Jesse Kavanagh, Callum Laddiman, Liam Newton-May, Joe Pickering, Curtis Wilton, Ben Winter, Bobby Wortley.
Bulldogs 3 (Joe, Curtis, Jesse) - Rovers 1
This was our first real home fixture of the season, the weather was dry and the pitches didn’t look too bad after The Club Development Officer lived up to his title and developed a dog mess free area, thanks for that Steve.
We had heard that Sevenoaks hadn’t had quite as good a start to the season as ourselves but having come across them before when they were Seal we knew that they would be strong and wouldn’t give up to the final whistle.
A strong start from the Bulldogs saw us applying pressure from the off and within 5 minutes we capitalised on the pressure with Joe hitting the back of the net from just outside the box, it wasn’t the cleanest of strikes but the keeper fumbled and we were all smiles with an early lead. Unfortunately this may have given us the impression that there were goals to be had by the dozen, which led to us losing our shape slightly. Sevenoaks seemed to be spurred into action with this and started to put some pressure on our defence however Jack and Ben remained steady as usual. Their breakthrough came from a free kick, admittedly it was a very well placed free kick but their goalscorer knew even less about the goal than our boys as it ricocheted off the back of his head into our net. HT 1 – 1
The second half began much as the first had finished, Sevenoaks continued to apply pressure with at least 2 or 3 chances which would have undoubtedly been put away if their forwards had a left foot between them. James was growing in confidence and on more than one occasion made himself as big as he could coming off his line to prevent Sevenoaks from taking the lead. We were beginning to look a little rattled and needed something to calm our nerves, that something came from Curtis with a spectacular header after Jesse’s great corner, this brought a smile to the refs face and I am sure I saw him muttering something about a chip off the old block. Our heads started to rise only for Bobby to injure his foot after another of his crunching tackles. By this time Callum had moved back to replace Ben at left back after he had also suffered an injury from a strong challenge, Callum carried on his good play from midfield at the back. Liam came back off the subs bench to continue his good work of winning the ball and holding it up until support arrived, this resulted in our 3rd goal after the ball was laid back and Jesse hit a powerful shot into the top of the net. Sevenoaks continued to battle but by now their heads were dropping and their challenges were becoming even more ragged.
Bulldogs 0 - United 0
The second Sevenoaks team came to us after they drew with Tonbridge in the first match. This match was basically a continuation of the first match, our passes were still falling short, probably a result of a bit of a sticky pitch, particularly after training on the astro turf on Thursday when the slightest touch sends the ball into the next county!! We continued to battle and try to move the ball but for some reason things just weren’t happening for us. All the boys contributed and fought a determined Sevenoaks side who manage to thwart any attacks we had. HT 0 –0
The second half was yet more of what was proving to be a very frustrating match, numerous Sevenoaks corners were kept out with an increasingly nervous crowd worried that the law of averages said that sooner or later one would creep in. Then a last minute break saw us come as close as either team had come to scoring only to be denied by their keeper. Full time 0 – 0
Overall these were good results considering the strength of the opposition and the fact that we were a long way from our best. However as Gary Lineker and the legendary giant of the modern game, Alan Shearer, often say on Match Of The Day, getting results when you’re not performing as everyone knows you can, is what makes champions champions!!
Things to think about for the next match; we need to get our heads up and make our passes quicker and keep our workrate high throughout. When we pass quickly and get the ball out wide there is no team better. It just shows the ability and desire within this team when some of the boys seemed a little down at the finish despite maintaining our unbeaten record.
Played 6 Won 4 Drawn 2 Goals For 12 Goals Against 3
As a footnote it was really great to see Chris Evans down at the club cheering on his team mates despite breaking his arm at Thursdays training, you can’t keep a good Argonaut down.
Jason -