A big thanks to everyone who took part today in the "Paul Hanson Memorial Trophy" match this morning at Handsworth Rec.  It was great to catch up with you all after not being down for several weeks again, and nice to put a few names to new faces.

 

We started off the day with a slight set back, as new keeper Lee was unfortunately for us called into work, so Adi (first half) and Col (second half) very kindly deputised between the sticks.

 

We started off with Adi in goal, a back four of Mark, Jon, Col & Liam, a midfield of Matt, Drew, Stanny & Kieran with Quinny and debutant Danny Wattam up front.  Browny, Tom McCaig and myself were subs.

 

The pitch was soft but slippy on top and we were up hill facing the very low sun in the first half which certainly didn't help the defenders.  It was pretty much end to end from the start but it was the Inter Blades who took the lead after about ten minutes, with Drew Brown converting a penalty after Danny turned smartly and was fouled as he was about to shoot.  Neither side really gained a foothold in the game, however we were undone by four set pieces (long throws and corners) over the next twenty minutes, so found ourselves trailing 4-1.  To be fair, although it appeared to be the defence taking the criticism at half time, all 4 set pieces saw most of the team back attempting to mark etc. so we have to take the blame collectively for those goals.  Danny Wattam reduced the arrears just before half time with a well taken goal to make it a goalscoring debut!

 

Obviously the half time discussion centred around the marking at set pieces, but we all knew where we had to tighten up and what we needed to do to get back in the game.  The second half saw us come flying out of the blocks and really push the Southside team onto the back foot.  Eventually we pulled it back to 4-3, Danny Wattamgetting his second of the game with a good finish after a perfectly timed run saw him just beat the keeper to the ball and dink it over him.  We were really piling on the pressure now but had to be wary of counter attacks, especially with Southside making several changed to freshen up the team, but we defended well and Col kept us in the game with a really good point blank save.  With just minutes remaining we grabbed the equaliser, Danny Wattam again timed his run to perfection, danced round the keeper and slotted home for a debut hat-trick.  At this point we seemed to have the momentum to maybe go on and nick the game in the few minutes that remained, sadly we were caught out about a minute later with a good cross from the right that unfortunately found a man spare at the back post and he finished to win the game for Southside.

 

Overall you'd have to say it was a very good game, end to end and 9 goals.  I was pleased with how we did when you take into consideration that we played without a recognised keeper, and had about 3 or 4 players that have only played a few games between them.  Most importantly, you all gave it a really good go, and the attitude and atmosphere was great on and off the pitch.

 

A big thanks to Tom McCaig for sorting the side out, and special mentions to Stanny for playing this morning after just finishing a night shift, and obviously to Danny Wattam for a hat-trick on his debut, which isn't a bad start!