Mens 3rd XI Match Report
Potters Bar Men's 3rd XI v West Herts 6th XI
03 December 2011 | by Anthony Levy
A rarity this week for the Mens 3s as they found themselves playing at a sensible time of day – in recent weeks the team has either been playing away from home in the morning or at home late in the afternoon. Today however, a home game when the 1s and 2s were away, meant the prime 1-30pm start which also resulted in a ‘capacity’ crowd being on hand for yet another vital game in trying to get back up the table. Even without the earlier concession of the 2nd team’s fixture, the skipper was pleased to see a full 15 players available, although it meant that his pre match team talk was disturbed by the match reporter trying to make sure he knew who everyone was!
Bar got off to a good start, creating an opening in the first couple of minutes for George Wickham, after good work from Iain Martin and Simeon Nichols, with the effort snuffed out by the keeper. West Herts however gradually asserted themselves with an early short corner dealt with by the Bar defence before Jordan Page was called upon in the 8th minute to make a double save. However the danger was not properly cleared away and when West Herts got the ball back in the D they made no mistake this time with a low shot into the corner to make it 1-0.
Bar were playing with much better control in the middle thanks to rare appearances from Nick Burrell and Liam Frame – the latter playing his first game for Bar for at least 3 years – and a break from the midfield led to the equalising goal on 16 minutes. George Wickham was released down the left and he showed good control in keeping the ball and then squaring into the D for Nick Burrell to finish rather fortunately, as his mishit shot evaded the keeper and went in off the post.
West Herts were dominating possession with Bar often struggling to clear their lines despite the defence being excellently marshalled by Dave Brandon. However a break on 30 minutes nearly gave Bar an unexpected lead – the skipper played the ball down the right hand side and Nick Burrell easily outsprinted the defence to leave a 4 on 2 situation. Unfortunately a lack of a call from the forward players meant that the pass across the D completely split the onrushing Bar players and West Herts were able to clear.
Half time came with the usual supply of oranges plus plenty of advice as the skipper was helped by Dave Ensor with the team talk. The skipper felt that the side were often playing like headless chickens and decided to revert to a 3-5-2 formation in the second half to try to increase possession. Dave Ensor reminded everyone that there were 4 subs and that everyone needed to put in a shift, whilst ensuring that the midfield was not left isolated.
The Bar passing improved as the second half began and a fine move on 42 minutes nearly brought a goal when Nick Burrell’s effort was deflected wide after good approach play from Liam Frame and George Wickham.
However as the half wore on West Herts began to dominate and had a number of chances to take the lead. On 53 minutes there was a lucky escape for Bar when some quick fire passing on the edge and inside the D saw the ball dribble past the post. A succession of short corners needed to be defended and Bar were able to snuff out the efforts with hardly any of the corners leading to a shot on goal. When one did come in on 58 minutes Jordan Page was there to make the save. When West Herts did find the goal, the ball had been deflected in by a Bar player from a hit from outside the D, yielding only a long corner.
It was from another West Herts corner that Bar broke away to score what turned out to be the winning goal. Tim Bye and Nick Burrell did well to get the ball out of defence for Liam Frame to run on to. He found Simeon Nichols on the left who returned the ball into the D. Although Liam’s first attempt was blocked, the ball ran nicely and he made no mistake with his second effort. Bar defended resolutely for the final few minutes to secure a vital, if somewhat fortunate victory, which will hopefully be the catalyst for better results in the coming weeks.
Final Score: Potters Bar 2 - 1 West Herts
Goal Scorers: N Burrell, L Frame
Team: S Walters (Capt), J Page (GK), D Blakemore, I Martin, T Bye, G Wickham, G Paul, P Simmons, D Brandon, L Frame, N Burrell, G McCormick, O Pace, S Nichols, T Standen
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