Old Whitgiftian AFC

1st HALF LINE-UP
HILLIER FERGUSON R - BURNS - FEEHILLY - DENISON C DENISON J - KENYON (Cpt) -DUNCAN - STURDY FERGUSON M - REDLEY

To be fair, the team did have a good solid look to it. There were yet more changes to the team that won 6-0 last week, but these were to players coming back.

Tim Hillier kept his place in goal, possibly being the only player in the team hoping to be more active than in the last match. Three of the defensive unit's services were also retained with Christian Denison recovering from injury to return at left back. Andrew Feehilly moved from that position to his preferred role in central defence alongside Joe Burns... and Richard Ferguson's performances at right back are making him pretty unmoveable at present.

Kris Kenyon moved forward into central midfield, but given instructions to sit on the "D" and provide a capatin's performance as the midfield anchor. This would give Dain Duncan the freedom to use his speed, ball control and aerial ability to make well-timed runs down the centre. Jacob Denison was a returnee on the right and the ever-reliable Richard Sturdy took up his position on the left.

In the absence of Vien Phan; Michael Ferguson and Darren Redley formed the forward partnership.

St Marys had won their opening two games and for one week had sat at the top of the table. That good form was then followed by a disastrous run of 4 straight defeats in the league and now was not a good time to meet a team that is just beginning to believe how good it really can be. However, they all turned up in good time and were prepared to give it a go.

My own thoughts were that this battle would be decided in the centre of the park and how Kris's hangover would cope with the important role he'd been given. I shouldn't have been concerned, as he did exactly what he needed to do and provided a good counter to Dain. He wandered occasionally, but was always to be depended upon when St Marys did threaten with an attack.

The biggest surprise came down the right side, which I have previously identified as being one of our weakest areas. This week however, Jacob Denison and Richard Ferguson combined to threaten St Marys defence as they took it in turns to attack and defend in overlapping runs. Richard Ferguson in particular found a lot of space there and such was the speed and effectiveness of his breaking play, it ruled out their left midfielder as an attacking option.

For the second week running, Richard Sturdy was abe to run at the right back with plenty of success. In the early stages, most of the crosses came from there and again we could have had 3 or 4 goals in the first few minutes.

Mary's defence were only able to hold back the tide for those opening few minutes though, as Darren Redley broke free of his marker to score the opener... a well postitioned shot struck low and hard to the keeper's right hand side. 1-0 Whits.

This was followed within 10 minutes by his second. Some good interchanges down our right between Richard F, Dain and Jacob seeing Richard F receive the ball and run into the channel, leaving his marker for dead before puting in a good cross. Darren took it down and in what seemed like one movement, unleashed a shot that earned him his second of the day. 2-0 Whits.

Our third came about 5 minutes later when Darren turned goal-creator, threading in a pass to Michael Ferguson. With his back to goal and with a lot still to do, he turned and rounded his marker before neatly side-footing it past the keeper. 3-0 Whits.

We then dominated the play until half time, creating numerous chances, but unable to capitalise. Defensively we looked unbeatable as Joe and company snuffed out even the hint of an attack. The discipline they showed coming out in a defensive line was excellent and often left 4 or 5 St Mary's players in offside positions by quite obvious yardage. What was most impressive, was the way that they all ran out as one unit, looking as if they'd been praticising the technique for months.

2nd HALF LINE-UP
HILLIER FERGUSON R - BURNS - FEEHILLY - DENISON C (Sub SCAFE 60) DENISON J (Sub MOSS 62) - KENYON (Cpt) -DUNCAN (Sub NEWBIE 75) - STURDY FERGUSON M - REDLEY

The team was playing so well, that it was impossible to make changes at half time. Instead the players were reminded of last week's game, where at 5-0 the game was won and the team went into cruising mode. This couldn't be allowed to happen this week... and with St Marys expected to come out stronger, we needed to focus in all departments and finish the job.

... and the second half was just that... more of the same. The shape was good, the discipline was better and the team stroked the ball around to a standard that a few weeks ago would not have been believed. The communication was excellent and is one of the main reasons for our improvement. A quiet team by the standard of others I've managed, this team does have a lot of awareness and only needs to hear a call once (sometimes a quiet one) to lay off a pass to someone in a better position.

Our fourth goal also saw Darren's third. More of a solo effort this one as he was desperate to chalk up his first hat-trick for the Club, as he ran past two defenders and rifled his shot into the goal as a third defender attempted to close him down. Whether unsighted, or just beaten by the pace the keeper didn't move... or maybe he'd just had enough. 4-0 Whits.

The fifth came soon after... and for the second week in a row, Richard Sturdy scored the last. This time directly from a corner on our right as Richard whipped it in to the front post. Michael Ferguson was there but stepped over it (actually, he kicked air but denies it) and the ball bounced between keeper and defender without either of them going for it. 5-0 Whits.