No Justice, No Set Piece
Eutectic 4 GPR 1
Frustration boiled over yesterday in a tense match that turned into a rout, as a disciplined Eutectic took control of the game early in the second half and made their set pieces count to resign us to defeat. It was a game to learn and build from so we can grow as a unit going forward. You win as a team; you lose as a team.
The Salads began the game with precision, and were certainly the dominant side in the opening 15 minutes. The midfield moved like mercury, diagonal balls finding Matty and Sina in the wide areas to move into some excellent link up play with Phizz and Doug in the no. 8 roles. Rory came close to scoring a few times, and showed great mentality after the game by promising to bag one next week. When the first half had matured we could have been three up, with marauding full-back Sam coming agonisingly close to netting as he broke through their back line.
After this, several tactical changes from Eutectic influenced the flow of play, and our setup began to be punished on the counter, making it a half of two halves. Both sides created a couple of chances throughout the remainder of the half, and Slav made a truly fantastic save when an unchallenged ball allowed the striker through on goal. Both teams went in level at the break, but we let the occasion get the better of us and didn’t clearly address the challenges at hand, another lesson for us all to learn.
Minutes into the second half, Eutectic’s keen management and pacey strike force hurt us as two free kicks from deep led to a goal and converted penalty, and the truth is our heads dropped. We’ve shown a lot of character and resilience in recent weeks, but today was a timely reminder that you’re only ever 90 minutes from being humbled. From our side, there’s very little left to say except to mention Matty’s brilliant whipped cross that found Julian’s towering head to draw one back. It was too little, too late, however, and the blog isn’t here to dig anyone out or add fuel to the fire. We win as a team, we lose as a team, and everyone could have done more. The boys go again next week, where we’ll be hoping to improve on the performance, and as a unit.
MOTM 🤌 = The travelling support. Given we were in Slough, to have so many people on the touchline was a great indication of how much support there is for the Salads and is truly warming to see.
DOTD 💀 = Slough.
