South Rushden Jaguars vs Great Doddington Green
Saturday 7th November 2009
 
Match day eight saw the Jaguars taking on Great Doddington Green following an excellent 4-0 victory against the Grammarians Youth team.  Finley was selected to lead the team.  The coaches with an almost full squad to choose from (only Dan was unavailable) sent out the following team for the first half:
 
Keeper:           Tom
Defence:          Finley & Nathan
Midfield:          Josh Y & Oliver
Attack:            Carter
 
The Greens kick off and the Jaguars immediately took control of the game forcing a series of throw-ins. Josh Y on each occasion found Ollie with the throw and Ollie went narrowly wide with his shots. The Jaguars continued to apply pressure particularly when the Greens were looking to take goal kicks. Good marking put a lot of pressure on the goal keeper. This led the Jaguars to create a number of excellent chances. A good interception by Carter saw him send in a great lob which beat the keeper only to rebound off the cross bar. Ollie was following up and his second shot went narrowly wide. The resulting goal kick was intercepted by Josh Y, whose great through ball put Carter in on goal. Another cool finish saw Carter score.
 
The goal only seemed to galvanise the Greens and gradually they came back into the game forcing the Jaguars more in their defensive third of the field. Only some excellent goal keeping from Tom and the goal post kept the Jaguars ahead.  The pressure was mounting and finally told from a Green’s corner, in the resulting melee the ball was deflected home.
 
The Greens continued to press with Jaguars looking uncharacteristically disjointed they quickly took the lead and extended it before half time.
 
The half time break gave the coaches a chance to reorganise, Josh L came on into defence replacing Ollie and Nathan moved forward into midfield. 
 
Unfortunately the malaise which had beset the Jaguars in the latter stages of the first half continued at the start of the second half.  The Jaguars kicked off but it was the Greens who were forcing the pace, rapidly extending their lead. Only sporadically did the Jaguars threaten the opposition goal, Nathan and Carter combined to create a good chance. A further substitution saw Ollie replace Josh Y, but it brought little respite from the onslaught. The Green’s scoring almost at will during a great period of play for them.  Only Tom’s goal keeping and some good blocks from Josh L kept the score down. In a last throw of the dice, Finley was replaced by Josh Y.
 
Gradually the Jaguars stemmed the tide and they started to create a few chances, however the game was over. The Jaguars were swept away by an excellent 10 minute performance either side of half time by the Greens.
 
In summary, the Jaguars were having an ‘off day’. Only one or two players played to the usual high standard and Tom was the coach’s selection of Man of the Match after a fine goal keeping display.
 
The great thing about football is there is always another match and next up is the rather daunting prospect of Doddington White.
 
Come on the Jaguars…………………….
 
K & JL
09/11/09