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Match report 2005/6 Meadhurst Vets vs Lensbury 4-0 loss
The winning run came to a sharp halt on Sunday
against Lensbury (Wierside) with a 4-0 defeat. Not as bad as it sounds.
Meadhurst had plenty of the ball and at times created considerable pressure
but Lensbury have improved since last year and played strong fast football in
all positions.
Meadhurst started brightly but failed to keep
possession well enough and were forced to defend deeper and deeper. The 4-5-1
formation needs to keep the game in the middle of the park and definitely
needs the forwards to hold the ball up if it is to create any pressure.
Nevertheless neither goalkeeper had much to do other than collect
long range shots - ominiously however Lensbury's were on target and
Meadhurst's sailed wide throughout the game. Meadhurst did concede a rather
sloppy goal from the only shot from within the penalty area in the first half.
Meadhurst switched to 4-4-2 at halftime but more
importantly pushed further up the park and Carl Driscol and Mike Petch had
some success down the left wing. However 20 miniutes of presure failed to
yield a goal and indeed Meadhurst rarely pulled them out of shape and only
occassionaly got behind the back four. Inevitably a rather fortuitous
breakaway gave Lensbury a 2-0 lead. Meadhurst kept trying but were no better
at keeping possesion when it mattered, lost their shape and conceded two more
goals as a consequence.
The Imber Court pitch is a graveyard for teams
that lose possesion in bad positions but Lensbury conceded that they weren't
allowed much quality possesion either and a goal for Meadhurst early in the
second half could have seen a very different result. Which is another way of
saying that you have to score to win.
PS Fred turned up late again
Match Report 2004/5 Meadhurst Vets Away vs
Lensbury 3-3 draw No they aren’t called Lensbury any more but a
rose by any other name etc. Meadhurst had a full squad on paper but as sometimes
happens the team that turns up on Sunday morning isn’t so numerous. This
Sunday was particularly depressing as two players offered to go home before the
game started and Fred only arrived 10 minutes before the final whistle. Nevertheless Meadhurst started brightly and we
spent the first 10 minutes in their half. It changed abruptly when Carl was
injured and we had to move the team around. Lensbury dominated the rest of the
half and finally scored as sustained pressure told. Adrian picked up a calf
strain and at half time it wasn’t at all obvious how Meadhurst would score a
goal Meadhurst restructured again with Carl forced to
return to active duty by Adrian’s injury. Lensbury had gone off the boil
however and we gained complete control of the game for 30 minutes. Pressure told
and we forced an own goal to equalise and Carl turned well inside the box to
give us the lead. Meadhurst started to think the job was done and after Dick
scored a good goal from the edge of the box Meadhurst definitely took the foot
of the pedal. Fred arrived and let Don leave early to mind the sailing club bar.
Fred could have scored soon after coming on but instead Lensbury equalised from
the penalty spot after Dick was caught flat-footed. Amazingly Meadhurst didn’t
take the hint and conceded again just before the final whistle to give Lensbury
a surprising draw. Match Report 2003/4
Meadhurst Vets vs Lensbury
It looked like a disaster in the making as a
succession of players pulled out (Keywood, Foster, Butson and nearly Rendell)
and only 9 were in evidence at Meadhurst. However Dave Ferguson,Dick Brockwell
and Fred Riddiford were all safely waiting in the changing room at Imber Court
and a phone call to Mark Beech secured his services for the second half.
We play 4-5-1 on the big pitch at Imber Court
although this was a bit trying for Colin and Jack as the third
"midfielder" was Don White. Equally trying for Don of course as he
received all sorts of useful advice about his positioning and marking. Still
the formation works and while Lensbury had lots of early possession they
struggled to find a way around the Meadhurst defence. Fred Riddiford completed
another good display at full back. Of course it wouldn't be Fred if there
weren't a few howlers. Mostly there was no real danger but I do think
wandering off the pitch to get a drink when the oppo are charging forward was
a curious decision - especially since it was only 5 mins to half time.
As far as the football went Don excelled
himself after 15 minutes with a fine lob from 35 yards to give Meadhurst the
lead. This looked a goal all the way but would have been more convincing if
Don hadn't shouted "oh no" in disgust as he hit the ball. Dave
Ferguson, Paul Lucas and Tony Barber made the Lensbury defence work hard but
some good approach work didn't create many clear chances. Much the same can be
said of the Lensbury efforts although they never moved the ball around in the
way that they can - testament to well organised Meadhurst defending. Meadhurst
looked worth the 1-0 lead at half time.
Things improved further in the second half as a
tiring Lensbury struggled to contain Meadhurst. Beech added some quality to
the Meadhurst passing, making up for being even slower than Jack around the
park and a good move finished with Dogga crossing from the right, Driscol
challenged the keeper at the near post, both missed and Tony Barber
passed into an empty net.
Lensbury rejigged the attack but they never
got the hang of the Meadhurst formation and despite huffing and puffing and
having some useful players on the pitch they made less and less impression. A
third Meadhurst goal was inevitable, Atkins went close and Carl Driscol ran 60
yards to narrowly miss a cross from Dave Ferguson. The goal duly came as
Beech set Ferguson free for Dave to calmly chip the keeper as he went to
ground..
As is usual in these games the big pitch tires
both teams leading to a very open last 15 minutes. Meadhurst relaxed
their grip on the game, lulled by the 3-0 cushion, and sure as eggs Lensbury
built some pressure and scored from a corner as Colin slightly misjudged the
cross. A second goal was prevented by a good save by Colin as the ref (noted
for his historical ability to influence the outcome of these games) allowed
play to continue rather call a fairly blatant offside.
However Lensbury couldn't sustain the pressure and
Meadhurst finished comfortable winners. Another good game enjoyed by both
sides.
Match Report 2002/3 season Meadhurst Vets away vs Lensbury a 3-3 draw A decent game of football overall. Meadhurst adopted a 4-5-1 formation, party due to a lack of regular forwards but mostly to counter the way Lensbury exploit our rather static 4-4-2 by overloading the full back spot. The other advantage of a 5 man midfield is that we can use the width of a big pitch without getting lost. It worked pretty well - both teams kept the ball and used it to spread the game out. However Lensbury failed to make their usual progress down the wing (despite Ian Bolter being caught ball watching a few times in his first game of the season) and Meadhurst had more joy with wide men Tony Barber and Fozzie both laying on a series of good crosses with Dene and Cuzzy unlucky not to convert for goals. Moveover, Meadhurst gained possession of the midfield. This may have been because Jack went of injured after 10 mins (a pulled calf muscle - very embarrassing after giving everyone a lecture on warming up properly) and Carl moved to midfield from full back. Meadhurst had the better chances but it was still 0-0 at half time. Meadhurst scored shortly after the break and looked set to win but for some reason that no one can explain to me we stopped doing what been working so well, lost our discipline and sent 3 of the back four forward in each attack. Sure enough Lensbury took advantage with 2 goals in a few minutes capitalising from overly adventurous attacks that broke down with mix ups between players. Having handed the initiative back to Lensbury it wasn't clear that we had the legs to recover the game but a bit of luck got us back into it and indeed we retook the lead only to rather carelessly gift them the equaliser. An absorbing first half with lots of good football but no goals followed by an exciting second half with swings of fortune and goals but less football for the purists as both teams tired on the big pitch. Meadurst 4-5-1 scorers: Brockwell (pen) Lucas (2) Ian Foster Lensbury 4-4-2
Match Report 2001-2 A 1-0 win returned the boys to winning ways. Its definitely better playing with a keeper.
The late arrival of Dave Ferguson caused a few
nervous moments for Gary but we got on with it and looked very good for the
first 25 mins. A pep talk before the game on how to play 4-4-2 worked
(actually having Roy and Julian back in midfield was probably more relevant)
and we did everything right except actually score. An injury to Cuzzy
just before half time allowed Dave on the pitch and he came close to scoring
the first time he picked up the ball. Failing to score when you are on top is
always a mistake and Lensbury started to come back into it.
The second half saw Lensbury mount some consistent
pressure but this was as nothing compared to the pressure felt by Dick at
having Neil McKinnell doing his thing up front. Some things don't change. We
weathered the storm without losing our shape too badly and finally Gary
got the ball to Dave inside the box where the oppo hacked at him from behind.
A curiously pointless thing to do as Dave hardly noticed. But their ref
did and kindly gave us the penalty. Both teams had some moments
after that but everyone was a bit too tired on the big pitch with
its long grass to make decisive beaks and we finished fairly
comfortable winners. In fact Glen Jones didn't have to make a proper save all
game.
Memorable moments: Martin picking the ball up in
our half, advancing unchallenged to within 30 yards of the goal and almost
succeeding with a chip shot to the top right hand corner; Meadhurst making
better use of the big pitch than Lensbury; Tony Huxley playing for 90 mins.
Meadhurst 4-4-2 Lensbury
4-4-2
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