Report

HRMI Stripes 2 Brangy 3 (Ben M 2; Joe C)

And so to the last game of the season, with Brangy knowing a win would mean they were clear runners up, HRMI Whites having been thumped at home 5-0 by Adlington in the game that took place ahead of ours and held to a draw earlier in the week by those lovely chaps from Prestwich.

With the rare sight of a full squad turning out, the starting XI was:

             1 Luca

     2 James 4 Alex 13 Xav 3 Joe S

                     5 Ben P

             16 Robbie (c) 11 Callum    

                      8 Deon

              10 Joe C 9 Jack V

   Subs: 14 Ben M; 7 Jack B; 6 Jack E; 4 Daniel 12 Morgan

3 Minutes – a ball into Joe C from Jack V which was tucked away, but Joe was in an offside position;

4 Minutes – Deon fed Jack V who swivelled to shoot but his shot was a couple of feet wide;

6 Minutes – good work from Callum saw a cross come into Jack V who again shot narrowly wide;

8 Minutes – a long ball through the middle of the Brangy defence took a deflection into the path of a Horwich striker who chipped Luca to give the hosts the lead; 0-1

9 Minutes – Robbie did well down the right and laid off a ball to Deon, who measured his shot but the keeper pulled off a fine save down to his left;

11 Minutes – Callum made headway down the left wing and hit a lovely ball across the face of goal where Joe C calmly tapped in at the far post into an empty net; 1-1

13 Minutes – a long free kick from Deon was spilled by the keeper but not a single white shirt was following up, very poor anticipation;

15 Minutes – from a corner an Alex header just drifted wide;

17 Minutes – Horwich caught the Brangy defence square footed but Xav did excellently to clear off the line;

21 Minutes – good work from Deon into the left hand side of the area, but rather than cutting the ball back he ran into two defenders and the chance was wasted;

25 Minutes – good long range effort from Joe C but a couple of feet too high;

29 Minutes – this time Ben P tried his luck from distance, but a couple of yards right of the left post;

Sub: Ben M for Jack V;

31 Minutes – lucky escape for Brangy as a surge through the centre saw the ball taken round Luca but the final shot hit the outside of the post with the goal gaping;

Sub: Morgan for Ben P;

35 Minutes – Robbie took a shot from just inside the area which was parried by the keeper and Ben M following up had his effort blocked by the keeper;

Half Time – HRMI 1 Brangy 1

Even at half time and a fair reflection of the game, HRMI threatening on the break whilst Brangy couldn’t turn possession into goals.

Subs at start of second half: Jack B; Jack E; Daniel; Ben P; Jack V

42 Minutes – a shot from Robbie was well saved by the keeper;

44 Minutes – great shot from Robbie rattled the underside of the bar, the ball bounced back out to him for another shot which the keeper could only get a weak hand on, the ball rolling on towards the net where Ben M followed in to convert from all of two inches; 2-1

Subs: Jack E for Deon; Jack B for Callum;

Sub: Daniel for James;

53 Minutes – good move, Jack E to Joe C, who laid it onto Robbie but his shot was blocked;

54 Minutes – good pressure from Jack B created space for Ben M whose shot was blocked, but Robbie looked to have an easy finish from the rebound however he powered his shot the wrong side of the left hand post;

58 Minutes – shot from Morgan went a couple of yards over;

Subs: Ben P for Morgan;  Deon for Joe C;

61 Minutes – good work from Jack E down the left wing, chipping it into the box where Jack B met it with a header, but it was too weak and comfortably gathered by the keeper;

63 Minutes – Jack E made an excellent infield run accelerating past three defenders and although not hitting a true shot it made its way past the keeper, and again Ben M was following up to apply the final touch, much further out this time, about eight inches !  Surely game over now.

Sub: Callum for Robbie;

65 Minutes – just as it looked like Brangy would coast to the final whistle HRMI grabbed another goal with a good finish into the top corner; 3-2

Brangy saw out the last 5 minutes relatively comfortably to clinch a win and the runners up spot in the league.

Final Score – HRMI 2 Brangy 3

Not a vintage performance today from Brangy but ultimately it was the result that was more important and sometimes you just have to win ugly.

Today too many second balls were conceded and the team lost its shape too often, but the double substitution of Jacks B and E were enough to turn the tide in Brangy’s favour and secure a win that means the team finish on 40 points, with only the all-conquering Adlington Raiders above them in the league.

Second spot has been fully deserved, and along with a run to the semi-finals of the Cup, the season can be looked back on as a good one for the squad.

Man of the Match – Joe S;

Next game – TBC;

Stats for the season

P 22 W 16 D 1 L 5

Goals Scored 110

Goals Conceded 60

Leading Scorers

Joe C 23

Ben M 21

Callum 15

Deon 12

Jack V/Robbie 11

Ben P 5

Jack B 3

Jack E/ Alex 2

Morgan 1

Leading Assists

Callum 22

Robbie 18

Joe C 17

Deon 10

Ben P 8

Ben M 6

Jack B 4

Jack E 2

James/Jack V/Alex/Xav 1

Leading MOM awards

Deon/Joe S 3

Played every game

Luca/Ben P/Joe C/Joe S

Marks

Luca 6 – no real chance with either goal, and other than the goals themselves not overly tested today, came to gather well on a couple of occasions and kicking was good;

Arguably his best season for Brangy to date, made a number of good saves in matches and although still prone to the odd gaff has taken giant strides this season.  Needs to work on his mobility over the summer.

Joe C 6 – good first half with the goal and clever build up play, but fairly anonymous in second half as failed to get a proper hold of the ball;

Finishing as top scorer with 23 goals, had a great first half to the season, slightly took his foot off the pedal second half and needs to concentrate on doing the basics well again ahead of next season.

JOE S 8 – battled well throughout today and supported the front men on a number of occasions down the left wing;

Look up the word consistent in the dictionary and there’s a picture of the No.3, rarely turned in a poor performance this season both in defence and when getting into the final third, just needs to work hard over the summer and more of the same next time around.

Callum 6 – did well in the first half, especially for creating the equaliser, but a quieter second half;

With 15 goals from midfield and 22 assists, an integral part of the squad who gives the team a nice balance on the left.  Should work on physical side of game as gets knocked off ball too easily at times, needs to start mixing up his game a little as next season it will be much tougher as the opposition gets bigger and quicker.

Ben P 7 – put himself around the pitch well today, and although distribution could have been better, put in a generally decent display;

Has made the back of the diamond very much his own position, but has tended to either be very good or very poor in games, so needs to achieve a better consistency ahead of the 2012/13 season and to keep his game simple but effective protecting the back four and distributing to both wings;

Morgan 6 – came on in midfield and although made some useful tackles his passing was not great today, found himself ball watching a couple of times when should have been pressurising the opposition;

Out for a large part of the season, and considering this he made a decent stab at things on his return, needs to get a full pre-season under his belt and work on his passing which at times has let him down, can be strong and mixes it when needs be and should look to assert himself more solidly in matches.

James 6 – an energetic performance today, couldn’t be faulted for either goal, but didn’t get forward as much as we’ve seen in other games;

Has shown he can play anywhere along the back, needs to work on his pace and decision making when it comes to clearing out of defence so the ball isn’t just simply given straight back to the opposition.

Jack B 7 – made a good impact from the bench and showed some much needed urgency in the centre of the park;

Needs to concentrate on his finishing skills over the summer as has ability to get into good positions, has ability to play in most positions which is useful for the team, needs to develop range of passing both long and short.

Jack V 6 – only played first half today and despite a couple of efforts on goal never really posed enough questions for the Horwich defence.

Not starting many games should be pleased with return of 11 goals for the season, should focus over summer on work does he off the ball as much as his work on it, has ability to bring other players into play but needs to defend from the front much better.

Xav 8 – very strong game today, lost count of the number of times he tidied up at the back including one very important clearance off the line first half;

Very promising first season with the club, starting off as sub but establishing a first team berth, needs to develop more of a football brain around the tactical side of the game as his play is very raw at times, but a popular member of the squad and not afraid to get into a battle with the opposition.

Robbie 7 – not as effective as he was against this same team on tuesday night, but still made a good contribution particularly in making the all important third goal;

Needs to work on decision making as has tendency to take on one too many defenders when the ball needs to be slipped through to a teammate, also needs to work on defensive side of game specially if as expected the team gets promoted to Section B where both aspects to his game will need to be at their best.

Ben M 6 – did well today to follow up for his goals, but again found himself not really as involved as he could have been;

Done well this season to end up with 21 goals, but needs to work on movement in pre-season to give midfield the options to pick him out, has to learn how to work the channels and play off the shoulder of the defenders, the latter half of the campaign it all became a too bit predictable.

Daniel 6 – came on second half at right back and although being caught out for Horwich’s second put in a good shift and made sure attacks down Brangy’s right wing were disrupted sufficiently;

Although largely starting as sub has shown is capable of playing at either right back or centre half, needs to work on positional awareness and where other defenders are around him, not as naturally gifted as some of his teammates so needs to ensure he does the simple things really well.

Deon 7 – got a number of shots on goal again this game and always looked capable of breaking down a defence with his range of passing, unlucky not to get on the scoresheet;

Needs to focus on ‘second ball play’ and making sure when the ball is up for grabs he is winning the scraps in midfield - as the front of the ‘diamond’ he also needs to turn up the volume and let his teammates know what runs he wants to see and to get his fellow midfielders ‘geed up’ (however that’s spelt !).

Jack E 8 – made a huge impact after coming on, scrapped well down the left wing and posed Horwich a number of questions, run to set up the third goal was brave and just what was required at that stage of the game;

Appears better suited to a forward midfield role as opposed to a defensive one, but needs to work hard in training over the summer to show he‘s worthy of consideration for a starting position in what is likely to be a higher division and a much more challenging set of games.

Alex 7 – as ever a rock at the back of defence but on a couple of occasions today pushed his luck a little by trying too much at certain times when he should have distributed earlier, but formed a good centre half team with Xav;

Should be posing more problems at set pieces, most notably from corners, as has ability to contribute a lot more goals to the team.  And needs to be more vocal in co-ordinating the back four. Excellent first season though, great addition to the squad.