Lord
Guide Robinson Hodgson Kennedy
Ruddick Mitchinson(c) Burgess McAleese
Hodge Webb
Subs: Pluckrose, Page, Shannan, Nicholson
Refwatch: Boy Wonder again. Shows a bit too much bias by warming up pre-match with the Stanwix team......
1025 Kick Off - Stanwix
1036 GOAL! Stanwix execute a well rehearsed corner resulting in a free header on goal. 1-0
1044 GOAL! Great teamwork by Stanwix, and a well taken goal to extend their lead. 2-0
1100 GOAL! Another well worked goal from Stanwix, who were starting to find the weaknesses in our defense. 3-0
1101 Half time.
Despite the scoreline, Warwick are still in contention. On occasions the speed up front has tested the Stanwix defense and we have produced 2-3 good chances.
We've come back from bigger half time defecits, but League leaders Stanwix are playing with a confidence which comes from being undefeated all season.
No doubt about it, Stanwix are a good team, but they're no Gilford Park.
Substitution: Guide off, Drake on. Drake will play the second half at right back, rather than his more natural left back position.
1108 Kick off Warwick Wanderers
1109 GOAL! Disaster strikes as Kennedy puts the ball past his own keeper with a scuffed clearance. 4-0. Heads go down for the first time, but the boys get behind Sammy K to lift his spirits.
1116 Substitution: Kennedy makes way for Pluckrose. Hodge moves back to defense, allowing Pluckrose to play up front. Hmmmmm...
1124 GOAL! With a reduced mobility up front, and with one of our 2 quickest players now stranded at left back, Stanwix find it easy to play through the middle for a 5th and surely decisive goal.
1130 Substitution: Burgess off, Page on but playing out of position.
1134 GOAL! Almost identical to the 5th. Ball passed skillfully through a static central midfiled, then wide past the central defenders, and in from the edge of the box having beaten a disinterested last man. 6-0
1140 Full time.
Man of the Match - Adam Ruddick, and very well deserved. Ruddick seems to have found his most effective position, wide on the right.
Even though we were beaten 6-0, there were clear signs of improvement over early season form. In terms of individual skill we were every bit a match for Stanwix, but they undid us with well rehearsed corners, free-kicks and some excellent one touch pass and run. Training ground stuff - well executed. The biggest difference between the teams today was general fittness attitude. It felt like we were expecting to get beaten and were conserving energy in order to keep the score down. Stanwix, on the other hand, were full of running all match and must have left the game disappointed not to have scored as many as they did in the first game against us this season. Today's scoreline was a measure of how much the new line-up has improved the team in recent weeks. If we had been a bit more clinical in our finishing and a bit tighter in the final third, we could have taken a point from this fixture. But Stanwix wanted the points more than us.
No doubt about it, putting our speed merchants up front and trying to stick with a settled line up in the midfield and defense has made us a better team, and we certainly play better when the boys are deployed in their favoured positions. If we had played like this all year, we'd have a much healthier league position, maybe even 4th behind Stanwix, Gilford and Morton Manor.
Some good points in the closing games of this season to build upon for 2012-13.
