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With the tournament not going ahead it did seem like a good idea to at least get a friendly out of it. I don’t want to blame the pitch for our performance but was a contributing factor. However it was the same for both sides. Genesis are a good outfit with tricky intelligent players. They know how to use the ball and they do it well. Taking that into account the same old problem from last year raised its ugly head. We never really concede good goals; they are always scrappy or bad mistakes. If we are to move on, we need to eradicate these errors.

Yes it’s a friendly on a bad pitch and the result isn’t paramount, but nobody likes to lose. The fact John went into one at half time tells what our performance was like. I believe we are all big enough to look at our selves and say we can all play better than this.

Now for the ratings

Graham “Newbury No 1” Tritton GK
Thought he was left exposed far too often for my liking, but did think he could have come and claimed a few more crossed, which may have calmed the team down. But was helpless for at least 3 of the goals.

Chris “Animal” Wallbank RB
Delighted he scored, just shows the kind of game we can play when we keep the ball. Didn’t always seem his solid self when put under pressure.

Tommy “Dailly” Stapleton CB
After such an immense performance the week before, seemed to not do everything he had done a week before. At least you got your one bad game of the season out in the pre season. I expect to have Danny G back for next week.

Arnold “The Rock” Djejde CB
Back in his normal role, and it seemed as if he had never played there before. I know he’s strong as houses, but he has to know when to use it. Sloppy mistakes were made, but I know he’ll learn from this and become a better player.

Nick “Chav Boy” Marrable CB
Started the game well, but ended up getting injured.

Rob “Carlos” Hurst LB
Wasn’t the best game to play in, but tried to do a job. Covered well, but didn’t get forward as much as we need.

Luke “Kicker” Mardle AM
Although not on his top game, try to keep things going in the middle of the park. At times I thought got caught to high up the field which meant we were exposed at the back.

Danny “Quiet Performer” Chester AM/WF
As with Luke thought he got caught a little too far forward during the game, but did always try and get back and make up for it. Seemed to feel more comfortable once out of the holding role.

Dave “Mr TT” Zarcaro CF
Always trying to make things happen, but it just wasn’t the team’s day so it felt for him. Took his penalty well.

Dave “Ginger Lover” Ademakinwa AM
Effort was there, but wasn’t consistent enough. At times looked like he was up for the battle. Whereas at other times it seemed the game was passing him by. I’m sure the next game will be better for him.

Jey “Flake” Siva WF
Again was dangerous at times but needed to be more consistent

Alfie “Mpenza” Egembah
Had chances to score but didn’t take them, was unhappy about my performance up top. When I went into midfield was awful for the first 10 mins, didn’t know what I was doing. However by the end just tried to plug gaps that were appearing.

Frankie “Long Name” Perez
Hard game for him to get into but did his best all the same. Gave us an interesting option at full back.

Israel “Long Name” Perez
Was unlucky not to score, and worked hard when he came on. It will be a hard task to make the team, but performances like that do help.

Scorers
Dave Z pen
Chris Wallbank