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Newbury Forest 2 v 3 Sprint

The Cup Final was upon us and it was the first chance for Newbury Forest to win a trophy. After a great win against the league leaders last week everyone was buoyant. We knew we had a great chance to win this game and go on. However lady luck was not on our side even though we had a 2-0 lead at half time.

Half time just showed that it really is a game of two halves and that you need to be  ready to do the ugly things as well as the nice beautiful football things. We have to all look at our selves now and see where the problems stemmed from. There are no individuals in this team. We win and lose as a team and that’s why we have done so well this season.

The question that need to be asked is can we win when we’re not playing that great? Can we grind out results and keep clean sheets? This isn’t a pick at the defence or any individuals but we need to look at this as a team and see what we need to put right.

It is a harsh lesson to learn, just because of the magnitude of the game and the importance it had to everyone, but if it means we use this as a catalyst to win the league and division cup then so be it. Every game from now on is a cup final and we need to have that as our focus.

On a slightly brighter note, I just wanted to say how good it was to see so many faces on the sidelines cheering us on, obviously we are very disappointed to not have won the game, but you guys being there for us will only make us want to achieve more in the longer run. Apart from that I also wanted to say how well I thought Graham played. He was truly outstanding and I think he is sometimes forgotten and even taken for granted how good he really is; so well done and keep it up till the end of the season.

Starting Line Up:

Now for the ratings

Graham “No1 in my books” Tritton GK
Did his best to single handingly try and win us the game. Made a great for the penalty and free kick and didn’t deserve to be on the losing side. 9/10

Dave “Needs to stop smoking” De rijk RB
Injury mid way the first half didn’t help him and had to come off 5 minutes into the second half. 6/10

Nick “I Change my job every week” Marrable CB
Wasn’t the normal composed player we have seen so often this season. Needed to deal with the aerial ball a lot better. 5/10

Arnold “Arhhhhhhhhhh” Djedje CB
Didn’t look at all at the races, needs to be a lot smarter when challenging for the ball, and also need to deal with the aerial ball a lot better. 5/10

Tom “Fat Boy” Starling LB
One of the few to have a decent performance gave us natural width and covered well when needed. 7/10

John “Kaiser” Hassan DM
Not one of his best games, needed to have more of a presence in the middle of the park during the second half but struggled as we didn’t keep the ball well enough. 6/10

Danny “Rooney” Chester AM
Was in the game in drips and drabs, when he was on the ball you know the quality your going to get, however got caught out of position at crucial times ahead of the ball. 6/10

John “Lil Pol” Galligan AM
Another quiet performer, injury in the second half again didn’t help. However we need more ball retention from him and the other midfielders to help bring us back into the game. 6/10

Jey “Big Time” Siva WL
Tricky as ever; but seemed to play to many forward passes. Needed to maybe get a foot on it and make the other team chase after the ball. 7/10

Andy “20 goals a season” Saunders CF
Good day in the office for the Goal Machine, took his chances well to give the lead, didn’t deserve to be on the losing side. 8/10

Alfie “DT” Egembah WR
Very quiet game, as it got into the second half should have probably dropped into midfield to try and slow the play down. Didn’t use the experience I have to help others through the game. Always lively and had the beating of the full back all day. 6/10

Subs

Dave “Non Drinker” Ademakinwa AM
When he came on show his normal exuberance, but needed to have a calm head and try and keep the ball  6/10

Tom “GIBBO” Gibbings AM
His normal style of play helped the team in keeping the ball, but need to have more of a dominance to affect the game more. 7/10

Chris “Mr Punto” Wallbank RB
Looked edgy when we came on and didn’t look like his aggressive self. Needs to be more assertive in his decision making. 5/10

Goals
Andy Saunders 2

Assist
Jey Siva 2

Man of the Match
Graham Tritton