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After all the talk and preparation for this big test it was very much a bit of a let down really. The game plan of keeping the ball didn’t really seem to work, as conditions weren’t great, but were the same for both sides. Credit has to also go to the other team as they worked there socks off to close us down and stop us from playing.

Many teams try to do this but normally the quality within the side can around this. Today I just think, too many of us had off days. No matter what level of football you are at you need to perform. Yes a team may be able to carry one or two players, but when you start talking about five or six players you have to look at yourselves and ask some serious questions.

Were we up for it? Of course we were it was the biggest game of the season, did we play well enough? No not really; but why? This is obviously a question that we are all going to ask ourselves. The great thing with football is that there is always another game to put it right, next week should be a cracker, not only is it another cup game but it’s against them again. They’ll be buoyant that they have a win and a draw against us and think they are our voodoo side. We know we have to be tougher to beat and have to create more, as well as dealing with the loss of some key players.

At the end of the day, it’s a loss and a bad one at that, but all good teams lose, great teams don’t lose twice in a row. So it leaves us with the question of are we good or great I’m sure we’ll find out next week!

 

Starting Line Up:

Now for the ratings

Graham “Newbury’s No1” Tritton GK
Pulled of some good saves within the game, was probably at fault for the winner, but needed quicker reactions from the team. 7/10

Chris “Animal Baby” Wallbank RB
7Tough and tenacious as ever, needed to have a little more form him going forward. 7/10

Nick “Dr Love” Marrable CB
Another big performance by our centre half, was solid at the back especially in the air against their Peter Crouch wannabe.7/10
 
Kye “How did he miss that chance” Braithwaite CB
Him and his partner give us the base that we need to play from, but in fairness they were really doing it for the whole team. 7/10

Tom “Only gay in the village” Starling LB
Quiet game from the Welsh wonder, didn’t seem to have the same effect on the game as he normally does. 6/10

Toch “Mr Woo” Singh DM
Didn’t seem himself at all today, still had flashes of shire brilliance, but they were to few and far between. 5/10

Jon “Lil Pol” Galligan AM
Worked his socks off to link it in midfield, always seemed as if he was fighting a losing battle. 7/10

Dan “Finish Him” Chester AM
Work rate as normal was fantastic, only problem came when we lost it and he had committed himself forward. 6/10

Jey “Big Time” Siva WL
Strange one because he had the ball a lot, but probably didn’t deliver at the same high standards he sets himself. 5/10

Andy “Goal Machine” Saunders CF
Got injured in the 2nd half which did help, and was also up against a really good centre half. 6/10

Alfie Egembah WR
Didn’t really have a sniff in the game, we didn’t get the ball that much as the whole team struggled to keep hold of it. 6/10

Subs
Nicole “Mr French man” Manfre CF
Came on and did well was unlucky with a snap shot, but was living off scraps most of time. 6/10

Joe “Run Forrest Run” Mariani WR
Suffered from the team not keeping the ball well, when he did get it tried to commit the defender and move forward. 6/10

Goals
Alfie Egembah

Man of the Match
Kye Braithwaite