Greatham FC 5 - New Marske 1
We headed to Hartlepool to play Greatham in the cup unusually on a Saturday morning to avoid the clash with the Sheff Utd/Boro game on TV. On the face of it this was going to be a very tough game as Greatham were still unbeaten in the league this season.
We started the game quite brightly and managed to push Greatham back on a couple of occasions and things looked fairly hopeful. That was until the sixth minute when disaster struck. A Greatham player had the ball on the edge of the box on the left hand side, where he managed to hit a very soft shot toward Dean in goal. The ball didn't seem to have enough pace on it to cause any problem, but somehow Dean managed to let the ball go under him into the net. 1-0 to Greatham.
That was just the start we didn't want, as it gave the impetus to Greatham, coupled with the fact we were standing off them too much, meant Greatham were free to rain shots in whenever they wanted. We nearly went two down but on this occasion the ball bounced back off the post. We made a slight recovery when Frank got away from the Greatham defence but only saw his shot go past the post.
On 12 mins we were 2-0 down, when we looked to have cleared the ball, but it was hit back into the box where Andy couldn't intercept it and it went over Hubby's head, which allowed the Greatham attacker time and space to slot the ball past Dean. 2-0 to Greatham. Things got worse after 15 mins when Greatham scored again. A high ball into the box looked to be dropping nicely into Deans hands, however he waited and waited for the ball, only to see a Greatham player nip in before he got the ball, and head it over him into the empty net. 3-0 to Greatham.
We were playing awful football, standing off the opposition as if we were scared of them. Jack headed another cross out for a corner as Greatham used the low sun to their advantage by dropping high balls into our box. The corner came in straight into Dean's arms, but the ball escaped his grasp causing a scramble. The referee ended up awarding a free kick to us, presumably for a foul on Dean in the first place.
We settled down a little bit, with Frank going on a couple of runs, but nothing to cause the opposition keeper any problems. We were getting a bit more possession in the Greatham half and clearing the ball better at the back as the game went on. Well, until the 30th minute anyway. Attacking down the left the ball was whipped into our box. Andy went away from the man he was marking toward the ball but missed it, and with Jack the wrong side of the Greatham attacker he headed the ball unchallenged into the net. 4-0 to Greatham.
A challenge by Jack on a Greatham player brought a stoppage in play, lengthened when the referee called Danny to him after something he must have said. The game resumed for about two minutes before the referee once more called Danny toward him. Danny and one of the Greatham players seemed to have been niggling each other for most of the first half. The management were obviously not happy with some of the performances and taking a leaf out of Jose Mourinho's book as Danny, Johnny and Hubby were replaced by Dougy, Matty and Ben Leaper.
Things could have been even worse as a cross from the right by Greatham found it's way across the box to an unmarked player on the left. Only a great challenge by Andy stopped the shot at goal. Mercifully the referee blew the whistle for half time.
Half-time: Greatham FC 4 - New Marske 0
The game was gone by this point, and the second half would hopefully see us playing for our pride if nothing else, after hopefully being given a rollicking by the management for such a poor first half performance.
The early stages of the second half were a lot more encouraging as we at last started to get stuck into the opposition a bit more rather than stand off them. This also enabled us to start playing more football and there was a nice passing move down the left between Ben, Liam and Frank. It was nice to see the change from the first half as we started to push Greatham back a bit more.
An excellent pass by Ben Leaper sent Liam clear, and with more time than he probably realised, he scuffed at his shot as he hit it, sending the ball well wide of the opposition goal. Although we had missed a good chance to get a goal back, it wasn't long until we managed to put the ball in the net. On 50 mins Frank received the ball from a throw in. A Greatham defender failed to get a challenge in on him and he coolly placed the ball past the keeper. 4-1 to Greatham.
The goal obviously helped our confidence, as the next few minutes saw us hammer into challenges putting real pressure onto greatham. The pressure was relieved temporarily when Greatham were awarded a free kick midway in our half. It was wasted however, as the ball went wide and straight out of play.
Greatham although playing in our half were now getting no time on the ball as tackles went in, and when the ball was hit forward the defence was coping really well. Due to getting into challenges more quickly we were finding more time on the ball enabling us to knock the ball around confidently. The difference between the first and second half was quite remarkable, it was just a shame it took so long to start playing.
On 65 mins Greatham managed to score another goal to extend their lead once more. A Greatham substitute came on and instantly embarked on a powerful forward run into our box. We were under pressure with the ball being half cleared on a couple of occasions, before Jack could only clear the ball into the path of an unmarked Greatham player who put the ball into the net. 5-1 to Greatham.
Greg was substituted as Robert came on to replace him. We continued playing well and Matty hit a lovely curling shot that had the Greatham keeper scrambling for the ball, and he must have been relieved to see it go narrowly wide of his far post. We were playing a higher tempo game in this second half, with some really nice, quick, one touch football.
The game ended, by my reckoning four minutes short in the second half, but it was really nice to end with a positive performance. What we now need to do is to take the second half performance into the remaining games, for the full 80 minutes. If we do that the lads should have a good second half to the season.
Final Score: Greatham FC 5 - New Marske 1
MOTM:- : Jack Lochrie
Other images from the game...
