New Marske 5 - Thornaby on Tees 2
After the disappointing last game against Mount Pleasant, it was important for the lads to get back on track with a league victory against another team at the bottom of the league, could we do it? Well who knows.
We started the game brightly with a great run from Greg that ended when the Thornaby keeper took the ball off Liam, Thornaby then broke quickly but the ball was played back by Jack to Dean on the edge of his box. Unfortunately his clearance went straight to a Thornaby attacker who instantly lobbed the ball over the stranded Dean and into the net for a shock opening goal. 0-1 to Thornaby after 2 minutes. Not the start we wanted.
The early goal didn't stop our determination and effort and after 6 minutes we won a couple of consecutive corners. The second came in a Matty stooping low to get his head on the ball directed the ball into the net to level the score. 1-1.
We were looking a bit disorganised at the back and a ball over the top saw us caught out but luckily the shot rolled the wrong side of the post from a Thornaby point of view. It was an exciting game with both sides looking like they were able to score on each attack. An on 15 minutes we scored our second and what a lovely goal it was. Starting from the back Jack played Conor in with a lovely ball, he turned and slid the ball forward for Frank who raced off up the right wing and just before the defender was able to get a tackle in, he put in a lovely cross for Joe to direct the ball into the net. 2-1 to New Marske.
Thornaby were straight back on the attack as a Thornaby attacker outpaced David down the wing before hitting the ball across the box. Luckily no Thornaby player had gambled and the ball continued past the goal and out for a goal kick. Back down the other end and after a laboured build up Joe managed to turn, just outside the box and shoot at goal, however it was more like pass back than a shot and the game remained at 2-1.
A shot past the post from Matty saw us go close before we scored again on 22 minutes. Another great run by Greg ended with a shot that was screwed wide, however we regained possession and crossed the ball back into the box where it fell to Frank who poked it into the net. 3-1 to New Marske.
We nearly extended our lead when Conor attacked down the right before putting in an excellent cross for Joe to head toward goal, the keeper making a save but the ball rolled toward goal but was cleared before it could cross the line. Our football still wasn't fluent as we tried to force the ball a bit to much, we still were making chances though, as Joe couldn't make the most of a couple of chances.
Thornaby were playing a dangerous high line and Frank looked to be away but was flagged offside when only a couple of yards inside the Thornaby half. Although they had been under a lot of pressure we needed to be on our guard as another Thornaby attacker hit a snap shot narrowly wide of our post once more.
Considering the chances we had had in the game we still weren't performing as if fully awake as our passing kept going astray and the energy wasn't in our tackling. A corner from Thornaby looked to have been dealt with by Andy, but he mis-controlled it in the box and the ball fell to a Thornaby player whose shot was dragged wide once more. We broke next as Frank played an excellent ball forward for Conor whose final shot wasn't hit very well and ended up wide of the goal.
Half-time: New Marske 3 - Thornaby on Tees 1
The second half started with us back on the attack and a couple of more chances fell to Joe but he wasn't able to capitalise on them. We were on the verge of playing some really good football but our insistence on overplaying the ball meant it wasn't quite happening for us. We were slack in midfield were Thornaby robbed us of the ball before breaking away for a corner, that came in over to the back post were an attempted overhead kick by a Thornaby player went wide of the goal.
A free kick to us on the right was hit into the box where the ball fell to Joe, and he managed to flick the ball up and hit an overhead kick into the side netting, that looked like it was in from our angle. The ball from the goal kick was hit straight to Matty whose shot wasn't hit very well and once more ended up well wide of the goal.
After breaking up the next Thornaby attack we got the ball to Matty again, who after riding a couple of challenges struck another shot, the once more ended up going wide of the goal. Our shooting in this second half was of a very poor quality as we struggled to get anything even close to the goal. A strong challenge by Jack won the ball and managed to set Frank and Joe away, the final attempt saw the ball knocked out for another corner.
Liam and Danny came off as Hubby and Josh came on to try and liven up the second half performance. The game sprang into life as a nice passing move won us a corner. The ball was crossed in and won by Joe, however he could only direct his header over the bar. The urgency had gone from the game as Thornaby pushed on again and once again hit a shot wide of the goal.
The hoped for spark from the subs hadn't happened as we gave the ball away unnecessarily on a number of occasions, before josh finally had a shot at goal, but in keeping with the second half the ball ended up over the bar. Thornaby put some nice passing together and opened us up, but not surprisingly the ball once again went well wide of the post.
On two or three occasions we found ourselves inside the Thornaby box but for whatever reason we were unwilling to take a shot on, as the ball was cleared instead.The effort and commitment from us was seeping away as Thornaby found it so easy to pass the ball around us on the left to break forward. It was looking like it was the final game of the season with nothing to play for the way we were performing, or not as the case may be.
After 75 minutes we finally managed to lull Thornaby into a false sense of security as we burst into life to claim our fourth goal of the game. Two Thornaby players collided with each other as they both went for the ball, but unfortunately for them this allowed Joe to break clear with the ball. With only the keeper to beat instead he cut the ball across the face of the goal to the unmarked Frank who hammered the ball into the empty net to make the score 4-1 to New Marske.
There was a delay of a few minutes while one of the Thornaby players who was hurt in the collision received treatment. While we had the stoppage in play Tim came on to replace Andy. The stoppage seemed to do us good as we suddenly looked more lively once the game resumed. Not for long though as Thornaby got a goal back due to sloppy play from us. Joe received the ball and dallied far to long allowing the keeper to give him a clatter that the referee played on. The ball was played forward were our non-existent midfield failed to close down or get a challenge in, allowing a Thornaby player to strike the ball over Dean and into the net. 4-2 to New Marske on 80 minutes.
After receiving treatment Joe limped off and Danny came back on to replace him. Two minutes later Danny made his mark when after picking the ball up in midfield he ran forward and ghosted past a challenge before unleashing an excellent shot into the top corner of the net. 5-2 to New Marske.
There was hardly any time to restart the game, and the whistle sounded to bring the game to a conclusion. It was really a poor performance from us, and with a bit of effort and more accurate passing the score line could have been a whole lot wider.
Final Score: New Marske 5 - Thornaby on Tees 2
MOTM:- : Greg Wood
Other images from the game...
