Woodley Saints
Lions, Tigers & Pumas

• Login
• Links
• Contact
• Home

Match Report

Tigers 0 Reading Rangers 2

It's always nice to win games but as a manager, you probably learn more about the team in defeat. You get to see who keeps trying, who tries to lift the team and whose head goes down. The pleasing thing about the Tigers was that even though they didn't play at their normal level, everyone kept going and trying to get something out of the game. The character of the lads is spot on!

This was always going to be a tough game but with 10 good players in the squad, there was sufficient cover for the absent Max and Lateef (away on international duty) and Sam who had to disappear at halftime to feature in a World XI charity match.

Listed as the home team, the Tigers had kick off and Rangers selected the end with the wind behind them for the first half. From the start, the Tigers were under the cosh and less than a minute in, Rangers scored with a wonder goal. Thomas having no chance whatsoever. 1- 0 to Rangers. The Tigers crowd were stunned into silence and a few must have thought ‘here comes a drubbing' as they shared ominous looks.

The attacking play of Rangers continued with the Tigers taking on a counter attacking approach, through opportunity rather than organisation. It was during an early counter attack that the Tigers looked like they might find the equaliser. Good work from Cameron and Sam saw Callum burst free of the Rangers defence. A well struck shot had the crowd cheering but the ball flew narrowly past the post. A great effort by the Tigers number 9.

As the half wore on, the Tigers regained some composure but to be fair, they were always up against it with a good Rangers side passing and moving continually. Another dangerous weapon, so far unseen by the Tigers in this league, was the keeper's fly kicks. With the wind behind him, he quite often reached Thomas' goal and at one point, nearly lobbed him.

When the half drew to a close, the Tigers had restricted Rangers to only 1 goal and had shown flashes of quality but not their regular gusto. Halftime 1-0 to Rangers The second half meant Sam had to catch his plane and the Tigers had the bare 7 players. Reiss swapped with Thomas in goal and the line up now had Reiss (keeper), Thomas and Toby (defence), Cameron, Jake and Joe (midfield) and Callum up front.

Whilst the wind wasn't too strong, the second half meant the Rangers keeper had less influence with his fly kicks. However, their number 7 came more into the game and started controlling midfield. Every team we've played against, including division 2, has at least 1 quality player and this number 7 was special. Following a half time team talk, the Tigers players started to hustle and tackle this half. A very encouraging sign was that the players recognised the danger of the number 7 and self taught themselves to ‘double up' when trying to stop him. The success that this approach showed gave encouragement to the players and they started to regain some confidence.

With the game now pretty even, Rangers scored the killer goal following a goalmouth scramble. As mentioned earlier, the Tigers refused to give in and indeed upped their game to put the Rangers defence under pressure.

With a few minutes remaining, the Tigers were camped in the Rangers half trying to find the elusive goal. Despite every player (except Reiss) coming forward, the Tigers were unable to break down the Rangers defence and the game finished 2-0.

Lessons learnt - The character of the players is excellent. They keep trying regardless of the scoreline. The players learned that if they don't tackle, quality players will run the game. Doubling up is an excellent tactic for reducing the impact of quality players.

MOTM - Cameron - Led by example with his tackling and effort.

Kit sponsored by Embee Garden Services 0118 9793349 - For all your gardening needs!
© Copyright 2007 by Dave Preece | Design by wfiedler
Icons by IconArchive (Free for non-commercial use)