We were disappointed to come away with just a point with our game against Woking. Before the live Setanta cameras, I thought we played pretty well and should have had the game sewn up.
However, we gave Woking an equaliser with virtually their first shot on target in the dying minutes. As I said a few weeks back, whilst the score is still only 1-0, no matter how comfortable you are during the game you cannot be assured of the win until the final whistle goes. We had a lot of possession during the game and Chris Mackenzie was a spectator for long periods, but we just didn’t create enough in the final third to make the game safe. We spend a lot of time on the training ground working out how to break teams down and create good goal-scoring opportunities but this is one aspect of the game that is difficult to coach to players. Whilst we can advise and help players generally how to get into the sort of positions that we can score goals from, it is not possible to tell them how to use their intuition and skill to beat an opponent in tight areas when the game around them is being played at 100 miles an hour, and put the ball on a sixpence for a centre forward to head home. This is a talent that players either have or don’t have.
One such player that I believe we have missed immensely this season for his ability to unlock defences is Simon Russell. He has got the sort of talent whereby he can beat an opponent and create a goal out of nothing. This he does by instinct and intuition. Simon has had such a frustrating start to the season as he has been dogged by injuries that have left him feeling very low at times. When all the rest of the players have left for the day, Simon would just be going down to the swimming pool to help keep up his general fitness levels. Well, it appears for the first time this season Simon may have something to smile about. He has managed to complete a few days training with the rest of the squad and should hopefully be available for selection sooner rather than later. Couple this piece of good news with the return from injury of Scott Bevan and Iyseden Christie, it looks as though we may be in a position to really attack the remainder of the season as our squad returns to full strength. Only Jeff Kenna remains on the injury list but he is due to be playing a reserve game next week.
Finally, a quick thank you and goodbye to Chris Mackenzie. A few people doubted his quality after his debut game here at Aggborough but over the following 2 months he showed what a good goalkeeper and professional he is. I wish him well for the future.
Cheers
Neil