BHR 4 Vs ALDERSBROOK 3

21/11/04

We started this game with a goal by Alex within the first three minutes, and I think the boys thought that this was going to be easy.  How very wrong were they. After we scored we stopped playing football, there was no talking, no passing, no aggression, nothing.  Our players were not picking up their players when Aldersbrook had the ball, and we were punished for this as Aldersbrook had total control in the first half and were rewarded with three goals to make it 3-1 to them at half time.

As the boys came off they looked a beaten team, or more to the point, a beaten group of individuals because a team they definitely were not! In my team talk at half time I had to select my words carefully because I was so angry with them, and the bottom line is I asked for the real Bush Hill Rangers to stand up.  I pointed out that with the exception of Ali and Tommy they should be ashamed to wear their badge on their shirts, because there was definitely no battle. 

I had a situation with Jamel that I was not happy with.  Players cannot expect to just turn up on a Sunday and play for this club, if they haven’t been at training or even bothered to phone me.  Because of this, we had one too many players in the squad on Sunday, and I told Jamel he would not be playing. However, a few of the players on the bench were calling for Jamel to go on, because they could see how poorly we were defending as a team, and I explained that for me to be able to put him on one of them would have to rest this week and not get on at all.  After a few minutes Rishi tapped me on the shoulder and sacrificed his place in the team that day, I still struggled with my conscience, as I believe that Jamel should not have played on principle alone, but I could also see that the boys would have been  more upset to lose three points if there was a chance with Jamel that we could get something from this game. 

The second half started and I am pleased to say that the real Bush Hill Rangers were there to play.  We started to pile on the pressure and Alex got his second after a long ball by Taylan. We started to win things in midfield and our aggression and determination all over the pitch started to show, and Alex put us level with his hat-trick. We were fast running out of time and with a couple of minutes to go, Robin who had replaced Reece late-on, latched on to a clearance by Aldersbrook, fired a fierce shot for the winning goal!  A great come back and second half performance by the boys. My frustration at the boys’ overall performance resulted in myself receiving a yellow card! 

Today’s Man Of The Match:  Rishi for putting Bush Hill Rangers first and not himself.