What do you write after such a scoreline? Where do you start and how do you proceed? Well, we can look for excuses; perhaps even call them “reasons”, but ultimately, every player has to search inside and find his own solution.

Fact: we only had eleven fit men at the start of the game.
Fact: we lost Andy Bensley, our goalkeeper, to the first attack, and goal, of the game, with a dislocated finger.
Fact: Will Turton, who had come along to watch and support the team, bravely understudied for Andy and actually pulled off some stunning one-on-one saves in the first half.
Fact: too many heads dropped and collectively we lost our desire, our willingness to compete and ultimately ceded the game to Whitley Lodge.
Fact: we are missing key players out to injury.

However, these pointers should not disguise the more obvious fact that this was a poor team performance. There were times in the second half when it seemed that we had simply given up and with the exception of one or two players, simply lacked the determination to make a match of it.

The half time score of 1 – 1 flattered us; but for some heroic defending and the aforementioned last ditch saves that Will made, we could have been out of it. Despite that, we were awarded a penalty, well saved by a very good keeper, and then Ritchie Robinson snatched us an equaliser that our defensive efforts deserved. But then for the second week in a row, we started the second half badly conceding two really avoidable goals that almost literally caused a collective dropping of heads.

The remainder of the game saw little team spirit, which was probably the most disappointing aspect of the game. Yes, we will lose games, but there is a huge difference between losing and giving up. The endeavour of Chrissie Whitehead and the competitiveness of Graeme Walters and Ste Farish were overshadowed by the overall inertia that descended upon the team in the second half.

We are not going to win as easily or as comfortably as we did last year. We are going to have to battle and show reserves of grit and steel and even accept more defeats than we have ever done. But lads, please: let’s always lose as a team, fighting as a team to the end. Last year we were 3 -0 down to Tyneside with 15 minutes to go and we ended up 3 – 3. That’s the spirit we need to re-discover.

What Have We Learnt:

Individual fitness levels still need to be worked on.
We are far too quiet as a team.
We need to press as a team and be more competitive.
We need to encourage one another, rather than bemoan one another’s mistakes.
We need to organise ourselves at corners and dead balls.
Each individual has to stand up and be counted and accept responsibility and not rely on others to carry him.
Quote of the Week:

There are two ways of meeting difficulties: you alter the difficulties or you alter yourself to meet them.

(Phyllis Battome English Novelist)