Squad: 

Peter
Paul
Tony O
Grant
Richie
Kevin
Ian
Chris
Martin

After recent results and performances this fixture away to one of the premier walking football teams in Kent did appear to seem a little bit daunting, without doubt if we had repeated what happened in our last home game, it could have been quite a beating. Thankfully this was so much better, before we started we spoke about what we needed to do to get a result, more importantly taking this in to the pitch and remembering what we need to do once the whistle goes.

Everyone played their part, Paul was outstanding keeping the home centre forward quiet, blocking, tackling and not giving up any space, for me the clear man of the match. Peter was able to celebrate his first clean sheet between the sticks making a couple of smart saves especially in the first half. To be honest it was a pretty much back to the walls type of game, having said that, we didn’t concede that many chances as we kept our shape throughout. Herne Bay are a good side and they did have plenty of possession, but we just didn’t allow them the time or the space to take advantage and get the breakthrough. Ourselves we didn’t have too many opportunities to get forward in the first period although our XG was still better than Spurs.

So no score and plenty to play for as we began the second half. Tony, Grant and Richie were brilliant in making a barrier which ultimately left the home side more than a little frustrated, we did concede a number of corner kicks but resolutely defended these limiting the number of efforts on our goal to just a couple of hopeful attempts. Ian up front was rather lonely at times but always gave us an out ball.  Kev when he could got up to support but he did have his hands full keeping track on Trevor in the home midfield; if you give Trevor the time and space he will control the game, Kev never let him do this. Although we never had any real clear cut chances to score we did begin to push forward as we grew in confidence, it really did feel that we wouldn’t concede and given the opportunity maybe we could nick a win.  Sadly this wasn’t to be and would probably have been a bit harsh on the home side, would have been good though.

A hard fought and deserved share of the spoils, as previously mentioned we kept our shape throughout, communicating and supporting each other, the starting team performed so well that any substitutions could have disrupted our momentum, thanks to Chris and Martin for understanding that as unused subs. One last bit to mention was our self discipline as to our speed of movement, no penalty conceded, this shows that we can move within the accepted speed limits, moving forward this has to be the rule rather than the exception.

Now we need to build on this, another tricky game up next at home to a much improved Margate team, we can take a lot of confidence from this game and get back on the front foot with not just better performances but some improved results to climb the table; with the right attitude and application we can and should give anyone a game.

Thanks to Herne Bay for their hospitality and to Chris Smith for refereeing to his usual high standard.