Mixed Emotions as Greens suffer late defeat
Described
by an on looking league official as the best game he’d ever
seen at this age group, this was a cracker - a feast of
football which had everything; two good teams; end to end
football of the highest quality; great goals; goalmouth
scrambles; bags of commitment; more twists and turns than
the latest ride at Alton Towers and a thrilling climax.
Sadly, for Keyworth, Vernon’s goal right at the death
condemned the Greens to an undeserved defeat, leaving us
wondering just how we’d lost. In reality though, while it
might sound trite, if ever there were a game in which
everyone was a winner, this was it! Forget about the
points; the players, officials, spectators and the game
itself were the real winners here…yes it really was that
good!
The game started at a lively pace with both sides giving
their all in a wholehearted tussle. Chances came and went
at both ends with Keyworth, if anything, slightly edging
it, before the game took a huge turn in Vernon’s favour
with two goals in as many minutes. Picking up the ball
midway inside the Keyworth half, Vernon’s rapid dangerman,
stepped into over-drive, breezed into the box, lurched to
the right and drove a ferocious shot across Sam and into
the top left hand corner of the net for a goal few
defenders and no goalkeeper at this level would have stood
any chance of stopping. Before we knew it, we were two
adrift. The Green defence seemed to have done its job when
forcing the same Vernon forward wide after another speedy
attack, but the nippy striker turned on a sixpence to slice
over Sam and into the far corner from a very tight angle.
Was it a cross, was it a shot?...we’ll never know, but
entered half-time full of disbelief at being two down when,
on balance, we’d been marginally the better
side.
The team talk during the break was simple: “more of the
same lads we’re not out of this yet”. For once it had the
desired impact as Keyworth started the second half in
buoyant mood, brimming with confidence and with
determination etched into their faces. Within five minutes
we’d pulled one back when a ball to the edge of the box was
headed on skilfully by Danny and dispatched with aplomb by
a closely marked Tommo, firing a fine volley into the roof
of the net. With my emotions swinging like a pendulum, the
Keyworth blitz continued unabated and within five minutes
Danny came to my emotional rescue, levelling the scores
with a real beauty. Danny was having a superb game and, too
hot for the Vernon defenders to handle, was once again
hauled down, this time some 35 yards from goal. Taking the
kick himself, there was only one thought in his head as he
smashed the ball goalwards and watched expectantly as it
whistled into top corner before the keeper could move - an
unbelievable goal for anyone, never mind one so young.
Absolutely magnificent! Naturally, on the touchline, I go
wild! 2-2 - game, well and truly, on!
Vernon were under the cosh. Another long range Danny
free-kick beat the keeper only to be scrambled off the line
and somehow away to safety, with two Keyworth forwards
looking odds-on to force the ball home. Then, as the ball
fell to Douglas, he was clearly hauled down for a stone
wall penalty, only for the incident to go unseen by the
excellent, but unsighted, referee - who, incidentally, I’d
unwittingly tried to sign during the pre-match knock about
as he looked younger than most of my team! Restricted
largely to their own half, Vernon finally got into ours
with two minutes remaining, when a clear foul on half way
went unpunished and a rare mis-kick in our defence saw ball
skid out for throw. Subsequent throw ins and corners
appeared to been dealt with effectively but, with 30
seconds to go and just as I approached my
19th
nervous breakdown of the
afternoon, a clearance landed midway in the Keyworth half
and a Vernon defender took an almighty hoof at the ball,
launching it into orbit. Unfortunately its path was
goalwards and the ball dropped stone-like over Sam and into
the net, giving Keyworth’s number one no chance and
sparking joyous celebrations among the promotion seeking
home fans. The Keyworth contingent were shattered! Within
seconds we were out of time and as we trudged off
despairingly, not even the warm applause that echoed around
the park could lift the Keyworth spirits.
Naturally we are disappointed - the result was far too
tough on the Greens - but we shouldn’t be downhearted.
You’d be a fool to cry after such a great display. Despite
the result, this performance gave me great satisfaction and
to be involved in such a fantastic match was a real
pleasure. Both sides must take credit for such a wonderful
game. Keyworth deserved at least a point and, in many
people’s eyes, including the league official’s and mine,
warranted all three. Territorially, Keyworth won this one,
but it’s goals that count and on this occasion we were
undone late on by a freakish effort which registered the
cruellest of blows.
Make no mistake though, this was as good a performance as
we’ve produced all season - everyone was superb, but
perhaps the most pleasing aspects were the character,
togetherness and particularly team spirit, which has never
been greater. At no time previously had I seen any side
show greater desire to win than a Vernon outfit (Red; White
or Green!). So to see our boys hungrier and “wanting it”
more than the opposition in this battle of the Greens was
that little bit special! It proved to me that we’re so
close to being a very good team. If we can become more
ruthless and learn to concentrate for the full sixty
minutes without switching off for even a micro-second,
there’s no telling where we could end up. There’s another
harsh lesson we’ve learned today though and that’s
sometimes, no matter how well you play, you can’t always
get what you want! If we keep up the commitment and
performance level however, there’s no doubting that, in the
long term, we will.
Boys, you got me rocking today - now let’s get on a roll
with another blinding performance to shoot down the
Harriers next week!