Panthers 2 Falcons 5
Khair C, 10 (Laffan)
Panther, 26
Khair C, 33 (Cotton)
Panther, 49
Livesey, 53 (Brown)
Khair C, 54 (Khair R)
Makepeace , 59 (Livesey corner)

I wasn’t sure quite what to expect from today’s game. We’ve never played the Maidenhead Panthers before, plus, due to a combination of illness and injury we travelled to Maidenhead with a squad of just 11, some of whom were only just back from illness or
injury themselves!

So before I get in to the details, I just want to say a massive well done to each and every one of the team today. It was a tough game, but you really played together as a team and dug deep mentally and physically, you all worked hard for that result today, it was well
deserved.

Sunshine, a rammed car-park, a good, but slopey pitch, and a constant 40 mph westerly wind, were the first impressions of Maidenhead as we arrived this morning.

Before the game, we asked the boys to keep the ball down and get passing going, but most of all to increase the number and variety of goal attempts.

The Falcons started brightly with some great runs from both Jack and Marcus on the wings, early shots from Chris, Eadoin and Marcus were a show of intent, but were well saved. Panthers had a couple of early attempts too, they were either off target or dealt with by
Max in goal.

Falcons opened the scoring with a superb team goal. Eadoin won the ball back in midfield, turned a couple of Panthers to make space and laid the ball out to Marcus who took a touch and played a super ball into Chris who swept the ball into the net. (0-1) Great passing, great
running, great finish.

Both sides continue to press, with the Falcons having the majority of possession. Chris had an overhead kick attempt, and Jack had a certain goal thwarted by their keeper, who pulled off a fantastic double-save to deny him. Falcons looked most likely to score again, but actually it was the Panthers who equalised. Playing a long ball forward, they won a corner. The corner was well taken, but we dropped our focus for a moment and it was tapped home
(1-1)

The Falcons responded to this well and our second goal was a display of vision, pace and power. Jack played an excellent ball through in to space beyond Chris, who then sprinted against the full back to take it forward and fire a rocket past the keeper (1-2).

Alastair was putting in some excellent corners too, but we weren’t getting anyone on the end of them. Raphael also almost got on the score sheet, chasing down a through ball both he and the keeper collided, but thankfully both were OK.

The score was 1-2 at half time. Falcons had the majority of possession, and would have been further ahead if not for the Panther’s excellent goalkeeper.

At half time we spoke about, putting your name on the ball… (if you are wondering whether it is your ball or not…IT IS! Claim it!) We also spoke about what we were doing well, our passing, and to keep going with the goal attempts. We were planning to swap Max and Alastair in goal, but as both had really strong first halves, we left it as it was. We also swapped Jack and Raph on the wings and brought Marcus inside.

The hope was that we would score another and give ourselves a cushion, and we went looking for that next goal, however we got caught out by their big, strong No55 who scored a super goal for the Panthers taking it through our defence and around the ‘keeper (2-2) I was a little worried after this as our heads seemed to drop a little and you could see the team look a bit more tentative. But this only lasted a couple of minutes. Eadoin, took the game by the scruff of the neck and battled his way down the left and played a ball into the centre to Alastair who deftly passed the ball in to the bottom right hand corner (2-3).

This definitely gave the side a lift as we scored again a minute later. Some great work by Raphael saw Chris out wide on the left, from where he chipped the ‘keeper into he top right corner from 15 yards. (2-4) a classy finish.

Shortly afterwards, Eadoin had what looked like a goal-bound curling shot saved by a full stretch, athletic dive from their keeper.

5 minutes later we cemented the result with a goal from a corner! This is of particular delight to the coaches as we have been playing in great corners all season, but not getting on the end of them. Alastair swung in another excellent ball, right in the ‘corridor of uncertainty’ it evaded everyone, except Stanley at the back post who buried it!! (2-5)

The final 10 minutes were effectively game management, both teams were tiring and the Panthers were beaten. The game ended 2-5.
As Paul noted on WhatsApp, it was a real team performance today,

Max – played a blinder in goal, great distribution and solid saves.
Cameron – great pace at right back, good turnovers and really good distribution out from
the back.
Pete – Super solid as full back, his first full 70 mins after injury, great to have you back!
Stanley – a lot of running today, solid at the back, but got forward well too, great finish for
his goal.
Gabriel – Massive game at left back, turnovers and forward passes excellent –(check your
pockets as I think their right forward is still in there)
Raphael – Really industrious (and brave at times) on both sides of the pitch today, unlucky
not to get on the score sheet.
Marcus – caused mayhem down the right wing, created multiple chances and a super assist.
Jack – loads of hard work on the left wing, multiple turnovers and several shots , two that
drew the very best saves from their keeper.
Alastair – Loads of hard work in midfield, turnovers and link up play great, as were his
corners, super goal too.
Chris – super energy and pace today, worked really hard for his well-deserved hat-trick (his
second) with a variety of quality finishes, just what we asked for!
Eadoin – for me he epitomised the attitude of the team today, even by his usual standards
he put in a real shift, and was the dynamo in midfield. Double figure turnovers, driving
forward and setting up plays. He re-ignited the team when Panthers drew level, great assist
and unlucky not to score a couple himself.
Well done all!
Next week we are at home to Spencers Wood Spartans. Who wants to be Thebes? J
COYF!
Phill

Match details

Match date

Sat 29 Jan 2022

Kickoff

15:00

Team overview