fleetwood cricket club - 28/9/2008
The X Men travelled to Deepest darkest Fleetwood to take on Fleetwood Cricket Club in an early season top of the table clash.
After recent great results in the league Excelsior were under no illusions about the oppostion today, FCC were in the Prem last year so were obviously no mugs but went in confident. Excelsior went in without prolific frontman Craig Worrall, out with a hamstring injury, Ross dropped out in the morning with an eyelash in his eye,
Dezzy Worrall was on holiday so we started Hunty in goal, Nico, Greeny, Andy Mac and Neil right to left, Mercer, Fiss, Hopes and Jeff midfield and Sean and Willacy up top.
Excelsior got off to a great start taking the lead inside 5 minutes with Andy Willacy taking advantage of some generous defending and goalkeeping and heading through a sea of Sky Blue shirts. The game was very tight with both teams cancelling each other out with some good defending by both sides, FCC creating the best of the chances forcing Hunty to pull off a couple of good saves. Excelsior chances were few and far between the best being a Mercer chance after a
stary punch from teh FCC keeper fell to him 25 yards out only to see his lob swerve wide of the post. Excelsior were forced into a change before the break as Willacy was injured, he was replaced by Scholesy who came on to form a 5 man midfield. This seemed to settle Excelsior down and they went into half time on top 1-0 up.
Seconf half started tight again and no real clear cut chances were created, as the half wore on FCC started to force the game and Excelsior were put on the back foot, resolute defending kept them at bay. Mercer was replaced by Danny Heatley for his first game of the season as Excelsior looked to add fresh legs. FCC deservedly equalised after a debated corner was headed home and suddenly FCC were in the ascendency. It was not long before they took the lead with
a great strike from the edge of the box flew in with Hunty well beaten. It was then Excelsior's turn to put on the pressure although they were continually thwarted by some very dubious, some would call cheating from the Fleetwood liner ( we were in line pal and you were definitely cheating!). Fiss had a shot blocked that looked to be flying in and then had a 20 yard free kick brilliantly turned over by Emsley in the Fleetwood goal. Greeny nearly got on the end of a Fiss free kick and Excelsior peppered the FCC goal with corners in the last 5 but it was too little too late.
FCC hung on for deserved 2-1 victory I dont think anyone can begrudge them that as they were the better team over 90 minutes. They won alot more headers and second balls. There were a few disappointed faces and a feeling that we didn't play well, I didnt subscibe to that, I felt we didn't play because we weren't allowed to by a good side and were beaten by a better side. We have to accept we are not going to walk this league and we'll have to work hard, were nearly there, perhaps with Wozza in the side on Sunday it could have made the difference?
MOM - Fiss, had his best game for a while for me, closelt followed by Hunty, Andy Mac and Greeny.
Ratings
Hunty - made some good save especially first half 8
Nico - Solid as ever 7
Greeny - Won some good headers and marshalled defence well 8
Andy Mac - again won some important headers and tackles 7
Neil - Some good interceptions 7
Fiss - Good solid game looked a threat in second half 8
Hopes - Quietest game so far for me 6
Jeff - Didn't get into it really 6
Sean - Worked hard as ever but didn't influence game as he can 7
Willacy - Scored goal and worked hard 7
Scholes - Made a difference when he came on 7
Danny - Didn't see much of him 6
Fair Cop
Good report Merce, bad day at the office for excelsior and a deserved result for Fleetwood Car Centre. My ratings..
Hunty - made some good saves and claimed the ball well - 7
Nico - Good performance at right back - 7
Neil - not up to his usual high standards - 6
Green - Did all he could against a solid team - 7
Fiss - Pick of the midfielders - 7
Merce - quiet game, not even any 'rat tactics' - 6
Hopesy - started well but drifted away in the second half - 6
Geoff - started off quite bright final crosses could have been better - 6
Sean - a lot of running and hard work but not enough to get a goal unfortunatley - 6
Andy Will - Got his goal but not much else aside - 6
Scholsey - looked good when he came on but too late to make an impact - 6
Danny - no time to make any difference really - 6
Steve - no time to make any difference really - 6
Dez Warrell - not here but i'll give him a 6 anyway!!
Difficult game as Mercer had said, we weren't allowed to play football and perhaps sat back too much. I think the general feeling was towards the end of the 1st half, whilst we did look vulnerable at times, at least we were creating at the other end. Oh well, wait til we get them at the new fortress!!
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Better team?
Dunno if they were that much better than us. I thought we were well in the game we just didn't seem to play at full tilt, we had pretty much nothing in the last third and when we did it was always off side. We are more than capable of turning them over if we can just get up to tempo, get more accurate shots off and as many final balls as possible. We just need a bit more hussle.
Huntelaar - 8 - Would have been a silly score but for this lad. Still a wasted talent when in nets.
Nico - 8 - Solid as always, did his best to calm the choppy waters
Macca - 7 - Did lots of the dirty messy stuff, could do with an extra yard of pace.
Greenday - 7 - Won plenty. Half hearted effort up front, could also do with some pace but have you ever heard the saying you can't teach an old dog? how about an old fat dog!
Neil - 7 - Couldn't come to terms with their wing man like he normally can, still a good shift.
Mercer - 6 - What he lacks in defence he makes up for in attack, not today. Starved of the ball somewhat
Hopesy - 6 - Started well, ball bypassed midfield too much to really help.
Jeff - 6 - Not really used in the long ball game. Needs to show a bit more of a mean side on the pitch. Jeff could be a killing machine if he just let loose once in while.
Sean - 6 - Fed on scraps all game. Needed to look around the pitch more when looking for the best pass.
Willerpy - 5 - He may have scored but he must have only lasted 20 mins.
Scholes - 6.5 - Great start when in the middle, didn't get enough of the ball on the left.
Steve - 6 - Can't remember much apart from the offside
Danny - 6 - LACKS CONFIDENCE, get a grip Danny and puff your chest out a bit you big girl.
MOM - Huntelaar - would still be better out field.
Nobody likes losing, lets never do it again!!
Fiss
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