Redolence fail to reach BSA final

Report

Cross and Redolence squared off once more in arguably the biggest game in Redolence’s history, certainly the biggest of the season so far, in the BSA cup semi-final. A chance to play in a prestigious final was at stake, and both sides have beaten each other within the last 6 weeks- with Redolence seeming to have Cross’s number in their last meeting in the Hunt Crane Cup.

With a healthy squad ScotTim named a virtually unchanged line-up- Phil coming in for the cup-tied Matt P and Si returning for the absent Bowen. A 4-1-4-1 formation was deployed that worked perfectly last time out, as Redolence won the battle of a busy midfield.

The game started badly for a jittery Redolence, and the tone was set poorly from the off. Early Cross pressure won them a corner…it was hit in low and Redolence didn’t react- Jon saved the first effort on goal but the rebound was tucked away. Cross had their tails up, and were winning all the aerial battles, Redolence looked panicky and causing their own problems. Hesitation at the back lead to another simple goal for Cross, and after only 20 minutes Redolence were 3-0 down after further hesitation at the back let Cross in for another well taken effort. Redolence were completely stunned. The midfield were struggling to win ball and relieve pressure, and defensively we weren’t coping at all, it was a really disappointing slow start across the board. It’s not that Redolence weren’t creating, Woody and Jonesy had linked well to get some openings down the wing, and Tim was denied by the offside flag on 2 occasions- the passing game was there when we settled, but we weren’t settled enough.

At 3-0 down things looked desperate, so Scott opted to gamble and put Andy on for Phil- sacrificing some graft in the CDM area for a greater presence up top. To an extent, it paid off- Andy was winning ball and Redolence started to grow into the game, but without the ball things were still scruffy- Cross were a continual threat. Redolence were competing now though- Woody nearly putting through Si and Jonesy on separate occasions, and a goal soon arrived. A Redolence corner was hit in low, and Tim was in at the near post to poke it in off a Cross defender. It was a lifeline, and it could’ve been closer still by half time- Ant went close with a speculative long range effort, and Woody put Tim through but he was well shepherded by his man who forced him to miss the target on his weaker foot.

HT: 1-3

A disappointing half. Tensions were high for Redolence. There were several disagreements throughout the team, but no one was wrong- we were being punished for individual errors, we were losing our battles and we weren’t doing enough with the ball. Despite all of this, there was still 45 minutes to make it up...

However, today was not to be Redolence’s day. 3 became 4 almost immediately- a cross at the near post eluding Jon to bounce through and put Redolence firmly on the back foot. Cross had tactically got the edge at this point- their defensive line was high, they had 5 in midfield and as a result were outnumbering Redolence in the middle as they setup 4-4-2. They were running the show and 4 soon became 5. Frustrations started to boil over as it became apparent that Cross were firmly in control. The second half may not produce any more goals- but produced several talking points...

Cross’s domination came about through their 5-man midfield, which was setup in identical fashion to their earlier victory against Redolence- a system Redolence had thwarted before when Phil took their play maker out of the game. But that wasn’t the full picture today, as they complimented this with a high defensive line- Cross’s centre backs pushing Tim and Andy up, and their faster full backs provided cover for anything that got through. Every attack Redolence ended in 1 of 2 ways- either an offside or a last ditch tackle by a full back to deny the opportunity- Tim, Andy and Woody both broke through several times to be denied. Frustratingly, Redolence could only seem to commit to one-man attacks, which was baffling under the circumstances- Cross had effectively taken the physical and aerial threat of Andy and Tim out of the game. Frustrations bubbled away and that created the games main flashpoint- Si fouling a Cross midfielder who lashed out at Si, leading to some handbags in the centre of the pitch that controversially led to them both being sent off- very harsh but consistent refereeing. Following the sending off, Phil was brought on for Max and Redolence committed more men to midfield- a tactic that did brighten the final 20 minutes- although Redolence continued to be caught offside at every opportunity! There were 2 bright moments towards the end, with some neat play on the edge of Crosses box putting Phil who just missed the target- and Woody also narrowly heading wide after a long throw was flicked on into the box. It was to be a disappointing result weekend for Redolence.

FT- 1-5

Verdict

A disappointing step back for Redolence, who basically turned back into the team that had lost 7 in a row earlier this season. There will be a lot of post-game discussions as to what went wrong, but certainly most post- game comments from everyone were completely correct- every department was off on the day, the simple things weren’t being done, and we were punished for it. Cross to their credit were worthy winners, tactically they played their game well and Redolence couldn’t deal with it. Redolence’s tactical plays didn’t pay off on the day, and we managed to look weak across the park. The amount of times we were caught offside on the attack was ridiculous (10 in the second half), and really killed any attacking momentum we tried to build. The midfield was overrun during key periods of the match, and we never had a firm grip on the game. That said, it was still lapses and errors that ultimately cost us- Redolence were architects of their own downfall on this occasion.

As disappointing as it was though the season isn’t over- Redolence remain in 2 more cups, and will have plenty of opportunity to get over this defeat- the whole club should reflect on this and look to push on and learn from this defeat. For the management, the more pressing concern will be to make sure the winning formula established over the last month is the team that we see this Sunday for the years final game vs Beoley village, and not the team that was seen in this match.