Redolence unable to hold onto lead

Report

The final game of 2016 was at silver street in wythall, where Beoley were the opponents for SCC Redolence. Redolence had beaten Beoley 3-1 at this same location earlier in the season, but Beoley’s fortunes have improved since then, and they fielded a changed and more physically imposing lineup. ScotTim were looking for a big improvement on last week’s cup exit, but only had a small squad to work with due to several absences. Jon started in goal with Randle, Crouchy, Jord and Kieran making the back 4. Jonesy, Ant, Woody, Matt and Max were in midfield with Tim up top. With only Stu on the bench, there were very few options should they need to change the game up

Redolence started uncharacteristically well- Matt finding woody straight from the kick-off, who linked up will with Jonesy before putting Tim away in Beoley’s area. It was a good opportunity but Beoley closed it down before Tim got a shot away. With Beoley boxed in Redolence looked confident, and another probing passing move ended up with woody being clattered on the edge of Beoley’s area. Woody wasn’t impressed but picked himself up, got in front of the man who fouled him to meet Jonesy’s pinpoint delivery at the near post with a beautiful volley. The keeper had no chance. 1-0. Another goal to woody’s hot streak, and yet another assisted by Jonesy, who is running away with the assist leagues this year owing to his consistently excellent near post-delivery. Beoley hadn’t woken up, and Redolence looked dangerous, and 1 became 2 only 10 minutes later. Jonesy bullying the left back into losing the ball and going clear down the right. Beoley’s keeper over-committed and Jonesy smartly checked inside and slotted comfortably. 2-0. The game settled at his point, Beoley had 1 giant midfielder trying to make things happen, but all the balls coming in were long and Jord and Ant were martialling him superbly, keeping danger to a minimum. Beoley’s other giant midfielder was playing at CB, acting as a quarterback of sorts, and that meant Redolence could handle the midfield confidently as they didn’t over-commit. Redolence looked likelier to score next, but the opposite became the case. Redolence were putting pressure on Beoley, but lost the ball cheaply on the edge of the box, and Beoley were able to break. They did so ruthlessly, an excellent ball over the top put their pacey forward clear and his finished brilliantly to give Beoley a way back in. The grew into the game immediately, putting more pressure on and forcing an excellent save from Jon to deny them an equaliser. Redolence were still creating though- Keiran did brilliantly on the edge of the area to put Tim clear, but in going round the keeper he gave Beoley a chance to recover and their defender did well to get back and clears Tim’s goal bound effort off the line. Jonesy was to also go close- Woody putting him down the right from a throw in and his cross/ shot was agonisingly close. At half time Redolence had the advantage, but it could’ve a lot better one.

HT: 1-2

Redolence had definitely edged the first half well- work rate, attitude and general play was great. They were playing through Beoley, who only looked a threat through long ball. Beoley had to change things up and they did, bringing their big CB into his rightful position in CM- giving Ant/Woody and Matt a real challenge. From the off Beoley physically imposed themselves, it became a bruising battle which Beoley were starting to get the better of. Despite having 2 giants in midfield, they were light on their feet- diving and appealing at every opportunity. When on their feet they were excellent- difficult to tackle and driving straight at the heart of Redolence’s defence. To Redolence’s credit they stood up to the challenge well at first- Ant, Jord and Crouch winning excellent headers and tackles to frustrate Beoley…. but they were in control of general play by this point on the pressure told. The equaliser was still far too sloppy from a Redolence perspective- from a throw in Beoley’s winger was allowed to cut in on the goal line and hit a low cross that cannoned in off Jord- a terribly unfortunate incident, followed by a farcical debate as to whether the ball crossed the goal line in the build-up. The ref making the right call and letting the goal stand. Redolence pushed back at 2-2, sensing they needed a big push- and woody was to come close again- cleverly controlling a Jonesy corner at the near post and hitting an audacious back heel towards the goal, which was scrambled off the line into the path of Jord, who’s shot was also scrambled away. Despite their best endeavours, Redolence struggled to maintain possession. Tim was isolated and the physical toll of the game was draining the energy levels of the midfield. Without an option to change things up, Redolence were leggy an the impetus was very much with Beoley. They were to get a winner, a long low pass again freeing their striker who finished well over Jon. Redolence were deflated, and started to get on each others backs, but pushed to try to get back in it. Jonesy having a couple of half chances that didn’t work out. By pushing we left more gaps and Beoley were also creating- drawing another good save from Jon. Despite the midfield running themselves into the ground, Redolence couldn’t quite forge one last opening, and Beoley ran out the victors

FT- 3-2

Verdict

A stereotypical game of 2 halves. It was a deflating loss that at the time certainly felt a lot worse than it actually was. After the game the referee commented that it was the best game he’d done this season, and Redolence more than played their part in that- especially during an excellent first half. When the team communicates, trusts in each other and gets the ball down they make chances, and perhaps should’ve done more with them – a 2/3 goal lead at half time would’ve probably been enough to get result. Ultimately credit goes to Beoley, who recovered from a bad start and went for broke in the second half and it payed dividends. Their physical advantage wore Redolence down- on another day with a healthier squad Scott may have been able to counter that with fresh legs, but it wasn’t to be. Ultimately, I feel that’s what cost he team in the end, despite the unfortunate nature of how the Beoley’s goals ultimately punished collective lapses. In the end, this a far less disappointing loss than in previous weeks- the football was there, and performances like that will yield more wins than losses over the rest of the season. A 2 week rest over Xmas will benefit a now fairly light looking squad, and they’ll be back next year to push on with plenty to play for.