City 1 Cheshunt 0
Mar 18, 2023 20:31:27 GMT
Post by Rijs on Mar 18, 2023 20:31:27 GMT
It wasn't pretty, but sometimes you have to win ugly when you are chasing play-offs. City fans were lulled into a false sense of security by a bright start, the early goal from Josh Parker and some wobbly moments in the visitors' defence. Given Cheshunt's struggle this season, we could be forgiven for thinking they might roll over and be crushed. Obviously, it didn't happen; in fact, for a spell in the second half they were coming at us quite relentlessly, and the anxious among us feared another Farnborough episode. But Cheshunt, despite their long throws, are not quite as good as Farnborough, and they failed to create any clear-cut chances. We have the sterling City defence, held together as ever by the rock that is Canice Carroll, to thank for that.
It could have been different, and if they had found a goal or been gifted a penalty like some of our previous opponents (yes, it still hurts), we would have been rueing some poor final balls and some woeful shooting, yet again. City kept possession well for long periods (actually, for most of the first half), dominated the midfield, and buzzed in and around the Amblers' box, but moves kept breaking down, the ball didn't run for us, their defence got in some decent blocks and tackles, and when we did create chances, they were mostly from long range and we scuffed our shots or put them wide or high, over and over again. Frustration! We have heard Ross say so often this season, "We should have had one or two more goals." We do need to ask ourselves the question why we don't score more when we dominate and create chances. We got away with it today. To state the obvious, when we play teams at the top end, we won't unless we can put the ball away more often.
That said, we did what we had to do today - we got the points, when some of our rivals didn't. We are in a good position. We have a fine squad, and Harrison and Rowan are back in training. The glass is half full.
The half-empty version is, we struggled to beat mediocre opposition, and our leading scorer went off injured. We shall be missing two next week, with Parker either on international duty or unfit, and Burley away. Our rivals are close behind and there's a dogfight to come.
It could have been different, and if they had found a goal or been gifted a penalty like some of our previous opponents (yes, it still hurts), we would have been rueing some poor final balls and some woeful shooting, yet again. City kept possession well for long periods (actually, for most of the first half), dominated the midfield, and buzzed in and around the Amblers' box, but moves kept breaking down, the ball didn't run for us, their defence got in some decent blocks and tackles, and when we did create chances, they were mostly from long range and we scuffed our shots or put them wide or high, over and over again. Frustration! We have heard Ross say so often this season, "We should have had one or two more goals." We do need to ask ourselves the question why we don't score more when we dominate and create chances. We got away with it today. To state the obvious, when we play teams at the top end, we won't unless we can put the ball away more often.
That said, we did what we had to do today - we got the points, when some of our rivals didn't. We are in a good position. We have a fine squad, and Harrison and Rowan are back in training. The glass is half full.
The half-empty version is, we struggled to beat mediocre opposition, and our leading scorer went off injured. We shall be missing two next week, with Parker either on international duty or unfit, and Burley away. Our rivals are close behind and there's a dogfight to come.