City 1 Havant 1
Apr 22, 2023 19:07:55 GMT
Post by Rijs on Apr 22, 2023 19:07:55 GMT
We have been told that the VNL North is more physical than the South, but there was nothing soft about this bruising encounter today, thanks to the high stakes and the Havant game plan. They were probably lucky to get away with only four bookings and no one sent off, but the eleven minutes of added time after the second half (itself very likely less than the actual time lost) tells its own story. At least half of that period was taken up by attention to the bleeding head of brave Canice Carroll, who took the blow while bundling the ball into the net, only to have it disallowed for a questionable foul on the goalkeeper. There were too many players in the bundle for me to see exactly what happened. Most players would have come off then but it is a testament to Canice's importance that he played on, took another knock and was the first player off in the end, still bleeding from underneath his thick head strapping. Let's hope he is ok and recovers in time for the play-offs, at least. Klaidi Lolos had to be withdrawn injured before half time after causing the Hawks all kinds of problems, to be replaced by Josh Parker, just returning from injury himself. Josh looked a little off his usual pace, understandably, but it is good to have him back.
As for our visitors, it was clear from the start they were determined not to let City players go past or behind them, so they resorted to a lot of shirt-pulling, holding and pushing tactics throughout the game. Zac came in for much of this rough treatment. He was unceremoniously knocked over on the touchline by their no.10 in the second half when threatening a dangerous run - a free kick, but not the deserved yellow card, so the same player felt free to do it again later, this time belatedly getting the yellow which should have been a red. However, the strong-arm tactics paid off as City were unable to get into their flow.
To be honest, we were below our recent best today. Though dominating possession in the first half, there were too many overhit passes and poor final balls. When we got shots away, some were blocked and three were well saved by their tall keeper from Chelsea. The best chance fell to Reece Fleet who it seemed unexpectedly found himself with only the keeper to beat. He might have passed to Klaidi, unmarked, but perhaps thought about offside; instead he went for placement but the keeper got down well.
The second half was pretty boring, with many injury stoppages, until it livened up in the final fifteen minutes once Alfie Potter had come on, and both teams decided they wanted to win this. It became an entertaining end-to-end game for this period and the added time, with chances at both ends and two goals, both well taken within a minute of each other. Faal's vicious dipping equaliser made one wonder why he (their top scorer) was on the bench for the first hour. We might have thought the same about Alfie, given his zippy performance.
In the end, neither side was happy. For Havant it is realistically the end of their play-off hopes. For the Hoops, Chelmsford's draw at Hemel keeps us for another week in the coveted, eliminator-avoiding third place, but it could have been made easier with one more goal today. So we go down to the nail-biting wire next Saturday, along with many others.
As for our visitors, it was clear from the start they were determined not to let City players go past or behind them, so they resorted to a lot of shirt-pulling, holding and pushing tactics throughout the game. Zac came in for much of this rough treatment. He was unceremoniously knocked over on the touchline by their no.10 in the second half when threatening a dangerous run - a free kick, but not the deserved yellow card, so the same player felt free to do it again later, this time belatedly getting the yellow which should have been a red. However, the strong-arm tactics paid off as City were unable to get into their flow.
To be honest, we were below our recent best today. Though dominating possession in the first half, there were too many overhit passes and poor final balls. When we got shots away, some were blocked and three were well saved by their tall keeper from Chelsea. The best chance fell to Reece Fleet who it seemed unexpectedly found himself with only the keeper to beat. He might have passed to Klaidi, unmarked, but perhaps thought about offside; instead he went for placement but the keeper got down well.
The second half was pretty boring, with many injury stoppages, until it livened up in the final fifteen minutes once Alfie Potter had come on, and both teams decided they wanted to win this. It became an entertaining end-to-end game for this period and the added time, with chances at both ends and two goals, both well taken within a minute of each other. Faal's vicious dipping equaliser made one wonder why he (their top scorer) was on the bench for the first hour. We might have thought the same about Alfie, given his zippy performance.
In the end, neither side was happy. For Havant it is realistically the end of their play-off hopes. For the Hoops, Chelmsford's draw at Hemel keeps us for another week in the coveted, eliminator-avoiding third place, but it could have been made easier with one more goal today. So we go down to the nail-biting wire next Saturday, along with many others.