Close but no Cigar

Anyone who knows Melee recognises their long standing rivalry with Buckies Up. After two consecutive premiership wins, but only losses against this formidable opponent, the team were keen as ever to prove their worth. With anticipation and trepidation weighing heavily on the player’s minds during the pre-match warm up, they discussed their approach. Talking over tactics they were too familiar with, yet had never managed to deploy successfully in game.
Melee started strong as ever, shifting the ball effortlessly around the pitch with precision and confidence. But with a strong challenge early on, Kev took a knock to the knee, rendering him injured for the rest of the first half. Regardless, Melee’s smooth playing style enabled two goals, both from Jack. The opener being a swift first time shot on the turn from a deep ball. The second, a class run down the line leaving one player standing, allowing Dell space to stroke the ball into the top far corner, from a near impossible angle.
During the second half, Melee continued to focus on the deep, safe game, allowing Buckies Up to push forward. A tactic which could seem dangerous yet Melee’s organised, communicative strategy, successfully denied their opposition that all important space they required in Melees half to score. With only long shots peppering Melee’s goal, Fabio made easy work of stopping any that were on target.
Even with this defensive playing style, Melee were still able to continue to create chances, pinging balls through to players on the break, some even going over the top from Fabio. With Kev coming back on the pitch a renewed sense of energy prompted a near miss from Dell, who perhaps had got cocky after his two early goals, as he arguably spent too much time “dilly dallying” in front of an open goal, allowing the defence time to recover and make the all important goal line save. However, Dell soon recovered his form, hitting the post with yet another shot, almost enabling Pilsbury to score from the rebound, if it weren’t for a wall of Buckies Up players. Another notable effort was the disallowed goal from Dave who slotted one past the keeper after receiving from a throw deemed “too high” by the referee.
However, with time running out, and play being so tight, Melee were allowed little opportunity for error. Throwing their clean sheet away with a goal from a corner, where good movement and a brief lapse in marking was punished. A second goal was conceded, after a treacherous pass back from “Dodgy” Dave, left everyone scrambling across the goal line to block the shot. Sadly, a composed finish meant the player found the one gap in the defence bringing the final score line to a draw.
With Buckies Up only having two clear cut chances throughout the entire game and with Melee leading right up until the end, it was inevitably a bitter blow to the team. However, after reflecting on what was a superb, disciplined and focussed team performance, the realisation set in that it was a performance to be proud of, even if they didn’t take the full three points. Preventing Buckies Up from dictating the pace of play it seems had left them static in comparison, regardless of their darting runs and tricky movement. Now all that remains is for the team to take this new, improved team ethic forwards, to our third premiership title.
You stay classy Melee, thanks for dropping by

Dave 'legs' Stothard