From the previous week, Boro 2s felt that they were hard done by with their result against a very tough opposition, so we were going out today to prove a point that we could be competitive in this league. Unfortunately though, the footballing Gods conspired against us (again) and through various people being away and picking up injuries we went into the game with 7 new faces from the previous week.
It has been testament to the club though, and in particular Neil Watkins, that we have been able to get in so many new faces to the Boro, so whereas this time last year we would have been struggling to put out a bare 11, we were able to field a competitive 14 against London Welsh.
Due to people arriving late, we had to start with a makeshift back line, and this was much to our chagrin, as in the first 5 minutes a looping ball came through the ranks from London Welsh which wasn’t dealt with and their striker finished tidily. 1-0 and not really the start we wanted!
After the late arrivals had a chance to warm-up, we rejigged things and got going again, and resulted in a much more competitive game, Boro looking solid and creating a few half chances here and there, but nothing gave on the London Welsh front.
Half-time and the order of the day was to change the formation a bit, Scott dropping in a bit to help with some of the build-up play, and the aim was to keep hold of the ball and put the pressure on London Welsh.
Well this had instant dividends! Great pressure play up top by Dan Botha caused the keeper to rush his clearance which fell to Scott in the middle of the park, and with the keeper away from his net, Scott took the shot from about 55 yards out and the ball blasted into the back of the net. Absolute screamer, and even if the keeper was on his line, he’s not saving that! Goal of the season contender? I think so!
So Boro were now on the ascendency, getting themselves into the game a bit more, but in reality this seemed to give London Welsh a kick up the arse and they started turning the gears.
Boro were failing to keep hold of the ball in key areas, and the pressure was now on us. We were now having to chase the ball across the park, and this probably led to the resulting half hour.
2 goals from London Welsh came in quick succession, and then Belge forgot he was playing football and caught himself thinking he was at Twickenham. Admittedly it was a great rugby tackle from him, very good technique, but definitely a penalty which was dispatched by London Welsh.
Final whistle and another loss, 4-1.
There are things we can do to help ourselves in these situations, even small things like getting to the pitch on time, but in reality having 7 new faces coming in (no matter how good they are) will always be a challenge for us.
We’ll look to go again in the cup next week, might need to make a sacrifice to the footballing Gods!