Knobs 3 MBDA 6 - report by Gavin Simpson

Well…to be honest, I didn’t see much of it. I’m only writing this because Ron’s got to go up North and John said I should. He was my eyes and ears though. The roving reporter on the side line whilst I was busy picking up bargains at the Co-Op. Got some lovely cream cakes reduced to 89p – they were lovely with a cup of tea. And then I picked up a Nerf gun for just £3 in the charity shop - shhhhh…don’t tell anyone. It’s a Christmas present. Who would have thought that the charity shop would be open on a Sunday? Madness indeed but the new window display for Christmas looks ace.

Anyway, the bit I did see was very interesting. MBDA certainly looked a fitter unit and played with a confidence of league leaders. Our passing play seemed very narrow. Despite the now customary 4-5-1 formation there was little width. It’s certainly important that the centre-forward moves into that space and therefore opens up gaps for the centre-midfielders breaking from the middle. And when they had the ball, despite our 3 in the middle, there seemed to be plenty of gaps there. Despite fitness concerns, Vinnie looked strong and competitive but the game reminded me a bit of the book I’m reading at the moment – H.G. Wells’ ‘The Invisible Man’ – it certainly seems that with the KNOBS, a few players go missing when we start staring defeat in the face. I speak with a plank in my eye. The most amazing thing that was witnessed was Dave giving up as their winger sprinted past him. That’s not like our Dave – maybe the criticism has got to him or the pressure of being the manager or maybe he just had one beer too many the night before? Whatever the answer, it was unusual and just goes to show how we can all do with a bit of praise and encouragement to keep ourselves motivated throughout. You could see that when Andy netted his second goal. The spring in his step afterwards was a joy to behold and not like anything witnessed beforehand. It goes to show how a crunching tackle, a surging run, a beautiful pass, a great interception, relentless pressing, a well-timed clearance, can create a mood within a team that can lead to positive outcomes. And if we can all tell each other when we’ve done something like that, it spurs the spirit. However at 5-2 down it wasn’t to be. In fact that they looked like they were coasting and creating chances at will. Their headed goal from a corner (their 6th) showed how easy it was. We can do better and we must do better.

But what do I know? I hardly saw any of it. I left when Ron sent off one of their players for foul language. And rightly so! Thank goodness it wasn’t a KNOB. I hope it all ended happily. John told me that Vinnie scored a great goal and that Andy had one disallowed that was slightly controversial. That would have made it 3-3. He obviously scored the first one. Anyone know why two goals is called a ‘brace’? But you can’t win games when you let in 6 can you? We’ve found that out already this season. Onwards and upwards though. Blunham Vets next week and with our on-going injury crisis (I saw Bully limp off – rare indeed he admits defeat to injury), it could be a long winter. Still, Simmons is open now on a Sunday. Nothing reduced but they do have some lovely cakes in there. Now where is that vanilla slice? Ahh…