Goodbye Sir Ronald
Quack quack
Friday 28 November 2014
Monday 17 November 2014
Knobs v Hadley Green - postponed
Game postponed as Hadley Green were unable to get a team together for the fixture. At least the mighty Knobs get the 3 points to help in the fight against relegation!
Monday 10 November 2014
Knobs 3 Saints 1
A big squad was selected for the game against the Saints who had apparently not won all year and being a friendly, it gave Dave the manager an opportunity to give some of his fringe players a starting berth. Unfortunately Saints only had 9 men at the start so we gave them left-back Dave and new player Jono.
After a minute’s silence for the fallen, we kicked off and it was quite competitive and scrappy with little happening. The pitch had been churned up from the weather which made good passing football difficult. I think Dan Looney had a speculative shot from a very tight angle before they took a lead from a Jono volley, which left a sour taste in the mouth. It was an extremely well taken finish, like a hooked sideways volley. He may also have had another shot that was stopped by Tony C. Despite falling confidence, he look assured for the majority of the game, dominating his penalty area when he needed to. We pulled a goal back after some ping-pong in their box. We think it was a shot from Greg that eventually went in off a Saints goalkeeper. The introduction of Gavin late in the second half saw KNOBS take the lead after his surging run in the box led to a penalty. As per usual, Bully tucked it away with relative ease.
In the second half, we looked untroubled throughout and had plenty of chances. Jono (who had now swapped sides) had 2 or 3 decent chances but alas he could not find the accuracy that saw him score against us. Greg also had a couple of good chances and at times some lovely football was played. Our third goal came when Gavin’s 20 yard thunderbolt was saved by their keeper but from the corner, Bully’s cross was met superbly by Paul who put a thumping header into the back of the net. They had a free-kick at the end that was close to being a penalty but other than that, not much happened apart from a few chances that were spurned by our attackers.
Looking across the park, Richard played solidly at the back alongside both Tony and Chairman Al. Brendan put in a good shift for both teams…in fact he had a headed chance saved by Tony in the second half. James was very competitive in the middle and he is certainly a good option there for when opposition teams do not have a big lump up front. Chris Cox worked hard as always and Greg was always an outlet out wide. Paul is an excellent team player, always telling people where he’s going to put it or where he wants it but a lot of the time he doesn’t get it. Lee was always a winning runner but alas the killer ball never found him either.
Overall, it is always nice to get a win and I’m sure Dave was happy but he can comment on the game in the blog.
STARTING XI – Tony C, Chairman Al, Tony K (and his friendly mouse), Richard, Brendan Wren, Dan, James, Bully, Chris Cox, Paul and Lee. Subs: Greg, Jono and Gavin.
After a minute’s silence for the fallen, we kicked off and it was quite competitive and scrappy with little happening. The pitch had been churned up from the weather which made good passing football difficult. I think Dan Looney had a speculative shot from a very tight angle before they took a lead from a Jono volley, which left a sour taste in the mouth. It was an extremely well taken finish, like a hooked sideways volley. He may also have had another shot that was stopped by Tony C. Despite falling confidence, he look assured for the majority of the game, dominating his penalty area when he needed to. We pulled a goal back after some ping-pong in their box. We think it was a shot from Greg that eventually went in off a Saints goalkeeper. The introduction of Gavin late in the second half saw KNOBS take the lead after his surging run in the box led to a penalty. As per usual, Bully tucked it away with relative ease.
In the second half, we looked untroubled throughout and had plenty of chances. Jono (who had now swapped sides) had 2 or 3 decent chances but alas he could not find the accuracy that saw him score against us. Greg also had a couple of good chances and at times some lovely football was played. Our third goal came when Gavin’s 20 yard thunderbolt was saved by their keeper but from the corner, Bully’s cross was met superbly by Paul who put a thumping header into the back of the net. They had a free-kick at the end that was close to being a penalty but other than that, not much happened apart from a few chances that were spurned by our attackers.
Looking across the park, Richard played solidly at the back alongside both Tony and Chairman Al. Brendan put in a good shift for both teams…in fact he had a headed chance saved by Tony in the second half. James was very competitive in the middle and he is certainly a good option there for when opposition teams do not have a big lump up front. Chris Cox worked hard as always and Greg was always an outlet out wide. Paul is an excellent team player, always telling people where he’s going to put it or where he wants it but a lot of the time he doesn’t get it. Lee was always a winning runner but alas the killer ball never found him either.
Overall, it is always nice to get a win and I’m sure Dave was happy but he can comment on the game in the blog.
STARTING XI – Tony C, Chairman Al, Tony K (and his friendly mouse), Richard, Brendan Wren, Dan, James, Bully, Chris Cox, Paul and Lee. Subs: Greg, Jono and Gavin.
Monday 3 November 2014
Knobs 2 Stotfold 4
Following 2 disappointing performances it was important that the team played well this week. There had been a feeling that something had been missing in the last 2 games. There was a lack of energy, leadership and spirit which had all been there at the start of the season. It was therefore with great relief we welcomed back a player from injury who has set the tone early season and who represents all the things we have missed in the past 2 games. Yes, Dan Looney was back. (And did a great job running the line)
Also returning from injury to the side, renewing his central midfield partnership with Bully was Darren. We also introduced the 32nd different player to represent us this season to the team. Greg, older brother of Dave M took up position on the right wing. Another debut will be made in the next game. 33 players, what a squad!
The grass was long, the mud was thick and the weather was peeing down. Not normally conducive to our attempts to get the ball down and play. But we did! From the off we played like we know we can. We hassled, won the ball and passed it around. We were back!
We dominated possession and they couldn’t get out of their half. It wasn’t long before Dave M raced through and was thwarted by their midget in goal. Great save. They couldn’t hold on for much longer though and we duly scored from some nice play down the left, a crossed ball and a finish by Paul. We continued to dominate possession but didn’t fashion too many chances. Darren headed inches past the post having got on the end of a Dave M cross and a few more half chances fell our way but nothing clear cut.
It all looked so good.
Then it went a bit wrong. Somehow our left side both injured themselves at the same time and both left the pitch hobbling. On came our 2 subs. Our other debutant Colon didn’t show up so the 11 on the pitch were all we had fit. This seemed to unsettle us as we were forced to rejig the team. Ironically, 5 minutes later and the first time we failed to press them we allowed their right midfielder all the time he wanted to play in their winger whose shot (miss hit cross!) squirmed over the line. 1 shot, 1 goal was the sum total of their attacks all first half.
The second half started and we had even more of the ball than in the first half. Their defence sat deeper and their midfield lined up in front of the back 4. It was harder to get through them but we kept plugging away. Eventually though we broke through. Dave M who had troubled them all game had a shot from the edge of the box which the keeper could only palm to Dan L. Dan finished with aplomb and we were back in the lead and well deserved.
What followed was not something that you can do anything about. In fact even their first goal was down to an individual error and so were the next 3. We managed to get an assist for all 6 goals in the game. That takes some doing! There is no point here ridiculing or calling out the players who made the errors. They didn’t do it intentionally and you could tell they felt bad about their mistakes. It happens to us all at some point.
We managed to grab defeat from the jaws of victory. Unlike the Whitewebbs capitulation it was not through lack of effort or being outplayed. These things happen.
We continue to score goals which is great and if we can tighten up at the back many victories await!
There were some interesting observations made in the changing room after –
Paul – If Tony kicked the ball as hard as he kicked the post his goal kicks would be massive.
Bully – Their goalie was tiny and ours is a giant yet ours gets lobbed twice.
So, we retired to the pub with the opposition and after half an hour we enquired about the food only to be greeted with blank looks. Another individual error (again, no names) meant that nobody had told the pub we would be there. We had given Stotfold 4 goals so we told them that our generosity had been used up and to go home for a sandwich.
Also returning from injury to the side, renewing his central midfield partnership with Bully was Darren. We also introduced the 32nd different player to represent us this season to the team. Greg, older brother of Dave M took up position on the right wing. Another debut will be made in the next game. 33 players, what a squad!
The grass was long, the mud was thick and the weather was peeing down. Not normally conducive to our attempts to get the ball down and play. But we did! From the off we played like we know we can. We hassled, won the ball and passed it around. We were back!
We dominated possession and they couldn’t get out of their half. It wasn’t long before Dave M raced through and was thwarted by their midget in goal. Great save. They couldn’t hold on for much longer though and we duly scored from some nice play down the left, a crossed ball and a finish by Paul. We continued to dominate possession but didn’t fashion too many chances. Darren headed inches past the post having got on the end of a Dave M cross and a few more half chances fell our way but nothing clear cut.
It all looked so good.
Then it went a bit wrong. Somehow our left side both injured themselves at the same time and both left the pitch hobbling. On came our 2 subs. Our other debutant Colon didn’t show up so the 11 on the pitch were all we had fit. This seemed to unsettle us as we were forced to rejig the team. Ironically, 5 minutes later and the first time we failed to press them we allowed their right midfielder all the time he wanted to play in their winger whose shot (miss hit cross!) squirmed over the line. 1 shot, 1 goal was the sum total of their attacks all first half.
The second half started and we had even more of the ball than in the first half. Their defence sat deeper and their midfield lined up in front of the back 4. It was harder to get through them but we kept plugging away. Eventually though we broke through. Dave M who had troubled them all game had a shot from the edge of the box which the keeper could only palm to Dan L. Dan finished with aplomb and we were back in the lead and well deserved.
What followed was not something that you can do anything about. In fact even their first goal was down to an individual error and so were the next 3. We managed to get an assist for all 6 goals in the game. That takes some doing! There is no point here ridiculing or calling out the players who made the errors. They didn’t do it intentionally and you could tell they felt bad about their mistakes. It happens to us all at some point.
We managed to grab defeat from the jaws of victory. Unlike the Whitewebbs capitulation it was not through lack of effort or being outplayed. These things happen.
We continue to score goals which is great and if we can tighten up at the back many victories await!
There were some interesting observations made in the changing room after –
Paul – If Tony kicked the ball as hard as he kicked the post his goal kicks would be massive.
Bully – Their goalie was tiny and ours is a giant yet ours gets lobbed twice.
So, we retired to the pub with the opposition and after half an hour we enquired about the food only to be greeted with blank looks. Another individual error (again, no names) meant that nobody had told the pub we would be there. We had given Stotfold 4 goals so we told them that our generosity had been used up and to go home for a sandwich.
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