Evergreen 4  Northwood Res. 1

Saturday 16th July 2011

The Woods' reserves squad played their first pre-season game on Saturday against Herts County League side Evergreen, and in the first half they displayed some good attacking play.

Reece Fallon looked composed and lively down the right and Woods managed to get the ball in well to the front two. Jullian Smith had a good turn and ability to run at the home defence.  He had a good eye for a pass and was always looking to play the front two through.

Jordan Douglas and Pat Lawrence linked up well and created Northwood's goal after 30 minutes, Pat placing the ball nicely over the Evergreen keeper. Julian Cole managed to get in behind the left back on a few occasions and Woods continued to cause problems.

Callum Scrivens and Jamie Tompkins showed potential at centre-backs. but throughout the team we did not defend well.  Our midfield players need to be goal side and take the pressure of our defence, and Evergreen's second goal was an example of this.  A simple one - two was played by the Evergreen midfield man with their attacker, and the next touch saw the ball in the back of the net. Woods' set-play defending needs working on, and throughout pre-season this will be addressed.

The second half was never going to be as fluent, as the Woods' coach was tinkering with several positions and this made it hard for some players. However, on a couple of occasions Northwood put together some great moves: they had the patience to move the ball and create goalscoring opportunities.

However, Woods continued to miss very good chances and paid for this, though after the break Damilola Thomas and Alhaji Kabba showed some ability on the left. For large parts of the half Northwood were the team pressing for the goal, but unfortunately they were caught by two poor goals.  Evergreen's third goal came from a direct free kick when Woods' wall did not do its job and the ball found its way in to the net. The home side's fourth goal was to easy, too.  They switched the ball from right to left and had two umarked players, so from the edge of the area the front man placed the ball in to the bottom corner.

For Northwood Reserves' first game, I was encouraged with our young team.  We have a lot of ability in attacking areas but have to learn how to defend together. I was happy with the rotation and think that 60 minutes maximum on the pitch for each player was a decent amount for the first game.

Report: IAN BUCKINGHAM - Coach