Russell Vale began the game well and their constant pressure in the first few minutes caused a Coledale defender to put the ball past his own keeper, 1-0 to the home side. The Cobras continued to have the lion’s share of possession but couldn’t create the clear opportunities their football deserved. During the last 10mins of the half Coledale had their best spell of the game. Firstly a poor pass was intercepted in our own 18 yard box and their striker made no mistake 1-1. Soon after from a corner Brody Armour pulled off a point blank save but with the away side swarming forward it was only a matter of time before they got their second. The defence were caught flat footed when their speedy striker latched onto a ball over the top and made it 1-2. Right on the very stroke of HT a misunderstanding in the box left their striker wide open in front of goal, 1-3.

Fired up the Cobras came out the second half and played the same flowing football they did at the start of the game but too often the play broke down in the final third without really testing the keeper. The best chance came when Russell Vale broke quickly and a series of one two’s between Hayley Waller and Jordan Errington resulted in their keeper producing a good save. With time running out the concentration level fell and once again we set up the other team to score and put the game out of reach 1-4. Then right at the death the referee gave a contentious decision when Brody Armour produced a fine save on the goal line but the ball was adjudged to have crossed over. Good case for goal line technology but either way it wouldn’t have made any difference to the final result.

Despite the 5-1 loss and the fact that we set up four of Coledale’s goals I wasn’t disappointed with the overall performance. I was really pleased to see the defence play the ball out well from the back. There were some great overlapping runs from Tom Curren and Baxter Bowler Prentice and one time even Jack Donnelly broke forward and found himself on the edge of Coledale’s 18 yard area. Ethan Larnach and Clayton Walker produced some crunching tackles and when Blair Dunn and Christian Baade Mortimer link up down the left wing there’s no stopping them.  Riley Hanlon and Baily Baade Mortimer put in some good crosses from the right but we just couldn’t find that decisive touch in the box.

The Coledale coaching staff were magnanimous in victory and praised our lads for the way they passed the ball around and were actually amazed to see a team pass it out from the back instead of just hoofing the ball up front.

The main difference between the sides today was Coledale had three big lads who knew where the back of the net was and their finishing was clinical. I still believe my little Cobras are playing the correct style of football and I understand it’s difficult for them to comprehend when you come up against teams with a few players that are bigger and faster than ours. The Cobras just have to keep faith that they are playing football the correct way and not lose heart .

YNWA

Coach