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Hit the Bar Vs Ed's Dynamos
After last week's fiasco, a decent performance was needed against this week's opponents, Ed Dynamos. Changes from last week:
Players out: Cock Boy (away in Mexico, hopefully picking up some new skills); G Man (suffering from the flu, aka a slight cold) and picking up the SICKNOTE SISSY award.
Players in: Dancing (back from poncing about in Bali); Pete (an untested new recruit)
There is always an air of nervousness when a new recruit joins the team, with the regular players never sure until after kick-off whether they've got themselves a player on the Dec-end or the Boots-end of the spectrum. However, things were looking good even before the game got underway when Pete mentioned concepts that were foreign to Hit The Bar such as 'sitting at the back' and being a 'blocker'. Things looked even better when the same player opened the scoring, and continued as HTB settled into an early rhythm, scoring 4 goals with no reply. After the initial freshness wore off, Ed Dynamos clawed it back to 4-4, albeit via a couple of deflected goals. Determined not to panic, HTB dug in and finished the half 2-up at 6-4. Ed Dynamos, with their two subs, looked the fresher of the two teams at the start of the second half, but they seemed unable to deal with HTB's organised defence and snappy counters. Some fantastic individual and team goals from HTB, with some outstanding finishing past a pretty decent keeper, meant they were again able to establish a lead. At 12-7 up HTB were firmly in control and set about frustrating Ed Dynamos by keeping possession with some simple passing, which they managed for ten minutes with no change to the scores. Some sloppy defending from both teams near the end saw the deadlock broken but still an excellent 13-8 win for HTB.
Player ratings:
Squirrel - Was a spectator for the opening and then could do nothing to stop a couple of deflected goals. Trapped one shot neatly between his legs and then started clocking up the saves. Made some good and important stops in the second half to dent any hopes of an Ed Dynamo revival and it generally took a well-aimed shot to beat him. Some intelligent distribution, using the channels well, and was always alert to speed-up or slow play as necessary - 8
Pete - The type of player that HTB having been crying out for - a defender who knows how to organise his team. No-nonsense approach to tackling, and great marking too. Was always weary of the fast break, or quickly taken free-kick (which according to the ref seemed to be anywhere in a 10 yard radius of the foul) and made sure others were marking too. Got forward to strike a couple of goals also and was generally a calming influence on the team. A gem of a performance - 8
Turkish - A few games under his belt this season now, and a different player from the start of the season. His fitness levels are up and his touch improved. Fantastic commitment to the cause saw him time-and-again picking himself up from the ground, leaving a trail of blood in his wake. Some good work holding the ball up both in the centre and on the wings, coupled with several assists, and a goal too rounded off a excellent performance - 9
Nez - We've seen some highs and lows from this lad over the past few weeks, but none of the previous highs have come close to this performance. The lad was everywhere, tackling, dribbling, marking but the highlight of this effort was the shooting. If there was a shot that didn't arrow its way into the corner, usually off the post, it was hard to remember it. Notched up more than half of the goals, and each one was a beauty. SURERANDOMALITY STARMAN - 9
Dancing - Took a while to get going but soon found his touch. Successfully lobbed the keeper and scored but fell victim of the head-height rule. Undeterred, he got off the mark with a thumping strike and kept his head for his second - a HTB strike ballooned off the bar and he slotted it home whilst Ed Dynamos were still struggling with the intricacies of the aforementioned head-height rule. Looked slightly jaded at times but generally tracked back well and notched up some assists and another goal too - 8