Result : 9-0 vs H&W Supervets
Match Report : Nick Hollett
Goal Scorers – Jatin Patel x5, Nigel Knight x1, Nick Robinson x1, Brain Cade x2
A midday start at home on the sand for the first league game of the season began very positively with keeping possession the key – and it worked on this slow pitch getting the ball to do the work and it wasn’t long before goal number one was slotted in. A well worked attack on the right between Wiz and new recruit Kulvinder saw the ball being played into the D only for it to hit the foot of the H&W player. Route 1, push out, straight strike – El Capitano’s 1st goal of the new campaign. H&W’s keeper was definitely going to have his work cut out. H&W didn’t seem to have an answer from the beginning to Titan’s sustained pressure and that resulted in goal number 2. A well worked disciplined recycle from the defence saw the ball played high into the D and El Capitano was too hot to handle as he managed to sneak into the D and smash another shot on goal but this time the keeper nearly managed to stop the shot but the ferocious power behind the shot was too hot to handle and the ball ricochet off his glove and spun towards goal. Greg was at hand to ensure that the ball did go in but the goal was the Captain’s!
It was too early in the game to relax and untold pressure after pressure paid off when Nigel Knight’s mazy run with a bit of a shimmy shammy at the top of the D followed by the ball hitting the sweet spot of his stick flew in. A well taken 3rd goal and a first for another new recruit to the Titans this year.
H&W however did mount a good challenge and were able to muster up good play to reach our D and when Justin was called into action, he stood up well to nullify any threat. This clearly was a wake up call as we needed to ensure that a clean sheet for the 1st half was a priority and that we needed to tighten up in Def and Midfield. More goals followed in this half as H&W continued to fail to get their game going. Titan’s game plan to get the ball into the attacking D and creating chances paid off with another short corner and this one was special. El Capitano called the routine – Zig-Zag. Zig went to Wiz, Zag came back to the El Capitano as if it was practiced so often and the 4th goal of the game was scored with perfect execution and to the applause of the crowd for Wiz who finally mastered the art of Zig-Zag 😊😊😊.
One more goal (5th of the day) to finish off the half and scored by the El Capitano on a tight angle in the D. The ball wasn’t cleared by H&W and it fell loose in the D and with a perfect shot on the inside of the far post gave the keeper no chance. It was hit with such velocity that the umpired had to look twice.
Half time talk was about keeping up the pressure – continue with the intensity. There were tired legs out there, the sun was beaming, a lot of hard work went into the 1st half to get to where we were. We needed to play the game with our heads now and that brough about a change in the formation for our midfielders. The subs came off the bench to taste the excitement of the game. We kept possession and were disciplined and patient. The constant threat and pace of Tony James on the left, Anand Shukla helped play the pivotal role of keeping the game moving with his availability and the space he found in front of the midfield, Greg was a constant menace chasing down every ball and keeping H&W on their toes and even ended up sitting on the keeper to keep him pinned to the floor 😊. The defence of Biffi, Brian & Laurence kept H&W at bay and had plenty of time and space to recycle play back and forth. Laurence even had a mazy run at one stage into the D for an attempt on goal, Ben Turner another recruit to the Titans played an excellent game right back gifted with plenty of space to attack that channel. Kulvinder and Wiz were now marshalling the midfield and gifted Kulvinder with plenty of efforts to attack which he loves and was unlucky not to score his debut goal. Another debutant to the Titans, David Wolffe, had a great day out helping out the defence and midfield when called upon. Play the simple game and we will control it better and we take our chances as and when they happen and so we did. Kulvinder’s attack minding play helped the forwards with the change in formation as we were able to create chances and attack in numbers. Another short corner and another routine saw our attempt hit a foot on the line and resulted into a P Flick. It was only fair to give it the one person who was itching to get on the score sheet – up steps Nick Robinson. Perfect execution to the left inside net and keeper no chance for the 6th goal of the day. Short Corner after another came and El Capitano rounded off his day with another thunderous strike (7th of the day) that was as hot as the sun that was shining.
At this stage we were in full control and the game was ours but we needed to be clever and reduce the fatigue therefore adopted the simple passing game. Nick Hollett on the left made some great tackles when he came on and stopped any momentum from H&W. We were able to recycle and make the ball do the running and play like we did in the first half. Discipline was solid. A couple of sustained H&W attacks towards the end conceded a few short corners but the defence managed to handle those with ease. Pressure after pressure saw 2 further goals scored by Brian Cade who looked like he was bored in defence stepped up and helped the attack with scoring one off a short corner and the final one on the final attack of the game. I think at this point, we want 10, we want 10 was on everyones’s mind and a few more attempts went wide especially from the El Capitano who could have added another one to his tally but shot wide from the P spot.
Playing with the intensity to the fulltime demonstrated the never stop attitude throughout the game. Thanks to Team Manager Pokey on the side managing substitutions was critical to the game management.
A great start to the league and good goal difference in the bag. A big welcome to Nigel Knight, David Wolffe, Ben Turner & Kulvinder Jutla to the Titans.