The defence had it hard today. It was just constant pressure from the hosts, but I think we did the best we could. We know Trent are a dangerous side and to only let in eight goals shows that we can now cope with this type of pressure.
Simon was terrific as usual, and it was just a shame he got a shot to his bad leg right before half time. But Nathan once again put in another blinder to keep us in the game. A bit of strange moment when he made a run to the edge of the pitch and messed up a blind flicking clearance. But a part from that it was a great performance by our number two keeper.
Defence was top-notch once again. I know I wasn't 100%, so I was glad to see everyone step up a gear. But I still think we need to put in more body checks as I fear Keele will be playing a physical style of play for most of the game. I know I need to put in more body, but as you may know I did not want to risk making my shoulder any worse then it already is. Unfortunately a big hit late in the fourth quarter meant my game was done and it seems I won't be training between now and Varsity. I was really impressed with Juggernaut, his checks are making him a real force at the back and come Varsity, I can't wait to see floor some Keele scum.
As for midfield and attack, it seemed the hard work did not pay off as much as it should have done. We did have times where we created a lot of pressure around goal, but missed efforts seemed to be the story for you guys. Our face offs were as powerful as they usually are. But it seemed a lot of them went to waste as our other midfielders got a bit too excited and kept running before the face-off actually started and that meant Trent had possession. We don't want to lose Varsity on silly things like this. A few of Keele's goals last year were because of silly offsides, and we don't want to lose on that.
It was great to see Adrian back running his legs off and just surprising everyone with his pace. One thing did annoy me and Marcus and maybe a few others was the amount of kicking. I know it is what Adrian usually does, but there is a time to kick the ball and there were a lot of times where he should have scooped up the ball instead.
I have to mention Andy who once again puts in a lot of body despite looking like the most fragile player on our side. I would happily have given you man-of-the-match just for you flooring a Trent player all by yourself.
Final mention has to go to the players that always seem to steal the show, 'Rat 'n' Roids'. Shane was constantly making very pointless checks by basically throttling the players with his disco-stick. But to finish it off, he made a spectacular sliding tackle on a Trent player that I thought he would never do. I hope Shane does know that these things are illegal or else you could cost us Varsity (I'm glad to have put that on your shoulders now). Apart from that, I thought you worked really hard as usual and deserved getting one of our two goals today. Keet it up (the legal stuff I mean).
As for Roids, he managed to do something Shane could not do, and that is get a game expulsion. Officially this means you are banned from your next game, but I am not sure if that includes Varsity. But I am sure the referees will not remember you, or we can just say we played a game in between and you did not play. Like Shane, apart from that, you were really good today. Your face-offs are always great to watch and your general presence on every game is improving all the time.
Next up is 'the big one' and I know you put your heart and soul into it. It has been a historic for this club, a win at Varsity would cap it off in style.