Preseason:Boroughs beat Eastway Olympia

Sunday 24^th August 2014

Boroughs United vs Eastway Olympia

It is now the business end of preseason; games are coming weekly as the squad tries to gel before the season kicks off. Before the game head coach Emeka explained to the players what he expected from the team and individually. The emphasis was based on implementing all strategies that the team has worked on during the preseason period. This game and the coming games was a chance for those that have already signed for the club to prove that they should make the 14 man squad for the first game of the season. Emeka also told those that are still trying out for the club, to show why they should be invited to sign.

Boroughs were in their yellow and blue kit as they still await their new sponsored home kit to arrive. The game kicked off and right from the start Boroughs had control of the game, most of the play was in the opposition’s half. Every now and again Eastway would launch the ball deep, but it was nothing the Boroughs defence could not handle. Boroughs were defending a throw in their box, the ball came long and to the Eastway striker who had a shot which was blocked by Emeka (CB) right near the penalty spot, the Eastway players were screaming that the ball hit his hand. Emeka claimed his hands were down and the close range of the shot meant that he could not get his hands out of the way. Boroughs then broke quickly from the back stringing together on number of passes, Frost(CF) laid of  Rumesh (LW) who let fly a devastating shot from the edge of the box that hit the underside of the cross bar and went in. A great goal which Eastway were not happy about because they believed it was a hand ball at the other end.

Fifteen  minutes into the game Boroughs were in total control, and were attacking, it was a deep throw in by Emeka which was met by the head of Jordan(CM) to give Boroughs a 2-0 lead.

There was brief moment where Eastway managed to get the ball in behind the defence, Emeka as the last man was wrong side of the striker as he tried to come across, he clipped the striker, a penalty was given and to the surprise of everyone on the pitch including the opposition players, the ref gave him a red card. The ref did not care whether if it was a friendly game or not, according to the laws of the game it was a red card and the player coach accepted his fate and gracefully walked off the pitch in his first ever red card.

Jordan (CM) moved into the (CB) position with Dayo who was controlling things at the back.

The subsequent penalty was missed by Eastway and not long after with only 10 men Boroughs made it 3-0 with a sublime strike by CJ (CM). A 25 yard strike from outside the box left his right foot and mashed the net top left corner of the net; the keeper made no attempt and had no chance of saving it. Boroughs were still in total control of the game, they had a lot of the ball in the final third of the Eastway half. Frost (CF) was always on the shoulder of his defenders, constantly causing their defenders problems. At times he was making runs which were not always seen by his team mates; holding onto the ball a bit longer than they should which eventually closes the opportunity for him to run into that space with the ball.

The score at half time was 3-0 and Boroughs were cruising.

Two minutes into the second half, the Eastway striker pushed Dayo(CB) in the back and he dropped to the floor, Dayo was in shock and reacted by pushing the striker back, the ref only saw his reaction and sent him off and awarded Eastway another penalty. Dayo was protesting he was also pushed but the ref was not interested. Dayo apologised to his team mates and to the coach. Eastway scored their penalty which Ade(GK) could not get and were now off the mark and with 9 men things were not looking good for Boroughs. Now 3-1, Emeka changed it to three at the back, four in the middle and a lone striker. Boroughs to their surprise were still able to dictate play to the anger of the opposition manger who was shouting obscenities at his team. Boroughs extended their lead with another wonder strike but from the left foot of Denzle (CF) who was playing (CM) at the time of his 25 yard screamer.

Boroughs pressed well and worked hard in the midfield, Romeo (LM) showed great strength many times down the wing. Jordan Ash (RB) Jordan (CB) and Fred (LB) were all working hard at the back to keep Eastway out, Jordan controlled the defence and was shouting instructions to the midfield. Eventually the ball broke for Boroughs; Rumesh who was now playing (CM) scored his second of the game, another 25 yard belter that flew straight to the top right corner. Eastway were well and truly beaten, but a lack of communication and concentration made the score more respectable for Eastway as they scored two late goals, the final score 5-3 in favour of Boroughs.

The coach was happy with their efforts and was pleased with their passing game and overall performance. Plenty of positives and confidence will be taken from the game. He explained that there is room for improvement as players still need to release the ball earlier, midfield shape and fitness levels of some players were not at the required levels yet. Emeka told the team that we will not play a poor opposition like this every week and we need to be prepared for the guaranteed challenges the team will face.

Last preseason training sessions

10/08/2014

There were many reasons to cancel training for this session, we had many players who were injured, away on holiday and with the torrential rain that day all signs were to just cancel.  Emeka decided to go ahead with the session, there were only 10 players that could make it and only 8 could train. Despite the bad weather, the training session went really well. Fitness levels are really improving and the players are all looking forward to the next session and the upcoming preseason friendly games.

17/08/2014

This session was probably be the last training session before the season starts. One thing about Sunday league football is that it is hard to organise midweek training as the team is made up of working professionals who all have different work schedules. We had 19 players turn up for this session, this is the most we have had all preseason, it was a good chance to work on key elements of our game. Working on our passing game,shape of the midfield, set pieces and defending as a unit. We also had a few new players who were coming to try out for various positions. Those that have been to majority of the preseason training have noticed significant improvements in their fitness after the coach doubled the interval fitness runs that he did in the first session, they came out unscathed.

After a two hour session, some players put pen to paper and officially signed for the club.

We now have preseason games organised for the next few weeks to give us a chance to work on what we have practiced during the preseason.

 

First Preseason game. Forest Athletic vs BUFC

Sunday 3^rd August 2014@ Mabley Green : 11:00am Kickoff

Forest Athletic vs Boroughs United FC

This was our first match as a brand new club and first match of the preseason period. Forest Athletic have recently been promoted from division 2 to division 1 in the Hackney and Leyton league. We knew before the match it would be a tough game.  Boroughs were set up in a 4-4-2 formation by the coach. The first half was a subpar half of football for Boroughs, the team could not retain possession of the ball, Forest were able to pick their passes and make crucial runs using both flanks. They quickly developed a game plan of hitting a long ball over the defence as Boroughs were playing a high line.

They utilised the space behind the defence, which was the route for the first goal for Forest. A shot was ricocheted in the box and the Forest striker was quick to pounce on the loose ball. Boroughs had their moments during the first have but nothing concrete, flashes of danger were quickly averted by a well organised Forest defence. It took just under 40 mins for Boroughs to register their first shot on goal.

Not long after another through ball down the right hand side for Forest as they punished Boroughs for the amount of space they could run into. A low powerful shot beat the keeper at his near post. Boroughs were 2-0 down at half time.  Fatigue was setting in for some of the players; changes were made by Emeka at half time.

This game was designed to give everyone a game and to slowly start implementing strategies that the team have been working on in training. There was more intent in Boroughs play in the second half; they kept the ball better than they did in the first half. Their two wingers were looking dangerous and were creating spaces in behind the Forest fullbacks. Against the run of play and lack of organisation at the back for Boroughs, Forest increased their lead to 3. Boroughs managed to peg one back immediately as a glorious ball was lofted diagonally across field to the winger, who managed to beat the keeper.  Pressure was building against Forest as Boroughs kept coming and creating chances, good clean chances that would have seen them equalise. It was Forest who were clinical in front of goal as they took a 4-1 lead. Boroughs managed to pull one back as the match ended 4-2.

In the end Boroughs did not have enough in the tank; many players were fatigued quite early during the game, shows there is more work that needs to be done to get everyone to a good level of fitness. That will involve more work in training and more matches as they aim to get match fit.

Moving forward the team know that at this level that performance was simply not good enough, every player needs to up their game as they are all fighting for positions. Team tactics need to be implemented as they practised them in training.

Plenty of positives can be taken out of that first game, as the coach knows what the team flaws are and he has a plan to address those before the season starts in 4 weeks.