Hallsy's Academy Report - Week 14 Vol 2

After a positive week in training both squads went out with a fresh impetus so that contrasting fortunes could be reinforced or reinvigorated. The 1st XI were at home in a difficult ECFA league match up against Ravenswood School of Kent, whilst the 2nd XI were looking to change their fortunes against Enfield Boreham Wood, with Worthing being the visitors.

Last time out the 1st XI were excellent in the dispatching of Redbridge in the National Cup, however this level of performance needed to be maintained to ensure that the league loss column still remained at zero. Changes were made to the squad, but this is not an issue as the standard and attitude of all players around the squad is easily interchangeable. Drew McGill dropped out in the warm, so this led to Lewis Jenkins making his first start since early October. Another change saw skipper James Fernandes coming back into the side at the expense of 2nd XI goalkeeper Sean Butler. There were also changes on the bench with Ryan Quirke and Dave Herbert coming back into the fold.

The chat from the team talk was that a fast start was required to unsettle the opposition and to stamp authority onto the game. Unfortunately for Worthing they seemed sluggish in possession, hesitant in defence and communication almost non existent. This in turn began to give Ravenswood confidence who were direct in their approach, which turned Worthing's defence more than once in the opening exchanges. This direct approach gave Worthing many set pieces to defend, which to their credit they did with maturity and bravery. Even with these characteristics Worthing had Fernandes to thank on more than one occasion in the first half, diving at the feet of the Ravenswood number 9 on more than one occasion, getting a bang on his head for his troubles.

As the half wore on to the neutral Worthing were by far the better footballing side, but always looked as if they could be caught on the break. However the opposite was to happen. A Dan Heward diag (the first successful one of the match) freed Lee Mottershead on the left hand side. His pass then found Matt Dodd, who beat his man and struck his shot straight at the Ravenswood goalkeeper, which came back to him. His second effort was only partially blocked and that fell nicely to the red haired midfielder, who brushed aside the goalkeeper and recovering defender to smash the ball into the roof of the net. 1-0.

That is how it stayed until the half. All knew that the performance was not up to the usual standards, however possibly the opposition had played as well as they could so the second half could surely be Worthing's if they went through the gears. The response to be honest was decent, however Ravenswood's direct play seemed to still unsettle the home defence, with only last ditch defending and good positioning keeping the sheet clean.

The turning point of the game showed real quality and patience. Worthing must have kept the ball for at least 15/20 passes going from one side of the pitch to the other. This culminated in Joe Warner picking up the ball on the right and his cross was deep and was met by Mottershead, who rose above two defenders to score. 2-0.

This goal seemed to free up Worthing and their style was starting to shine through. Matt Dodd was beginning to get the diagonals out, Jordan Clark was controlling the midfield along with Joe Warner, who expertly chipped the third goal over the advancing keeper after an exquisite pass by Dodd. 3-0.

The front three of Mottershead, Dec Jenkins and Liam "Des" O'Connor were working tirelessly to win the ball high up the pitch and the back four of Lewis Jenkins, Dan Heward, Jack Carey and Jack Boxall were getting to grips with Ravenswood's direct approach. When the defence was broken Ravenswood could not get past Fernandes, who was adamant that Worthing were not going to concede with three top saves, the best being a point blank parry away from goal when the striker was already celebrating.

In many minds the game was won, which allowed O'Connor and Dec Jenkins to have a rest and were replaced by Dave Herbert and Ryan Quirke. This did not mean that the scoring was over. Another great goal saw Warner and Mottershead combine excellently to set up Carey, who volleyed the ball into the far corner of the net. 4-0.

As the game came to an end Worthing knew that their record was intact, even though the performance was not a vintage it was still a job very well done.

Unfortunately the 2nd XI were on the end of another disappointing scoreline, an 8-1 loss away to Enfield Boreham Wood. This is something that deeply hurts me as I know we work extremely hard in training and we need to get to the bottom of what is going on between the transition from training to match day. On a positive note I'm sure we WILL get to the bottom of this and I'm sure the 2's will go from strength to strength, especially at County Cup level, where they have a quarter final tie against St Wilfrid's to look forward to.

Onwards & Upwards,

Hallsy