Langold Courageously Cling On To Victory Due To Dramatic Defending!

 

The rain had poured down at Langold, flooding many parts of the playground and field, this filled Mr Hays with dread as the last thing he wanted to do was call off the game! So, a panicked email was sent to Tuxford asking about the quality of their pitch and whether the game would go ahead. The reply was positive and the Langold tribe set sail for the sunnier waters of Tuxford!

The kick-off was due to be at 3:45, but this time soon became 4:10 as both sides waited for the final carload of Langoldians to arrive; the postcode Mr Hays had given proved to have given lots of problems to certain Sat-Navs! Eventually, the players turned up and the match began with Langold shaping up like this:

 

Jake

 

Chris               Jayden           Taylor

 

Joel

 

     Ziggi       Harrison     Ronnie F

 

Tuxford proved to be an equally skilled team to Langold, with a resolute defence and plenty of speed on their wings. Within seconds, Mr Hays realised that this game wasn’t going to be the free scoring goal-fest of a few matches ago, it was going to be won in the midfield by hard work. After a few minutes however, it was clear to see that Tuxford wanted to take the game to Langold as they pressed several attacks onto the fledgling defence. However, as has been their custom over the last couple of matches the defence of Jayden, Chris and Taylor proved to be a brick wall in front of Jake, dealing with the danger in a mature, professional manner. Taylor threw himself into tackles repeatedly as Chris and Jayden supported him manfully. The dangerous Langold attack didn’t see much of the ball however, and Mr Hays could see his strike-force becoming more frustrated, leading to them coming deeper to get a touch of the ball. Without realising, Langold spent the next 4 minutes penned into their own half like sheep, with no easy route out.

The wolves were howling at our door, but we still wouldn’t let them in. As a barrage of corners huffed and puffed, Jake was acting like Mr Hays with Halloween trick or treaters; he shut the curtains, locked the door, and gave them no joy!  The collective defence proved to be as stingy as Ebenezer Scrooge in a recession, getting the ball out time and again, before it acted like a boomerang and headed straight back to our net. The home team still smelled blood though and tried to press home an advantage, but with help from the front three and Joel, they were consistently denied.

As the pitch seemed to be tilting in the home team’s favour, Mr Hays brought off Chris for Finn and Ziggi for Ronnie H. The latter substitution made an immediate impact linking up with Harrison through the midfield. Harrison then showed his class by shaping to go to the defender’s left, before laying off an exquisite pass in the opposite direction to Ronnie F who ran clear through on goal and slotted the ball home in the back of the net.

 

Langold 1 – 0 Tuxford (Foster 18”)

 

The goal was completely against the run of play, but the sheer class shown by the midfield and strikers meant that the Langold supporters didn’t feel lucky in the slightest. Only a couple of minutes later, the whistle was blown and half time was upon the boys.

Mr Hays was utterly delighted with the desire and concentration shown by all the players in the first half, but he warned the squad against complacency. Will came on for Joel, Logan for Jake and the boys were ready for round 2!

It seemed as though the pitch may have been tilted in one direction, as the second half saw Langold heap on piles of pressure. Will pressed the defenders, making space for “The Two Ronnies” and Harrison to play in front of them. The woodwork was hit on a number of occasions and Tuxford looked shaky for the first time in the match. However, with such a minute gap in between the two teams it was crucial for Langold to either get another goal, or to shut down the opposition completely.

Ziggi came on for Finn and set about playing in a back 3 with Jayden and Taylor, whilst Joel, Harry and the Ronnies worked in the midfield. What happened next was something that West Ham’s Michael Antonio should be looking very closely at; Langold ran down the clock!

Ronnie F needs to receive the most plaudits for this tactic, on multiple occasions he won the ball in the midfield and took it deep into the Tuxford half, setting up camp on their corner flag. He attracted over 5 of their players before earning repeated corners.

Without much more difficulty, the time ran down and Langold came out of the contest as the victors with a mature performance that everyone was proud of.

 

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