White out

By AB12

The Whites roadtrip to Oak Flats to take on Shellharbour City was one to erase from the memory and start again fresh next week. Pretty much nothing went right and the writing was on the wall before the game started with Mark Groves having car problems, a few late arrivals and John O'Neil's shed leaking on the shirt box giving those who wore one a chilly start to the match.
We started slowly and basically never recovered. Everyone seemed flat and didn't show enough urgency to be first to the ball.
After a 15 minute opening where both teams checked each other out Shellharbour decided they didnt have much to worry about and stepped on the gas. A cracking header from a corner and a free strike from inside the box gave them 2 quick goals, then a period were the whites decided to string some passes together saw our best peroid of the first half, Steve H coming the closest with a ping from just outside the right corner of the box.
Just before halftime a stray goal kick gave Shellharbour another easy goal. The second half saw Andrew H step into goal and pull off a string of fine saves, indicating he will be no. 2 goalie for the year. The second half was decidedly better than the first, with their goal coming from a mix up at the back leaving a one on one with the goalie. Admittedly Shellharbour City had a lot of chances they should have put away in the second half, but credit to the boys for only letting in one goal in the second half. Special mention to Dave Fildes playing the whole match with a rib injury dosed up on painkillers.
When we stretch the ball wide we looked a far better team, with a few inroads being made in the last 20 minutes when Shellharbour tired. The 4-0 scoreline probably flattered us in the end. A few things to work on for next week.
AndrewB