We started the game strong with a new formation and a renewed intensity. In the opening 30 minutes, we played really good football and put Strikers under a lot of pressure through the mids and their backline. We created a lot of good opportunities, however lacked a little bit of composure on the final ball and just couldn’t convert. Whilst we created some good shots, we failed to hit the target and this is a key area we need to keep working on.
Strikers had a couple of pacey guys up front. They broke through the back line a couple of times and were blocked by the quality goal keeping of Andy Lyon! In the 33rd minute, unfortunately, one of the through balls produced a goal and we were down 1-0. We seemed to hang our heads a little after this and conceded an identical goal a few minutes later to leave the half 2-0 down.
An explosive half time team chat seemed to shake things up and we came out in the second half with a renewed energy. The work rate increased again, we started battling for each ball, held our formation and moved around with purpose. This lead to creating a number of opportunities but unfortunately, we were just wide of the mark each time. Strikers were limited in the number of chances they had and registered only two shots on target in the second half. The first was lead to a quality save from Andy. The second however, was because of a questionable penalty which the Strikers forward dispatched quickly.
The attitude and work rate across pitch during many moments of the game was exceptional. However, we need to remain focused on clean first touches, ball retention and remaining composed inside the final third. Overall, it was a good team performance and we should be proud of the efforts.
