After a series of excellent wins in which they thoroughly dominated slightly less gifted teams, the Barbarians learned the valuable lesson that against stronger opposition they cannot afford to forget that passing, movement and making space are the weapons that win games.
Through the excellent efforts of Ben Austin in goal, William Glenn, and player of the match Jethro Burton, the Barbarians were again very secure in defence, As ever, Lily Turner, Tom Ambrose and Ben Mackenzie worked hard to gain possession in midfield, and thus with the team’s usual firm foundation of the greater share of possession it seemed that an improvement on September’s draw away at Copthorne would be forthcoming.
In more advanced positions, however, a tendency to over-play the ball and ignore opportunities to give the easy pass to a team-mate in a better position saw the team create fewer genuine scoring opportunities than usual. Work needs to be done to recognise that whilst the team has players who are very skilled on the ball, such skills are valuable in escaping the attentions of opponents in tight spaces but wasted unless the ball is passed on to better placed colleagues before possession is lost. This was particularly evident after 15 minutes when Copthorne were allowed to break up Badgers’ midfield possession and take the lead.
Nonetheless the usual hard-running of Ben Mackenzie and Callum Holder, along with the close control of Arun Watkins kept Copthorne occupied to the extent that they created little further goal threat. Taking the opportunity to display his considerable dribbling skills, Huw Morgan showed how he presents a selection dilemma, being strong outfield in addition to being the squad’s most talented goalkeeper.
With time running out, it seemed that Badger’s might incur there first defeat of the season. Nervous spectators continued to give their usual vocal encouragement, and the team continued to press for the equaliser. After some close calls, the deadline was finally broken when Arun Watkins played a hard low cross into the area from the right wing, leaving Callum Holder with the simple task of cracking the ball home from close range.
Whilst the equaliser was deserved, given their dominance of possession, the team will know that failure to meet their usual high standards of passing in this contest lead to the creation of fewer chances. To preserve this season’s unbeaten record they will need to take this lesson into their next match, which will be an equally hard encounter with Heron Way against whom Badgers drew early in the season.
Man of the Match: Jethro Burton
Squad: Tom Ambrose (c), Ben Austin, Jethro Burton, William Glenn, Callum Holder, Ben Mackenzie, Huw Morgan, Lily Turner, Arun Watkins.
Report by Frank Holder
