Reserves Update - 20/10/07

With several injuries and holidays playing havoc with organising the squad right up to kick off we went into the game looking to improve on Wednesday's performance against Walsham. With the Under 18's now available and Mark Dack back from injury we again employed the system that had seen us pick up points away from home both against Wivenhoe and Woodbridge.

Darren Smith was making his first start for the reserves and all afternoon he worked hard to make an impression, he certainly did that and will be a good addition to the squad in the coming months. Both teams were playing hard, Halstead had the majority of possession but really didn't threaten Anthony Clarke in the Melford goal. Along with resolute defending and hard work the Halstead team were being frustrated by the young Melford side.

Unfortunately, from a Halstead corner a shot was looking like it was going wide but Swain deflected the ball back into play for an easy tap in for the on-coming Halstead forward to give them the lead at half time. The lads were unlucky but never dropped their heads or believed the game was over. They came out in the second half determined to get the equaliser but alas it never came. Again the side battled hard led by the imperious Dack at the heart of the defense.

The game fizzled out with Halstead trying to press home their possession but they never managed to make the game safe. In all honesty, Halstead are the best team we've played this year, they are well organised and a physical side. Saying that, the young Melford team never stopped working and battled hard all day which bodes well for the rest of the league campaign.

What we must do though is stop making mistakes from dead ball situations and more importantly when we have the ball do a bit more with it as on some occasions on Saturday we didn't capitalise due to our lack of quality when moving the ball.

Squad : Clarke, Aaron, Dack, Barr, Green, Hardy, Bull, Taylor, Chisholm, Swain, Smith Subs: Knebel, Alston, Owens