Round 1 - North Caulfield

MATCH DAY EVALUATION

Match Day 1 – North Caulfield vs. Box Hill Inter (Under 15 A’s)

Conditions: In a word, atrocious and not conducive to playing a quality style and control of the Ball. VERY windy, blowing across the park with rain showers, and temperatures in high single digits. Ground was short but wide, goals of questionable size, excellent surface.

First Half: BH started well, moving the ball and keeping it on the ground. A number of chances were not taken but in the 10th minute or so, Adam De Blasio made a well timed run to move onto a good ball from midfield and calmly slotted home with a side foot shot. BH then started to create a number of further chances which weren’t taken due to poor decision making (Should cut the ball across goal from the bye line, Coaches instruction to shoot low and often not adhered to, etc). This allowed the Caulfield team to stay in the game and gain confidence. Their one and only tactic of repeated long balls forward eventually caught our defence out and allowed their striker to put a ball into our net after a series of blunders, not tackling, not putting the ball out of play. Not playing ‘safety first’in the back line had lead to a number of further chances which due to poor finishing and a general lack of quality, Caulfield were not able to finish off. What was very disappointing was BH’s refusal to play the ball on the deck and repeatedly push balls forward in the air, despite instruction not to play this way. Giving the ball away in defence and midfield and not contesting hard enough was also disappointing and cannot be accepted. Better teams would punish us. Half time score 1-1


Second Half: Following a small ‘discussion’ and reiteration of what is required and accepted, the effort in the 2nd half was much improved. Better intensity and the improved ball control lead to a number of chances whilst Caulfield had few shots of any real effort on our goal. Some defensive ‘miskicks’ were a cause for concern as was turning into the play rather than out and away form a defensive viewpoint. Jake Orlando offered significant upside on the left of midfield and Gabby Tolo contributed well on the right when substituted late in the game. Again, many good chances were not taken but Mitch Nguyen slotted a ball calmly away for the winner. We controlled the game well till the end though the shape of the team was a concern generally. Joel Becker placed some nice balls around the park and was generally the most effective player on the day.
Too much space between the defenders and midfielders was evident late in the game and a large hole in the centre of the park allowed Caulfield some room to move. This aspect of our game will be worked on Tuesday night. Final Score: Box Hill 2, North Caulfield 1.


Overall Comments

Opposition: Strong and battling team who relied on long balls forward which they punished once. Control of the ball was poor and they were rarely capable of stringing some passes together.

Box Hill: A superior skill level and structure was displayed at times but we had some lax moments when we made poor decisions and didn’t battle for the ball or contest effectively in 50/50’s and headers. Given the number of chances we had, the result is disappointing. As stated to the team, we must take chances and kill off games and not allow the opposition a sniff of hope. Training will be centred on Tactical shape and structure, throw in plays, communication and movement between striker and a central attacking midfielder to be employed.

Coach: John Di Martino 26th April, 2009