Round 18 - Doncaster Rovers

MATCH DAY EVALUATION

Match Day 18 – Doncaster Rovers vs. Box Hill

Conditions: An overcast day with a strong breeze blowing across the ground diagonally. The teams were playing on the top smaller ground instead of the main pitch. Pitch condition was average with heavy sandy areas in both goal mouths.

PLAN: Team was asked to:
• Give their all for this game
• Play passionately and powerfully from go to whoa
• Play our brand of soccer and not get sucked into aerial ping pong
• Show Rovers who REALLY IS the best side in the competition

First Half – The team started brightly and inside 2 minutes, a one on one with the keeper and De Blasio lead to a fine save by the keeper. BH was clearly playing a superior brand of football and the midfield and forwards were controlling the ball inside the Rovers defensive half. Rovers were relying on long balls through to their forwards but the defensive quartet of Mills-Warthold, Bondole, Kasapidis and Orlando had no trouble cutting off these balls. As a result, our stand in keeper (Chris from the Under 14’s) had little to nothing to do. (In fact, apart from coming out to some through balls, he did not have to make ONE SAVE throughout the course of the game). Rovers were controlling the midfield with only the Rovers captain (# 8 I think??) offering any midfield competition. On the back of our first meeting, we had considered man marking him or the Rovers number 2 but neither player was exerting sufficient influence to force us to do this, mainly due to the fine play of all the midfielders. Lee in particular was having probably his best game of the year and Bircham and Becker were ruling the middle of the park. BH were fashioning a number of chances and it was clear a goal was coming. A lovely through ball found De Blasio on the edge of the box and a fine low shot across the keeper made the score 1-0 to BH’s good on approx 20 minutes. Pagotto was subbed for Clark at 25 minutes. Some half chances came and went for BH and some nice crosses into the box and interplay between Lee, Orlando and Becker were highlights of the half as it came to a close. Rovers had not fashioned a shot on goal apart from free kicks and a speculative shot from near the half way line.

Half time score 0 - 1

Second Half: No changes were made to the team. The coaching team could sense a real feeling and purpose to the team today and it was lovely to see. All the lads were pumped and the spirit and friendship in the squad is an intangible asset that is very valuable. The 2nd half started where the 1st left off though in the first 5 minutes or so, it was clear Rovers had been asked to play more balls around on the deck. There were 2-3 passages of good play by Rovers but no where in a position of the ground to hurt BH. As the game progressed, Chris had to come off his line to retrieve a couple of through balls but again, no real danger was forthcoming. BH then started to fashion chance after chance. In particular, a free kick taken by Mills Warthold went like a tracer bullet and seemingly into the far top corner, but a great leaping header off the line cleared the shot for Rovers. A number of close calls for Rovers in the box resulted in scrambled clearances and saves by their keeper who had had a good game and had kept them in the match. Mazzollini replaced Orlando who had played another great game. Mazzollini took up where Orlando left off and played well and with strength. Bondole and Kasapidis were like rocks in defence and showed the way. A number of strange decisions by the referee puzzled the BH coaching staff but he was equally poor for both teams. Given the closeness of the match, no further changes were made. I was sorry for this but balanced a desire to play the lads, against ensuring the team won the league by what I feel is a true representation of how much better a side we were in the year. Rovers were difficult to break down but given just a smidgeon more luck, a 2 or 3 nil score line would have been fair on the balance of play I believe.

Final Score 0 - 1

Overall Comments

Opposition: Rovers had a strong defence and this and their keeper is the cornerstone to their success this year. In addition, their captain is a good player and can distribute the ball and evade tackles. In general, they rely on long balls through to players up front and only displayed an ability to play the ball around on the deck on a few occasions.

Box Hill: This was the BEST way to finish off the year. Rovers had decided to make statements proclaiming them to be the best team in the comp. Following this result, they finished 9 points adrift and in 4th position so that was put to rest.

At the end of the game, we huddled and I thanked and congratulated all of the players for their efforts and commitment throughout the year. I told them, all players, from those who played all matches to those who played off the bench, had ALL HELPED US OVER THE LINE. Everyone gave of their best and tried their best and as coaches, myself and Perry could ask for no more.

This has been the most enjoyable year to date in my coaching career, and I hope all boys will come along to Super League trials and give it a shot. I also hope my support staff in Perry, Peter and Connie, see their way clear to ‘saddle up again’ in 2010.

Finally, my warmest thanks to the Box Hill President, Vice-President, Committee members, Head Coach and all the volunteers and helpers around the club that make BOX HILL THE BEST JUNIOR CLUB IN VICTORIA.


BBBBBBBOOOOOOXXXXX WWWHHHAAAATTTTT………………………….BOX HILL !!!!


Coach: John Di Martino 7th September, 2009