Tuesday 29 January 2008

West Dean 0 - Wheatsheaf 3

The Sheaf faced a tricky looking fixture on the infamous sloping pitch against 1 of only 2 teams to have beaten them in the league. With the team in good form it was hoped they could gain revenge and keep pressure on Angmering at the top of the league.The absence of Scott Adams saw Gavin Sutton return to the starting line up with Birch switching to right back and Raggy partnering Bill at centre half. Vinny Donavan took his place on the bench after his midweek signing. The manager in his pre match team talk emphasised the need for Shane and Benny to win the midfield battle "keep Borat quiet and we have a chance" he said.Predictably West Dean dominated possession early in the game, The Sheaf struggling to adapt to the playing surface. The home team constantly playing the ball up the slope and attacking Birch at right full back. For all their possession they struggled to create any clear cut chances with Bill and Raggy resolute at the heart of the defence and Shane and Benny working hard. Indeed as Lee Baldwin started to drop deep helping Birch West Dean's supply became stiffled. The Sheaf began to win the 50/50 tackles in the centre of the park - Benny in particular putting himself about. A good burst forward frome Shane almost resulted in the opening goal. As half time approached The Sheaf forced a corner. Gav Sutton once more put over a great ball and Bill timing his run perfectly met it with a thumping header to put them 1 up. The Sheaf had held firm and managed to get in front at half time. The manager keen to keep everyone on their guard told the team to expect an early onslaught at the start of the 2nd half.As it turned out it was The Sheaf doing the attacking in the early stages. The ball found its way to Villa about 30 yards from goal - his well struck shot was parried by the keeper and the ball fell kindly to Sherwell following up to rifle into the unguarded net. 2-0 - dream start to the half.The 2nd goal seemed to knock the stuffing out of West Dean and The Sheaf were now well on top. They had chances to add to the tally but a combination of poor finishing, wrong pass choice or penalty appeals turned down meant that the score remained 2-0.By this point Benny and Shane were dominant against an unuasually quiet Borat. With 20 minutes to go the manager brought on Shacks for the tiring Shane who had been unwell all week - a great performance from him considering.As the game drew to a close Vinny was also given his debut replacing Sherwell up front.Indeed Vinny got himself involved as The Sheaf rounded off the scoring - getting up well at the back post only to see his header well saved by the keeper. There was Bill on hand to score his 2nd - comparisons with "Legohead" Lescott for his goalscoring exploits from centre half.Final score 3-0 to The Sheaf - a very good team performance with everyone working hard for each other. The manager was well chuffed and pointed out that team spirit is high as the unbeaten run goes on. Another difficult game faced The Sheaf next week against the other team to beat them, The Hope but on this perfomance who would back against them??
Eddie 7 (generous as I don't remember him saving a shot)
Birch 7 (tricky opening - performance got better as the game went on)
Gav 7.5 (solid in defence linked with Villa well overlapping)
Raggy 7.5 (didn't put a foot wrong in 1st game at centre half for a while)
Bill 8 (what can you say? solid at the back AND scores goals)
Lee 8.5 (tracked back well - good on the ball going forward) MOM
Shane 8 (every team needs a Shane - integral part of the team)
Benny 8.5 (best game of the season - pipped to MOM)
Villa 8 (good outlet - rarely gives the ball away cheaply)
Russ 8 (worked hard without the reward of a goal)
Sherwell 7.5 (right place right time - livelier than in previos weeks)
Shacks 7 (got forward well should have had a penalty)
Vinny 7 (not on for long but got involved)

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