Chelsea Thirds Win Their First Game

The Thirds had their first win on Sunday - winning 4-1 against a fiesty Brighton. Since Steve has taken over as coach they have really started to play well and played a great brand of football to deny Brighton. Well done boys - Awesome jb!

A Wet day at School

We ventured down to Mentone Grammar today to play Old Mentonians who we had drawn to in our first game at Kingston Heath. The rain had fallen steadily for 16 hours and the ground was slippery plus what made matters worse was that we had a turf pitch in the middle which made it impossible to try to play good football.
We started off okay but after 6 minutes we allowed an uncontested corner and we were 1-0 down. What a frustrating start. We have too many folks who just hesitate and don't commit to the ball. We had trouble all day where we watched or just were slow to react.
We kept working forward and found Lachy out wide who beat his player and scored inside the keeper. This was after a series of misses from right out in front or from headers that we just missed. Deni was playing well and Adam was giving us a target up front. Dale was getting plenty of the ball as was Tucci and McCarthy. Lucas and Adam got better as the first half progressed and Connor and Tom were making plenty of runs.
We went in at half time totally dissatisfied with our efforts and our defense was really not playing good defensive football. Now dont get me wrong - our full backs are doing well and attacking well - but when it comes to defending - we struggle.
After the half we were more determined and we increased our possession and played no nonsense football in the tough conditions. Connor ran down and showed a cool head to beat two or three players to lay the ball back for Tucci who slammed in our number 2 goal. The game see-sawed and we both had chances. Mentone just missed theirs but we seemed to keep kicking the ball directly to the keeper.
We made some changes and Deni and Adam and Dale came in for rests. We put in Kurtis, Dipper and Luke Dal and back to work we went. It was good to see the defense finally adjust to the opponents long ball flick on and we started to attack more. With 15 minutes left Dipper rose high for a header and scored a brilliant goal to make it 3-1.
We were overjoyed because goals were hard to come by but still had 15 left. We had chances to extend and they had near misses too. It was tight and the referee decided to extend the game by another 7 minutes. The contest ended near dark and we were victorious.
Best players - Michael McCarthy, Michael Tucci, Lachy Davies, Tom Flavelle
The other good news is that Baxter drew to Pakenham today and now we await the verdict of the tribunal as Baxter appeal the 16 week bans they got two weeks ago.

Our Trip to Cardinia

We ventured down to Cardinia on Saturday May 28 to play Pakenham. Every game is going to be difficult from here on out as teams get injuries, suspensions, but start to get match fit and hardy. Pakenham was no different. They too are a new club who have entered the fray to get out of division 5. If you look at their record for win/loss it seemed that they should be an easy victory. But a closer look shows you that they had never been beaten by much and that they were very close in games.
They were a very tough outfit who had a very strong defensive unit led by great keeping and some experienced players.
The game started swiftly as Chelsea passed the ball well and attacked time and time again, only to be repelled by the Pakenham defense. We had loads of opportunities in the first 20 minutes and they hardly troubled our defenders as our midfield really held well. McCarthy, Tucci, and Dale controlled the middle and repeatedly gave the ball out to Connor Lewis and Tom Flavelle who really had strong first halves. We pressured and pressured but could not get through that last line of defense. Seb and Lachy were trying ery hard and making many runs, and Adam Alford was performing well in our 9. Adam K, Lucas and James were pretty much untroubled for the first 20 minutes.
We were really playing well and had Pakenham scrambling. Eventually there was some super play from Lachy and Adam Alford who combined brilliantly for a great goal. It was excellent and clever play. Not too long later a through ball was played past Adam and he cleverly chipped the keeper to give us a 2-0 lead.
At that point we looked as if we would over run the opposition, but then they earned a throw in and threw the ball long to where they tried to skip the header further on. We misread the ball and failed to clear properly and a Pakenham player simply put the ball past James and they had hope and belief. From this point on it became a real arm wrestle.
Both teams had chances, even though Chelsea had the far better chances  but at the half we went in with a 2-1 lead.
We had to do better with our possession in the transition from middle third to final third. But we could not change too much as we were outplaying them and had at least 70% possession.
The second half saw a multitude of chances and possession rates about the same as the first half. We had great opportunities to extend the lead and missed quite a few 1 V 1 with the keeper as well as sometimes getting in our own teams way. We failed three times to pass the ball across the keeper to an open player and we just could not score. Our defense was getting tired but folks like McCarthy and Tucci were holding well and Tom Flavelle was having his best game for the season. In the end we earned the three points but once again or problem was finishing teams off and letting them have opportunities to score against us!
Best players Michael McCarthy, Tom Flavelle, Michael Tucci, Seb Gueho, Goals Adam Alford 2.

Not a Great day at the ER

It certainly was not the most inspiring day at Edithvale Reserve on Saturday 21st May. There were no losses to lament, but the spirit around the place was really lacking. First of all it started with the reserves who were playing the bottom team and it seemed as if folks just did not have the intensity to really care about putting in a high score - but rather go through the motions. It was 8-0 but this score does not reflect the game.
The seniors were truly disappointing. We drew 3-3 but what was more important was the message being sent by a good percentage of the players - lack of team effort. On the park, there was no leadership apart from maybe Michael Tucci and Lachy who always give 100%. They would be like that no matter if they were playing chess, marbles, or pokemon cards!!
There was a lack of focus on behalf of players - who seem that they are just happy to go out and play but not really challenge themselves or their team mates. They dont show enough care about the team Chelsea FC!They are prepared to leave it to others and not take ownership. We held a 2-0 lead and let the opposition claw back to 2-2. Then we kicked a great goal and once again let them literally kick the win out of our hands. We needed those three points desperately - but now we have put ourselves deeper in the hole.
We failed to finish off a game AGAIN - we have not played a 90 minute game all year. There are guys who just do not work hard enough to maintain intensity. Our worst aspect is in trying to win the ball back from the opposition - we are happy just to let them get the ball to our back third and let our defenders deal with it.
Trouble is, based on the effort from reserves this week, there is no one to push. What a perfect opportunity for some folks to move up - but no one really stepped up.
We had two subs only and to be honest - both of our subs did well and earned their stay in the team.
We had many opportunities to win and bury the opposition, but so did they. We knew their style of game - quick counter to 9 with two fast 7,11s. Even though we knew that, we still gave their 9 heaps of room and played far off their 7 and 11. Worst mistake was watching a player dribble down the middle of the field and no one pressured him as he ran all the way down into the 18 and shot with no pressure. 2-2. Wow - it was weak!
Finally to draw the game - they kick the ball out of the keepers hands who had possession but really should have hugged it tight. We salvaged 1 point - and need to learn that all teams are as good as we let them be. I suspect players thought this would be an easy game judging by their place on the ladder - both teams displayed this attitude!
Goalscorers - Travis, Dale and Lachy.

May 14 - A big Weekend!

Here are the reports from the weekends games. 

We rolled up to the fields at GESAC in Bentleigh on the weekend and the conditions were very tough for football with extremely strong winds blowing down the pitch.
The reserves started first and it was a very important game as both reserves teams went in unbeaten. East Bentleigh were very keen to do well as this was an important game for their season in both reserves and seniors.The first whistle blew and we were away.................

Reserves - A game of two-halves

The pre-game talk by Alex was to press and pressure in the forward half - control the game in midfield and play the ball as quickly as possible by looking for our wide forwards and rotational movement to create space and find the gaps through the opponent’s defence.

The captains arm band was with Travis – he’s been showing a lot of commitment in the reserves and taking on a lot of leadership through the last couple of weeks, his work ethic has been great and consistent however Travis had been shy up front for the past couple of weeks but the beast was about to unleash. We had won the coin toss and chose to play with the wind in the first half.

FIRST HALF

3^rd minute - Chelsea FC opened the scoring after three minutes when a free-kick was given just outside the 18-yard box – Coach Alex – instructed Travis to have a dig at goals and use the advantage of the wind. Travis could not have struck the ball cleaner as he curved it into the far left-corner of the keeper – he was beaten for pace and accuracy. An absolute beauty!

Chelsea FC 1 – East Bentleigh 0

Chelsea looked to take control of the game but East Bentleigh didn’t give up – they were unlucky to have hit the post and Calum was on ball – having pulled off a few great saves in first ten minutes. it could have easily been a draw and a different result at the end of the day.

15^th minute - The Chelsea Reserves boys have a strong mind-set and Alex enjoys seeing them play their ball possession football – we were moving the ball and our movement off the ball was fantastic. We were attacking through the middle and played Vella through the gap in defence – Vella took on the defender and cut the ball back into the six-yard box and Jordan with his pace and hard-work flicked the ball into the far-right corner past the keeper. It was a great build-up of play and excellent movement from the team.

Chelsea 2 – East Bentleigh 0

28^th minute - The boys forward press and hard work to pressure off the ball  paid dividends when our midfielders cancelled East Bentleigh’s counter-attack and pressed up-front – Vella was running all over the defenders and managed to win the ball and move into the 18-yard box – Travis got involved in the act and managed a turn-over. Travis succeeded in winning the ball and turned to strike on his left-foot and ripped it past the keeper for his second of the day and Chelsea’s third goal. It was an excellent shot indeed.

Chelsea 3 – East Bentleigh 0

37^th minute - It was our wide forwards causing all sorts of trouble up front – again our forward pressure and hard-work off the ball caused a turnover up front and Jimmy pounced on the opportunity to slot in the fourth for the day.

Chelsea 4 – East Bentleigh 0

The first half ended with Chelsea 4 – East Bentleigh 0 – this by no means meant we had won the game and could afford to get comfortable. We still had another 45minutes to play in the second-half and work harder as we were playing against the strong wind.

The half-time talk – keep the ball on the ground, no passes through the middle of the ground and switching play – all balls should be played forward and diagonal into the corners. Goal-kicks to be crowded in midfield and played out wide, we then look at the counter-attack as we forced them to make errors in their passing.

SECOND HALF

60^th minute – Our forwards Travis and Jimmy linked up beautifully playing a one-two pass and cut the ball back to Vella who scored the fifth for the day. It was important that we got the first goal in the second-half as the wind was causing problems moving forward and East Bentleigh again were unlucky to be denied with their efforts.

Chelsea 5 – East Bentleigh 0

71^st minute – We won a free-kick out on the right wing and Chile stepped up (it was a sublime pass, more like Beckham than anything) and straight onto Travis who’s finishing was clinical and classy at the same time as he volleyed the ball into the back of the net.

Chelsea 6 – East Bentleigh 0

80^th minute – Vella doesn’t stop running – and he kept on running. His hard-work on the right-wing won another free-kick. Mauricio crossed it dangerously into the box and it was Jimmy whose shot came-off the cross-bar; everyone went to sleep as Travis pounced on to the ball and headed in the final goal of the day.

Chelsea 7 – East Bentleigh 0

Chelsea FC’s Reserves  richly deserved 7-0 win away at East Bentleigh Striker’s – the most significant result so far in what is becoming a stunning fairy tale story – means there is no hiding place for the Chelsea FC Reserves boys as we continue our winning mentality – 1st with 18 points and 7 points clear over second placed Baxter SC with 11 points.

Although we won 7-0 and scored amazing goals – we must not forget our defenders who have managed to keep clean-sheets thus far throughout this campaign - and who have defended exceptionally well throughout our amazing form. We’ve been very versatile when we’ve had players missing due to injuries, work commitments etc – but everyone has taken on the responsibilities of their team-mates and contributed to the wins we’ve had so far. It’s still early in the season but we want to keep the fairy-tale story alive and solidify our wining mentality.

Seniors

We won the toss as decided to utilise the breeze in the first half. We were missing Michael Tucci who gave us a heads up early about a sore hip so we gave Adam Alford his first start in the seniors after some great form in the reserves.We started very well and had their defense under constant pressure. We had a couple of shots and the Strikers were able to stick out a leg or block shots with their body. Eventually Connor Lewis created a turnover and passed the ball out to Matty Kurta who shot a missile across the keeper who managed to parry the ball down. Seb pounced and just beat his opponent to toe poke a goal to start proceedings. It was 7 minutes and things were looking promising. To East Bentleigh's credit they defended very well and even though they blasted the ball all over the shop trying to clear, when they controlled the ball they used their wingers very well and ran the ball up to dangerous positions.However our defense was doing okay with Lucas and Adam K strong in the 3 and 4 and Luke Dal making some fabulous runs down the left - he actually had some cracking volleys but was once again they were denied by deflections. However we were playing way behind their opponents and with the ball dropping into the wind we were giving the strikers far too much space to receive and control the ball. 

We kept working and Lachy had a great opportunity to score in a 1 V 1 with the keeper but just shot wide. We struggled with the cohesion in our 6,8,10 and 9 - something we need to address this week as we get ready to take on Dandenong Warriors. It was this lack of cohesion that did not allow us to use the wind better, even though the game could easily have been 2 or 3 to zero with a bit of luck. At the end of the half the Strikers were absolutely wrapt that they had only conceded one goal in the barrage of shots that we had had.On the other hand our frustration was evident and coach Rob was discouraged with the performance. There were some moves made with Dale going into the 10 where he seems far more at home. Kurta dropped into the 9 as we tried to get a bit of control in front of goal. 

We began to lift, and at first, the Strikers struggled into the wind as their passes were hit either too hard or went straight to James. They pushed up as we knew they would and our pace on a counter hurt them when Dale played Lachy into space and he shot brilliantly to make us 2-0. It then became a tough game as we defended resolutely and they pressed and pressed repeatedly. We brought on Adam A and he immediately looked at home and was unlucky not to score. Kurtis came into the midfield and Deni came in up front. Our defense was doing so much better even though tiring. Tom Flavelle lifted after some rocky moments and became really effective in his position. Adam and Lucas were strong and Luke Dal, even though struggling with tiredness, kept working and presenting. James was playing another solid game and using his voice well. Michael McCarthy started to play like a captain and won challenge after challenge and led the only way I know how - by example! 

The strikers came close with a ball cleared off the line by Tom as we struggled against the corners. It was about the 32 minute mark of the second half when the Strikers earned a free kick and a long ball in was won by their striker who did a flick-on-header and the score was 2-1. It was obviously going to be a long 15 minutes! At this point we need to mention the strong contributions made by our subs - Deni, Kurtis and Adam. It was a great showing by them as the worked hard to contribute. 

East Bentleigh attacked and attacked and we countered and countered - with no team able to score that elusive goal. It was a mighty battle. There were so many close efforts just going wide or saved. The 45 minute mark passed and the game kept going. It was literally getting dark but the referee kept the game going. It got to 50 minutes and Mike received a yellow card - his 5th for the season - and so he will be out next week. The referee gave out free kick after free kick to the Strikers and the game went past the 52 minute mark? They even had a player on the ground who could not get up and still the referee allowed play to go. It was almost like he wanted a draw to be the final result. It was certainly bizarre!

Finally, he blew the full time whistle and we had won a very tough contest 2-1 and showed much more heart and composure against the wind. We still have a lot of work to do and we need all players at training Tuesday. The next three weeks will tell a lot about us as we play some critical games - every game from now on will be difficult. We need to play with confidence and cohesion. The great thing is that the reserves are playing so well that they are putting pressure on our senior boys

Goal scorers - Seb 1 and Lachy 1. 

Mothers Day at the Reserve

A win for the mothers!

We dedicate the wins to our mothers and thank them for their hard-work and commitment to their boys. Happy mother’s day!

RESERVES

FIRST HALF

It was a slow start to the first half… Sandown Lions had clearly come to play football and took possession of the game…. Chelsea FC looked like they had a late night out – there was no communication and we were struggling to put passes together.

Chelsea FC were doing a lot of the running, though, as hard as we were trying, we just couldn’t find a break to get ourselves back into the game. The first 30 minutes stood quiet and not much had really happened… Mauricio wasn’t feeling too well so Alex made a substitute around the 30^th minute mark.

Substitute: Mauricio off and Rod on [Jack. K pushed to RB and Rod CB]

It wasn’t until we won ourselves a corner kick on the left-wing around the 35^th minute that Chelsea FC put their stamp onto the game. Vella was El-Capitano for the day – his performances have been consistent and he’s really growing in confidence. And that’s what we like to see at Chelsea FC (player development and confidence) – it was time for him to take on some responsibility for the day and that’s exactly what he did! The ball was crossed in from the left and Vella’s leap was high enough to win the header and put it into the back of the goals!

Chelsea 1 – Sandown Lions 0

The first half finished with Chelsea in the lead but we had a lot more work to do if we wanted to maintain our position on top of the league.

The half-time talk by Alex was about getting back to basics – we win possession of the ball and start switching play – we let the ball do the running and start to enjoy our football. We were sitting on top of the table for a reason.

SECOND HALF

The second half looked a lot more respectful as the Chelsea boys woke up. We were back to basics as instructed at half-time. We gained possession by moving the ball around the ground and it was Sandown Lions doing all the hard-work and chasing the game. Chelsea FC pressure in our attacking third also caused havoc as Vella managed to get a double with his hard-work up front and on the wings by slotting in the second as he ran onto another cross into the box.

Chelsea 2 – Sandown Lions 0

Sandown Lions however did not give up – they continued playing their football and were unlucky to be 2-0 down as they hit the post and could not find a way through Calum.

Jordan was hungry to continue from where he left-off last week against Baxter having scored two goals – Jordan ran onto a ball which was played through the midfield and managed to run around the keeper and place it into goals with no defending from Sandown Lions. The referee called it a goal until the Sandown Lions goalkeeper ran to the referee and started yelling – Sandown Lions were all over the referee – the referee changed his decision and moved the ball from the centre back to a free-kick – our goal was disallowed and we were all frustrated with the referee as his decisions were inconsistent and influenced by external factors.

Dutch was eager to get his name onto the scorecard and place his name into the Chelsea history books. Dutch kept going up for all corners and set-pieces – and it paid-off during the second-half when he leaped over the Sandown Lions defender for a corner we won mid-way through the second half. After he scored, he was jumping for joy and celebrating with the good old fist pump!

Chelsea 3 – Sandown Lions 0

However, it was unlucky for Sandown Lions as they managed to concede an own-goal when their defender passed the ball back to their goalkeeper and he mistimed his kick and let the ball roll into the back of the net.

Chelsea 4 – Sandown Lions 0

The Chelsea boys really upped the ante and left Sandown yelling and arguing at each other – the hard-work off the ball, communication, possession style football was really making the difference between the two-teams. Chelsea wanted to win more and continue to be the benchmark for the league.

Substitute: Jordan off and Jimmy on [playing as the ST]

Substitute: Vella off and Aaron on [playing as the LW]

The rest of game was quiet – Jimmy ended the scoring with a tap-in and made it five to Chelsea FC.

Chelsea FC Reserves continue their winning streak after five rounds of games and sit on top of the league with 15 points. We put the pressure back on to the rest of the competition and hope we can achieve winning results weekly because we want to play at the highest level of football. But this week is a critical game – we have the strong East Bentleigh team to contend with at their home pitch so this is a really important game!

SENIORS

It was 3pm however the game had not started – we had a few issues with the goals (as they were exposed in the corners) and the referee was running around getting it all sorted before he could start the game. We were delayed for about 5-10 minutes. We did have the mascots join us for the first time and that was brilliant.

FIRST HALF

Chelsea FC senior boys needed a win as much as Sandown Lions – we were on the same points and could not afford to increase the gap between Baxter and Rosebud. Sandown Lions looked physical and ready to play just like their reserves team.

Again, they started off really strong! Honestly – we were running around like headless chickens trying to gain possession of the ball, and as a result we lost our structure in midfield. The first 20minutes was a battle in midfield and Sandown were attacking from all corners of the ground. James did his best to keep them out but they were knocking on the door – we were lucky their finishing up front wasn’t clinical as we could have been playing catch-up. They were playing great football and it was a mirror of what we wanted to achieve. The game was being played at a really quick pace – Chelsea again like the reserves were doing all of the running and when we won possession it was being turned over really quickly because we were getting shut down. We were limited with options and Sandown were pressuring. It was late in to the second half and we were attacking on the counter, we won a free-kick outside the 18yard box. The magician Tucci stepped up for some magic – his left-footed curler was placed with precision into the top corner and all of a sudden Chelsea was leading the game. We probably had 15% possession but the score-line was telling a different story.

Chelsea 1 – Sandown Lions 0

The first half ended with Chelsea in the lead, though we had the least possession we had seen in the first round of games we were still up and that was the most important thing we needed to remember. The boys knew we had played our worst half – but weren’t giving up. Alex just like in the reserves game, gave simple instructions at half-time. We needed to reset and forget the first-half of football. We had another 45 minutes to play and we needed to turn things around. Our midfielders needed to be aware of their positions and keep structure (someone defends to cut the balls being played through midfield when another was attacking) – our forwards and midfielders needed to work closer together and close the gap between each other. Our wingers were working hard but switching off at times – we needed to be on our feet and creating space for our wing backs and midfields when we were attacking with the overlaps.

The second half commenced with a bit more intensity in our play as we tried to engage the full backs on the quick counters. Sandown were playing great football but were breaking down in their attacking third. Sometimes we were not being smart – as we often lost the ball when our defenders were either holding on too long or making poor passes. This put us under a lot of pressure, but we were starting to do better in midfield as Dale and Tucci were running the ball up in an effort to set up our strikers. This increased in the second half and we had some great chances to score but were denied by a lack of patience or vision or poor cross. Michael M was working his socks off putting lots of midfield pressure on the opposition. Lucas was awesome down back but didn’t have too many friends down there who seemed to be less intense about the competition. After two 1 v 1s with the keeper, Seb sprang on a poor pass back and shot left foot. It was a slow dribbler but somehow the keeper lunged sideways and what seemed a simple save ended up seeing the ball roll over his outstretched arm to make the score 2-0. It was lucky as hell – but it was a goal.

We had some more chances and so did Sandown – both teams could have scored – but the contest ended in a 2-0 win for Chelsea. We will take the win, but we really have a lot more work to do and our attitude needs to be better. We have a really tough run starting and we cannot afford to concede points – we need to all be desperate to give 100% to the jersey.  We need to get a winning mentality and graft hard and follow structures set out or we will see ourselves falling down the ladder. We want more than that – we want to be the team that can beat Baxter and Rosebud and also dispense with other teams and not play down to their level. Every team is a danger and we need to play with urgency each time we step on the park!

On Sunday the thirds ventured down to local club Beaumaris. It was Beaumaris’ first home game of the season. Michael McCarthy and Jack Kearney were assisting today.  We had a good start to the first half but they unfortunately got a goal within 10 minutes.  But our game was improving as it had been every week. We have virtually only been together 4 weeks and still have trouble remembering each other’s names! Visibly, we were playing better and it began to show.

 We had the ball in the middle of the pitch and a pass was given out to Jack who was playing the (7). He took a touch and then he crossed it in front of the goals. It went  it went to the  other side where Aiden (11) was sitting in space. He then passed the ball to Roly (9) who passed it back to Jack who was cutting in and he smashed it into an open goal.  It was a great goal and the score remained at 1-1 at the half time break. The second half started very well with Ben Rundale in the (3) and Jack K now playing the (4). Unfortunately Beaumaris was able to score from a free kick that was just inside the D area of the 18 yard box.  We seemed to hang our heads a little which resulted in Beaumaris scoring again from a long shot that went over our keeper’s head (Aussie).  But Chelsea started to fight back. We pulled one back from Tristan who put in a great shot. It was 2-3 to Beaumaris but we were coming strong.

 Then Tristan (7) got the ball again and he was running down the wing and beat a player before getting into the box where he got tackled quite heavily just inside the box. The defensive player did get the ball but he also got Tristan on the follow thru.  A Penalty was awarded as Beaumaris complained but the referee stood his ground.  Ben Y stepped up and kicked the third goal.  The score ended at 3-3 and it was a great fightback by the thirds. Unfortunately, Tristan looks to have have dislocated his right shoulder. All the team wish him a speedy recovery and hope he gets back to playing soccer really soon. Thanks to Andrew the manager of the thirds for all his help.

Game 4 - A trip down to Baxter

I guess its one of my least fancied places to visit - Baxter! They are a team that really gives football a black eye - old fashioned 'boot it long to a key striker' football, continual needling of opponent players and coaches, and a 'do what we want' cocky attitude with no real effort in trying to foster the game in the correct way. This is the club that gives Div 5 a bad name.
They, too, desperately want to get out of Div 5 so spent quite a deal of money restructuring their team and invested heavily on a keeper and a key striker. The investment has worked and they have been able to keep a clean record with 4 wins from as many starts.
The seniors went down to Baxter 3-1 yesterday even though around the park we clearly had outplayed them. They just kicked it long or anywhere while we tried to play football with clever possession and structure. Clearly this is not the league to play 'good football', but we must persist.
The game started well with or new forward structure. It was working a treat and Baxter did not know what to do. They looked tired and sluggish as they chased us all over the field. We were unlucky not to score twice when Connor almost got a foot on a super pass from McCarthy. Our best chance was after some super work between Tommy, McCarthy and Lachy who got to the near post and all he had to do was pass it to Seb, but without talk Lachy shot and the save was made by the keeper.
Then we conceded a goal and our heads dropped a little and they really gained in confidence. We gave them belief and for about 12 minutes they had us under severe pressure as they tried to break us. We hung in and attacked a number of times but their defense held firm. It was ugly with Baxter just kicking the ball anywhere - long, high, wide. We really missed Luke Dal's run from left back and that really hurt us all day. We kept going to Tommy who was spent by half time. We did the best we could but kept going right to the half with our game plan - even though we went in 1-0 but easily could have been 2-0 as they had a shot hit the crossbar.
Tucci and Lucas T, Tom F and Lachy were playing super games - but we needed others to lift. Matty K was working hard but was getting needled by players on the pitch as well as players from Rosebud. McCarthy was also working hard and keeping to the structure. James was doing well in goal and I thought at half time we could turn the game. We needed more from our strikers - we were getting it up there but it was being cleared too easily.
The second half started and Baxter played with more confidence. We really were struggling keeping their main striker in check and he was really the difference in the game. They scored a second, when James took a punt to come out and just did not get there in time before it was toe poked into the back of the net Even at 2-0 down we worked really hard and built up time and time again only to be denied by a clearing kick.
After about 10 minutes we scored a really great goal from Seb and the score was 2-1. Tucci was being masterful in the middle and Dale and Deni were on and making an impact. We were getting dreadfully tired however and the long ball was killing us. We conceded a couple of corners in a row and our lack of height showed as they headed from deep to make it 3-1.
To the credit of the boys we did not quit and almost scored a second goal which was saved by the keeper on a reaction save.
The game ended at 3-1 and we were all totally disappointed. We need to make 4 points up on Baxter somehow. Hopefully they fall or draw a couple. We need to score high in all games in case the promotion battle comes down to goal difference. We move to next week where we have a home game against Sandown. (see note at end of report)
The reserves started off very slowly with too many players looking like they were not giving 100%.
The first half we looked awful. Our midfielders was not great and it seemed as if our strikers were not prepared to work when they lost the ball. It almost looked as if we were cocky. Luke P was doing great in Defense as was Jack Kearney who was playing a blinder. Up front Jimmy, Travis, Adam were getting touches and chances but things were just not clicking. We had them beaten for pace outside but were not using the ball well. Our midfielders were turning the ball over too easily and it was from a poor pass that we conceded a goal. We were clearly better but were one down. After a few minutes the ball was played beautifully by Daniel K who shifted into the midfield to work with Nate who was doing a great job. We went in a disappointing 1-1 against the other team who were also unbeaten.
The second half began and it was a scrappy affair. Adam got a whole lot more of the ball but we could not break through their defense. They scored first again and with about 30 minutes left we found ourselves 2-1 down and struggling. Alex injected a bit of pace up front by putting on the fleet footed Jordan and it paid instant dividends. After a bruising encounter with the keeper in which Travis looked as if he was in trouble, Jordan sped onto the loose ball to put in the easy shot to make it 2-2. The intensity lifted for the last twenty minutes as the ball went back and forth. Chelsea was getting the best of the game and persistence was paying off as the all was continually slotted into the spaces behind the defenders, Eventually Jordan scored a goal to make it 2 in 20 minutes - a great effort from the bench.
The fight the reserves showed was tremendous and they ended up winning 3-2 to keep top position on the ladder. The whole team lifted in the last 10 minutes as if they wanted to prove they ere the best reserve team in the league. They became desperate and it was a great last 30 minutes fro Chelsea FC Reserves!!

IMPORTANT NOTE 

Boys, we are young and have a squad that consists of over 30 players - it's our time to show the league what champions are made of! I believe this is the season we get promoted! We have unbelievable depth and quality and all deserve to be playing in a champions squad! This should be everyone's aim and mindset - not just to play good football  - but we should all share this aim of getting Chelsea FC promoted.

Football is a physical sport but it's played with a winning mentality. You either win, draw or lose but none of that matters if there is no purpose to what we are trying to achieve. We're not only trying to win the league and get promoted but set a foundation and benchmark for our club (Chelsea FC) - for our juniors who can watch and learn and for our team-mates - so we can challenge each other and help develop and grow our individual mind-set and increase our performance. We should also challenge our opposition - so they can start thinking about what they're going to be playing against.

We set the benchmark.

We meet again on Tuesday and reset - preparing for the coming week against Sandown Lions FC at home. This Thursday dinner is being provided again and hopefully we can watch the game VS Baxter on the screen.