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.