Unfortunately there is not much to say on this week's game. It was very bad from the beginning. We allowed too many runs and passes in the midfield, leaving the defence with more than what they could handle. Some players are just starting to learn their positions, but that is not the cause of all the goals. We have to work much harder on ball recovery, keeping possession and keeping the attitude up no matter what. We are not the team that was on that field on Saturday, but we must prove it. From now on we can win or lose, but we must leave that field with pride in how we played and with the other team thinking these guys were tough.

Hope to see everyone who is willing to put in the extra-effort and heart at training this week, looking forward to our first Cup Game, which would be a great game to start turning this boat around.

JuanTop

The A's this week took on Rostrevor, who had just come off a surprise loss to the Blacks last week.

Robin had a near full squad to choose from, with only the long term injured Ben Mauro being unavailable. Dan Aikin was back in goals for the boys in White, and this was the only change to the starting line-up which had done so well the week before.

Early on the Whites gained the upper hand, as the Rostrevor midfield & defence were caught a couple of times by the quick passing & movement of Alex on the wing and Mohammed and Chris B up front, while down back Joe and Aiden were doing an excellent job of repelling any attacking forays that Rostrevor made.

It came as no surprise then, that from a pinpoint Rob Alberton freekick, Mohammed popped up to score a lobbed header (without looking at the goals), which left the Rostrevor goalie looking a little silly.

1-0 at half time & Robin was fairly happy with proceedings; much of the talk was about keeping the concentration & intensity.

Rostrevor really came out firing in the 2nd half, with their midfield getting a lot more of the ball. Eventually their pressure paid off as they equalised through Uni Whites nemesis Fernando who was put through for a 1 on 1 with Dan.

In some days this might have been enough for the Whites to drop their heads, but instead the opposite occurred. A sustained period of pressure of about 10 minutes eventually paid off, as Bax had 2 goal scoring opportunities. The first was well saved by the keeper, but he could do nothing to stop the second.

Joe tackled and delivered the ball to the forwards from the half way line. Paul attempted to volley the ball towards goal, but it slewed off his foot and over the defence. Chris was first there to coolly control and volley into the top left corner for a 2-1 lead.

Late on, our wingers Alex and Dave both came off for well deserved rests, as did Mo who had been outstanding all day. This brought John Wilson, Tim Dudz and Long on to the field.

In the last 15 minutes Rostrevor pushed really hard for the equaliser, but the boys held firm.

A fantastic morale boosting win for the A's, with a true team effort from all the boys!

Well done fellas!

SafTop

This was Jonny receiving his marching orders with minutes to go. After telling the boys at half time "Whatever you do, don't get a card", the lad went and got two! The first was a rather poor decision by the ref after Jonny accidentally tripped the forward while looking the other way.

However, the second was more deserved. Jonny failed to move away from the ball after Rostrevor was awarded a free kick. He then got involved in some pushing and shoving – and responding to cries from the crowd, the ref showed the yellow.

Guys, this is something we can all avoid. Before the match we were told not stand in front of the ball at free kicks – so don't it! And if the opposition starts something, just walk away! Get your revenge by tackling hard and winning!

JoeTop