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FIRST TEAM MANAGER ON THE OAKWOOD GAME

FIRST TEAM MANAGER ON THE OAKWOOD GAME

Tracy Dale4 Sep 2024 - 16:00

DIVISION ONE CHALLENGE CUP 1ST ROUND, TUESDAY 3RD SEPTEMBER

CHUFC 4 - 2 Oakwood
(Half-time 2-2)
Goal scorers: Asher Maliki, Bailey Ellis x2, Tobe Uzor

It's taken a few games but against Oakwood, we got a deserved win and put in an almost complete performance. No doubt the return of a number of players who have been missing for various reasons helped but it wasn’t that alone that made the difference.

I always ask for a quick start to set the tempo, hopefully grab the initiative, and just set out to stop the opponent from settling and we did this well. A lot of early possession, a number of corners and almost complete control, and an early goal to go with it set us the platform that I had hoped for.

For 25 minutes, although not having increased our lead, we played some nice football and it should have been just a matter of time - but out of nowhere, a defensive mistake and we were level. The only concern of the night having thought about the game was the next 10 minutes of play where our focus seemed more on the mistake than how we were playing and what we had been doing well which resulted in a really scrappy approach from us. Oakwood took advantage and I couldn’t quite grasp how in a game where we had done so well we were behind.

We regained composure and control of the game and equalised right on half time and that certainly made my half-time team talk easier. The message was simple, keep playing. The only criticism was of our reaction to conceding and we said if we have another bad moment in the game we must react better.

To be really fair to the lads they played the second half outstandingly well and scored 2 more, probably deserving 2 more on top of that. Our play and management of the second half were excellent as we progressed into the second round of a cup competition that we should be targeting to win.

Gaffer Glynn Stephens
First Team Manager

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