Match Report

Derby Ams (0) v EMTEC (5)

Date: 13/10/07
Team: 2nds
Match Type: Cup
Venue: Home
Opposition: EMTEC

After 2 disappointing home performances this was an opportunity for the reserves to put a few things right in the MAA Intermediate Cup. The opposition was provided by an Emtec side that, although a division below the reserves, arrived sporting a 100% record so far this season.

The talk in the changing rooms before the game was about working hard for your team mates, reducing the number of individual errors, keeping the ball more and being a bit more ruthless going forward. It was also made clear that with players still to come back over the next week or two, and both 1st and 2nd team having squads of 14, everyone was playing for their place and nobody was guaranteed a place in the squad going forward. A few changes were made from the previous week in an attempt to find the winning formula with Nez in goal, the Hart brothers at full back, Grum and Neale in the middle of the back four. Midfield was ‘Bing’ on the right, Jebbo and Danny in the middle, with John Moore coming in on the left hand side. Jack and Grant up front, leaving a bench consisting of Matt Fisher, Ben Perry and the ‘fit again after a week of handling heavy wood’ Bravo.

Emtec started the brighter and it soon became clear that they were going to cause us problems as an attacking force as they broke quickly from midfield to support a front 2 who were already quick enough. After previously finding space on the edge of the box, the visitors were in the lead after about 20 minutes when a shot from 12 yards on the left found the bottom right corner of our net. In truth it was no more than the visitors deserved as Nez continued to be the busier of the 2 keepers.

At this stage it should be stated that the referee was an either an official, or ex-official, of the opposition. Being a major cup weekend our game was not allocated a referee and it had been agreed that it was worth completing the fixture by taking up the offer of a referee from the opposition.

Slowly, we started to inch our way into the game without ever looking in control of the ball or the match or as though we were going to create a real chance. A couple of half chances bounced away from Grant and Jack and ran kindly for the opposition defence before 30 seconds of mad refereeing effectively decided the match 10 minutes before half time. A bouncing ball left both Grant and Jack running into the Emtec penalty area with a single defender and an onrushing goalkeeper. With both attackers 5 yards or more away from the opposition players, defender and goalkeeper collided leaving Jack to turn the ball into an empty net. 1-1 and hey presto, it’s game on and time to see how their attacking midfield cope with being forced to think about having to defend instead of feeling free to run at our back 4 without a care in the world. Only, that’s how it should have been. Instead, the referee decided that seeing as both opposition players ended up on the floor it must have been a free kick to Emtec. It was an amazing decision.

The huge sense of injustice was made worse when from the free kick the ball was played up to the other end of the pitch where a sliding tackle from Grum created uncertainty regarding whether the ball had run for an opposition corner or a home goal kick. The referee, who was about 20 yards away, was clearly unsure and took 10 seconds to decide that when in doubt all benefit must go to the attacking side. Now correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t offside the only instance where the attacking team get the benefit of the doubt? This was pointed out quite forcefully to the referee who then proceeded to blame our linesman who was standing motionless 60 yards away on the other side of the pitch. At this stage things began to get a bit heated and players from both sides commenced an exchange of views.

A now bulging sense of injustice became almost laughable when the resulting corner flew straight into the home net at the near post – a bad mistake that really should not have happened had we been switched on, although patience and concentration was stretched to near breaking point.

The half time whistle went and while the opposition left the pitch happy after a good first half, Derbyshire trudged off to regroup and get their heads around a disjointed performance and some stunning refereeing. The half time talk was, for the third week running, about working harder for each other, making good decisions and playing common sense football.

In truth much of the early part of the second half was a blur as Emtec continued to attack with pace and plenty of movement against our overworked defence that started to make mistakes and look a little ragged at times. A combination of defensive mistakes and pressure led to the opposition scoring on 3 more occasions as any remaining protection for Nez began to evaporate.

Changes were made, with Ben, Bravo and Matt all coming on for the last 20 minutes which did at last see Derbyshire start to play some football and create chances. The catalyst seemed to be the moving John Moore into the centre of midfield, where suddenly he and Danny started to find a bit more space and we were able to start passing the ball. Jebbo slotted into the middle of the back four and looked assured with Bravo working hard and winning tackles on the right hand side of midfield. Decent chances were created but after being starved of decent possession for the last couple of games, the strikers could be forgiven for snatching at them.

At the final whistle it was obvious that the superior side had won the match. We were put under huge pressure for large parts of the game by an attacking unit that was as good as anything we have come up against this season, although it would have been interesting to see how they coped with being on the back foot had the refereeing not intervened in the first half. Clearly if Emtec continue to play to the standard they did in this match we will be matching up against them in the league in the not too distant future.

Man of the match goes to John Moore. In a side that seemed low on confidence John was always happy to have the ball and looked after it better than anyone else in a blue shirt. His effectiveness in the middle of midfield in the last 20 minutes was the catalyst for our best spell of the game and creates some options as we search for the formula that will allow us to get the best out of our attacking players.