A Day of Mixed Emotions

Posted on Sunday, January 12th, 2014

Sir Clive Woodward had a phrase he created and used for days like yesterday…namely “winning doesn’t happen in a straight line”.

First of all, fair play to Gary and his Team yesterday…3 fantastic goals married to a great work ethic, a clear game plan and some excellent defending enabled ‘The City’ to leave Ainslie Park with all 3 points. We’ve now played Edinburgh City 5 times this season, all 5 games have been extremely competitive…yesterday was our 1st loss.

I was our proud of our players yesterday on a number of different fronts. Our first half performance (especially the first 35 minutes) was as good as we’ve played all season…’the process’ can’t guarantee goals, however, had we gone in at the break ahead…I don’t think anyone would have complained. We will play significantly worse between now and the end of the season and win, which is what makes the game of football so interesting…62 goals scored in 26 games so far this season is an improvement on last season.

Our collective desire and work ethic at 3 down yesterday was excellent…when the easy option would have been to think that “it just wasn’t our day”. However, this team has shown time after time this season that we go to the end and despite the missed opportunities yesterday, our team has proved it has goals in it, so to speak.

In the League Cup section so far, as planned we have used all of our fit players in our 20 man squad (sadly Robbie Ross & Jack Beacher have not been able to start a game due to ongoing injuries…Beacher has only started 4 games all season). Our starting 11 will change again next Saturday as we continue to use the League Cup games to give everyone minutes (an objective made all the more important after the game was called off at Rosewell).

I’ve taken some calculated risks in the League Cup which has contributed to our losses, however, the lessons have been banked and in the long run, they are worth more to us than the 6 points dropped in our League Cup section. Despite the dropped points, we can still top the group and qualify…to do so, first of all we need to win at Forthbank next Saturday (which will occupy our immediate thoughts).

Results so far this season have shown just how competitive the new Lowland League is. I’m sure the next 4 months will deliver many more ups and downs for everyone involved, including ourselves…and when it does, I’ll once again think of Sir Clive and remain focused on the long term vision for our Football Club. Next Saturday, the next challenge…is one to be enjoyed and embraced…to be honest, it can’t come quick enough.

Sammy