With an eye on a quarter final place and a strong lineup we started with 4-5-1 Sanju, Stef-DanH-Leandro-Pablo, Adam-Miles-Jay-Mike-Sanj, Rory from a squad of 17
While we started brightly and took the lead on 20 mins from a JayGresko free kick the match then descended into one of the worst matches nites have played. Players started bickering at each other on the pitch, subed players dissing those that replaced them and constant arguing with the ref even though we were in the lead. with 10mins to go we made 3 changes Stef-DanH-Leandro- Pablo, Adam-Jeff-Oli-Mike-Sanj, BigDan
moments before the half ended a ball was played through the middle of the park and untouched found it’s way to split our defence leaving their speedy striker with a straight forward one-on-one to level the match.
half time 2 more subs on Sanju, Stef-DanH-Leandro-Pablo, Adam-Jeff-Oli-Bryn-Chi, BigDan
With the weather turning and drizzle falling there was a potential for errors, again we played some good attacking football however 10mins in they got another goal and suddenly we were chasing the game. Recycling subs we changed to Sanju, Stef-DanH-Leandro-Bryn, Miles-Jeff-Oli-Jay-Chi, BigDan however Jay got sent off for an off the ball incident.
From here the game descended into a farce, more arguing with the ref, everyone deciding they would shout formations loudly from the sidelines and on the pitch as chaos reigned. The ref then sent Leandro off for a second yellow and we might as well have packed our bags then.
With the ref adding exactly zero minutes of extra time the match ended 2-1 against a very weak team bring the season to inglorious end. 2 games in 2 days taking as from silverware contenders in the league and cup to game over – bit like being an Arsenal fan……
What’s most disappointing is having made into the squad from over 25 players some players didn’t perform or act like they appreciated being selected and were more interested in being disruptive and looking for a fight. After the match some dumbass decide it would be funny to boot one of the opposition balls out of the pitch into the nearby building site – hard to take the moral high ground against diving teams when we act like petulant kids afterwards.
So that’s it for the 2011/12 season*** – officially our worst since Nites started in 2007.
2012/13 season kicks off again in September assuming the Club stays in the Aleague.