The collective message on Saturday was to concentrate on performance and continue to progress in those areas that have been emphasised to date; so the need to defend with delay as a key feature for organisation, the need to trust in our ability and pass through midfield and the need to combine quickly with our forwards from midfield opportunities. Added to this the work on playing out from the back and set piece corner routines we can say that we are becoming equipped with a number of strategies which can help us on game days.

The game itself saw us fall behind after a difficult first 10 minutes, and then establish a foothold which saw us finish the half in the ascendency but undeservedly behind 1-2 after a late break from Whitgift gave them an edge. The response after half time was really impressive as we dominated as we had before half time, hit the post but failed to score what would have been a deserved equaliser and then got caught by a sucker punch to go 1-3 down Despite this setback the whole team fought hard and got themselves back in the game from the penalty spot. At 2-3 the game was in the balance but a further breach of our defensive line took the game away from us and fatigue clearly set in; despite the adversity the whole team fought hard and kept a buoyant Whitgift at bay until the final kick of the game when we conceded again to lose the game 2-5.

Not the result we wanted but performance and progress where definitely in evidence and will lead to success as we continue to learn and improve.