Match report
Wandsworth Atheltic’s record breaking seven match winning streak finally came to an end on Thursday 21st January following a disappointing performance. Ravaged by injuries and player unavailability, Wandsworth never got going in this one, and ultimately went down 10-5 to Magic Monkeys.
With Thorn and Lloyd absent, and Molaie and Lewis carrying knocks, the Wandsworth squad was noticeably depleted. Rucheiwicz was drafted in for a first appearance of the season, and French made his debut for the club. Both played well in the circumstances, but the team performance was disjointed and unusually flat. Following a tense opening, Monkeys quickly established a three goal lead, and always looked like winning the game from that moment onwards. Too often Wandsworth were defensively disorderly, allowing easy opportunities to be fashioned by the opposition. The forward play lacked rhythm too although several half-chances were created; the finishing however was regularly fired straight down the gleeful throat of Monkey’s Alice-banded, yokel stopper.
When Wandsworth did find the back of the net, it was in style – French, Ruchneiwicz, Rickard and J.Platt all smashing home spectacular strikes. This in itself highlighted a major problem though – Wandsworth were unable to create the easy opportunities; reluctant to score the scruffy goal; powerless to find the net at regular intervals. Lewis provided much needed energy after coming on midway through the game, and when Platt’s finish made it 8-5 there was a sense of hope. Too slapdash goals conceded in the space of three minutes snuffed out any flicker of an eight successive win though, and indeed summed up the performance as a whole.
Despite this setback, Wandsworth will take pride in their refusal to give up and will surely be chomping at the bit to get back out on the pitch. With a stronger squad likely to be available, the team will undoubtedly want to start the game against Waterloo with real impetus, and get back to winning ways in emphatic fashion. There remains a lot to play for.
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