New turf, Nahanton style

MPS Newton 2 - 0 Wayland Wahoo!

Following three games on turf, our first home game, complete with 8 AM kick-off on real grass (gasp!) was always likely to be interesting. I was under the impression that the Nahanton field was being resurfaced during the autumn 2008 season, but no: there was certainly more green to be seen, but that just helped to disguise those familiar bumps.

Wayland adapted quickly to the conditions and kept the ball in the air as much as possible. Unfortunately, there were spells in the first half when we copied their approach, and it didn't look at all pretty, the ball travelling from one end of the pitch to the other without many touches. When the ball did hit the deck, the unpredictable bounce added a little more randomness than usual to the mix.

When we were making short passes we were in complete control of the game. We had an early chance when Steve Shea made some space for himself on the right, but he hit his shot straight at the keeper. Then Steve's cross from the left cleared all the defenders and was met by Bardot close to the penalty spot. The shot was good, sending the 'keeper the wrong way, but it went a yard wide of the left post. The lead came after good work by Bardot down the right flank. He drove in a low cross that was deflected past the 'keeper by a defender, but I think we can credit Bardot with the goal - he's already a strong contender for the coveted Golden Boot.

Wayland manufactured a couple of half-chances, but they mainly originated from long speculative punts into the penalty area. Samuel was equal to the one decent first-half shot on goal, saving with his knees.

In the second half we dominated completely, and Kevin was in control of the penalty area when the ball did break through. Pete Bradley was brought down in a central position 25 yards out, and as the Wayland defence dallied about organising a wall, Steve Shea stepped up and hammered the ball into the net. Sadly, the referee insisted on a retake, which Andy struck past the left post.

After hearing Andy instruct the forwards to stay central during the second half, Samuel spent ten minutes lurking around the corner flag. When he moved into a more central role it opened up space on the left side that resulted in a second goal. Andy played Ivan down the left channel; he checked, pulled the ball back and sent a low cross into the centre. Bardot, standing 8 yards out, simply directed the cross inside the right post to make it 2-0.

The referee had been very sympathetic to Wayland's offside calls throughout the game, but on the one occasion when we played the trap in the second half -leaving two Wayland players offside - he waved away our calls. When the ball went out of play he was subjected to a Bradley barrage, which luckily didn't result in any card-waving.

There were other chances: Tim Todreas, having a strong game on the right side of midfield, had two decent shots in quick succession from the edge of the area. Ivan skipped past a lunging defender on the left but mis-hit his cross as an attacking posse raced in. Victor got free on the left, but shot from a narrow angle when a cut-back might have yielded a goal.

Overall a strong performance where we controlled the game for long stretches. Now if we could only do something about that playing surface...