Team: Alex, Ben O, Johnny, CJ, Lawrence, Tom, Charlie, Jake, Louis, Joe, Jo-Jo

The Ravens did something extraordinary this season, they won their first competitive game!  After a couple of fairly ordinary performances in the pre-season friendlies, the machine kicked back into gear with a good performance which deserved more goals.  This was a tight affair, however, and the Pumas showed that this league will be as much about character as it is about teamplay and skill – all abundant in both teams.  The Ravens started slowly but began to impose themselves on the game.  We had numerous corners and a number of half-chances but nothing clear-cut in the first twenty minutes but equally Alex was not really tested.  The first goal came from a Willen attack which saw Louis showing his defensive capabilities by breaking up the attack on the edge of our area with a great tackle, then digging the ball out past a couple of Willen players.  He looked up to see Jake racing clear at the halfway line – Louis split the defence with a great pass that saw Jake take the ball around the keeper to score with his left foot (0-1).  We got on top completely for the rest of the half with a lovely jinking run from Louis down the left seeing his final shot just going past the far post and then Charlie, fully 35 yards out, unleashing an exocet that the excellent Willen keeper palmed onto the crossbar.  This ball was hit so hard that the rebound fell back outside the penalty area!  Charlie got his reward a couple of minutes later as he swept in from the right to score after a nice flowing move from Lawrence, Tom and Jake (0-2).

We kept the same team for the first few minutes of the half and, having spoken about making more out of our corners, a nicely thought-out move a couple of minutes in eventually saw Charlie with the ball facing away from the goal with two players surrounding him.  He ignored their attentions, swivelled and smashed the ball into the back of the net (0-3).  Joe came on for CJ who had had a very good game linking midfield and attack.  I think we then relaxed a bit and some poor communication around our own box saw us give the ball away cheaply for Willen to score (1-3).  Their tails were up now having not really been in the game until that point and they scored again as we again failed to deal with a routine corner (2-3).  We were now under pressure when there had previously been none and the next few minutes were pretty frantic but the defence shored up and Alex kept his area under control.  Jo-Jo came on for Louis who was now tiring having had a very short pre-season.  This was a terrific start for Louis who is showing all the signs of greater strength and teamplay. We began to re-impose ourselves and created a series of chances for Jake and Joe.  Joe could have had a hattrick with a bit more composure in front of the goal as Jo-Jo, having a terrific debut on the left ran their right-back ragged, and Charlie laid on a series of chances from the wings.  Jake too had a number of opportunities and needs to take the ball closer to the goal to ensure he does not give the keeper too much of a chance to save.  Both Jake and Joe hit the post as Tom and Lawrence started to purr in the engine room and we hit rapidly on the break in front of a stout defence with Johnny and Ben excelling.  However, the breakthrough just would not come and we always feared a Willen counter attack.  Finally, after another terrific Charlie run Joe had the ball laid on a plate to score – he hit the target but only for the defender to appear from nowhere and clear off the line (did it go over?).  Fortunately Charlie was still lurking to tap in the rebound (2-4).

This was a pleasing performance on many levels – our pre-season fitness and team work looks to have paid off, Tom and Lawrence were back on form, Joe added some grit and determination to his game which has made a big difference (the goals will come, Joe), Jake and Charlie both showed skill and composure, Louis and CJ are perfect team players for the spine of the team and Ben, Alex and Johnny coped well after a couple of wobbles.  Man of the match went to the debut boy Jo-Jo who did so much to calm the team from the left by breaking down numerous attacks and instigating much of what was good in the second half.  Well done boys, on to the next game next week.

Goalscorers (Jake 1, Charlie 3)