Post by slush on Dec 13, 2006 12:15:55 GMT
Stiffs slain by the Vikings
Viking Raiders 4 - 1Easington Utd Reserves
There’s not much to say about this defeat for the Stiffs. Against a big side who mixed a physical approach with no shortage of quality football, the youthful Reserves were simply out-muscled, out-passed and outplayed.
But despite the scoreline, this was nowhere as near as depressing as the previous week’s reversal against Ridings.
“Sometimes you’ve got to hold your hands up and concede you’ve been beaten by the better side” appeared to be the consensus amongst players and assistant-manager ‘Biff’ McNaught, in charge in place of the absent Clarke.
With Mark Richardson absent and first team call-ups placing an extra burden on resources, McNaught was forced to revert to a standard 4-4-2 formation with Brett Fisk earning his first start of the season at left back.
The youngster repaid his manager’s faith with a ‘man of the match’ performance. He wasn’t the only one of the five youngsters on show to emerge with credit although at times it really did appear to be a case of ‘Men v Boys’.
Playing into a difficult low sun, the Stiffs found themselves three goals down before Darren Thompson cleverly flicked home his eighth league goal of the season just before the break.
The locals then enjoyed their best spell of the game shortly after half-time, putting their high-flying hosts under considerable pressure without really creating a clear-cut chance.
A fourth goal on the counter effectively settled matters and consigned the Eastenders to their sixth defeat of the campaign. The next two matches, away at Poachers and at home to Sculcoates Amateurs Reserves, now take on greater importance if the New Year is not going to be filled with uncertainty.
Easington: S Eldon, D Campbell, B Fisk, P Brown, C Foster, A McNaught, T McLaughlin (L Jeffery), R Biglin, L Smith, D Thompson, A Barnett
Viking Raiders 4 - 1Easington Utd Reserves
There’s not much to say about this defeat for the Stiffs. Against a big side who mixed a physical approach with no shortage of quality football, the youthful Reserves were simply out-muscled, out-passed and outplayed.
But despite the scoreline, this was nowhere as near as depressing as the previous week’s reversal against Ridings.
“Sometimes you’ve got to hold your hands up and concede you’ve been beaten by the better side” appeared to be the consensus amongst players and assistant-manager ‘Biff’ McNaught, in charge in place of the absent Clarke.
With Mark Richardson absent and first team call-ups placing an extra burden on resources, McNaught was forced to revert to a standard 4-4-2 formation with Brett Fisk earning his first start of the season at left back.
The youngster repaid his manager’s faith with a ‘man of the match’ performance. He wasn’t the only one of the five youngsters on show to emerge with credit although at times it really did appear to be a case of ‘Men v Boys’.
Playing into a difficult low sun, the Stiffs found themselves three goals down before Darren Thompson cleverly flicked home his eighth league goal of the season just before the break.
The locals then enjoyed their best spell of the game shortly after half-time, putting their high-flying hosts under considerable pressure without really creating a clear-cut chance.
A fourth goal on the counter effectively settled matters and consigned the Eastenders to their sixth defeat of the campaign. The next two matches, away at Poachers and at home to Sculcoates Amateurs Reserves, now take on greater importance if the New Year is not going to be filled with uncertainty.
Easington: S Eldon, D Campbell, B Fisk, P Brown, C Foster, A McNaught, T McLaughlin (L Jeffery), R Biglin, L Smith, D Thompson, A Barnett