Benfleet Match report

Sunday was an enjoyable trip to benfleet. We were travelling into the unknown not knowing the estimated numbers Benfleet were going to have. On arrival we slowly got an understanding of how many benfleet expected to have so the game was on.

I discussed with the Benfleet coach whether he wanted to borrow any players and he said as it was Benfleets first competitive game of the season he wanted to see how they played together as a team.
So we planned the first game as all Benfleet versus Billericay and then we could always swap the sides for the 2nd game. In hindsight I think this worked very well and it worked well for both teams.

Before the start of the game I got all the players together to confirm a couple of points and was entertained to hear Jacob asking to see the birth certificates of some of the opposition as he believed they looked at least 10 years old. I think it is the Canvey coastal air that builds them big and strong.

The first game was physically competitive. With some of the other team being bigger I was pleased to see all the Billericay players making tackling attempts and some great tackles were made.
I was pleased to see some great passing. There were some very good passes made as the players were being tackled.
The space was limited in the first half so with 6 a side there was not much space to run. As we increased the size of the pitch for the 2nd half this gave the players a bit more space to run in. There were some great runs made by the players.

The 2nd game we mixed the teams up and this worked well. It was nice to see how quickly both the Billericay players and Benfleet players get along with each other considering that 5 minutes earlier they were on opposites sides. What was good to hear is the players talking about tactics during the game. The aim of coaching is not to train players to follow a set plan but to develop them so they can adapt and make decisions themselves.

I think Sunday was a very good day. Although I was initially frustrated at a lack of communication from Benfleet prior to Sunday, It has reminded me that all clubs have to start somewhere and only a few years ago we were in a similar position. The enthusiasm and ability shown by the Benfleet players is testament to the effort put in by their volunteers. The final entertainment of the morning was provided by Harrison who lost his mouth guard after the final whistle. So Gavin (Harrison's Dad) started searching the pitch, I also started scanning the ground looking for the gum shield. 5 minutes later and no gum shield, I jokingly asked Harrison if it was in his pocket, then Danny spotted the that he had the gum shield in his sock. Thank fully we were only searching for 5 minutes and not an hour. In future I have heard that Harrision's gum shield will be tied to his shorts so he can not lose it.

We have training next week.