Starting lineup was John B, Sam, Angustini, Paul, Wardy, Hazza, Macca, Hamish, Joel, Matty, Loggy. Sub was Adamski (first half). A 12 man squad had a truly FANTASTIC match against title winners Rawcliffe Warriors at The Bumper Castle on 16th Jan.Right from kick-off Tadcaster looked composed, assured, communicative and downright classy(!). If the match had been televised by Sky (would have been a better bet than the Man U game), the possession-o-meter would have shown 'Tad 58% - Rawcliffe 42%'. Despite this - Tad got caught short against Rawcliffe's excellent ManMountain centre-back who launched one from 25 yards out that Peter Schmiechel would have struggled against.
Tad fought back with Macca (who was truly excellent) slotting one home after tearing up and down the wing with the urgency of a day-tripper in a Tunisian airport.
The match continued at a breathtaking pace - Tad had learnt the early lesson of keeping the play out on the wings (thanks Mike!). There was overlap, running passes, backhealers and all manner of Hogwarts Study-Leave going on though defence, midfield and attack. Rawcliffe scored again and Hazz coolly slotted home a free-kick (twice in 2 weeks) to bring the scores level at half time.
Sam had sustained an injury, so Adamski swapped with Paul and Paul dropped in to right-back.
It was literally 'end to end' for 30 mins, with Rawcliffe bringing on and taking off myriad subs. Paul got a nasty knock to the knee and Sam came back on (we only had 12 players).
In the dying minutes, Sam fairly tackled a Rawcliffe player who managed to finish his dramatic fall within the penalty area. Despite John's best effort (he was also on stunning form all afternoon) Rawcliffe went 3-2 up from the spot. There were some tired legs and as we didn't have a substitution option, Rawcliffe capitalised on this and scored another with 2 mins to go.
A great performance despite the score. It seems that those dark, rainy, sub-zero nights of training and playing small-sided games might be paying off at a crucial part of the season.
Joint Man of The Match - Macca (who was brought down more times than a kitten with 'Fainting Goat Syndrome') and John B (totally courageous!).
Big Shout Out to Charlie and Johnny W (who both manfully volunteered to have the week off) - Huntington be afraid. See you at Training!
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