The first day of a new football season brings about a wide range of emotions. Optimism, excitement, even despair - the spectrum of feelings is varied to say the least.
I awoke on Saturday morning extremely excited. In fact, I was so excited that I got up at 8am when I had been longing for a lie in all week. Not being able to nod back off, I got out of bed, showered, had breakfast and headed off to get my hair cut all before 9:30am. After my lethargy towards football over the final four months of last season, I was taken aback by just how thrilled I was that it was the opening day of the season. But that's what the opening day of the season does to you - it lures you in with a false sense of security that things are going to be different and then kicks you square between the legs and delivers the same old rubbish but on a different day in a different setting.
I'll make no bones about this - the 180 minutes of Wood vs Havant and Waterlooville followed by Newcastle vs Arsenal was absolutely offensive, but at least I was half expecting the first game to be pretty bad. I can only apologise to my companions for the day, who took the feast of bad football with good grace and never complained once.
Onto the game - Wood lined up with a couple of new faces in the side. With Mario Noto in the stands (and sporting a very smart suit), new player/assistant manager Darren Currie lined up in midfield to add a creative spark, and to my surprise, completed a full 90 minutes. Despite his aging legs, Currie looked very good and you could tell that he has that extra bit of class that comes with a long career in league football. He always appeared to have an extra few seconds on the ball, but was sadly let down by his team mates, and let his obvious frustrations show on more than one occasion, mainly at Ali Chaaban, whose constant need to take five touches too many seemed to grate on Currie.
He was joined in the side by Latvian Under 21 International Elvis Putnins, who returned to the club on loan from QPR, leaving Michael Jordan, who had largely impressed during pre-season, on the bench. Whilst his ability to come and claim crosses was far superior to what I have seen from Jordan, his distribution left a lot to be desired. In fact, on more than one occasion it was dreadful. When the home side were pushing for an equaliser, there were times when Putnins could not have gotten rid of the ball any slower, and it looked like his confidence had been knocked following a number of poor clearances.
Putnins didn't stand a chance with Havant's winner, which came after only two minutes. Lee Peacock, who I noted in my last blog as Havant's key dangerman, blasted the ball into the top corner from the penalty spot following Craig Braham-Barrett's cut back. It was the worst possible start, especially after Luke Garrard, captain for the day, limped off in the first minute after over exerting himself in a foray forward. Wood never really recovered from this early double blow, and with a well organised Havant side closing off play very effectively, the game was as good as finished within the first few minutes.
That's not to say it was all bad, just mostly. Luke Wilkinson impressed after taking the armband, and looked very composed on the ball and in the air, and even added a sense of urgency going forward when Wood began to chase the game. Despite a surprisingly quiet game, Daryl McMahon almost produced a piece of magic midway through the first half with a thunderous free kick that came off the upright with the Havant keeper scrambling across his goalmouth. Unfortunately he then spent the rest of the game committing a series of reckless fouls, culminating in an awful lunge from behind late on that should have really seen red. The more eagle eyed readers among you will have noticed that this isn't the first time I have said this about the Irishman. Needless to say tackling is not his forte, and no, I don't mean that in a chuckling 'Paul Scholes can't tackle' whilst he maimed another opponent - I mean McMahon really needs to watch his challenges if he doesn't want to watch more games from the stands.
The only other positives on the pitch came from the introduction of Olly Palmer for the largely anonymous Inih Effiong. Almost immediately after his introduction, Palmer created a fine chance for Pelly Ruddock with a deft movement away from his marker. Unfortunately Ruddock could only fire straight at the keeper. Palmer then had a couple of chances that resulted in him heading against the crossbar from about a yard out, which was less than he deserved for his industrious efforts after coming off the bench. I look forward to seeing more of the loan man in action.
Havant, to their credit, were an extremely well organised team and this was the difference between the two teams, with Wood largely playing like a team of strangers, with Noto especially missed from the side. Solid in defence, good on the break and adept at holding onto the ball, they were deserved winners on the day. They should also be commended for their travelling support, who brought a huge flag and were in good voice all through the game. One of them was even sporting a jester hat. This was probably my highlight of the second half. I think that if Wood had of played for another 90 minutes, they wouldn't have scored, and that is credit to The Hawks for a very solid display.
Another thing that dawned on me was that the difference between league and non league football is not just seen in the players or in the facilities - it also stretches to the officials. Even though it didn't end up having a huge impact on the game, the referee and his two assistants were absolutely dreadful. I mean, hilariously so. They felt the wrath of both managers on occasion, and it was entirely deserved. I don't advocate severe abuse or intimidation of officials, but I feel both managers were well within their rights to show their anger here. A truly inept showing.
Wood lined up as follows:
Team: Putnins, Sankofa, Brathwaite, Hunter, Wilkinson, O’Loughlin, Ruddock, Garrard (Sub – Chaaban 6 mins.), Effiong (Sub – Palmer 62 mins.), McMahon, Currie.
Subs (Not used): Yala, Lawal, Jordan.
Ian Allinson told the clubs official website that the game was “a reasonable score line given our first half showing. That said I felt we had the better chances whilst they had the majority of the possession and to their credit they closed us down well. We are missing five key players now and that possibly left us short in some areas. We did not play well, yet we did not get battered, in a game where we were forced deep and gave the ball away for fun.” A very honest assessment indeed.
All in all a very disappointing performance from Wood, with a few positives to take from the game. Wood will look to bounce back against Bromley tonight, a game I will be attending with Bromley man and Richard Browne lookalike, The Telegraph's own Thom Gibbs. I am hoping that Wood pick themselves up and do not subject me to a humiliating trip to deepest South London, and hopefully with a reshuffled side, potentially with Ollie Palmer up front, Wood can get back on track with a win. Bromley themselves have had an excellent start, winning away at Hampton and Richmond on Saturday, and will be looking to start their home campaign with a win. I'm just hoping that come the final whistle I won't be cursing myself for not staying in and watching Arsenal vs Udinese. But then again.....no, I won't get into that. It's far too late. Actually, I already covered Arsenal in a piece for Dodgy Knees Blog, so check that out.
Thanks for reading and as always, feedback is greatly appreciated. I can be found on here and on twitter @wearethewood. I've hopefully got some exciting things in the pipeline for this blog, but I'll keep them under wraps for now.
Until next time...
WE ARE THE WOOD!
