U18 Trial Match 3: Mt Druitt vs St George FC

The third game of preseason.

Mt Druitt 6 - 0 St George FC

Game Performance

In this game I played as a left centre-back in a 1-3-4-2-1 formation. The game commenced, with either team finding attacking momentum. We looked to play out of the back, and built several attacking opportunities after playing out through the oppositions press as well as their defensive traps set in place. I had good decision making in possession at times but found it difficult in areas to play through their press and traps. Defensively, I was strong in tackles, was intercepting opposition’s passes and not allowing players to turn and face our goal. The first 20 minutes was going well until I made a mistake after being passed the ball, then got pressed without knowing, being tackled then not being able to recover, conceding a goal making it 1 - 0.

We continued to play on afterwards but I struggled to move on from the mistake, losing confidence, also having a negative impact on my decision making and communication. At halftime I was subbed off, the score being 3 - 0.

I was subbed back onto the pitch midway through the second half, playing left centre-back in a 1-4-3-3 formation. I felt much better and had moved on from the mistake earlier and was dominant in defence, having good communication and rebuilding the confidence to where it was. My passing was good and had patience knowing when the right time was to play a pass to break down the oppositions defence. We did this a few times creating chances but the attacking spark was not there to finish them off. In the final stages, I also made a last man recovery tackle after a misplaced pass aimed at me. Overall, our team’s performance was good in the first 20 minutes and last 15 minutes, but after conceding our mentality dropped, leading to the eventual scoreline.