Wow wow wow, that was really special to watch!

A top of the table clash saw Albury Sharks play second placed Bagshot lea in a match that could potentially determine the rest of the season. Win and their would open up an almost unassailable lead at the top, lose, and we may find ourselves in a title race.

Most matches I urge calm before the match but today felt different, and I urged the boys to turn up ready for war. Badshot Lea are a high scoring team and after focussing on the defence in training midweek, we looked to stay compact at the back and wreak havoc at the other end. The Sharks raced out of the blocks, putting immense pressure on the Badshot Lea goal. Josh Smith won the ball high up the pitch to create a nice early chance and Daniel Egbe made the defenders sweat with an early charge towards goal. Badshot Lea also had a glimmer of an opening towards the start, with their pacy striker attempting to get in behind the Albury defence. I can understand why Badshot Lea score lots of goals, as their striker is skillful and lightning quick. Then again, he doesn't regularly have to play against the strength and tenacity of Harvey Rush and Greg Walker every week, nor the pace and intelligence of Gabe Fitzgerald and Monty Byrne. The poor chap was in for a it of a shock.

The midfield was completely Albury dominated. We insist on an Albury player challenging every ball and they did this to perfection today. Ben Gregory effectively sat in front of the defence to snuff out counter attacks while Daniel McGraw and Daniel Stovald moved the ball around superbly in the attack. Our off the ball movement hadn't been so effective last week, but credit to both Daniels for their intelligent runs to create space for teammates today. In fact, the Albury machine was well oiled today, some beautiful play out wide from Noah Davies, Harvey Rush and Daniel Stovald created a nice chance from the right while Josh Smith and Daniel McGraw combined nicely to create chances on the left. The work rate was also phenomenal, pressing intensley in a way that Badshot Lea couldn't handle. The goal came from the wide left as Josh Smith managed to loft the ball over the goal keeper from the far hand side of the box, to give the Sharks a deserved lead.

Albury continued to dominate, largely due to the solid defence behind them Ali Jennis came in at the back to produce another solid display alongside Gabe. On the one occasion that the opposition broke through, Dexter Williams commanded his area brilliantly to ensure safety.

Half time: Sharks 1- 0 Badshot Lea

We changed our system slightly at half time, moving Josh Smith up front, noticing how the Badshot Lea defence and goalkeeper were struggling to handle his pace in the press. This made a quick impact as Albury began making more penetrative passes through the defence for Josh to run onto. This created a bit of space in the middle of the park for Ben Gregory to step forward and Albury's domination increased further. Noah Davies had moved to the left and knocked the ball through with some intelligent passes while Daniel Stovald was electric on the right hand side. Ivan Iduriaga joined Daniel Mcgraw and Ben in the middle to solidify the shape and did his usual job of turning defence into attack superbly. The pressure finally paid off when Josh Smith dinked a beautiful cross into the liddle for Daniel Stovald to nod home.

The Badshot spirit finally crushed, Albury began to put on a performance. Josh Smith scored an almost carbon copy of his first goal, chipping the goalkeeper from far out on the left, to add to his huge goal haul this season. Daniel Stovald single handedly demonstrated the purpose of pressing, working his socks off the pressure the goalkeeper, pinch the ball from him and fire into the corner to cap a superb performance from him.

Badshot Lea went fully long-ball at this point, sending the ball long for a large pacy runner whenever they got the opportunity. Gabe and Ali were incredible today, snuffing out all the danger with ease. What really impressed me was their decision making. At times, it was imperative to get a foot on the ball and clear, at times they would have the composure to control the ball and play out. Sometimes Ali would just use his body brilliantly to shepherd the ball back to Dexter Williams. On each occasion they made the right call: very mature for their age.

While Harvey, Monty, Gabe and Ali were focussing on defending, one of our defenders is on a bit of a goalscoring streak, and added yet another today. Collecting the ball from the edge of the area, Greg saw an opportunity and smashed a delightful strike into the top corner. He is such a threat going forwards, and while he is usually creating carnage in the six yard box, it was nice to see him bang in a screamer from range.

The final goal you can probably guess the source from. Daniel Egbe is simply allergic to not scoring goals. Noah Davies did an incredible job winning the ball high up the pitch before beating the defender and feeding Daniel Egbe. As usual, his first touch and finish was superb and capped off a perfect performance.

Final Score: Sharks 6-0 Badshot Lea

Scorers:
Josh S x2
Daniel S X 2
Greg
Daniel E

Players of the match: Josh Smith and Gabe Fitzgerald

Coaches reflections:
1. I noticed recently that we played better away from home. Last week, it became evident that the quagmire of St Peter's pitch was the culprit. Playing at Shere today made a world of difference as the boys could pass and move the ball around effectively.

2.Having worked on the defence in training, it was so good to see the defence looking so solid. I challenged them to do all the communicating themselves so I didn't have to say anything and they did that fantastically. They were all brilliant, but Gabe today was different class.

3. The off-the-ball movement was brilliant today, creating space and confusing defenders. Daniel McGraw and Daniel Stovald did this particularly well.

4. The intensity of the press was so impressive. Josh Smith, Daniel Stovald and Noah Davies caused the Badshot Lea such a headache, from seemingly innocuous situations. They just didn't give them a moment of peace.

5. It was great to have Luciano back after his op. We tried to be careful with him in terms of minutes but his first touch and passing vision hasn't been lost!

6. I genuinely struggled to pick a man of the match today. It was 10/10 all round, phenomenal!

7. Post-match we spoke about mentality. We have probably won the league but I challenged the boys to have an elite mindset: to demand perfection, to have high expectations and targets and to use the rest of the season to get ready for the challenge that promotion next season will bring. I have every confidence that the intensity won't drop but that they will instead kick in to another gear. Top Stuff Sharks!