Pemiership Pretenders Defeated

By CCFC Sid
August 3 2003

The new `Ajax' away kit was worn for the last CCFC first team friendly of the summer, and, while the display might not have been total football, it was certainly solid enough to suggest the season won't be as bad as the doom merchants would have you believe.

CCFC enjoyed the better of the opening exchanges, creating a few decent chances, but failing to put any of them where it matters - in the net! Suffo had a great chance saved by the legs of Murray after 10 minutes, and Murray also made a superb point blank range from Suffo after 25 minutes too. In between, a McAllister corner was flicked on to Jorgensen, who headed just wide of the WW goal, and another decent CCFC cross was headed weakly at Murray who took the ball with ease. McAllister somehow picked the keeper out after 38 minutes when it looked far easier to score, and the same failings that CCFC suffer from nearly every season looked like denying them again.

Any potential Wolves attack was dealt with well by a solid looking CCFC defence, and, on the odd occasion they were beaten, Shearer sought to prove that despite coming from Scotland's D3, he might just be good enough to make the step up. He tipped over a decent Wolves free-kick after 18 minutes, and looked solid throughout. When he was beaten, the Wolves No. 9 could be relied on to miss a gaping net!! (Doing so in the 38th and 90th minutes).

Having failed to score through-out pre-season, Adebola proved he actually knows where the goal early in the second half, with a superb turn and shot which went in off the under-side of the bar. Soon after, there was a typical display of Ince petulance after some superb CCFC harrassing won a free-kick, and Davenport rose above everybody to head home a Safri cross - at this point a few of the Wolves supporters decided they had seen enough, and began leaving. They missed Cooper pull a goal back for the visitors, as he was allowed a free run towards goal after 78 minutes, and, although it was a quality strike, he really should have been closed down a long time before.

CCFC should have been given the opportunity to make it 3-0 before Wolves pulled their goal back when Suffo made an awesome run into the Wolves penalty area, showing great footwork to take him past the Wolves defence, who resorted to fouling him to stop his progress. Unfortunately for CCFC, the only person in the ground who didn't see this as a foul was the referee, who awarded Wolves a free-kick!! Different season, same awful decisions....

The usual spate of substitutions helped kill the game off in the final stages (And wore the batteries out on the fourth officials board!), as what was virtually CCFC's Youth Team held out for a decent victory.

Finally, the commentator on CWR Radio - where I expected Eakin and Foster to have been (CCFC's usual matchday reporters) - tried to blame the Wolves defeat on the fact this wasn't their first team - rubbish! (Luzhny might be considered a first team player, but Wolves are probably a far stronger side without him!!). This was a solid CCFC performance that would have beaten the best Wolves had to offer, with Dave Jones admitting that his players were as fit as they should be at this stage of the season.

And, while pre-season results don't really mean anything, there were plenty of performances good enough to suggest that McAllister has picked up a few decent players over the summer - though having watched most of McAllister's set pieces come to nil again, sharing the duties around the team this season seems like an idea worth considering....