 | FOOTBALL CLUB |
| FOOTBALL CLUB |
THE FARM
MY LIFESTYLE
ON MY TRAVELS
There are more links at the top and bottom of each page.
These concern the administration of the site, but you should visit them just the same.
SITE SPONSORS
please support them
LOUBEYRAT V 2nd XI
13th NOVEMBER 2011
Loubeyrat is another one of those grounds with a most spectacular setting, looking out over the Plain of Limagne in the general direction of the Monts de la Bourbonnais to the east.
We've been to Loubeyrat before of course , as those of you with long memories will remember. It was the second XI playing in the Cup during their promotion season when Loubeyrat were in a higher division. Back then, Sébastien and Christophe Larue tore the opposition to shreds and how the 2nd XI must wish that they were here and on form every week.
Anyway, today's line-up is Philippe once again in goal, a back four of Nicolas, Christophe C and the two Auclairs, a midfield of Jerome, Gaëtan, Didier and ... is it Fabian … and up front are Stéphane and, would you believe, Yann making what I think is his first appearance this season. No substitutes either which is a shame. The defence looks quite reasonable, the midfield is okay but the front is rather makeshift and Pionsat's 2nd XI has had all kinds of issues with scoring this season as it is.
Having the two other Christophes, Malik, Vincent and Valentin to perm with this side and you would have an excellent outfit to play with.
There's some excellent play early on in the game that almost leads to a Pionsat goal. It stems from Julien winning the ball in the right-back position and hoisting it right upfield to Gaëtan. He puts a lovely cross in to Yann who plays the ball into the centre of the penalty area where there is Stéphane waiting right where he should be with half a yard on his marker.
But he can't get his shot on target and it goes just wide of the post. What a chance that that was for Pionsat to go in front.
But Loubeyrat go into the lead a little later on in the first half. They win a free kick which was … err … somewhat disputed but anyway there we are. It's a high ball into the area which was won in the air by one of the attackers. Philippe runs out off his line for the loose ball but he's just beaten to it by half an inch by a Loubeyrat attacker.
But Pionsat losing the ball in the air. That is quite surprising seeing as how well Julien and Nicolas have been doing in the air in the centre of the defence in this game.
They score a second goal as well just a few minutes later and it's direct from a free kick, would you believe?. He who takes the kick curls it round the wall to the blind side of Philippe who sees it late, and his full-length dive can't do anything about it.
This is really a shame for Pionsat because although they haven't looked like putting the Loubeyrat defence under any particular pressure they have nevertheless been playing really really well and they certainly don't deserve to be 2-0 down in this game. The way things have been shaping, they ought to have been feeling quite optimistic about this game and quite rightly so.
And keep this photo in mind because I'm going to talk about this at the end.
Meanwhile, back at the other end of the pitch Pionsat go ever so close to pulling one back. It's their turn to win a free kick and it's another one of those that's floated into the area. Didier is the first to reach it and gets his head to the ball.
Didier's header is well on target and almost goes over the keeper but the latter palms it up into the air and then as it comes back down to his hands, he manages to drop it. You can see Stéphane steaming in for the loose ball but he's just a second too late as the keeper flops gratefully on top of the ball.
And Loubeyrat's third goal is really a howler in Pionsat's defence, almost like one of the ones at Menetrol the other week . One of the central defenders who shall remain nameless is caught in two minds as a loose ball arrives at him about thigh-height. Shall he kick it or shall he head it?
To cut a long story short, instead of jumping up a little and making good contact with his foot, he stoops to head it clear. Of course, with stooping so low to head it he can't get enough power onto the ball and just nods it gently into the path of an opposing forward who doesn't have too much to do to finish it off.
And this is a real tragedy because, no question about it, Pionsat have been trading blows with the opposition and if this game had been played in the area 20 yards away from each of the goals, Pionsat would be comfortably ahead on points. You would never believe that they are 3-0 down right now. It's a really good game here for all that and I'm quite enjoying it, apart from the scoreline.
We almost have another catastrophe now as Pionsat allow three Loubeyrat attackers onside and in behind the defence, and everyone stands and watches Philippe in a one-on-two situation.
One attacker eventually shoots for what would be a certain goal but Philippe gets right behind the ball and stops it. And with all the Pionsat defenders having stopped to wait for the inevitable, there's no-one back helping out and Philippe has to do it all again.
You can see exactly what I mean about this from the full-size view of the action. Not a Pionsat player in sight running back fot this,and even the second Loubeyrat forward has stopped halfway from goal to admire the view. I suppose we should all be grateful that Philippe hadn't stopped as well.
I think that this is one of those moments and photographs that needs no further comment from me.
But all credit to Pionsat as they are still going forward and near the end they are so close to pulling a goal back. Jerome bursts through the Loubeyrat back line and beams down on the goal with two defenders trailing in his wake. And just about 20 or so yards out, they cynically scythe him down.
The number 8, who I think is Fabian, takes the kick and curls it around the end of the wall but it is just over the bar. You can see the ball just to the right of the copyright logo.
And this is another photo to which I'll be referring at the end of the game.
Late on in the match there are some really beautiful spells of play here by both teams and it really is a pleasure to watch. One particular piece of action in the Pionsat's right wing area goes on for what seems like a year.
We have also had a change of formation. Julien has gone right forward to lend his head to the Pionsat attack and Fabian has gone to replace him in the centre of defence. And he is bawling instructions and observations around at the other players, something which has been sadly missed in the Pionsat side this season.
Loubeyrat cannot believe their luck just here as they have a narrow escape right on the final whistle. It's Jerome, who is having a really good game today especially in the final stages and he takes the ball down to the right-hand edge of Loubeyrat's penalty area.
He then curls one into the area with the outside of his boot. The ball hits a defender and drops nicely for Stéphane who is in the right place for the ball, on his own 10 yards out, and he blasts it right over the bar.
Ahhh - I dunno.
This match was easily the most enjoyable that I have seen Pionsat's 2nd XI play for quite a while and it was a tragedy that they lost, never mind losing 3-0. For a start, there was a definite shape to the side and that's been missing for a while. Secondly, they played with belief and commitment - something else that's also been missing. Thirdly, everyone seemed to know what they ought to be doing which is also quite a change these days.
The difference between the two sides was that Loubeyrat had a striker of the very best quality and although he tired at the end of the game, for the first 70 minutes he was playing way above the level that this game was at.
I drew your attention earlier to a couple of photos earlier. In the first one, when Loubeyrat scored direct from a free kick, you could see that while the Pionsat defence stood and watched the game,the forward was running on towards the goal in case of a rebound. It's things like that that make the difference between a forward and a good forward, and also between a defence and a good defence. There needs to be someone from the defence running back as soon as the ball is kicked as well
In the second photo that I referred to, it's a Pionsat free kick and you can see an identical situation there. Stéphane is running on for any loose ball as the Loubeyrat defence stands around watching. It almost makes you wonder what price a simple chip over the wall would be.
Nicolas, who hasn't looked so comfortable when he's been playing at full-back, was playing in the centre of defence today and he had an excellent game. But man of the week has to be Jerome, who ran the show for Pionsat today. Nothing positive happened for the side today that he wasn't involved in, and he kept going for the whole 90 minutes this week as his match-fitness returned. In fact, by the end of the match he was, if anything, even stronger.
Back to the footy page
Il y a sans doute des francophones qui aimeraient lire cette page en français. Donc vous devez m'aider á la traduire!
En plus, si vous avez des choses á ajouter,
home page | latest updates | site map | site index
about this site | audience participation | copyright notice | technical issues | accessibility statement | read this | contact me
©