Joy of the Rovers

Just when back-to-back defeats were starting to make Rovers' 11 game unbeaten run look like it would be the piniccle of their season, they surpassed that achievement in the space of a fortnight with four successive wins. Last Saturday they played some fantastic football to beat Mildenhall Town - certainly the best I've seen the play for some time - and the 2-1 scoreline in no way reflected their supremacy. And their good run had already started when they crushed CRC 4-0 11 days before.

This was complemented by further impressive victories, as they first triumphed 1-0 at Wivenhoe Town before winning by the same scoreline at Ely City. The four match winning streak has propelled them up to the dizzying heights of third place - just four off meeting manager Peter Betts' self confessed initial aim of the 40 point safety mark. With each win and each impressive performance Rovers move further and further away from looking like a team trying to stay up and more and more like a looking to go up. Though that may still be a little ambitious, the aims already seem to be transforming from top ten to perhaps top six - and captain Marcus Hunt stated that if the former is not achieved, given their current position it would be a 'disappointment'.

What has been good about these victories was the way the team set about achieving them - ironically, the game in which they dominated most they scraped a 2-1 win, yet the game where they barely saw the ball for 45 minutes they eased to a 4-0 win. Mildenhall arrived at New Croft on a good run of their own, having dispatched league leaders Dereham Town and leapfrogging mid table Newmarket Town with a home win in their previous two fixtures. They certainly promised to provide a challenge, yet Rovers started dominating from very early on.

Hunt had soon hit the bar before Stuart Wardley cooly controlled and slotted home, and in the second half the flow of chances continued. The only worry - as Betts said to me - is that more chances were not converted sooner, as they could and should have been three or four goals ahead with plenty of time to spare. Dalton O'Brien looks and increasing threat up front, albeit without a goal in this game, and the players are increasingly confident that with him leading the line then victory is always within their sights. Neil Cogger and Greg Strong are starting to provide a good attacking threat down the left, and are complemented by Marc Abbott's fine form from the centre of the field.

Stuart Kingham continues to excel at being a nuisance to any opponents infront of the back four, while Wardley and Hunt have both been miserly all season. Unfortunately, instead of capitalising on the steady stream of chances, they looked like the Rovers of last season as chances went missing. Cogger was guilty of a couple of glaring misses when he was moved to the centre, and the problem of leading 1-0 surfaced when Mildenhall snatched an undeserved equaliser. Fortunately Hunt stepped up to head home Jack Higgs' long free kick and spare the blushes on a foggy day at New Croft (I was somewhat surprised that the game even went ahead).

Betts said to me after that he was not worried when Mildenhall scored, as he was confident that Rovers would score again. His faith was proved right, and well founded based on the display. He maintains that his team must keep the right attitude and not become complacent, avoiding frustrating results like the defeats at home by basement club Debenham LC and table toppers Dereham. They certainly seem to have the right attitude, and will be rightly confident of continuing their run at third from bottom Felixstowe and Walton United on Saturday.

One of the key factors to the team's success has been the increasing quality in the squad, a testament to Betts' magaerial skill in building such a talented team on a shoestring. He told that 'whereas last season we had 13 quality players, this season we have 18'. Hunt also said this has kept everyone on their toes as nobody can take their place in the first XI for granted. Quality players like Higgs, Joe Boreham, Louis Harper and Sam Holmes are struggling to force their way into the starting XI, while Craig Cutts has been more reliable than I expected as foil for O'Brien and several players from the second XI are developing well.

Nevertheless, this squad size will be tested after Christmas. The games will come thick and fast, and hopefully the players will have remained fast without their waists getting too thick during the festive period. The fact that others are waiting in the wings to step into the first XI should keep everyone fit and hungry for success, and this can only be good for the team's fortunes.

Despite the last three results not being the walloping victories we'd all like to see, it is at least good to see Rovers in the habit of 'grinding out a result'. Last year too many points were dropped as wins became draws and draws became defeats, in part due to poor finishing and in part due to a lack of squad cover. This year has been different though, and the recent results show the side is capable of going to difficult places and nicking a win. Hunt admitted that last year the 1-0 wins at Wivenhoe and Ely 'would have been 0-0 draws or 1-0 losses' (they actually won 2-0 at Wivenhoe but lost 3-2 at Ely).

So things are certainly looking positive for the rest of the season - a remarkable turnaround over the last two years, and Hunt admits now that 'as a team', this squad is better than the one that came so close to reaching the FA Cup First Round Proper three years ago. If the players can remain fit and in form, and if they can keep the correct attitude as Betts desires to overturn teams below them in the table, then top ten may even start to look like under-expectation, let alone avoiding relegation.

To see my interview with Marcus Hunt see this week's Haverhill Echo, out tomorrow (Thursday, November 25).

Back to good habbits

Just when Haverhill Rovers' season looked like it may be about to stall, the team ended their run of back to back defeats in the most emphatic way possible. Experience triumphed over youth as they cruised past CRC 4-0, and memories of their two previous defeats were soon banished. The win also helped to show the depth in Peter Betts' squad, as a number of fringe players stepped up to the mark to seize their opportunity on a cold night at New Croft.

It would be unfair to say Rovers' season has stalled before this - they may have endured successive home defeats, but their 11 game unbeaten run prior to that and the narrow manner of those defeats already ensured that they had surpassed expectations. Debenham LC was a low mark and a deserved defeat, and even though they slumped in that game they still rallied to pull a goal back and it took a late winner to deprive them a point.

Dereham Town was always going to be a tough game, hosting the league leaders who themselves were on a run of five away wins. The visitors may have coasted ahead but Rovers again showed fighting spirit to pull back two goals, only again to be denied late on. The defeat was probably not the most bitter blow, more the manner in which the points were snatched in stoppage time.

So going into the CRC game Rovers were facing the very real prospect of a hat-trick of successive home defeats - this was the side that had won 4-2 at Hamlet Croft and 4-0 at home last season, the only side that Betts admitted had 'truly outclassed' them. And yet Rovers showed the resolve not to be affected by their recent results, putting in a convincing display to cruise to a comfortable victory, though perhaps not as convincing as the emphatic scoreline would suggest.

Now Rovers success on Tuesday should not be diminished, but it should also not be taken out of context. CRC, as all academy sides do, go through the regular process of losing their best players. This side was no means the tour de force that was narrowly stopped by Needham Market last season - they lay fifth in the table, having already lost three games and drawn six. But, as they showed on Tuesday, they are still a very good footballing side.

After Rovers took an early lead, they struggled to even get the ball past the half way line before the interval. CRC played a very smooth passing game, though as expected, some of the players were still struggling to understand each other. They passed well but failed to make any clear cut chances - for all their fancy footwork, Matt Morrison was not forced to make a proper save until the closing stages, though they did fire narrowly wide and over on several occasions.

Fortunately, Rovers settled everyone's nerves by coming out a different side after the interval. They were soon pressing the CRC box as the visitors looked weary and unable to cope with Rovers' advances, and Callum Harrison's volley into the top corner was very well taken. The youngster wasted no time in then sending Dalton O'Brien clean through, and the striker continued his fine finishing to effectively wrap the game up before the hour mark. Louis Harper showed that Betts still has quality on the bench when his cross led to Martin Trunca fumbling the ball into his own goal as O'Brien applied pressure.

If the first half showed a side struggling to get into the game after taking the lead, the second showed a composed side working well as a team and also performing brilliantly individually, for the most part. Betts especially praised Joe Boreham for his tireless work in the midfield, who has done well this season despite finding himself confined to the bench as of late. Harrison was my man of the match, and after stepping into the role vacated by Dan Emmanuel, may not have been as tricky but was certainly as effective. He showed a cool finish and great vision throughout the second half, and was perhaps unfortunate that O'Brien did not capitalise on more off his passes.

O'Brien himself is shaping into a fine striker with a very good return - his goals to game ratio makes him the club's highest scorer with five strikes in nine games, so if he maintains that level then he should reach 20 for the season. Cogger's return adds even more to the side, and he was quick to show his class and composure with an early goal, and his presence will be a real asset this season. Some of last year's good players are finding themselves cast to the bench with the advent of new arrivals, with Tuesday's substitutes showing strength there. All were good, but Harper's cross-cum-shot showed what a quick impact he can make, as well as highlighting the awareness of O'Brien.

Wardley and Marcus Hunt continue to look a formidable partnership at the back, commanding the outfield well and always eager to get stuck in to break down the opposition while happy to set up play going forward as well. Marc Abbott looks a little off the pace, but that is only compared to the high standards which he set himself at the beginning of the season. Betts hopes to sign a new attacking midfielder soon and he, allied with other players developing in the middle of the park, should help to remove the pressure for goals traditionally attributed to Abbott and O'Brien.

Rovers next play at Wivenhoe Town tomorrow, a venue they traditionally struggle at but must be optimistic going into this time. The side are mid table but have drawn their last three games. Rovers are now fifth, with just an extra 13 points needed to ensure Betts' initially under-ambitious aim of survival, and a real chance of achieving his true aim of a top ten finish. Betts said their aim now is to achieve consistently, and that they will be a top eight club if they can do that. Tomorrow's trip to Wivenhoe will provide another indication of just how consistent they can be.

(My interview with Betts is in yesterday's Haverhill Echo. A shortened version is online here).

A boring lack of ambition

As the minutes wore on and a goalless draw looked increasingly likely, my decision to shun The Apprentice to watch Manchester City choke their way to a stalemate against Manchester United fast became a mistake. From the offset this game promised to be anything but last season's 4-3 spectacle as United lacked the players in an injury ravaged squad and City simply lacked the ambition.

Surely there was no better time for the middle Eastlands money men to pull one over their rivals? Ryan Giggs missed his first derby for the first time in 19 years, Wayne Rooney was still rehabilitating in the USA and they were playing a team that, despite being unbeaten, had stuttered their way through the current campaign and rarely found their best form. City, in contrast, had the talismanic Carlos Tevez returning to the fore and a wealth of attacking riches and a bench worth more than many Premier League teams.

But it was there that they were reined in by caution and lack of intent. Roberto Mancini's men had the appearance of a side setting out not to lose rather than a side setting out to win. While caution may prove well at smaller clubs in getting a point, it should not be acceptable at a higher level and certainly not when so many millions have been spent on the squad. Liverpool taught us in their painfully narrow second placed finish that sometimes caution must be thrown to the wind to emerge triumphant - they doubled United and Chelsea that season and lost just twice, but 11 draws cost them the league. Compare that to United, who did not adopt just a defensive tactic when it mattered and, though they may have lost more, ultimately turned enough draws into wins to claim the title.

Which is why City's ultra-defensive approach to games is all the more baffling. Why start with three holding midfielders? Even teams at the latter stages of the World Cup were only employing two, and most of them did not have such attacking among their substitutes. Both teams played this game in a rather cagey, European style that was almost reminiscent of the 'can't lose the opening game' of the World Cup groups.

Any substitutes that were made were all like for like. When the game cried out for a little spark of creativity, Adam Johnson waited until there were just 17 minutes to play and replaced the lethargic James Milner. Aleksander Kolarov replaced James Boetang and, instead of throwing another striker into the mix with enough chance to make a difference, Emmannuel Adebayor replaced Carlos Tevez instead of accompanying him, and after the Togo striker took longer to get ready than a teenage girl he had just seconds to play. Why a £25 million striker is being used as a time wasting substitute must be infuriating to the fans.

City's defensive approach has alienated many of their attacking players already - Johnson has found himself isolated to the bench while Adebayor seems similarly frustrated. Roque Santa Cruz, who cost the club £18m, is already aiming for a January exit. Record signing Robinho soon wilted, and the club no doubt lost a chunk for their £32m outlay when he left for AC Milan. Craig Bellamy was another promising player to be shown the exit as first team opportunities become increasingly limited.

Now, I believe players should not moan about a lack of first team opportunities, but should rather muscle their way into the team. The best way to get in the starting XI is to impress in training rather than complaining to the tabloids. But City do not exactly experiment with their formation into a shape that would allow more opportunites for attacking players, and with Tevez instrumental to their results it seems, he is unlikely to be dropped. So how are their umpteen other strikers supposed to stay motivated?

It would be fair to say they should not complain given each week they receive what most people would hope for in a year, but it is understandable that someone will get frustrated at not being given the opportunity to do their job. Another point is that surely they had an idea of whether they would be a bit-part squad member or a starting XI player before they signed? If not then many must have been naíve.

Regardless of the reasons for attackers' frusrations, City's lack of ambition meant they failed to seize the opportunity to do one over their rivals. True, United were hardly any better themselves, but that misses the point - with increasing ambitions and the game at Eastlands, the onus was on the hosts to send a message, not just that they can compete with United but to close the gap at the top of the table. The chance has passed, and Mancini must surely unshackle his team in games to come if they are to realise their lofty ambitions sooner rather than later.

(Pictures: The BBC and AP)

Bunch of tough tests still ahead

It seemed to be with relative ease that Haverhill picked up their first points of the season in the East Women's League Division Two NE. Though it was still early in the season, the number of games remaining got less each weak, and with it no doubt morale and belief. Captain Tina Bunch had spoken about how they were in an easier division than last year - when they narrowly avoided relegation with a last gasp winner at Lincoln Roses - but results seemed to tell a different story.

Having struggled to find the net all season, with just three goals in the entire campaign, Bunch was unsurprisingly happy to see her side cruise to victory with a 5-3 home win over Loddon. She had remarked that they had played all of the top sides in the division to date in a difficult opening fixture, and they had played well in some and were unlucky that results went against them - but points are awarded for winning games, not playing well or showing spirit.

Saturday's win will reinforce the belief that they can compete at this level, and will give them confidence leading into a series of crucial games. On Saturday they face University of East Anglia Women (UEA), who are now a place below them at the foot on the table as they still have zero points, and following on from that they travel to Christchurch, who are a place and a point above them. Bunch was right that they have had a tough opening and perhaps not likely to get any points, but if that is the case then these are the games they must take points from.

They are obviously already off to a winning start, but that momentum must be maintained. Bunch has said the division is likely to be split in half in terms of quality, and the test is for Haverhill to stay at the top of the bottom pack. No doubt they will all be keen to avoid a repeat of last year's struggles and ensure hockey at this level for at least another campaign, but consistently struggling at the bottom of any league is never a pleasant experience.

UEA will be a 'different challenge' according to Bunch, and no doubt that despite their unenviable position as the basement club they should not be underestimated. University teams will always fluctuate with players coming and going depending on availability, and it remains to be seen if they will field a strong or weak squad - as it is in Haverhill though it is liekly to be the latter. Bunch said: “We’ll have more players available and are definitely buoyant going into the game – the coach wanted seven points from our next three games and we’ve already got three."

Haverhill will face the opposite problem against Chirstchurch, who are likely to have a strong squad available. It should also be noted that these games will be just as crucial for both of Haverhill's opponants as they look for a way to pull clear of the bottom too. The skipper added: "The pressure is on for these games and it will be good to get a run of wins together and we’re looking forward to the game now. The tension has eased a little and the win restored confidence that we were right to be optimistic."

Back to back wins could propel Haverhill to mid table, but the opposite would leave them rock bottom with a number of tough games to come. That is why they must win their next two fixtures, and hopefully carry that form on to take some points from games they may not be expecting to. Then perhaps their optimism will be truly proven.

Will Dan return to Rovers?

Emmanuel means 'God is with is' - it seems ironic considering Haverhill Rovers' latest revelation is no longer with them. The tricky winger has been in great form since arriving from AFC Sudbury - his tricks and skills down the channels saw him ease past fullbacks and centre halves, and it was a rather damning indictment of the team that within his first two games he was already joint top scorer.

It had looked like a great signing by manager Peter Betts - he was struggling to make the grade for the Ryman Division One North side and came to Rovers quietly confident of making the starting XI regularly. Haverhill already had a solid defensive foundation, but lacked that little bit of midfield creativity needed to break down opponents and seal the extra points. Emmanuel, coupled with the fresh form of Marc Abbott and clinical Dalton O'Brien, seemed to provide that.

How he was missed at New Croft on Saturday. Marc Abbott was serving the last of his three game ban, and Rovers really were lacking in midfield creativity. Debenham LC, who were bottom of the Ridgeons Premier League and no doubt low on confidence, came to face a Rovers side who were unbeaten in 11 games and had already eased past them 3-0 in the FA Vase earlier in the campaign. But this was a different game entirely.

Right from the off Rovers seemed to lack innovation and urgency. It was a rather dull first half, and though it was fairly equal you could not begrudge Debenham their lead at the break. Rovers came out strong immediately after the break in search of an equaliser, but after the initial pressure had been soaked up it looked unlikely. Time and again they were hit on the counter as Debenham found themselves unlucky not to be further ahead. Rovers were slow to get back when they were hit on the counter - at one stage O'Brien was showing the most urgency as Debenham kept failing to finish their chances.

The break through finally came when captain Marcus Hunt managed to tap in Louis Harper's free kick, but Rovers failed to defend that for a point. Even O'Brien looked indecisive as he fumbled his way around the six yard line instead of turning to shoot, and when Matt Clarke was felled players were too busy screaming for a penalty instead of rushing back to defend the killer blow as James Heathcote scored to snatch the points late on.

The combined absence of Marc Abbott and Emmanuel was noticable, and even more frustrating in the knowledge that the latter was scoring to win a man of the match performance in Sudbury as they thrashed Hendon 5-1 to advance in the FA Trophy. Betts spoke of how he did not want to hold the player back and that Rovers are keen to provide opportunities, especially for young players, to further their careers at the highest level.

But is this really right? Or is Emmanuel disrespecting the club? He did drop down a division but to a mid table side, and now he has his confidence back and has found a good run of form, has returned back to where he came from now he feels he can make the starting XI. Betts inserted him into Rovers' side and he has become an important part of their recent good form, but by going back to Sudbury so quickly it does seem rather disrespectful. The viewpoint certainly leaves Betts in the dilemma of wanting to see one of his players success (and therefore remain and Sudbury) and wanting him to struggle (and therefore possibly return to Rovers).

The official line is that he has gone to Sudbury for a one month loan, but it is unknown if he will return. And if his current form continues and he is consistently getting picked for Sudbury, why would he? He seems to have used Rovers as a short step to success at a higher level, with success at New Croft a springboard to get back into the Sudbury side.

Betts has said the 'door will remain open' for him - but will he walk through it? Emmanuel was a great player and really made an attacking difference for Rovers - his game seemed above that of his opponents and an extra goal threat at a side that struggles for creativity in the absence of a few is always an asset. Hopefully it is just a one month loan and he will return to New Croft, but Rovers certainly need to acquire more attacking talent.

Betts has spoken about trying to sign a new attacking midfield player - an asset much needed to deputise in Marc Abbott's evidence on Saturday's evidence. Paul Abbott will return before Saturday, as will Greg Strong, and attacking options from full back will be appreciated. I blogged about how Rovers seem to struggle when they are the favourites instead of the underdogs - a view reinforced on Saturday - though hopefully they will thrive in the underdog role again in their next two fixtures.

Games against league leaders Dereham Town and CRC do not offer the ideal opportunity to bounce back from a disappointing defeat to the basement club, but Rovers should still be quietly confident going into these games. They will be tested, and they will have to be more creative up front and remain compact at the back, but they have triumphed against top sides before - they were unfortunate to come unstuck at Leiston in the FA Vase and last season should have snatched a win against table toppers Needham Market. These two fixtures may present just the opportunity for Betts to inspire the team to achieve their potential again.