Its been a few weeks since my last post-match blog post on Park View FC and our endeavours in the league. As a matter of fact we’ve played 4 games at the turn of the new year, but had little or no luck in our quest as we’ve been defeated in all. Very trying times indeed as we’ve come to realise that the Spartan South Midlands Football League D1 isn’t a league to be looked upon as laid back. So far it’s proven to be very tough and unforgiving if one isn’t prepared mentally and physically, individually and collectively as a squad. So far the season has been a huge learning experience from my perspective and I can only be grateful for the opportunities that has been presented to me as a reward of my enthusiasm. This blog will be reporting on the last two games because it’s of great significance as the club goes through an era of transition. Lofty Dreams comes with Lofty Ambitions and for its deployment to be practical and effective, the resources of the club has to be revised.

Last two Saturdays ago ( the 19th ) was the beginning of the revision as we had to terminate the services of the first choice goalkeeper Luis Silva after the 1 – 0 home defeat to Bedford FC. This decision by the club was not solely based on performances but rather attitude and temperament. As a basic principle, gratitude and respect must be acknowledged by every player and coaching staff involved in the club, unfortunate the line was crossed on this particular occasion and the club had no other alternative than to terminate his services. Having made the decision, it was time to seek and recruit a new goalkeeper, which happens to be my responsibility. I knew the time had come to move into a new direction of recruiting young aspiring goalkeepers that are ready to listen and learn, and also build for next season. The club’s immediate problem was having a replacement in place for the next few games and I had to step in ( at the very young age of 44 😊.. thank you ), and 2 days ago I played my home debut league game against Maccabi London Lions FC. At this point I would like to highlight my overall fitness to that precise moment. I was physically and mentally prepared but all that is secondary if my match fitness isn’t up to par. Prior to this game, the last time i played was in mid December, over 6 weeks ago and even prior to that game, over 7 years ago was my last competitive game! Well we lost 4 – 1 and I’m not here to make any excuses but what I would say is I learnt a lot about myself and my capabilities after reflecting on the game and what went wrong. As part of the team that played on the pitch, I can conclude through observation that the reason for the loss was..

• Cold weather conditions
• Lack of willingness to compete
• Passing the buck

We as a team haven’t done enough in terms of adapting to the cold weather conditions which has created havoc in our ability to focus and compete and since the turn of the new year this has been an undeniable factor. Having said that, I will focus on my performance for the purpose of this blog because I believe the content will help and educate on the mindset of a goalkeeper. I wasn’t nervous before the game, I fact I was excited and buzzing with optimism to get onto the pitch. The first 20 minutes was almost played in our half of the pitch, as made a few good saves, notably a low angled curling free-kick from outside the 18 yard box to my left, which I dived and held on to ( .. in goalkeeping language it’s called a clean save ). It wasn’t long before the opposition scored the opening goal from a counter attack from the left, a cross into the box and a tap in for the striker. We soon equalised courtesy of ping pong machine ball goal after some great patient football played in the opposition’s third. We could have got another goal from some very good high pressure play but half time came too soon. The second half started brightly for us but all of a sudden we switched off mentally, we were very slow to react from a mistimed pass from our captain and that cost us a goal.. 1 – 2. Soon after they where awarded a free kick towards the left hand side outside the 18 yard box. This striker smashed the ball past the “3 man wall” (my mistake 🙄), but I still moved to my right, got my hand to the ball and for some unexplained reason the ball forced it’s way through my hands and ended up in the back of the net.. 1 – 3. I felt I just wanted the ground to open up and swallow me, now that was embarrassing 😑. The fourth goal was another classic counter move, a low cross from the left to right and their striker was there to slot the ball in the back of the net under my despairing dive… game over. Although I felt dejected, there was still a game on to finish and I was determined not to be beaten again for the 5th time. Towards the ending I made a couple of crucial saves and the referee finally put us our of our misery by blowing the final whistle.

All I can say is as dazed and disappointed as I was, my mindset went straight to post game analysis mode trying to figure out what went wrong and what could have been done differently in all goals conceded. This method is highly recommended for all goalkeepers at all levels, as one is constantly learning through experience if one is thriving to elevate one’s game. I felt that I could have done better with my mental approach as far as anticipation is concerned. What I found out was all 4 goals (the third was an out right goalkeeping error) conceded was about a second slower in reaction time and that was due to lack of mental fitness, even though on the surface most of the goals would beat majority of goalkeepers at any level. The process of a post-game self analysis must not be underestimated, it only quantifies the need for self belief and improvement. I might have been too critical of my game under the circumstances, but that’s the sort of high standards I demand from myself. We move on to the next game…

The club has recruited two young goalkeepers, a 16 year old from Iran and an 18 year old from Austria. These are exciting times for the club as we move forward with the transition. Sponsorship will be the next move and I’ve set up a Patreon for donations to acquire goalkeeping equipments for the club. The link is www.patreon.com/eguson. Your donations will be much appreciated as we thrive to improve on standards and attract more young talents to the club. Ultimate Keeper is a subsidiary to the club and would greatly benefit from the donations.

Next week’s blog will focus on the latest in goalkeeping news..

You Are The Ultimate Keeper Of Your Destiny.. ULTIMATE KEEPER