Saunders not surprised as Camden stun Redbridge

Max Saunders insisted he wasn’t surprised his rock-bottom Camden Park claimed a stunning win against the runaway leaders Redbridge on Sunday.

MGBSFL Premier Division:
Camden Park 1 Redbridge Jewish Care A 1
Sunday, 27 November, 2016

Camden went into the game having lost all six games this season, while Redbridge had enjoyed seven straight wins.

However, first half strikes from Josh Marks and Rob Hershkorn stunned the leaders, with Ryan Cole’s stunning strike after the break proving to me a mere consolation.

Saunders said: “It was a brilliant performance. We completely outplayed them in the first half, played some beautiful football and really should have gone in three or four up.

They came out with a lot of intent in the second half and we tired, however we defended resolutely and in the end restricted them mostly to half chances.”

Saying the win wasn’t as surprising as the side’s run of forms may have suggested, he said: “We’ve had to endure the most ridiculous start to the season. Our seven league games so far have been against Hendon twice, Redbridge twice, Lions twice and Oakwood. I’m sure if you asked all those teams, we have been very unlucky to have picked up zero points prior to Sunday, the performances we have put in have deserved a lot more. If we had been a bit more clinical in some of those games, no doubt our points tally would have been a lot more handsome, we were due a result like this. So, although it may have been a shock to many, to us it was ‘about time.’”

Believing they were fully deserving of their win, he added: “I think we most certainly did. We completely outplayed them in the first half, and although they came at us with a lot more intent in the second, on the balance of play we more than deserved the win.

“We’re a talented team, so we know we’re capable of beating anyone. We’ve gained a reputation in this league for not lacking in talent at all, but perhaps lacking in resoluteness. Today was different.”

Confident they can now push on – and up the table – as a result of this win, he said: “The mood in the squad is now very good and we are confident we can have a very different second half of the season helped by a more reasonable fixture list!”

Redbridge manager Jon Jacobs said: “This game is a defining point for Redbridge and it is up to us to go again and go on another run of straight game wins.

“I am very disappointed how we started today and we really missed the focal point of Dean Nyman up top, but that doesn’t excuse how poor we were in the first half.

“Full credit to Camden, they had a clear game plan that they executed perfectly and with that performance, repeated, they will move up the league table very quickly

“We will train hard on Wednesday night, get this game out of our system as we know we haven’t played to the high standards we have set. This could be the kick up the backside we need, titles aren’t won or lost in November, they are won at the business end in March/ April.

“We look forward to welcoming them to our home for the cup quarter-final and they had better expect a much better performance than what we gave them today

“We are still very much in the title hunt and have to take defeat on the chin and move on to next week.”

SUNDAY REVIEW – WEEK 12