Kinson two goal margin enough

The Conservatives won by a two goal majority at Kinson Manor on Sunday in a much better Loco performance. Even Bomber put in a dedicated early morning training routine!!

Loco sported a new player on Sunday at Kinson manor, as we welcomed new midfielder
Simon into the fold (or should that be ‘into the Folds’ - well, that’s if Bomber
gets what he wants anyway).

Loco started with a rigid 4-4-2 formation, and we really took the game to the
best team in the league from the off. Simon and Cash were influential in the
middle of the park, and Kyle and Tug were a menace up-front, and at the back,
the four Loco defenders were very solid, and were letting very little through.
It was handy to have Bomber at the back for a bit of extra pace, and his early
morning training paid its dividends, with some good clearances and back-tracking.

We littered the Kinson goal, however simply didn’t get the break in front
of it. We had a couple of efforts, one from Dave far and wide, one from Tug
which was magnificently saved, and then another from Kyle. Lee had about 4 corners,
and we also gained a number of free-kicks, but Kinson coped with the threat
pretty well.

It was therefore considered pretty unfortunate when we went 1-0 down. We should
have cleared the ball away numerous times before, but the ball eventually found
itself at the feet of their nippy striker, who struck the ball solidly towards
goal, Sean managed to save it, it rebounded off the bar, and their striker merely
had to head it home with an open goal - bad luck for the Loco!

So the second half we swapped things about a bit with Sam coming into the middle,
and we really dominated the game again - I can’t even remember the away side
having a chance, apart from their goal itself. We played some reasonable football
at times, and we built up the pitch a bit better. Shots came in from Kyle, Sam,
Tug, Andy, and Ali - all of them either saved excellently or just over. Unbelievable.

Our miserable time in front of goal was compounded when Kinson broke away,
and a miss-hit clearance found the feet of their striker, who had an open goal
to fire into - he couldn’t help but score, and score he did. 2-0 to Kinson.

Without divulging into too much, the game, apart from one fracas in the second
half, was played in an excellent spirit, and based on the league form at least,
the result was accurate - however it’s difficult to feel too pleased when we
really could have at least got a draw out of the fixture. Our best wishes must
go to the lad who twisted his knee in the second half, and similarly to the
whole side, when they face AFC Verwood in the final of the Brivati.

(Pictured: New signing Simon)

Final Score: Kinson Conservative 2-0 Ferndown Locomotive.

Loco go down to Mazars

Although Sean Barker played a blinder in goal, others parts of the Loco team weren’t quite up to scratch, as we lost 2-0 to Mazars in a scrappy affair at King George.After Loco’s recent Dorset Cup exit, this was a chance to get our league form back into shape after two consecutive home defeats, however once again, we buckled, and lost 2-0, in a game where we really should have done better.

Loco started with a solid 4-4-2 formation, Sean in goal; Steve, Westy, Stu and Lee across the back; Sam, Cash, Mike and Bomber in the middle; with Tug and Ali up-front. It was very good to see Ali back in the starting line up for Loco; the last time he did so was back on 3rd October 2004 when we beat AFC Westvale 1-0 (it’s handy having our stats up on the site)!

Although we ran many parts of the game, we simply weren’t good enough with finishing. Mazars are a strong side, however they are really a team we should have beaten - they scored two goals against the run of play, and Loco only have themselves to blame.

However, on a positive note, we were MUCH better than the previous week, and we really played some attractive football at times. I’m sure at some point this season, this will result in us giving a bollocking to numerous teams in the division - however today was not one of those days!

Although we lost 2-0, there were a few positives to take out of the game, the main one being that we had our squad back

Up the Loco, here’s to a good performance next week.

Ferndown Locomotive 0 - 2 Mazars

Where did it all go wrong

Song Number 7 on the Oasis album ‘Standing on the Shoulder of Giants’ by the way. This was certainly true today, and Loco were upended 2-1… by Oacis.What a dodgy performance! Locomotive really never got going in the fixture, which saw a typical mid-table side beat Loco 2-1, in a game to forget.

Indeed, the home side conceded early, with their nippy striker finding some space, and lobbing the ball over Mike in goal - a fortunate goal, but one which was deserved considering the possession they had.

Loco managed to get into the fixture slightly more towards the end of the first half, however, if we thought the ground was hard, scoring on it was more-than-hard - as we were trying to almost walk the ball in the net at times, the only shining light coming from Cash who had a couple of long range efforts.

In the second half, Loco were much better, and we gained a few chances with Andy and Kenny both going close - however it was a moment of madness that saw us go 2-0 down, as a sloppy free-kick was cut out by their burly midfielder, who struck from a full forty yards into the top-right corner of the goal - an amazing shot.

This is when Loco started to get moving, and we managed to pull one back when some good work from Andy down the right resulted in the ball being played to Sam, who cut the ball back at the byline into the path of Kenny, who laid it on to Tug, who put the ball into the net from close range - a very good finish from our main man.

Loco could have stole an equaliser on 82 minutes when Lee fired a left foot shot into the side-netting, however it simply wasn’t to be, and the Red and Blacks suffered their third loss of the season - by no means a tragedy, however, it just puts more pressure on every 2006 League fixture instead!

Loco crash out in Portland

Loco exited the Dorset Cup on Sunday in a game to forget in Portland, as we were beaten 4-1 by Kimberlin FC - a match which was doomed from the moment we got there!Unfortunately, players were pulling out of this fixture right up until the last minute, therefore it was a very depleted squad that eventually travelled to Portland in a convoy of cars. Amongst the people who could make it, was Jon Sharkey, who cancelled a training run, and postponed a trip to Nottingham for the Loco cause.

When we arrived at the venue, we had to get changed in pitch-black, a new low for Loco - no lights, sanitation, or electricity - makes you appreciate the shirt-warming radiators we have at King George.

Even Dave tried to get in on the comedy act by suggesting we all played Twister in the black-out, however his remark “Yellow hand on Red” was quickly condemned by the lads for its disastrous delivery - indeed, Andy Smith was quick to point out that he had “only brought his green ones today”.

Aside from the fun and games, there was a match to be played, however we simply did not play it. We went 1-0 up mid-way through the first half when a long Stu Bramley throw was deflected in via a defender - but apart from that, and a cross-bar effort from Cash, we really didn’t make our possession pay.

Kimberlin however - did. The second half saw them not only equalise, but also put another three goals past the Loco side - most of them on the counter.

It was a mixture of individual errors and sloppy team play that let us down in this match - it was a bad showing. It was a shame as I’d have happily taken a 4-1 drubbing by the bottom side in our league if we could have put in a decent performance and won the Cup game - but we didn’t. It’s all over, we MUST move on.

From now on, Loco as a team is changing. From the Touch and Dive days, we’ve had a great social unit, both inside and outside the club - however most of the togetherness was built on the success of some tremendous runs in both league and cups, culminating in a Championship, where we won the league by a 12 point margin.

This season, we’ve been extremely inconsistent, both in form, but also individual availability - most possibly stemming from our topsy-turvy league form.

It sounds a bit sordid, but being part of the Loco is about the football and NOT the social side - the social side naturally builds from having a successful team. We will be aiming to put this right for the rest of this season, one way or the other - and we will be building ourselves in the correct way for the subsequent season. This means, every player should be putting in more than 110% for the rest of the league campaign. It CAN still be fruitful, but only if we ALL take responsibility, play for each other, and listen to each other.

Transfer activity at Loco

As the January transfer window opens, it appears likely there will be movement in and out of the squad at Ferndown Locomotive.At this crucial time of year we as a committee have sat down, analysed our performances so far, the squad we have and where we want to go, both for the rest of this season and beyond.

We are actually pretty happy with the quality in the squad but numbers are a problem, although on paper its the biggest squad we’ve had, Ali has not played all year and shows no signs of imminent recovery, Jon is obviously rarely available and Will has had a long term injury that isn’t right yet.

With non-availability of certain players on a regular basis, which has never been an issue before, we have decided we must strengthen the squad size. This is even more crucial when you look at the league games we have coming up, if we really want to push for promotion.

We have been in contact with one player who looks, from his football CV at least, to be an outstanding player and he is also pretty young which is something we are consciously looking for now in players. We are hopeful of concluding his transfer from his current club this week and will obviously announce the signing if, and as soon, as this is complete.

At the same time, it appears highly likely that we will be losing one of our players, although again until the deal is signed and sealed, which to be honest is just a formality now, we won’t confirm details.

Effectively if both deals go through we will simply be maintaining squad size as it is at present but we do have other possible targets should we lose one or more other players in the near future.

Most important now is that the team focuses on this weeks Dorset Cup quarter final which is arguably the biggest game in the clubs history.

Rob.