Max Rogers

Match Report

Competition – S.P.L. U19s League

Venue – Hibernian Training Centre

Fixture – Hibernian U19s v KILMARNOCK U19s

Date – 18/02/12

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1 2 (38) Johnson (10)

Lindsay (27)

Kick-Off – 12pm

Weather – Very windy, game delayed in the first half due to a snow/sleet storm

Pitch – Soft

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System of Play

Kilmarnock opted for a reasonably solid but flexible 4-5-1 formation. At times No. 10

Lindsay would move closer to No. 9 Winchester creating a 4-2-3-1 shape. The other

option they had was to push No. 7 Taylor and No. 11 Johnson closer to No 9.

Winchester. This could be considered to be a more attacking adjustment as they

were now utilizing the 4-3-3 formation.

Max Rogers

The 4-5-1 formation which they started out with meant they were quite happy to

concede possession of the ball and hit Hibernian on the counter attack. At times

though they failed to support their lone striker. No. 9 Winchester provided a lot of

energy up front and worked extremely hard to force errors in the Hibernian defence.

The three central midfielders all took turns to support attacks, often leaving one to

provide cover for the defence. They struggled when put under pressure when facing

their own goal. Neither one was particularly adept in the air and lost the majority of

headers. The two wide players – No. 7 Taylor and No. 11 Johnson – always provided

width, however Taylor played a bit more defensively than Johnson perhaps to offer

more protection to the right back.

Both full backs broke from the defensive line but rarely overlapped their winger. No.

3 Thorburn was more attacking but positioned himself to support the winger from

behind instead of getting in front of him to stretch the defence. He can be slow on

the turn and may struggle against a tricky winger.

Both centre backs No. 5 Ashcroft and No. 2 Barbour were not really starting the

attacks. They preferred to play simple passes out wide to either full back or in field

to a central midfielder. Both are strong in the air but found it difficult clearing the

ball when facing their own goal.

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The Players

Goalkeeper - Russell Cadwell

Right footed. Was never really tested throughout the game although he did make a fantastic

reaction save from a close range header. Is comfortable with the ball at his feet and

provides quick and accurate distribution. May struggle with high balls due to his small

stature.

Right Back – Ross Fisher

Right footed. Solid defender who enjoys defending rather than attacking. Caught a bit too

narrow at times which enabled Hibernian to attack down their left and get crosses into the

box.

Left Back – Greig Thorburn

Right footed. More attacking than the right back although he can be caught out with a quick

attacking transition due to his lack of pace. Linked up well with the left midfielder and

provided constant width and support.

Centre Back – Lee Ashcroft

Right footed. Had a comfortable game against the Hibernian attackers. Commanding in the

air although he can struggle with quick link up play via one touch passing. Kept the defence

organised and concentrated throughout the second half.

Centre Back – Ross Barbour

Right footed. Like Ashcroft he gave a solid performance throughout the 90 minutes. Good in

the air and comfortable in possession of the ball.

Right Midfield – Mark Taylor

Right footed. Didn’t really get involved in much of the game as he played quite defensively.

Made one good run in the first half to try and get on the end of a through ball played in

behind the Hibernian defence.

Central Midfield – Ross Lindsay

Right footed. Was given more of an attacking role than his fellow central midfielders. He

worked well with the striker and was always offering support alongside him. Showed this

when he broker from midfield to score the second goal.

Central Midfield – Jon Stynes

Right footed. The most defensive of the three midfielders, he looked to protect the back

four during attacks. He did sometimes get forward with another midfielder filling in for him.

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Caught on the ball a few times when facing his own goal and didn’t looked comfortable with

under high pressure.

Central Midfield – Ross Davidson

Right footed. Played as a box-to-box midfielder which highlighted his high energy levels. Has

a very good long range passing ability and liked to switch the ball to the other side of the

pitch in order to initiate a counter attack.

Left Midfield – Chrissy Johnson

Left footed. Attacking winger with lots of pace and trickery. His small stature means that he

can be quite difficult to knock of the ball due to good balance. He is very one footed

however. Exhibited his free kick ability with a great strike from the right hand side of the

pitch, curling the ball into the top right hand corner.

Striker – Jude Winchester

Right footed. Fantastic work rate and seemed to relish his role as a lone striker. Never

complained towards his team mates that he wasn’t getting support to close down the

Hibernian defenders. Very strong striker who can come deep to receive the ball to feet to

link up play or in the channels to run onto.

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37%

63%

Type of Attack

Direct

Patient

Attacking Play

First Half

They only crossed the ball into the box three times during the first half, all of which were

intercepted by a Hibernian player and cleared safely. They did at times struggle to get

players into the box to support their lone striker, although they did favour playing through

the defensive channels.

Kilmarnock started the game by

playing direct passes through the

middle of the pitch to ease their

way into the contest. After five

minutes or so they began using

the flanks, especially the left, to

construct patient attacks

involving three or four players.

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41%

59%

Type of Attack

Direct

Patient

Second Half

In the second half they didn’t cross the ball very often, twice in all, with both crosses yet

again not finding a Kilmarnock player.

Due to their change in formation

in the second half, Kilmarnock

played a bit more direct as they

looked to keep Hibernian away

from their goal. The majority of

the play was again directed

towards their left hand side. In

the last ten minutes, as they

were holding on, every counter

attack was initiated via a long

pass.

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Attacking Patterns

At goal kicks one centre back,

depending on the side of the goal

the kick was taken, would drop to

the edge of the 18 yard box. This

allowed Kilmarnock to start their

possession based attack. In the

second half all the goal kicks

were aimed towards the left

hand side of the pitch.

When No. 1 Cadwell had the ball

in hand he rarely kicked it long.

Again in an attempt to build-up

patiently he chose to throw the

ball to either full back for them to

then distribute further.

In an effort to draw the Hibernian

defenders out of position on both

sides of pitch No. 9 Winchester

dropped deep to receive the ball

from the midfield players who

had drawn their opposing

midfielders onto them through

neat passing play. This created

space in between the lines of

defence and midfield which

allowed Winchester to turn on

the ball and play a through ball to

the winger.

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In a similar build-up situation,

Kilmarnock looked to exploit their

ball playing ability. From the right

hand side they recycled

possession of the ball which again

drew the opponents across. The

ball was then quickly switched

across to the left hand side and

they subsequently countered and

scored a goal.

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Defensive Play

In the first half Kilmarnock generally defended quite deep. This did cause them some

problems when the ball was around their box as Hibernian played with a high tempo

and looked to get in behind the defence at every opportunity with one touch

football.

A result of this fast attacking play, Kilmarnock’s defenders began diving into tackles

which were being read by the Hibernian forwards who just knocked the ball past

them.

Their midfield demonstrated a very slow defensive transition when Hibernian

countered them. Late runs into the box were seldom picked up by the Kilmarnock

defenders and created scoring opportunities.

The focus in the second half for Kilmarnock was to hold on to their one goal lead.

They did this extremely well and remained very disciplined, this time exhibiting much

more efficient and quicker defensive transitions. This allowed them to set up a very

deep defensive block that Hibernian struggled to break.

Hibernian’s goal came from a corner kick. The attacker lost his marker and was

allowed to score a free header. Throughout the game the Kilmarnock defenders

looked uncomfortable when dealing with driven crosses into the area between

the six yard box and penalty area. Hibernian failed to exploit this enough.

First Half Second Half

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Set-Pieces

Corners Against Corner For 1

Corner For 2

Free Kick For 1 Free Kick For 2

Corner For 3

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The first re-start Kilmarnock had

saw the striker play the ball back

into a central midfielder. He then

attempted to turn on the ball

however he had been quickly

closed down by the Hibernian

strikers who regained possession

of the ball.