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PICTURE: Frontline striker, Kacper Kloc, scored all give goals in an incredible come-from-behind 5-4 win at KS Gryf in the East Berkshire League Premier Division On Saturday. PHOTO: Gary House Photography.
Frontline manager Tan Yousaf believes there will be a lot more to come from his young team this season when they learn to take their chances in front of goal.
Old Windsor is the only team to have hit the back of the net more times than Frontline in the East Berkshire League Premier Division but, Yousaf claims more points could have been won with better consistency in the final third.
And the boss is not ruling out a top three finish when his side find a better shots conversion rate, confident Frontline will be stronger as the season progresses.
Yousaf said: “I don’t think that we’ve been at our best, far from it, but there has been patches where this team has shown what it’s capable of.
“In the second half against Chalvey Sports Reserves where we wracked up eight goals in 45 minutes (won 8-1), and in the second half of the first game against KS Gryf where we pulled back a two-goal deficit and should’ve gone on to won the game (drew 2-2). Even against Britwell (lost 3-0). we gave them a really good game, we just were not able to take our chances and that has been the story of our season at times.
“We play some good stuff but we don’t score and a little bit of lax moment at the back, anyone makes mistakes and this can happen, and we concede.”
VIDEO: Watch the latest episode of the EBFL Pogescast with Sandhurst Town manager, Jordan Goodall.
He continued: “This team is still a fairly young group. There is three or four players under the age of 20 and the majority are aged between 18 and 26, so there’s lots more to come. As the season progresses, we hope that can we get better, stronger and be more consistent.
“If we are able to do that, I think we will be fighting for second or third position. I’m not sure if we’re quite ready to challenge for the title but we will give it our best shot.”
In a contender for Game of the Season, Frontline recovered from falling behind to win 5-4 at KS Gryf on Saturday to move up to second position in the table, just two points behind leaders and defending champions, Britwell.
Kacper Kloc was the star of the show for Frontline, scoring all five goals for his side at the Polish Club, and Yousaf explained better fitness levels in comparison to last season was the key to the victory.
PHOTO: The current Premier Division table, with Frontline just two points behind leaders Britwell.
He reacted: “The reaction from the game was that we could’ve played a lot better than we did. Defensively, we made a few errors but, prior to that, the game was fully under control.
“We missed a number of chances to extend our lead at 1-0. We could potentially have been four goals ahead with some really good chances that we didn’t take.
“We fell asleep, as we have done a few times this season, and conceded a very cheap goal. That led to Gryf having a little bit of impetus and, within another five minutes, they had scored again to make it 2-1.
“We had belief but we came out cold for the start to the second half and let in another goal very quickly.
“We started to chase the game and pulled one goal back via Kacper, his second. Whilst we were on top of the game, there was some really poor defending from a corner, but a really good header from their central defender, and we were 4-2 down.
“We went hell for leather at this point but unfortunately had a man sent off with a second yellow card for dissent toward the referee, but the team really galvanised after that.
“They started to play some good football again, started to use the wide players to push the ball in behind and get crosses into the box, and generally pass the ball around them.
“What saw us through is that we’re generally a lot fitter now than we were at the start to the season, even last season, and we can now continue to go until minute 90. We’ve shown that a few times this season where we have come back from a losing position to at least draw the game.”
Frontline are back in action with a trip to Surrey Rangers in the Premier Division this Saturday (2pm)
To enter the East Berkshire Football League ahead of the 2023/24 season, or for further information about the league, or an entry form for the upcoming season, please email the team at contactebfl@gmail.com
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