Not the greatest game, abject most of second half when we sat back dangerously, Burker King FC missed a few sitters and I thought we did burger all to react to the double whoppers coming our way at times. But we had the real Sundae sweetner with a last minute blast from Ash and inbetween a couple of bacon rashers from German striking the woodwork. Somewhat embarressing playing it in the corner against a side that couldnt hit a barn door but hey ho 3 points, a clean sheet and we maintain our middle of the road position. Yems did his best to milkshake up the team arguably too soon putting on the remaining 2 subs with half hour to play (risk of injury and down to 10 players) but if you get bored with a beefburger why not add a slice or tw8o of cheese.
And I thought watching the game was bad :-D
There were 2 quality goals, I just think we lowered ourselves to their poorer std but its another win chalked up for Yems. My MOM was Josh Doherty.
And that's why we love him. He made a great interception and then rushed the through ball.
In fairness his misplaced passes stand out more because he wins the ball and then it looks like a quick break is on. But our passing was generally very poor throughout.
Maybe the conditions didn't help much, although Powell found his range as soon as he arrived & i hope he might emerge as a playmaker to add a spot of guile to supplement our running game.
Poor performance. Stevenage controlled possesion, had numerous corners and created a few good chances, luckily they were complete toothless up front.
Thought 2-0 somewhat flattered us, we made hard work out of what should have been a straight forward game where we should have picked them, although we were a tad unlucky hitting the post twice.
Second half was really drab, we tried to kill the game and see it out far too early and were nearly punished for it. Stevenage will be wondering how they didn't score and we can count ourselves lucky to get all three points.
The kindest thing I can say about the standard of football yesterday is that it wasn't a classic. But a win is a win and it puts Satanage deeper in the pooh. Thought our centre backs played extremely well and Morris again made a couple of crucial saves. The introduction of German at halftime gave the lad a chance to impress and wow did he. German is quite quick, strong, has some skill and is not afraid to shoot. He was unlucky not to score and caused them many problems. Yems now has a decision to make. Keep the Palmer/Nadesan partnership or go with Palmer/German. Hate to call out players but what's happened to the form of Ferguson? I don't think he made one decent pass yesterday. Anyway up to 12th and a positive goal difference so all is well.
Not the greatest game, abject most of second half when we sat back dangerously, Burker King FC missed a few sitters and I thought we did burger all to react to the double whoppers coming our way at times. But we had the real Sundae sweetner with a last minute blast from Ash and inbetween a couple of bacon rashers from German striking the woodwork. Somewhat embarressing playing it in the corner against a side that couldnt hit a barn door but hey ho 3 points, a clean sheet and we maintain our middle of the road position. Yems did his best to milkshake up the team arguably too soon putting on the remaining 2 subs
I thought their manager had a chip on his shoulder !
If they are going to stay up they need to relish every game and fork out on new players.
How many goals have we scored from corners and how often do we get into trouble from breakaways from our corners?I thought Powell and Cogley used up a lot of time and possession from throw ins deep in their half.Works for me.
The first game I have seen in a while. Great three points but Stevenage must be thinking what do they have to do to score (well, a few shots on target would help).
The team looked a little lightweight without Ollie and Panuche but we did ok in the first half and there was not much in it. Apart from Bullie the midfield was struggling for pace and position and Stevenage used the space in front of our back four very well (indeed!). Good goal from Bez although none of us in the East stand really knew what happened - he seemed to have missed it to the right although the highlights show he hit the left hand post!
Glenn made one very good save in the first half and was largely untroubled from then on.
Sendells-White and Tunnicliffe were outstanding in the middle and pretty much nothing got past them. Josh Docherty still does not defend well, backing off and backing off and letting his man run at him for 30, 40 and at one time 50 yards before he will do anything, which needlessly puts the defence under increased pressure. He has to be stronger at the first point of contact.
Nathan Ferguson is still a yard too slow in the middle. I think he is a great player with lots of potential and is good on the ball but if he had a little more pace, he could be an outstanding player but he struggled a little yesterday.
Reece had his usual great game and was on course to be my MoM until he was substituted. I thought there were a few other players who could easily have been chosen to go off instead.
Up front we were absolutely awful. Without Ollie up front we struggle. Nadesan is simply not good enough for this level, his poor positional awareness and his lack of strength are not enough for him to play up front without a very strong partner and although I think Mason will be good enough one day, he is not there yet. I think Nadesan only touched the ball three or four times in the first half - nothing stuck up front and this piled the pressure on our midfield and defence.
Second half, our midfield disappeared and Stevenage started to boss the middle - their number 18 and the player who played just in front of our defence (who looked about 12) were outstanding and were running the game.
Great substitutes by Yems though. Bringing German (at half time), Powell and Panuche on, plugged all the gaps and although the team decided to collectively pass the ball more often to Stevenage than our own players, they saved the game.
Very impressed with German - could have and should have scored, held the ball up well, has an eye for goal and his link up play with the midfield was superb - exactly what was missing in the first half. Panuche was his usual non-stop energetic self and although his passing was a little awry at times, we can't underestimate his break up play and his ability to win the ball.
Very, very well created and taken goal by Nadesan at the end, which showed that although he struggles on his own (and with Mason in the first half), he does ok with a better playing partner.
The League Two fans forums has been saying for weeks now that Stevenage are not a bad team, that they are unlucky and they have nothing up front. That looked very accurate and if they had a decent striker it could have been a different result.
Very well done to all the players, a big shout to John Yems for the right substitutions at the right time, which saved the game and just how good is it to have such a great atmosphere at games again.
My MoM was Tunnicliffe for yet another towering and dominant display at the back, pushed hard by Bullie, Bez and Sendells-White.
How many goals have we scored from corners and how often do we get into trouble from breakaways from our corners?I thought Powell and Cogley used up a lot of time and possession from throw ins deep in their half.Works for me.
We can respectfully disagree on the effectiveness & execution of the tactic eltel. I have no problems at all with it, if we are one-nil up with an hour left, in a cup tie at Anfield...
...in the 80th minute at home against Stevenage...? IMHO, it just gives entirely the wrong message...!
ps. The one time late on, when we recklessly abandoned it... we only went & scored a goal.
Sad to say I think Stevenage are gone and it looks as though they will be replaced by Barrow. Easier game to get to replaced by a long, long trek.
I've seen some daft tactics in my years of watching football but only having one striker in the box from corners comes close to being the daftest.
It wasn't the greatest game I've ever seen but we won, quite comfortabley, in the end but I think we need to work on our ball retention and, dare I say it, our pass completion ratio.
any thoughts on Mason? would of course benefit from a run in the side but for me the jury is still very much out for him. Time will tell. Its very noticeable how pur 'style' of play is much better suited to Palmer in the team than out of the team and consequently he's missed when not on the pitch.