Eastleigh v Sutton -Match thread

[bailo]

Didn't get to see the game yesterday, so can't comment on the performance. I posted elsewhere that 7 points from Alty/Eastleigh/Barnet would probably be the minimum return necessary to keep pace at the top but a win v Barnet would keep us very much on course.

The positives are that things are still in Sutton's hands; Torquay have a really tough run of fixtures coming up (perversely, Eastleigh's win over us at least keeps them closely involved with the play-offs and they play Torquay next Saturday); and 82/83 points is likely the max needed to win the league, which means we would need 16/17 points from 8 games left (ie 2 ppg).

Our form is certainly a concern, as is that of Stockport, although they can only get to 83 points tops. A win against Barnet is an absolute must. I doubt King's Lynn or Aldershot will be able to do us any favours midweek.

Good to see Kenny back on the bench. Really want to see him back in the XI.

[os]

Considering the standards we have been used to that one was shody to say the least as was the Silverlake pitch.

We lacked any sought of midfield, we missed Ben, Kenny and Will, we didn't close down allowing them to mount attacks directly from ours breaking down. We had plenty of opportunities in the final 3rd but didn't look although we could hit a barn door and showed none of the composure we have come to expect from the most potent strike force in the division.

That might sound a bit harsh, but if we had played like that every week we wouldn't be odds on favs to win the title. No argument about the effort shown by the team, it wasn't a lazy performance just a brainless one.

We don't need to worry about Torquay, Stockport etc, we do our job we win the league, if we don't we won't.

Also one reason I objected to Barrow being gifted promotion last year is they may have been top, but they didn't play the most important part of the season, the final and most difficult bit is to get over that line.

[Amber Aleman]

There was quite a contrast between the performances at Altrincham and Eastleigh, even though we started with almost the same side in both games. In one we were almost scoring for fun, in the other we struggled to find the net. I daresay there's a difference between an opposition team who've now got little to play for and one battling for a play-off place.

Four of our next five games are at home and (with the arguable exception of Aldershot) all of those are against opponents well out of the play-off hunt. Of course you should never under-estimate the opposition, but if our players revive the drive they showed against Alty then the goals should follow.