Weston-super-Mare v Sutton

[sdavison]

Not sure I saw the result at Concord coming either.... They beat Farnborough 5-0 at home

[Amber Aleman]

Those Sutton fans who couldn't make the trip tonight can consider themselves lucky! This was a poor game to watch, with the ball spending far too much time in the air.

We took the lead through a rare move of quality when Fuseini's crossfield pass found Scannell in space and his cross fell perfectly for Slabber to tap home. We started the second half brightly and Dundo might have won a pen but the ref decided he went down too easily. Weston then equalised with an attack down our right flank and a low cross finished from close range. After that most of the pressure came from the home side and we survived a few scares before the final whistle. The goal apart, Slabbs and Taylor had very little service and both were subbed in the last quarter.

The point takes us up to sixth, but we've now gone six games (four in the league) without a win.

[Stewart]

Nov 26, 2013 23:18:12 GMT Amber Aleman said:

Those Sutton fans who couldn't make the trip tonight can consider themselves lucky! This was a poor game to watch, with the ball spending far too much time in the air.

We took the lead through a rare move of quality when Fuseini's crossfield pass found Scannell in space and his cross fell perfectly for Slabber to tap home. We started the second half brightly and Dundo might have won a pen but the ref decided he went down too easily. Weston then equalised with an attack down our right flank and a low cross finished from close range. After that most of the pressure came from the home side and we survived a few scares before the final whistle. The goal apart, Slabbs and Taylor had very little service and both were subbed in the last quarter.

The point takes us up to sixth, but we've now gone six games (four in the league) without a win.

Thanks for the report Mark.

[markf2]

Not quite sure, what everyone expects theses days. Ok, the came wasn't a classic but it wasn't that bad. U's played reasonably well in the first half creating some shooting opportunities which unfortunately ended down 'keeper, Irish's throat. The goal came from a fine pass by Ali, Scanners cross and Slabs simple finish.

U's were comfortable and the home side tested Tom just once. The second half started well and U's had a shout for a penalty when Dundo was clipped and went down. The ref, who gave U's very little all night, in fact we got more out of his assistants in terms of free-kicks even when the man in the middle was surely better placed to see, apparently reckoned it wasn't enough for a big guy like Dundo to go down for! Not sure what that is meant to mean other than the absolute twaddle it actually is. As i said after the Dorchester match we seem to conceded "soft" penalties but rarely get them.

WSM's equaliser was a game changer. U's switched off and allowed a ball from the right to give considerable, unhindered progress to the left back into U's half and they eventually scored from a similar range as Slabs had. After that WSM enjoyed much more of the game than they had previously and U's never looked like scoring.

They did have another shout for a pen when Ali broke into the box and the defender's desperate tackle took everything. Ball, Fuseini and no doubt some of the turf. On each pen shout the ref was caught too far behind play and let's face it based on what he had given U's elsewhere on the pitch he wasn't about to give us anything in the box.

So, in the end, a fair result. Typical, often fast moving CS match which probably meant we couldn't really get our passing going enough, although we did ok in the first half.

WSM is an odd cove when it comes to football. I reckon we had 20 paying fans their in a gate of just 128, or whatever it was. The bar though was reasonably well populated as the local skittles league took, but only just, second billing!

So unbeaten in our 2 longest trips of the season both played midweek. Not too bad a return in the main scheme of things but that Dorchester result in the middle probably makes them, to some, not enough.

[Andy K]

Every team has a blip in their season - even when we won the Ryman league it happened in January. This is our blip and it's no coincidence that it happened directly after a cup run. To be honest having no game Saturday could be a blessing for us. But as Mr Frake quite rightly put it, a long trip away on a cold November night and coming back with a point isn't a bad return (although one could equally argue that Truro last season took all 3 at our place and grabbed a point the season before, both midweek is the same thing)
But as a game I didn't think it was too bad - the surface was especially slippy last night with players from both sides literally just falling over, especially in the first half. If there is one thing we need to tighten up on from yesterday (and Saturday) is the number of misplaced passes. If the opponents don't have the ball they can't do much with it, but we gave the ball away too cheaply at times last night.

It may have been a poor crowd, but you already know we brought more last night on a Tuesday than Weston will bring on a Saturday in January. Shame because as a club, they are a nice bunch (as are Dorchester).

We've got 3 games now against sides in the lower half. Need to make them count and need to get 9 points out of 9 to set up our big game at Ebbsfleet the Saturday before xmas.

MoM for me was Dundo, esp as the ref had it in for him - seems like refs have got a bit of a directive on him like a couple of years ago where every ref in the 2nd half of the season gave him nothing as they all thought he was diving. I wish refs would take GCSE Physics to understand Dundo's centre of gravity is higher than most mere mortals!

Disappointing, but not unjust is my summary of last night. As I said in a previous thread I (like most Sutton supporters) are disappointed when we don't win. I'd rather be thinking that than thinking like we did in 2007/8 when we were going into games as supporters thinking we are going to lose.

[os]

I don't think we can say we are doing badly overall, Dos has established the club as a force as what could be considered our natural level, a long way away from where we were in 2007/08. But in order to stay still you have got to look to improve, if we don't then others will.

On the positive side we are in a much better position now then we were this time last season and Dos's teams appear to finish the season well. On the negative side we do seem to have lost the punch we were showing a month or so back, and that does tie in with the loss of Kane Haysman. I wasn't at WSM but sitting here having to go through every game again, I can see we have lots of the ball but fail to deliver that final pass which splits the defence of that cross which lands on a U's head. Its true there have also been some very good crosses from Dale but most are not attacked, and there must be 20-30 occasions from Saturday when attacks just fizzled out or end by a ball to the wrong colour shirt or simply to a U's player with 3 defenders around him. Our overall play seems to be rushed a little too frantic, and I think that has cost us points in recent weeks with Tom looking to rush his clearances ending with the ball in our net 30secs later.

I like fast attacking football but think we need a measure of control in our midfield to look at that final third play and I disagree that Slab's has become a bad player overnight he just needs good delivery and he will stick them away.

[tonyd]

Nov 27, 2013 19:42:17 GMT os said:

I disagree that Slab's has become a bad player overnight he just needs good delivery and he will stick them away.

Quite right OS. We are talking about the Jamie Slabber who has 5 league goals in 8 appearances, right? There are some people on this board (and on the terrace) who just talk b******s, particularly after a bad result!

[Stewart]

Weston match report with a few stats can be found HERE

[exiledsufc]

Yet again,big spending Sutton.get a squad of talented players and other teams fans say, that team have massive playing budgets

[garethl]

Not sure it matters does it? We are investing in the team and it is a positive thing. Shows we are serious about being amongst the better teams in the league. As others said on the Dorchester thread look at where the increase in playing budget has got us since Dos came in. Granted his management has been excellent but without the increase in playing budget would we be where we are?

[Andy K]

Nov 29, 2013 13:20:02 GMT garethl said:

Not sure it matters does it? We are investing in the team and it is a positive thing. Shows we are serious about being amongst the better teams in the league. As others said on the Dorchester thread look at where the increase in playing budget has got us since Dos came in. Granted his management has been excellent but without the increase in playing budget would we be where we are?

I think that's a little harsh to be honest. I'd say a big part of the increase in budget has been down to the initiatives that Adrian has been running over the last few years, which certainly pays for a couple of players. Also there has been a number of occasions where players have been let go to balance the budget. And some of the great players we've had in Dos' time here have literally played for expenses.

I would say the major reason above all why we have done so well is simply Dos. Putting aside the fact that he has persuaded some sponsors to come in, the calibre of players he's managed to get playing for us has never been better, and some were literally down to his vision and enthusiasm. Added to that getting good coaches in and his man management. The budget Eastleigh has compared to us (and as importantly compared to Bromley), they should be running away with this league - esp with players like Fleetwood et all. The simple reason they have not is they don't have a Dos.

Of course we may be a little lower if we had less money, but other teams can perform well on a smaller budget with a good manager (Weston is a prime example)

[garethl]

Well we wouldn't be where we are without Dos no doubt but one of his main plus points has been getting more money into the playing budget. I guess it is not worth considering where we would be without the increase in budget given it is not tangible.

At every level to a certain extent money will end up talking. A well run club can over achieve yes, but if you look at the successful clubs for their respective levels it tends to be the ones investing more into the playing staff in comparison to competitors (again a lot of effort may go in by volunteers/officials to enable this). Dos has done it well and I understand he doesn't take cash out himself (? or for management team?? correct me if I'm wrong) which is yet another reason we have been able to put money in.

I don't mean to do a disservice to anyone off the pitch who have helped raise more money but I also thought the idea for 'Strikers are Key' came from the manager which it he main factor for this year's increase in budget (again I recognise someone else does a lot of the stuff to put it into practice and run the thing etc etc)?

I'm not sure many/any of our better players have played for expenses only. I recall Leroy when he was past it and wanting to stay on, Folkes short term. Doubt too many others.

[billy]

Attendance 128 Who are the Sutton supporters who went ? They deserve to be mentioned in despatches.

[ab]

The Strikers are Key Initiative was indeed Dos's idea. This and the other schemes we run do their bit for sure, but it is the sponsorship money, which the Manager and the very industrious Commercial team work tirelessly to bring into the club, which enable us to compete so strongly. Awesome work from brilliant people.

Onwards and upwards - we're in this together.

[billy]

I think anyone who makes a 300 mile round trip on a cold night to boost the gathering to 128 , deserves , at least a couple of free admissions.

Admission to where i'll leave others to decide....................