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Post by baggiesansutton on Sept 26, 2018 1:14:00 GMT
Yep our confidence just evaporated after the penalty award, we allowed them to muscle their way into the match. We stopped using our craft and got involved in an areal battle we were simply not going to win. Tonight was a match for Ross L IMO, he maybe should of replaced Tommy when things were going against us to provide some areal threat and muscle. Losing JC, I think played a part in the equalizer, his organisation and positioning I am sure would have prevented it? I am not even going to say that JC has been struggling since he picked up the injury at Airdrie, because you will all shout at me, but the IRN BRU cup is costing us point! We are still in touch with the pack, but at present we are only a top 7/8 team, we need to find more if we are to secure a playoff place come the end of the season.. Well I think Salford and Orient will be distant from the pack and the rest of the league very soon very quickly, far to strong for this league. We got to then try and make sure that we secure a remaining play off place like you said I think if we do it will be the last one. I think we will fall just short of that target this season and finish between 8th to 10th got to remain in the hunt however and stay in and around that play off pack. Didn't go tonight had work so won't comment but need to be putting teams like that to bed at home I'm guessing to be pushing top 7. Onto the small matter of Saturday :/. |
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Post by Del on Sept 26, 2018 5:34:52 GMT
If we beat Orient away on Saturday we will be 4 points off the top ! However after saying that it looks like the financial power of Leyton Orient & Salford City will pull them clear of the rest of the teams.
We are good enough for a play off place and hopefully can put together a good FA Cup run. Last night was a complete mystery to me.Did we change our shape when JC went off ? Eastman stopped going forward and instead of playing the ball along the ground we played it in the air straight in to Dover's hands. The substitutions appeared to have been made just as i thought we may have weathered the storm and had put some pressure back on Dover.
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oohaah
Top Performer
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Post by oohaah on Sept 26, 2018 7:27:15 GMT
Last night was a complete mystery to me.Did we change our shape when JC went off ? Eastman stopped going forward and instead of playing the ball along the ground we played it in the air straight in to Dover's hands. The substitutions appeared to have been made just as i thought we may have weathered the storm and had put some pressure back on Dover. I think it's a little more complicated than that. We were victims of some strong challenges in the first half. Clough & Eastman both appeared to be limping a little shortly before Collins went off (There were suggestions that he wasn't feeling well?). Also around the same time Butler got a knock that left him limping slightly - Not a major problem for some teams, but we lost our 12th man (operating as a sweeper) for the rest of the game. All this put a lot of pressure on Bailey and he, as ever, rose to the occasion - thoroughly deserving his MoM award. It remains to be seen how many players we have fit for Saturday. |
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Post by Del on Sept 26, 2018 7:41:55 GMT
Last night was a complete mystery to me.Did we change our shape when JC went off ? Eastman stopped going forward and instead of playing the ball along the ground we played it in the air straight in to Dover's hands. The substitutions appeared to have been made just as i thought we may have weathered the storm and had put some pressure back on Dover. I think it's a little more complicated than that. We were victims of some strong challenges in the first half. Clough & Eastman both appeared to be limping a little shortly before Collins went off (There were suggestions that he wasn't feeling well?). Also around the same time Butler got a knock that left him limping slightly - Not a major problem for some teams, but we lost our 12th man (operating as a sweeper) for the rest of the game. All this put a lot of pressure on Bailey and he, as ever, rose to the occasion - thoroughly deserving his MoM award. It remains to be seen how many players we have fit for Saturday. Well that would explain a lot so i look forward to hearing Dos's view on the game when its up. Special mention about Dover's forward,No 12 i think. Very big,strong and skillful and a real handfull for our defence. |
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tonyd
1st team Player
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Post by tonyd on Sept 26, 2018 7:51:22 GMT
I’m in the mystery camp. Against Boringwood (no JC) the visitors found yawning gaps in our defence with 2 goals from unmarked players on the penalty spot. Against Wrexham (with JC) the skipper headed everything clear. Dover was a rerun of Wrexham until JC went off at which point it turned into Boringwood. Clough and Beckwith are both individually good and proven players and I don’t know what the hell happened and why JC not being there seems to have such a negative impact.
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Post by garethl on Sept 26, 2018 8:11:59 GMT
Let’s not forget that a couple on here we’re making the case for Beckwith to continue and the captain to wait for his return. I think we’ve shown we should be ok without him. And that has to be the case as if he gets a long term injury tomorrow we’ll have to get on with it. To me it looked like their first goal changed the game. One of those games where as a player you wonder how you got into a tight scrap and sometimes it’s tough to reverse once things have slipped that way. To be one of the top sides you need to be able to adjust and think on your feet, I think it was clear thinking that was absent last night. Maybe the skip could have provided that so undoubtedly a loss on the night!
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Post by steveo77 on Sept 26, 2018 8:23:41 GMT
hugely frustrating evening.
when it got to 80 minutes you could see the goal coming though to be honest.
it was just like living the nightmare of this match last season all over again!!
With 7 play off spots up for grabs I think the team is more than capable of getting one of those, but it is going to be a long tough season!
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trev
1st team skipper
In Matt We Trust
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Post by trev on Sept 26, 2018 10:52:47 GMT
Frustrating is very much the buzzword for yesterday's performance. At 2-0 up in the opening twenty we were flying and the game should have been dead and buried from that point. Although some fans felt the incident leading to the penalty was more ball to hand, both arms up from a standing position is unnatural and in my view the ref had no option but to give it for this reason. That goal was a massive momentum shifter, it filled the away team with hope and to their credit they found an extra gear and pushed on from there.
We always lose something at the back without Captain Fantastic there to marshal the defence, and I still think that we could do with another defender on loan, because once Beckwith came in the first we had nothing else on the bench defensively, and that double attacking substitution in the second half was unable to help us keep a tight ship at the back.
One can say that key players were rested (Collins coming off early as a precautionary measure, no Lafayette, no Kenny D etc.) and if we get something out of Saturday's challenging clash against high-flying Orient, one could say retrospectively that yesterday's tactics ultimately paid dividends. We'll see...
In the interests of keeping things positive, here's a couple of useful stats:
This time last season, we had played 13 games, winning 7, drawing 2 and losing 4, with a plus 1 goal difference (scoring 17 and conceding 16).
So we have a slightly better goal difference than this time last year, having scored one more goal and conceded one less than last season.
In other words, we're on exactly the same points as we were this time last season, in what proved to be our most successful league performance in the club's history.
Last night's disappointment aside, we are still well and truly on target for another special season as things currently stand.
Onwards and upwards etc.
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pg
Newbie
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Post by pg on Sept 26, 2018 11:29:56 GMT
I actually think we started to lose our way when Tommy was off the field for a little while.
Odd as this may sound, sometimes I like to watch just one player rather than the whole game and I was watching Tommy for most of his time on the field last night. I thought that his off the ball movement was excellent, and their defence couldn't get themselves organised to handle him and the midfield coming through when we sent the ball forward. Their back four were all over the place for the first half hour and it felt like that brief respite allowed them to get themselves sorted while we lost our flow a little.
Not throwing any blame about. It felt to me like the combination of losing JC, Tommy for that brief spell and conceding the penalty took the wind out of our sails and we didn't get ourselves back on track after that.
On another note. I wasn't too impressed with Dover as a collective. It didn't look to me like they were a "team". Very little encouragement coming from the sidelines (fans or dugout) and their squad sitting in the stands were barely speaking to each other at all - some just sat on their phones not paying any attention and playing videos. Made me realise what a good bunch we really have.
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Post by timall on Sept 26, 2018 11:57:00 GMT
Very frustrating evening in the end after such a great start.
Very fine margins between being extremely happy and utterly deflated. Nicky (well deserved MOTM) had two glorious shots saved, either of which would have seen us home comfortably. Towards the end whilst still 2-1 up we squandered a three against one break on the counter.
Like others I am a bit puzzled why we managed to get panicked out of our comfort zone. I didn't get too impressed by their players, other than by their height. Yet we resorted to playing long and kicking high balls up the park. Jonah doesn't seem effective playing that way, even when he is the tallest and last night he was against giants. Ross would have been better. At the other end too we had a short keeper flapping and punching under challenges from 6 foot players. Maybe the other Ross would have been a better option too, rotating the squad.
The boss makes the calls anyway so it will be interesting to hear his interview when the boys at SUFCTV have got it ready.
On to East London and would love to see the boys not just bounce back again, but also avenge last season's game there too.
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Post by Andy K on Sept 26, 2018 12:36:38 GMT
Let’s not forget that a couple on here we’re making the case for Beckwith to continue and the captain to wait for his return. I think we’ve shown we should be ok without him. And that has to be the case as if he gets a long term injury tomorrow we’ll have to get on with it. To me it looked like their first goal changed the game. One of those games where as a player you wonder how you got into a tight scrap and sometimes it’s tough to reverse once things have slipped that way. To be one of the top sides you need to be able to adjust and think on your feet, I think it was clear thinking that was absent last night. Maybe the skip could have provided that so undoubtedly a loss on the night! And I was one of those. Prior to BW the Clough/Beckwith combo was working fine, but on that night it seemed like they'd never met each other before. For me it was the almost instant evaporation of confidence when skip left the field. He'd had a solid game after that but it just felt like the team suddenly lost their way. No blame in anyone's direction for that. There were plenty of other things in the 2nd half regarding some players (either being sloppy, not quite fitting the way we were playing, constantly losing headers where in the first half we were winning a lot more) but in all honesty, Dover got lucky last night. I thought they were really poor and could see why they were propping up the table. But saying that there have been quite a number of occasions where bottom placed teams have come to GGL (usually on a Tuesday night but not always) and have come away with something because we've let ourselves down a little - Torquay last year, Braintree, Truro, Weston. I think we all know we are going to raise our game at Brisbane Road on Saturday. Just a shame that our last home league game for over a month ended with a draw that felt like a defeat. I think Jared said that we've not beaten Dover at home in 10 years. Last night we should have. |
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markf
Top Performer
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Post by markf on Sept 26, 2018 13:04:57 GMT
As ever at 2-0, the next goal (if there is to be one) is crucial and Dover scored it. A bad couple of first half minutes for U's with Skip going off and the penalty, which was the correct call from what I could see, and Dover metamorphosed from a labouring if organised team into one with desire, hunger and new founded confidence.
The second half saw Walker pull off to fine saves from Nicky B but the constant pumping off long balls either by hand or foot finally told. It wasn't pretty but it was typical Kinnear. Pick a team of giants and bang it long and high and try and win the seconds. Being down to ten men was of no significance to them as much of the playing surface wasn't in use - just the air above it - and their guy really wasn't missed. It was effective last night but whether it will be enough to keep them up is another thing.
Just before their late leveller, U's had a great opportunity to break but the wrong option was chosen, the ball lost and the equaliser came rapidly after.
Ref had a decent game last night, although the Dover skipper didn't enjoy him and pointing at him after receiving a yellow card for downing Craig E as he broke away rather saw any credibility in his protestations blown away.
From 2-0 up that is a disappointing result but we appear to play better against footballing sides and less so against those with a more direct approach relying on their physical attributes.
Onto the team who I think will go very close to the title this season (as they bloody well should). Just hope we're ok because as well as skip, Jamie B, Cloughie, Aswad and Jonah all seemed to pick up knocks during the match.
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Post by garethl on Sept 26, 2018 13:18:24 GMT
Ref had a decent game last night, although the Dover skipper didn't enjoy him and pointing at him after receiving a yellow card for downing Craig E as he broke away rather saw any credibility in his protestations blown away. I thought he was having a go at one of his players for losing the ball causing him to take one for the team. It was a similar direction. |
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Post by garethl on Sept 26, 2018 13:20:45 GMT
At the other end too we had a short keeper flapping and punching under challenges from 6 foot players. Maybe the other Ross would have been a better option too, rotating the squad. Personally I thought JB did well against the high ball. His punches cleared his lines well when he was needed. I don't think he was at fault at all at any point. |
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markf
Top Performer
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Post by markf on Sept 26, 2018 13:25:18 GMT
Ref had a decent game last night, although the Dover skipper didn't enjoy him and pointing at him after receiving a yellow card for downing Craig E as he broke away rather saw any credibility in his protestations blown away. I thought he was having a go at one of his players for losing the ball causing him to take one for the team. It was a similar direction. Looked like he was pointing at the ref. He spent a lot of time in his ear and when the red card was shown, thumped the ball down onto the 3g and then hung onto it as if he owned it. He wasn't happy. |
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