Post by markf on Dec 30, 2018 16:41:44 GMT
In the good old days when Billy was in shorts and I had never even seen a football match, the formation was to have five players up front which leaves just five to defend; hence the ridiculous score lines that were posted up from the early '60's. Alf Ramsey ditched wingers went 4-4-2 and won the World Cup. The art of good defending was born (Bobby Moore being England's finest exponent of the day). The Italians loved it.
And so yesterday, although conceding a great deal of possession in the second half, U's defence held so firm that for Aldershot's endeavours not one effort in that second period troubled Jamie B. It's quite obvious U's don't have a natural goal scorer available at present - the stats - in this instance - don't lie. Sadly the one we do have entered the ground on crutches yesterday. So, a sound back four and two in front give U's a basis in which to mount attacks and the goals come from all over the pitch. Football is about scoring goals but it is also about stopping them too.
U's flew out of the blocks yesterday and exposed the Adershot defence twice in the first six minutes and probably should have done so a couple of other times before they got their heavily deflected goal that turned what a cake walk into a competitive fixture. Harry B made up a tremendous amount of ground to anticipate the problem a long punt was going to cause and it was 1-0. A free-kick and skip wins the header and a fine finish by Brett W against one of his former clubs and it was 2-0. My only criticism of the first half would be that we didn't put that soft centre under more examination but there was some good interchange of play, particularly down the right between Harry and Dale B.
Second half, perhaps the legs were a bit wary but for all of Aldershot's possession, it was U's who missed the best chance when skip again won the aerial battle but neither Brett nor Gime T could take what was a golden chance to alleviate any nerves.
So it ended 2-1. In front of the biggest gate of the season at GGL helped by an impressive travelling support from the 'Shots fans who give a far better account of themselves in person than those who frequent their forum achieve. Some of the stuff on there is lacking in class.
As I said before, U's tend to be difficult to beat and that's based on a very good back four and Jamie B behind them. That stood out yesterday and with a bit more control the score line may have been wider in Sutton's favour. It was a fine team effort with Harry B rightly taking the motm accolade but there was much fine endeavour all over the pitch.
The ref yesterday. Not great. Warning Jamie B for taking too much time at dead ball situations is fine but failing to pick up on there guy moving with him when he had the ball in hand and blaming Jamie B was a joke. The guy can stand there but he cannot prevent the 'keeper from clearing the ball. It was a tactic to stop U's getting the ball forward quickly. He missed a lot of stuff yesterday including what caused Dale B to react as he did late on and Shot's persistent infringement in the first half. We've endured much worse but a fair bit better too.
Three wins on the spin for the first time since August has dragged U's back closer towards the top four but still 8th. A fourth would be lovely but a very tough assignment at Hayes Lane awaits for a fourth match in 11 days.
And so yesterday, although conceding a great deal of possession in the second half, U's defence held so firm that for Aldershot's endeavours not one effort in that second period troubled Jamie B. It's quite obvious U's don't have a natural goal scorer available at present - the stats - in this instance - don't lie. Sadly the one we do have entered the ground on crutches yesterday. So, a sound back four and two in front give U's a basis in which to mount attacks and the goals come from all over the pitch. Football is about scoring goals but it is also about stopping them too.
U's flew out of the blocks yesterday and exposed the Adershot defence twice in the first six minutes and probably should have done so a couple of other times before they got their heavily deflected goal that turned what a cake walk into a competitive fixture. Harry B made up a tremendous amount of ground to anticipate the problem a long punt was going to cause and it was 1-0. A free-kick and skip wins the header and a fine finish by Brett W against one of his former clubs and it was 2-0. My only criticism of the first half would be that we didn't put that soft centre under more examination but there was some good interchange of play, particularly down the right between Harry and Dale B.
Second half, perhaps the legs were a bit wary but for all of Aldershot's possession, it was U's who missed the best chance when skip again won the aerial battle but neither Brett nor Gime T could take what was a golden chance to alleviate any nerves.
So it ended 2-1. In front of the biggest gate of the season at GGL helped by an impressive travelling support from the 'Shots fans who give a far better account of themselves in person than those who frequent their forum achieve. Some of the stuff on there is lacking in class.
As I said before, U's tend to be difficult to beat and that's based on a very good back four and Jamie B behind them. That stood out yesterday and with a bit more control the score line may have been wider in Sutton's favour. It was a fine team effort with Harry B rightly taking the motm accolade but there was much fine endeavour all over the pitch.
The ref yesterday. Not great. Warning Jamie B for taking too much time at dead ball situations is fine but failing to pick up on there guy moving with him when he had the ball in hand and blaming Jamie B was a joke. The guy can stand there but he cannot prevent the 'keeper from clearing the ball. It was a tactic to stop U's getting the ball forward quickly. He missed a lot of stuff yesterday including what caused Dale B to react as he did late on and Shot's persistent infringement in the first half. We've endured much worse but a fair bit better too.
Three wins on the spin for the first time since August has dragged U's back closer towards the top four but still 8th. A fourth would be lovely but a very tough assignment at Hayes Lane awaits for a fourth match in 11 days.
