'Ricay 2-2 Harlow

[Rick the Dick]

All things considered a point we should be pleased with. 10 men from half-way through the first half, when Leon was re carded; Fowler in goal as Tucker un-available at last minute & several new faces that needed to gel.

 

New centre half looks safe. Two goals for the goal machine that is Rikki Burbridge on his return. A nice suprise in Adrian Dean's return.

 

I quite enjoyed my evening.

[finisterre]

I was pretty impressed with Okojie. Good work to create the first goal, and looked dangerous all night.

 

And great for Burbs to mark his return with a niice pair.

[Rick the Dick]

Forgot to mention Shavesy, who had another great geam and set the standard in terms of effort & determination.

[Steve U.]

Great effort by everyone tonight, especially considering its the first time they have been on the pitch together. Another inspirational performance from Shavesy, apparently going for a Fair Play award this season

[Sticks]

A decent, whole hearted display imo from a scratch side and a rookie in goal. The task was made more difficult having to play the majority of the game with only 10 men, but both goals were well taken and Shave never stopped running.

 

Six more displays with that sort of effort and commitment between now and the end of the season will hopefully keep us up, although a few of them earlier in the season with stronger sides out might have resulted in us not being in this situation now.

 

 

[PAUL B]

Oh d'you mean the Shavesy you were all slaggin off a month ago ?!

All the new players looked pretty good esp the little #5 Didi a good skillful player - Apparently he took part in Football Ikon

[Rick the Dick]

Originally Posted By: PAUL B

Oh d'you mean the Shavesy you were all slaggin off a month ago ?!

That's just not true. Don't tar everyone with the same brush. Sure, he's got his detractors on here but equally there was a lot who thought he deserve another chance who have been vindicated.

[Simon BTFC]

Encouraging performance I thought, the new lads all made a contribution, the effort and desire were there to see. Sending off was a blow - didn't see it so won't comment except to say that these red cards have really hurt us this season so I expect to see a much more disciplined side next year.

 

Training on Thursday will be important as gives the management a chance to work on a few things wrt integrating the new players, hopefully some of the walking wounded will be back for Saturday as well.

 

 

[GazzaBTFC]

Actually Paul, it's the same Shavesy you, amougnst others were slagging off...

 

A good performance and a great wok ethic by the team last night. And the atmosphere at the club was better afterwards...

 

Shavesy informed some of us that he is giving up the collection of yellow cards for lent and is now known as "Gary Linaker".

 

And when we were able, we played with not just hard work but also a bit of flair when the opportunity came...

 

Lets build on this for Ashford this Saturday.

 

 

[Keith.P]

I really enjoyed last nights game. The pace was quite frenetic and was entertaining. The new boys did well considering just being drafted in and there seemed more desire about the play. No idea what Leon got redded for ? - But their player knew what he was doing in (i feel) unsportsmanship by checking the ref had sent him off and then just jumping up.

 

I too thought Shaves ran his socks off, and i think the crowd showed their appreciation to all the players at the end. As we have said many times...We really dont mind losing/drawing as well as winning as long as the lads put the effort in...And last night (for me) was a real team effort.

[Paul J]

A fantastic battling performance from the lads. Despite being down to 10 men, they gelled more as the game progressed which is very encouraging for the next couple of weeks.

 

Whatever opinion you may have of him, Shave was immense. His fitness and work rate is unbelievable and if he plays with that discipline for the rest of the season he will drag us up the table single handedly.

[jmez]

Great team effort considering we had 5 new players and a goalkeeper making his debut.

 

If they all give that amount of effort till the end of the season then we will have no worries about going down and will win more games than we lose thats for sure! With 11 men i think we would of won the game.

[Keith.P]

Oh...and the shot from Hodgey producing a spectacular save from the keeper was (football cliche) worth the entrance fee !

[Ricay Jon]

Great effort from the lads last night!

 

I don't mind admitting I was wrong about Shavesy, he has been immense since his return. He ran himself into the ground last night for the team.

 

I liked the look of the right winger Dee, when he ran with the ball the Harlow defenders could not get near him, he looks a very exciting player.

 

I did not have a great view of the red card from behind the goal but the harlow number 10 looked up and waited to see if the ref was going to do anything before holding his head again plus the fact none of the harlow players appealed says it all to me!

[Woozie]

He stamped on his back with the referee watching. Cant believe he thought he would get away with it. Cost us 2 points but full of praise for the lads that worked their conkers off.

[Ricay Jon]

As I said I did not have a great view of it and assumed it was for an elbow and judging by the reactions of the harlow players it did not seem much. But if he stamped on him then he has no argument and had to go. Very silly from Leon and the 2nd time in weeks he has been sent off against Harlow!

[CJ Sider]

Leon Hunter let the team,club and the supporters down for a stupid red card.The initial contact was not a foul but he stood on the the player right in front of the ref.Do we want to see this sort of person playing for the club again when he has let everyone down

[jmez]

Its his 2nd sending off in a matter of weeks(both for retaliating) at the most crucial time of the season and last night was one of the most crucial games. He has let the team and supporters down massively. Just glad the other lads didnt give up and kept working till the end to grind out a draw!

[kt:@btfc]

Totally agree. I too enjoyed my evening. Things are really looking up with the new signings. All we need now is to sign Harlow's goalie! Incidentally why have BTFC called Clive Allen an Arsenal legend? He is a Spurs legend!

 

Looking forward to Saturday now!

[Old Boy]

My dear boy, one must congratulate you on your quite extraordinary powers of hearing. To hear any conversation between Ellerbeck and the Referee Oldershaw from such a distance, must have made the six million dollar man quite envious.

In my opinion the Ref did a stirling job controlling the game and was very informative in his instructions to players. He was under a great deal of pressure from all sides, especially as he was being accessed by a senior Referee up in the stands. His cause wasn't helped by two complete morons, one the stadium announcer, who chose to lambast him at every opportunity with totally foul language because they didn't agree with his decision to send the Ricay player off. Of course though, people with this sort of mentality would again been absolutely livid if it had been a Ricay player who was stamped on, and not a Harlow player and the Ref had failed to send the guilty player off. These buffoons certainly watch football through rose tinted spectacles.

 

I thought it was a good game bearing in mind what was at stake for both teams, let's hope we both stay up and prosper next season.