Ash Trees 0 Blues 4

[Swifty]

Horrible.

 

Bad enough losing to a bunch of time wasters who jump with elbows in the opposing players' necks and who start rowing with opposing spectators (the captain and number 9 were a disgrace in particular), but we laid it on a plate for Marlow, who also hit the woodwork twice and were further thwarted by a couple of fine saves. All the good work of the last two home games down the drain. It doesn't help when yet more players leave (Adam Turner and Harry Driver being the latest to desert the ship) and, what with suspensions and injuries, we don't seem to have a settled team from one game to another.

 

There were gaping holes in our fence around the pitch due to storm damage, and gaping holes in our defence due to the same old same old. The first goal was an embarrassment for the keeper and defenders, the second was beautifully executed but the lad waltzed past three defenders far too easily, the third was caused by a bad clearance the minute after our triple substitution so Plan B went straight out of the window, and the fourth was a mixture of hapless defending, bad luck with a clearance bouncing forward off an attacker, and a possible mistake by the 'lino' (not one of the best I've seen) in not flagging for an offside.

 

In the first half we got caught offside time after time (the only controversial call being when Joe was clean through but Perry was walking back from an offside position) yet, not only did we get caught out, on THREE occasions we kicked the ball towards goal after the whistle, giving Marlow a head start in their next time wasting venture. Our midfield didn't impose enough today and our attack wasn't at the races. Ben doesn't like to use the word unlucky (and, in any case, remind me when we've had any luck this season), so I'll say we were profligate in front of goal when we got the chances, especially in the second half. Too many misplaced passes today, and too many players seeming to accept the inevitable. I hope I'm wrong.

 

If the weather holds out I'll be at St. Ives Town on Saturday, cheering the lads on and questioning my sanity at the same time. 

 

 

 

 

[Beano]

The fourth goal couldn't have been offside, as the "through ball" that set the attack actually hit our player in the face, flying into the path of the Marlow player, who couldn't be offside because the ball came off the defender. In 24 years of watching senior football, I have never seen a goal like that.

 

I thought that, despite the scoreline, we played some good football in patches - particularly going forward - although, as Swifty said, we didn't take our chances. But our defending was dreadful and I can't think of a single goal that Marlow earned - they were basically gifted all four.

 

If we can improve our concentration at the back, we can still turn things around. But our defensive play needs to improve both massively and immediately.

[ExCalibur]

There were a lot of frustrated fans on the terraces today enough said................NOT!

Starting with ten players doesn't help. I'm sorry but in my humble opinion Mitchell is not big enough or strong enough for this league.

 

Joe Bennett's runs could have been better coming from the right wing.

Cyril, Javone and Elliot were all on the bench, after they came on they all impressed me, but at 2/3-0 down what could we expect.

 

The captain appeared to be 'all quiet on the western front' in the encouragement department. Although it could be my fault as I'm told he plays better when I'm not in attendance!

 

We need someone to take the armband and use his vocal cords.

 

We also need the coaching staff to train the players on corners and free kicks. Give every player a role in these situations. I used to see every player standing in a line/huddle at an attacking corner and then peel away to a certain position when the corner was taken.

I know I'm preaching to the preached but lets die trying

 

I'd give 3-5-2 a go then we can double up as 5-3-2

We've got to try different ideas and be creative as next season we will need to have a starting eleven that can compete either in this league or a new one. So why wait till the closed season, we could start on the first day of the new year or either this coming Saturday.

 

We could start by closing down the opposition and harassing them more often

 

Happy new year