kevchenko Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 Spelthorne were very well organised and defended superbly, giving us no space and putting their bodies on the line with many fine blocks... The 2 banks of 4 when they went down to 9 men was very effective so credit to Johnno and his troops they deserved a point.... AND Cove only drew as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swifty Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 Sorry, Kev, I like your spin on things, but I take no positives from that result. I don't usually watch away games, but I'll bow to my superiors who see more than me and agree that was our worst performance this season by some distance. To draw against a team who were down to ten men just before half time and only nine men with 20 to go is unacceptable. Credit to Spelthorne Sports, who showed some lovely skill, defended doggedly at the end, and could easily have scored more than the one, but we didn't seem up for it. The ref did a good job more often than not by booking or sending off who he did when he did, but the addition of only two and a half minutes in the second half after copious substitutions and several minutes of time wasting by SS (going back to their keeper being booked on the hour for said offence) was laughable. In the first half, we started well then seemed to ease off very quickly. With the exception of Hughesy's well saved free kick, every shot we tried was either wide or the speed of a mobility scooter. Let's not forget SS had several decent efforts in the first half, not least that goal line clearance. I was a bit surprised by Lee Staples' straight red in the 44th (one of those "I've seen them given" decisions), but we should have kicked on from there. For the second week in a row, we stood like lemons and let an oppo player head home from a corner (needs sorting out in training), in this case a lovely corner from Johnno bulleted home by Perry Luckins, who showed his firebrand side by getting two yellows and off in the 72nd. By then we were already level, with Russ arrowing home a header from a corner in the 64th. Just like buses...Russ waits years for a goal then gets two on successive Saturdays. Our biggest problem was that we wanted to walk the ball home, especially through the middle. We may be good, but we're not Arsenal. Against 9 / 10 men, we should have used the wings more, spread the ball / passes, stretched SS across the pitch and tired them out. They're a decent club with friendly folk but, I'm afraid, I did find fault with Spelthorne Sports... 1) I found two hammers and a screwdriver lying on the grass on the flank opposite the main road. Remember the fuss we suffered in the press through no fault of our own when that ar$ehole from Chessington and Hook grabbed the fork from down our tunnel? The three tools I found were next to the pitch, for Christ's sake! 2) I thought in this league you were meant to play numbers 1 to 11 from the kick off? SS started the match with numbers 14, 15, 17 and 23 on the pitch. I hope the over-fussy ref makes note of this in the report that he'll probably finish on Monday. On the other hand, the Sports staff and supporters I met were good people...and they're not from Bedfont, which is always a plus! I don't expect to buy a beer at the social event on Thursday. After that performance, the team should be lining up to buy my drinks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatboyatmfc Posted October 12, 2014 Share Posted October 12, 2014 I am miles away so obviously didn't see the game and can't comment but there's nothing like keeping the positive feel going is there Ed? A point away at a favourite for the top three on a bumpy ( usually) pitch and in the local derby will do me. Well done lads! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smoking-gun Posted October 12, 2014 Share Posted October 12, 2014 Swifty, Ashford CAN take a positive from this result and take it as a compliment ,we had SS playing at home against one of their main title rivals and all they had in the locker was using all the time wasting and delaying tactics known to mankind, Ashford must look at this as 1 point gained and not 2 points lost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smudge Posted October 12, 2014 Share Posted October 12, 2014 Sorry, Kev, I like your spin on things, but I take no positives from that result. I don't usually watch away games, but I'll bow to my superiors who see more than me and agree that was our worst performance this season by some distance. To draw against a team who were down to ten men just before half time and only nine men with 20 to go is unacceptable. Credit to Spelthorne Sports, who showed some lovely skill, defended doggedly at the end, and could easily have scored more than the one, but we didn't seem up for it. The ref did a good job more often than not by booking or sending off who he did when he did, but the addition of only two and a half minutes in the second half after copious substitutions and several minutes of time wasting by SS (going back to their keeper being booked on the hour for said offence) was laughable. In the first half, we started well then seemed to ease off very quickly. With the exception of Hughesy's well saved free kick, every shot we tried was either wide or the speed of a mobility scooter. Let's not forget SS had several decent efforts in the first half, not least that goal line clearance. I was a bit surprised by Lee Staples' straight red in the 44th (one of those "I've seen them given" decisions), but we should have kicked on from there. For the second week in a row, we stood like lemons and let an oppo player head home from a corner (needs sorting out in training), in this case a lovely corner from Johnno bulleted home by Perry Luckins, who showed his firebrand side by getting two yellows and off in the 72nd. By then we were already level, with Russ arrowing home a header from a corner in the 64th. Just like buses...Russ waits years for a goal then gets two on successive Saturdays. Our biggest problem was that we wanted to walk the ball home, especially through the middle. We may be good, but we're not Arsenal. Against 9 / 10 men, we should have used the wings more, spread the ball / passes, stretched SS across the pitch and tired them out. They're a decent club with friendly folk but, I'm afraid, I did find fault with Spelthorne Sports... 1) I found two hammers and a screwdriver lying on the grass on the flank opposite the main road. Remember the fuss we suffered in the press through no fault of our own when that ar$ehole from Chessington and Hook grabbed the fork from down our tunnel? The three tools I found were next to the pitch, for Christ's sake! 2) I thought in this league you were meant to play numbers 1 to 11 from the kick off? SS started the match with numbers 14, 15, 17 and 23 on the pitch. I hope the over-fussy ref makes note of this in the report that he'll probably finish on Monday. On the other hand, the Sports staff and supporters I met were good people...and they're not from Bedfont, which is always a plus! I don't expect to buy a beer at the social event on Thursday. After that performance, the team should be lining up to buy my drinks. You handed the said Tools in of course? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swifty Posted October 12, 2014 Share Posted October 12, 2014 No, I left the tools where they were. On reflection, I realise I was a bit harsh, and I also got my games mixed up - it was the Farnham Town game two weeks back when we conceded that other bullet header from a corner. Form naturally goes out of the window for derbies, but it was a shame that we weren't quite firing on all cylinders. In fairness, Bitz did bring out a couple of very good saves from the Sports keeper late on after marauding runs through (and, in one instance, round) the resolute defence, and sub Dan was unlucky with an athletic effort. I think we missed Elz in defence, and I guess it was the first time we'd had that defensive line-up and these things take time to gel. Not far off, though. You couldn't fault Sports for their resolute defending. They didn't park the bus all the time, either, as they were lively and threatening going forward. Naturally, you'll time waste when down to nine men to keep a point, but the ref was far too quick in finishing the half. We may not have scored in it, but he should definitely have doubled the amount of second half stoppage time. The pitch didn't look bumpy, but it had an unusual camber. I stood on opposite diagonal flanks for the two halves and, on both, occasions, it looked like we were playing uphill! Looks like I'll have to buy my own drinks on Thursday, then! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevchenko Posted October 12, 2014 Author Share Posted October 12, 2014 Yes the one thing I overlooked was the disgraceful amount of time than wasn't added on 2mins and 30secs when it should have been in my estimation around 7 - 8 minutes.... Its pure conjecture whether we would have scored but the correct amount of time needs to be played and not the first time this season the officials watches appear to be in some kind of "time warp" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith B Posted October 12, 2014 Share Posted October 12, 2014 Eddie - I know at least four Ashford devotees that are from Bedfont, and fine upstanding people they are. Your comment was regionalist and I hereby rebuke you. Nothing really wrong with that, it just shows that on the Greater London side of the A30 some people are fussy about who we support and where we spend our time and money! I also know that CB Hounslow are run by people just across the road from me in Bedfont, and they are a Club often complimented, with good plans for their future, and not a penny from the Hounslow Council Tax Payer unlike the Club you refer to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swifty Posted October 12, 2014 Share Posted October 12, 2014 Oh God, not another complaint.... You wouldn't have guessed it, but it was meant as a tongue-in-cheek remark about the problems we used to have with our old Combined Counties sparring partners who are no more. When they made a final our committee would go and support them, and when we made a final their committee would come and support our opposition. Nothing meant against our supporters or CB Hounslow United, or indeed the other sides playing down Hatton Road these days.. One of the problems I have is that I sometimes over-emphasise things or post stuff without checking it first or counting to ten. Another problem is that I'm one of the few people who actually bothers to make comments on this forum. There were others who felt similar to me yesterday who won't need to justify their views as as they haven't made them known on the net. I've decided to go and watch Bognor away on the 25th instead of doing the tannoy (give everyone a break - maybe I should pack in doing the mic completely after Harefield United), and I'm not sure if I'll turn up on Thursday, as that might not be the right move after this thread. No excuses but the last month has been rough personally, I had a bit of awkward news just before my email last night which admittedly clouded my judgement a bit, and I haven't been in the right frame of mind recently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swifty Posted October 12, 2014 Share Posted October 12, 2014 Actually, I forgot to mention a light-hearted moment before the game, when Johnno saw me walking to the ground, stopped his training session, called me by name, grinned and said I wouldn't be allowed in! Also good to see Gary Cambridge, who probably recognised me by the(deliberately bought) tangerine coat I've had since he captained our team! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith B Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 Eddie - my own comments were equally tongue in cheek. The mic, by the way, is poorer without you. As for the 25th, at least you're not contemplating going to Portsea Island!, though you would doubtless enliven the boring monotonous PUP chants from 15,000 stooges. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swifty Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 Hi Keith. Ah, that's the problem, you see. Without sound (or that knowing smirk of yours), it's difficult to tell exactly how a message is being related. Add to that the fact I've got a low threshold (not the best trait) and you can guess the rest. I hope Liam's girlfriend wasn't put off by Saturday and decides to turn up again! I forgot to mention Weighty (currently out injured) was also drawn to the big local derby and had a quick natter. It was a right cavalcade of stars next to the A308! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith B Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 Ah! The A308 - there's another thought. After seeing two balls punted over the fence and onto the A308 (one which I heard as it hit a parked vehicle), I did wonder whether any moving vehicles were ever hit and what the consequences for the motorists and others could be. Potentially dangerous, I would think, given it is a fast moving road. I wonder who would be legally liable in the event of death or serious injury on the public highway from a football match on adjacent private land? If Spelthorne Sports continue to waste time like that an accident is even more likely (and those two punts I saw were in the first half!). I suspect that if the people like the mad bikers and car drivers who were heard hurtling along the A308 from time to time are typical, then it would be an accident waiting to happen. No such danger at the RPS, unless you count punts that can clear the Short Lane trees, when the aircraft would even be in danger on the wrong end of a Tony Nolan free-kick or penalty! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B378 Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 After a few days, thought I'd post up my thoughts on Saturdays game. It was one of those days whereby your glass was either half full or half empty. Before kick-off if we'd been offered an away point against a fancied team, most would have accepted it. However afterwards and being against 9 men for most of the second half, it seems not so much as a point gained as a 2 points dropped. Thought we had enough chances in the first half alone to win the game, but for whatever reasons we seemed to have had left our shooting boots at home. The shots that were on target did not have enough power in them to trouble the Spelthorne keeper. Spelthorne always looked dangerous from corners and did score from a set play out wide, and also flashed a header just over from another late on. As for the playing surface!?! At the game on Saturday I was frustrated in the fact that we couldn't overcome 9 men and to be honest I think it's the weakest performance we've had this season. But upon reflection Spelthorne just put everyone behind the ball and continually persisted in time-wasting tactics. Would we not have done the same in similar circumstances? We as a club, both the team and supporters, perhaps have been spoilt after the recent winning streak. And in actual fact this recent result might be just what we need in turn to make us realise that getting out of this league is not going to be as easy as some of us may of thought it would be. Whilst taking nothing for granted, let's hope it galvanises us into working harder and supporting the team, and who knows what we can achieve together as a club. Anyway that game has gone, there's nothing we can do but move on. Here's to tonight away to Chessington & Hook, hopefully see some of you there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swifty Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 Good points made there. I never expected this division to be easy, far from it, but to have this number of teams with almost 100% records after a quarter of the season shows the quality we're up against. Even sides at the wrong end of the table have played some fine football, Farnham Town being the easiest example to remember. Saturday's result may indeed be exactly what we needed. In fairness, I'm delighted so many players from the tail end of last season stayed with us and have shown the camaraderie and determination to try and get us back up pronto. Even if it doesn't happen, just try to compare the start of last season to the start of this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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