Heybridge game

[Chris1]

We didn’t have much shape today, what with injuries and so on. The opponents had the midfield for much of the game, reducing us to hopeful long balls. Possession was about 50-50 but much of ours was crossfield passing with not much to show for it.

 

Not many chances in the first half, the two best to Heybridge: off the bar and saved. They took the game to us for much of the second half. The goal came after a prolonged period of pressure during which SCS forced a striker to shoot wide, and then blocked a snorter. Heybridge had a number of other chances in that half, a couple of which went wide when it would almost have been easier to score.

 

We did have a few chances towards the end, mainly after we changed formation.

 

Losing two experienced defenders near the start was always going to make it tough for us. Trotty came off with (presumably) a recurrence of his bad knee. Jacko took a bad knock, tried to play on after treatment, but only made it worse. You could see he was in a lot of pain as he hobbled off.

 

Defence (after the early subs): Protheroe, Wild, Donovan, Standen. To be fair the makeshift defence did a reasonable job for most of the match, but were unsettled by the pressure leading up to the goal.

 

It looked as if it might get interesting when their sub striker Frankis, an international sprinter, came up against Donovan and Wild, however we were not to see their sprinting skills tested. Standen had a good game staying deep, but Wild was too error-prone for my liking.

 

SCS stopped some hard shots and closed down forwards well a couple of times. Looked a bit hesitant on occasions, and his throwing out tended to put players in trouble again.

 

Midfield: Yiga, Saunders, McKimm, Abbott. We looked lightweight on the left of midfield most of the game. On the right Yiga is not the finished article and gives the ball away far too often. However at least he tried to get crosses in to the forwards, which is more than you can say of McKimm/Abbott. Towards the end he played with more confidence, got into the box more and had a couple of decent attempts.

 

Up front we were not getting the service until very near the end, which I will talk about in a minute. Pinnock played deep for long periods, and when he gets the ball he tends to have his back to the goal, and his first touch takes him about another 10 yards in the wrong direction. That’s fine if you are on the edge of the opponents’ box, but not so good if you are in the centre circle.

 

Danny worked hard all game, played unselfishly, and might well have scored if the match had gone on a bit longer.

 

The change we made was to bring on Smith at right back (where once again he did a good job), allowing Proths to link with Jay in the midfield. Perhaps others saw it differently, but from my point of view that seemed to be when we started to own the midfield and press for a goal. Ok we didn’t get one, but that only happened right near the end.

 

Overall I thought we had too many changes forced on us. Presumably Skinner is injured, but Greg Oates also? Anyhow the best team won, and we couldn’t have complained if it had been a bigger margin.

 

Trotty, please play Proths behind Jay in central midfield, with wingers who can take on defenders and get crosses in. Jacko if fit, and Greg spring to mind. Go shopping if we haven’t got the depth.

 

My MOM: Jay Saunders, good ball control and work rate, seems always to have time to think, and almost always finds a team-mate without putting him in trouble.

 

Oh, one last thing: those Swift Chicks (or whatever they were called) were quite something. The dancing may not have been up to much, but the sight of half a dozen hot babes cavorting on the pitch cheered me up considerably! One even scored at half time (a goal that is). It must be an Essex thing because they do it at Southend too. That’s not to say the idea couldn’t be imported into Kent though...

[michael]

Thanks for report Chris.

 

As you say, Yiga not the finished article as a 'wideman'.

I think he can do a job alongside Danny upfront though.

 

I see the 'third' striker we should have and had a chance to resign-Elis Remy- got a hat-trick today.Think thats about 6 goals in 6 games for him

[I am Spartacus]

Thankyou again for a good summary of the match Chris.

[Boney Crisp]

we were really poor today not many out there looked like they wanted to win the game. Today also proved that Yiga is not good enough at this level, but i do feel sorry for him as he was trying really hard, but nothing provaled from it. I thought Abbot was very poor today and in the second half Heybridge were ripping our defenders to peices. I think the worst aspect of our game today was our passing, when ever we looked to be going forward with the ball we lost it through a bad pass. All the games i have watched margate in Essex have been really poor, Billericay, Redbridge, Heybridge and Chelmsford i think i may be a bad omen.

[michael]

I was thinking the same about Essex today.

 

I hardly ever go to Essex because of geography,but i was also thinking this afternoon how we hardly ever beat any team from essex at away games

[Boney Crisp]

Not looking forward for the Billericay away game, week tuesday. Prove me wrong Gate.

[michael]

Oddly enough i'm working on being able to go to that game so if it happens, we may break the sequence.

 

(it could yet be a Tuesday night in Potters Bar instead though !!)

[Chris1]

A couple of things I forgot to mention:

 

The ref (Mr Crouch) had a good game and so did the linos. No bookings (although DS tried his best).

 

Crowd was given as 260 - didn't look that many. We must have taken about 70.

 

The singing was more subdued than normal, and no drum. The home supporters had one, but not as good as ours is usually.

[Boney Crisp]

we tried singing as much as we could, but there was only half of the choir there, so even more work was asked of us.

[MargateFan]

Thought that Saunders had the best game since he rejoined us. Very tough tackler, but likes to win them.

Standen excellent when he came on, passes very good, nice positional sense, did not lose his rag and saved us goal number 2 when Scott was defeatd by Frankis.

Smith coming on made a difference, in that Protheroe could get further forward, and we got more into the box. Lee is more creative in midfield than at right back.

Hope Jimmy recovers soon, tried to run his thigh injury off, but it got the better of him, limping badly afterwards.

[Frankie100]

, one last thing: those Swift Chicks (or whatever they were called) were quite something. The dancing may not have been up to much, but the sight of half a dozen hot babes cavorting on the pitch cheered me up considerably!.......That’s not to say the idea couldn’t be imported into Kent though...

 

 

If you are free at half time June, what do you think?????

[MargateFan]

Excellent idea, any other old biddies out there? It could be like the calendar girls!

[Gate Watcher]

Agree with Chris. Think he's called it pretty accurately as usual.

 

I know I was complaining when Cookie gave player ratings earlier in the season but I will do now. I think we've reached a point where I'm starting to develop a fair picture of players and the ratings are deserved.

 

Chalmers-Stevens 9. great game, had so much to do in the second half and could do little about the goal as it seemed to be point blank.

Protheroe 7. once Jacko went off we used him a lot and he got forward and put in some good crosses

Jackson 7. good until he was forced off through injury. Got forward all the time and this really hit us when he went off early on.

Wild 7. did his best as always.

Trott 6. injured early on.

McKimm 5. doesnt seem to be a midfield force these days.

Saunders 8. Ran his socks off and worked hard, great tackling. Seems to be a step ahead and was a class above.

Abbott 5. Poor. Seems to huff and puff with no end product. Needs to improve if we are to get promotion.

Yiga 4. He tried hard and did a lot of running. First touch lets him down time after time and I can't think of anything that he did that actually benefitted the team. There must be a better option in the reserves.

Pinnock 6. Lack of service, had our only proper chance and went very close. Possibly our most talented outfield player in the squad but first touch was a bit off yesterday. Pitch looked crap though.

Hockton 7. Great positonal sense. Did the best he could with the service he got.

Donovan 6.

Standen 7. solid, held his position well.

Smith. not on for long enough.

 

Hopefully that's Yiga's last game in a Gate shirt. He got us out of a hole on the FA Cup ok but he's nowhere near good enough.

[michael]

I think the jury is still out on Yiga, but maybe his best(and only) position to benefit the team is as a 'third' striker.

It may be a bit unfair to be asking Yiga to play out wide.

 

Well played D Standen-very valuable player to the 'Gate.

 

Maybe it is time to give Steve McQueen a rest and let Dean bring some bite to midfield.

I still think Steve McKimm will come good though once the weather turns for the worse, and you need the seasoned tough campaigners like Steve out there pulling for you.

[MargateFan]

I agree about Yiga, he is not as effective out wide, in the centre he causes more problems for defenders.

I also prefer Proths and Jimmy to play further forward, because we lose a lot of creativity when they are playing too far back - both can pass and cross, and we are not getting enough into the box. When the ball is in the box there is always a chance it can find the net. Danny and Pinns both had at least two defenders on them yesterday in most moves and it is expecting a lot from them to be able to combat that, and turn, and shoot, all from distance. Plus there is no-one available for the rebound if it comes.

[Gate Watcher]

The midfield was so deep. Granted, Heybridge are a very quick attacking team but it was always going to be difficult to score when a) there was little help from the wingers so our only service came from Protheroe's balls in from full back and the midfield was so far from the two strikers that all the seconds were taken by Heybridge and then they used this to then put our defence back under pressure. That was pretty much the last 60 minutes in a nutshell.

[Eastside Urchin]

what are they like,we have them in a league cup tie on tuesday at their place,heard they are a good side but what do they compare like to borehamwood as we beat them last week,anyone????

[Gate Watcher]

Fairly similar teams. The difference was that Borehamwood took their chances and Heybridge only took one against us which is strange as Heybridge have the better strikers. Defence is not all that though so you have a fair chance.

[Eastside Urchin]

so we could be in poo poo on tuesday then!!!

[MargateFan]

They use the full width of the pitch, and have pace out there, so you need to have a strategy to combat that.