Silence of the Lambs

[b][/b] Always get worried by the players walking slowly and casually onto a pitch before a match. Lets do away with the pre-match hand shakes - waste of time. Shake a man's hand after a game for a fair and square fight.
First of all what a shocking pitch - more slopes than Val D'Isere. It had gradients all over the place and needs a good flattening.
First half never got going and our fans were strangely quiet. Two drummers who never got us going.
Thank god for the banter with the young stewards who took plenty of stick in good spirit. Always feel their presence is over the top and encourages unwanted attention - especially with the sneaky cameras on their sleeves. Reminded me of Morecambe semi-final in '08 when coppers blatently pointed cameras at fans throughout match.
Tamworth were solid at the back but lacked any cutting edge going forward. We just struggled to break them down in first 45.
Second half, different story. Town attacked with purpose and the fans came alive. Debutant Marshall worked his socks off, great effort and a handful for their right back all day.
Elding copped some stick but for a big lad who does go down way too easily and blames everyone else. Just isn't cutting it at the moment and can see why some of the fans have had enough of him.
Colbeck put in some decent corners and Cook did well in a busy area to score. That's when we should have gone for it and laid siege.
Oji's tackle looked a shocker and can't believe his reaction. Silly sod had to walk half way around the pitch too as he wouldn't go off in time. Good job he didn't come past the away end as he would've been skinned alive.
Pond scored what looked like a corking header and was my man of the match. Class player, cool under pressure and can leap like a gazelle.
Colbeck forced a good save from their odd looking pint-size keeper and we should have wrapped the game up.
Instead we fecked about with the ball, trying to waste time. Their three subs pepped them up and they could have grabbed a point.
At the end of the game some of their lads were laid flat out on the floor, Taylor was limping and Scott jumped onto the pitch to celebrate.
Tamworth offered nothing and their fans were shocking.Skipper  Lee Hendrie tossed his armband on the floor when subbed which kind of summed them up. Not one song or chant all 90 minutes - just like a library!
We still need a goal scoring striker but with the Jan window around the corner and Hearn on his way back it could all come very nicely together. Well done town.
Here are my match ratings out of 10
McKeown - 7 - Very little to do, pulled off one finger tip save second half - stupidly booked for timewasting
Thomas - 7 - Hungry, quick and very capable, threatened all afternoon up left wing
Miller - 7 - Giving Pearson a run for his money, solid and durable
Pond - 9 Head and shoulders above the rest, class act
Wood - 7 - Worked hard and great movement down right wing
Niven - 7- Solid display though guilty of a few wayward passes again
Disley -6 - Put in a shift but made some stupid mistakes, often wrong side of his man too
Colbeck - 7 - Great crosses, but went down too easily a few times, needs more confidence going forward
Marshall - 8 - Industrious debut, nice skills and skinned his opposition time after time
Elding - 5- Huffed and puffed but didn't do the business
Hannah 7- Quick and willing, must keep him
Subs:
Cook - 7 - Took his goal well and put himself about, should not be putting in crosses though
Southwell & Artus - Only had a few minutes each - Didn't do anything wrong though Frankie has grown a dodgy Blue Oyster Club tash!

Man of Match - Pond,
Moan of Match - Town fans way too quiet first half/shocking pitch
Moment of match - A generous Town fan kindly reminding Lee Hendrie he used to earn £40,000 a week at Villa and offering to drive him and fellow reject Peter Till to the Humber Bridge for an early bath
Miss of the match - McKeown's goal kick sliced straight over their main stand from a free kick
Match rating - 6/10

I agree with your Hannah comment, i wasn't at the game but at least he made the keeper make a couple of saves, unlike Elding who felicitations up any shot at goal...Go tpo Preston and give us a laugh you jumped up sharp object!

I enjoyed my day yesterday, the food inside the ground was absolutely fantastic, the stewards were friendly and took banter in good humour, pitch was terrible bobbles everywhere and that is why we had to play longball

I refer to my comments yesterday about their pitch... I had the misfortune to ref on it... bloody terrible...

should be the subject of some kind of punishment in all honesty... its unbelievable Jeff....  

From the commentary on the radio it sounded like it was a severe slope and looked like a ploughed field (according to JT)