Just Back

I was at the game and managed to hear JT's half time summary on humberside over the internet.
I couldn't quite believe how slanted it was.

Town started OK but the back 4 had problems most of the night. I personally have to say that this wasn't a sudden drop in our defending ability but have to give credit to Hyde. Their energy was brilliant and some of their approach play was really quite good. Town were blowing after a few minutes of defending to keep up with them and the first goal wasn't a complete surprise, although a clear blooper by McKeown. Hyde's passing and movement around the box in the first 20-25 minutes of the game was as good as I've seen this season.

Their second goal was down to the defence completely switching off - think it was Wood who let it drift past him, probably thinking it was going out for a goal kick, overlooking their player on the far post.

After that we had plenty of possession but Hyde were defending solidly. Both wings seemed lively and plenty of decent crosses were made but we didn't have much in the centre to convert the chances. Marshall took his chance brilliantly from an near impossible angle though.

Seconf half and it was a different Hyde that came out. They were completely subdued and it was no surprise we equalised. At this point the whole team were playing with confidence and it looked like we were the likely winners. Wwe had plenty of action around the goal but lacked composure when it mattered. Hyde brought on a sub and had a couple of minutes of supremacy when of course they scored again. A big deflection gave McKeown no chance, but once again Hyde's movement had pulled the defenders out of position.

Overall, I actually enjoyed an entertaining game (as much as you can with a defeat), except for the foul-mouthed lout standing nearby that swore and bad-mouthed the team the whole night. Tw@ this and Cnt that. Thank you Mr Anonymous for spoiling my entertainment. I couldn't believe how negative he was and almost revelled in the fact tht he was proved right when we lost.

In summary, I thought we were OK and possibly deserved a point. Their No2 should have been dismissed after 2 minimum yellow (possibly straight reds) for which he instead received a ticking off. Would have been a different game for sure. In any case, this sort of game just proves how ludicrously difficult it is to get out of this division. Poorly performing teams putting in class performances when they come across one of the 'bigger' teams. We don't look like champion material, but with a little run I can still see us finishing top, merely by default as there's not that much competition.

God, were missing Hearn's goals though.

Fair summing up but i think you flatter Hyde a little.

Giving two goals away so early makes it ridiculously difficult and they were GIVEN away.

Early sub of Thanoj for Niven worked well for most of the game with the youngsters ability to pick and pass and switch play a god send. Great finish from Hannah although his touch had initially been heavy and when we drew level i thought we would win comfortably.

Their winner came on one of the few occasions they broke forward and the scorer had time to take a touch, steady himself, before shooting which deflected off Thomas into the corner of the net. Would Niven have closed him down? Possibly but the positives from Thanoj outshone any negatives For 20 minutes prior to this we were rampant. Using both wings and creating chances, although primarily these resulted in scrambles.

There was still plenty of time but going 3-2 down pannicked us. Rather than continue what we were doing we made the substituation and went very direct. It never worked and we faded from a position of dominance.

The ref was shocking. The number 2 had to be a family member. To not recieve any card for the first two challenges on the lively Marshall was inexcuseable.However, he didnt gift Hyde their two goal head start, we did.

I though Pond looked assured, Thanoj passed and probed, Marshall was a threat and looked twice the player I saw last Saturday and Hannah took both goals well and showed for the ball all night

Agree with Hazdy about the loud mouth gobshite. I was far enough away for him not to spoil my evening but nevertheless his abuse of the team he supports was totally out of order

Quoted Text

Overall, I actually enjoyed an entertaining game (as much as you can with a defeat), except for the foul-mouthed lout standing nearby that swore and bad-mouthed the team the whole night

Was he right at the back of the stand, towards the kiosk corner? I was yards from him and wanted to nut him. Yes it was a poor performance but no need for some of his hissyfits.

These are the type of fans we don't want they don't have anything positive to say even if we played excellent they just want to moan it's pees me off unfortunately you will never get rid of these fans my dad says they've been around since the late 70's and often remain in the main behind the dugout making sure they are heard I guess it's because they think they are managers.

Quoted from AdamHaddock

Was he right at the back of the stand, towards the kiosk corner? I was yards from him and wanted to nut him. Yes it was a poor performance but no need for some of his hissyfits.

It's ok tippy tapping on a keyboard but for felicitations sake make sure you're up to the job. It has a habit of biting you in the bottom at times.  

Two p1ss poor goals to give away from another slow start. Conditions maybe helped them with the goals but still errors.

Settled down and started to dominate as the first half wore on but too many times half decent crosses went begging. Too many occassions where the ball was half cleared but no players had anticipated this, opting to attack the initial cross, someone needs to think...hang on if i hold back i may get the second ball.

Also very few efforts from range on a wet and greasy surface which was disappointing. A couple of goalmouth scrambles, shots when passing square would have been the better option and a huge slice of luck for their winner.

Overall we didnt do enough to win it and to be honest not sure we even deserved to draw it, twenty minutes out of ninety is not good enough. Too flat and predictable for long periods.

S Pearson looked uncomfortable,
Disley woeful
Macca error shook his confidence and looked jittery for rest of the half
Cook battled on despite getting a hefty whack late first half and i thought he did ok today.
Pond for me M.O.M

Ref was a disgrace for not flashing yellows for the two early fouls on Marshall.

Had a feeling we would lose tonight and despite a good fight back i would not begrudge Hyde their victory. It had to end somewhere just a shame it was as a result of our own errors.

Had to listen to it on the radio., but again before Thanoj came on it sounded that our midfield was failing again . Niven and Disley , it just doesn't work .

Poor performances from Thomas, Disley, Niven and Wood made us look very vulnerable. Two sloppy errors cost us but we did bounce back and get level. Then we just took our foot off the gas for some reason. Why we didn't test the kepper with some long range shots (had plenty of opportunities) I'll never know as the surface was very greasy. When Pearson came on I thought he was woeful, particularly his first touch and lack of control. Elding should have been at least on the bench, but I understand you can't pick everyone. For a part time outfit their fitness levels were good. I thought Marshall played well, but faded a bit towards the end.

On a positive note, the support from Town fans never ceases to amaze me. We must have outnumbered the home fans and no wonder small teams up their game as they want us to come back again next year.

Quoted from Meza

These are the type of fans we don't want they don't have anything positive to say even if we played excellent they just want to moan it's pees me off unfortunately you will never get rid of these fans my dad says they've been around since the late 70's and often remain in the main behind the dugout making sure they are heard I guess it's because they think they are managers.

Like most of the posters on here then.  

The Town support was absolutely amazing, and the roar that greeted the equaliser was enough to shatter ear drums. For a mid week cross country game it was phenomenal support, and it's a pity we couldn't come back with something to show for it, but that's football. Was in the Sportsman's Bar before the game adn 9 different real ales to choose from at £2.30 a pint, and enjoyed the chilli, rice and chips at a mind boggling £2.50. Some pub!

The pub was top - wish I had had time for the chilli but I did manage to get a couple of pints of very palatable bitter down!

Quoted from jock dock tower

The Town support was absolutely amazing, and the roar that greeted the equaliser was enough to shatter ear drums. For a mid week cross country game it was phenomenal support, and it's a pity we couldn't come back with something to show for it, but that's football. Was in the Sportsman's Bar before the game adn 9 different real ales to choose from at £2.30 a pint, and enjoyed the chilli, rice and chips at a mind boggling £2.50. Some pub!

That sounds a real bargain when compared to the old  BP Chesseburger  

Quoted from FishOutOfWater

That sounds a real bargain when compared to the old  BP Chesseburger  

Better than the pawn sandwich brigade  

Quoted from STB

Better than the pawn sandwich brigade  

How much do you get for a sandwich nowadays?

Well proof if we didn't already know it that you cannot afford to give teams a two goal start and then control a game. However, there can't have been many Town fans who were there who didn't expect us to go on and win once we'd pulled level.
As Chris said the reason that we didn't was almost solely because we abandoned a style of play that had eventually seen us score twice to replace it with the long punt up the field for Pearson to try to make something of.
I doubt if I go to every Town game for the next 20 years I'll see so many costly mistakes made in one 90 minutes.
Those on the way out of the game suggesting that McKeown should now be dropped after his howler for their first goal need to have a strong word with themselves. He had no chance with the second goal where Bradley inexplicably allowed the ball to go under his foot and the deflection for the third was wicked.

Pond had the best of the defensive performances but he didn't have much competition. Hannah took his goals very well and with some better support and vision from Colbeck and Disley could well have had at least a hat trick. Marshall carried on where he left off on Saturday and in the process showed Colbeck how wing play should be carried out.

Biggest disappointment for me was Disley who, if he'd been a racehorse would surely have been the subject of a doping investigation. He lost the ability to tackle pass and judging by the decent chance he blazed over the bar...shoot. Contrary to previous posters in this thread though I believe the substitution of Niven may have had a detrimental effect on Disley and rather than them not being able together they are forming a good partnership in which Thanoj couldn't fill the void. Mr Niven was distinctly unhappy at being hauled off...it must be catching.  

Quoted from barralad

Contrary to previous posters in this thread though I believe the substitution of Niven may have had a detrimental effect on Disley and rather than them not being able together they are forming a good partnership in which Thanoj couldn't fill the void. Mr Niven was distinctly unhappy at being hauled off...it must be catching.  

Certainly not pointing the finger at Niven but if players on the pitch could help to avoid the poor starts I guess it wouldn't even be an issue.
Sub makes perfect sense to me - chasing the game you hardly want a more defensive minded stopper.

I do see your point barra but surely we can't always rely solely on certain partnerships ?
Who knows when injury or suspension may strike anyway and more players get used to playing with different partners, the more you'd hope we might "gel" as a squad ?
Did Thanoj not play well too ? Sounded like he did quite well on RH.

Thanks to you and all for the great reports.

Quoted from 1600

Certainly not pointing the finger at Niven but if players on the pitch could help to avoid the poor starts I guess it wouldn't even be an issue.
Sub makes perfect sense to me - chasing the game you hardly want a more defensive minded stopper.

I do see your point barra but surely we can't always rely solely on certain partnerships ?
Who knows when injury or suspension may strike anyway and more players get used to playing with different partners, the more you'd hope we might "gel" as a squad ?
Did Thanoj not play well too ? Sounded like he did quite well on RH.

Thanks to you and all for the great reports.

I think the substitution was definitely the right move. I'm just trying to look for a reason for Disley's non-performance. Certainly a lot more of the responsibility for getting stuck in fell on his shoulders preventing him from being the attacking force of recently. He would never have got much help in that department from either Marshall or Colbeck and it isn't Thanoj forte either.

I don't think we can RELY on certain partnerships but they are often a reason why teams perform well. I don't see anyone talking about splitting up our current central defensive partnership...

Quoted from barralad

I think the substitution was definitely the right move. I'm just trying to look for a reason for Disley's non-performance. Certainly a lot more of the responsibility for getting stuck in fell on his shoulders preventing him from being the attacking force of recently. He would never have got much help in that department from either Marshall or Colbeck and it isn't Thanoj forte either.

Certainly a good point.  
Suppose it's swings and roundabouts ?

Quoted from barralad

I don't think we can RELY on certain partnerships but they are often a reason why teams perform well. I don't see anyone talking about splitting up our current central defensive partnership...

Erm, which one do you mean ?  
Pearson and Pond ?