Just Back

Where do I start ?

Well we deserved to win but it was not a great game,

The ref spoilt it by stopping the game every few minutes,

It was not a dirty game but the Ref managed to book 6 of our team and one of theirs,

We played 4-5-1 and do not listen to Hurst if he says anything different,

Braintree was no threat and one goal was always going to win it,

That goal came from a Clay shot from 25 yards that was only partly stopped by their keeper,

John Lewis was on hand to smash it into the net for the winner,

Nobody played badly the team worked hard and did what they had to do,

Pittman came on near the end just in time to get booked,

I have a sore throat with shouting at that useless Ref,

Finally it was good to see John Fenty with a smile on his face after the game.

A tough game which did not produce a great number of chances. We were the better side and had the better chances although neither side were particularly enterprising near the other's goal. LJL worked hard but often looked isolated. I would say Toto was our MOM - he was dominant at the back. Magnay was his usual steady self.

I'd guess there was probably 350 ish Mariners. It definitely sounded like we made up 50% of the crowd.

Special mention for the ref who issued far too many yellows. Not a bad challenge in the game with no niggle between the teams.

A fairly dour game but one in previous years we wouldn't have won. It was good to see a Town goal in 4 attempts at their place!

Interested to hear what other Mariners thought of the game.................

PS the houses near the ground are have going to win any architectural awards.

Quoted from grimsby pete

We played 4-5-1 and do not listen to Hurst if he says anything different

That's what was said on RH too Pete.
I mean the 4-5-1 bit !

Just back myself, by no means a classic but only one team that looked like they we going to win. Braintree didn't threaten us at all really.

Town fans were fantastic tonight as per usual away from home.

Apparently Pittman got booked for kicking the ball away when it wasn't even him! Lol.

Very strange game.we were never comfortable despite the fact we played some excellent stuff at times and that Braintree only had one decent chance. There was always the danger we'd concede at a set piece or that the hilarious ref would give a soft penalty.am not convinced by our defending at set pieces.we were brilliant for the first 20 but still couldn't create a chance.the pace we have these days is frightening, but have to say Braintree were quick and resolute.
Just one of those games where both defences were the strongest units, but we edged it from a speculative clay shot,which was almost our only shot on target.probably deserved it as we were classier and more enterprising.
Thought Alan 'the gardener' Massey handled the shop as well as anyone I've seen and shop hardly won a header all night.just wish he'd played up against the tall 31 who looked far more insecure.also thought their little 26 in central midfield looked decent.
Nobody had an outstanding game but all played their part. Toto was good as was magny. Best game I've seen mackreth play.thomas and Arnold were a constant threat.clay and Disley were strong and busy in midfield.pell was a bit of a disappointment.some great touches but a bit off the pace and is hardly a human Dynamo!. Shop was busy and a handful as usual.dont think I was the only town fan who thought his fierce rising shot for the goal was going to end up going out the ground! Glad to have seen history .our first goal and win at our bogey ground.well battled town, the sort of game that teams who go up have to win

Should add the ref was funny but half The cautions were for kicking the ball away.do pro footballers have a brain?
Ps Pittman definitely did kick or nudge the ball away in order to disrupt Braintree so it was deserved

Deserved victory.
Not silky football but as we know, Braintree is a hard place to go. The pitch looked ok but the ball bobbled about most of the night and it was never easy to play.

My MOM was Toto but lots of decent performances. Took a mate with me, he had never seen either side and he thought Aswad was quality.

I am a great believer that momentum is vital and continuity too.

Long way to go for all. The posting of last seasons league table after a similar number of games shows that. Some teams come from nowhere whilst some fall by the wayside. Strap yourselves in. We are going on the roller coaster!!!

Regarding comments about it being another tight game, I was surprised to note that no fewer than 8 teams in our division have conceded a goal a game or less so far this season. This seems a pretty high figure to me. A quick look through past seasons indicates that usually just 3 or 4 teams manage to defend this well so things look like they are going to be tighter this season. Makes these narrow victories all the more important.

According to Braintree fans on their forum we will still be here next season.   Lol how can they make an assessment one just one game.  

Quoted from Meza

According to Braintree fans on their forum we will still be here next season.   Lol how can they make an assessment one just one game.  

What all 9 of them ?

What a Braintree supporter knows about football isn't worth knowing.

Quoted from Meza

According to Braintree fans on their forum we will still be here next season.   Lol how can they make an assessment one just one game.  

Many on here seem to.

Quoted from Meza

According to Braintree fans on their forum we will still be here next season.   Lol how can they make an assessment one just one game.  

Ugly 1-0 wins away from home? That's what Champions are made of!  

Always interesting to read the 'Just Back' thread when you've listened to the match on RH.

The impression I got from listening to John Tondeur was:
* Clay and Magnay had their worst games for Town this season
* Mackreth was a virtual spectator who should have been subbed at half-time
* Pell did very little of note
* Toto, though defensively OK, gave away possession too often with misdirected upfield punts
* Arnold was our biggest threat 1st half, but faded 2nd
* LJL was often isolated and up against a good CB (this seems generally agreed)
* Disley put in a MOM performance in a defensive midfield role
* You could have trained an orang-utan to referee the match better (this seems generally agreed)

Oh well, many people can watch the same match and all see it differently.
Probably a big part of football's appeal.

Quoted from 137

Always interesting to read the 'Just Back' thread when you've listened to the match on RH.

The impression I got from listening to John Tondeur was:
* Clay and Magnay had their worst games for Town this season ( It wasnt Clays best game but Magnay was......Magnay)
* Mackreth was a virtual spectator who should have been subbed at half-time ( i wonder who it was on the highlights skinning the full back and crossing)
* Pell did very little of note
* Toto, though defensively OK, gave away possession too often with misdirected upfield punts (defensively outstanding IMO but there were 2 or 3 long balls in the 2nd half that were too long
* Arnold was our biggest threat 1st half, but faded 2nd
* LJL was often isolated and up against a good CB (this seems generally agreed) The tall centre back, a loanee looked decent but if JT thought Toto played some aimless balls the No6 hammered the ball 4 miles in the air or into the stand at every opportunity-I'd have been embarrassed to play like that)
* Disley put in a MOM performance in a defensive midfield role
* You could have trained an orang-utan to referee the match better (this seems generally agreed) No dissenters for that one

Oh well, many people can watch the same match and all see it differently.
Probably a big part of football's appeal.

Quoted from 137

Always interesting to read the 'Just Back' thread when you've listened to the match on RH.

The impression I got from listening to John Tondeur was:
* Clay and Magnay had their worst games for Town this season
* Mackreth was a virtual spectator who should have been subbed at half-time
* Pell did very little of note
* Toto, though defensively OK, gave away possession too often with misdirected upfield punts
* Arnold was our biggest threat 1st half, but faded 2nd
* LJL was often isolated and up against a good CB (this seems generally agreed)
* Disley put in a MOM performance in a defensive midfield role
* You could have trained an orang-utan to referee the match better (this seems generally agreed)

Oh well, many people can watch the same match and all see it differently.
Probably a big part of football's appeal.

Exactly the impression I got from listening too. Well put.  

I think BC's remarks add more depth and perspective though, so thankful for that.

I sort of don't care about the detail of last night. All about the result for me. We found a way to win. Big smiles and lots of credit all round for that, beacuse that's what you need to do if you want to get promoted.

What we need now, is to break the trend of recent seasons and take it forward from here through Christmas into early spring, taking the inevitable setbacks on the chin, but not fading or falling into the old familiar traps, losing focus or quality. We must be better at home. Said it a million times. In addition to helping us to acquire points, it will tackle issues around attendance, atmosphere, revenue, 'negativity' etc - all topics hotly debated on here recently.

Quoted from chaos33

Exactly the impression I got from listening too. Well put.  

Exactly my impressions too.
Winger drifts out of game shocker...

Quoted from chaos33

We must be better at home. Said it a million times.

tbh I thought we were ! (good post though)

If energy saved 2nd half v Dartford means it helped beat Braintree, then much as I'd LOVE to see a cricket score (and feel it may get us really buzzing again), I'm tempted to say b0llocks to "entertainment" too.

Let's face it chaos, we could win 12-0 and some (at least on here) are never gonna be "buzzing" until we secure promotion ?
Or am I wrong ?

If I AM wrong, maybe the FA Cup is the "nothing to lose / everything to gain" type fixture we can use to our advantage right now.

For me, how much "welly" we put in trying to rack up a feast of goals and entertainment largely depends on whether those playing Saturday also play on Tuesday.

So perhaps I'd just be happy scraping a 1-0...

Agreed. I think you're right.

Give us a tick then !
I gave you one. (oooer)

Quoted from BIGChris

Oh well chris we will have to disagree. Thought Alan had ljl under control and ljl scarcely won a header all night. I wished he'd gone and played up against the 21 coz I felt he was accident prone.gangly and never looked in control of the defensive situations.Alan was v solid in comparison