Just Back...on the bus.

We got what we deserved tonight...nowt. The ref was dreadful but not really an excuse for such an all round poor performance. Mcatee was at best half fit and clearly uncomfortable when going off must be a big doubt for Saturday.
We massively missed Harry Clifton- not just for his workmate but his guile and sheer presence.
Bapaba and Sousa both had games to forget but thinking back over the season they've only rarely been in the position of trying to deal with two banks of five defenders who threw themselves at everything.
Lenny's usually reliable first touch let him down. Max Wright had about 25 minutes but I genuinely cannot remember him touching the ball such was the lack of invention and guile from the middle of the park.
High points were a masterful performance from Towler and bags of effort from the full backs and Waterfall.
Bad day at the office but a great chance to put it right on Saturday.

Safe trip home.
Certainly sounds like our worst performance of the season

These things happen. Let’s not be too hard or disappointed. Safe journey home you mariners.

Wealdstone just about got what they deserved. Echo what Barra says we really missed Clifton. First half I thought they played really well and deserved their lead.

Second half we really had a go but couldn’t break them down. On to the next game.

I liked hursts interview (again), very honest, said he may have to take responsibility for the side being unbalanced, but maybe that was making excuses for players not performing. Basically said not good enough though.

I'm surprised thought that revan never got the chance to go on given we were a bit flat and needed a goal. He's a more offensive type player than crookes so might have offered what we needed and worth the risk for him being less sound defensively.

One of those nights were the writing was on the wall after 10 minutes. In opinion Coke and Fox can’t start in midfield. We never got going in the first half . All the possession in the world and Wealdstone happy to camp in their own half in the second half but with no Hunt and Macatee going off no one to open it up. Badly missed Clifton and Taylor .Lennie contributed nothing. Referee poor . Wealdstone time wasting .Poor stand poor view. Thoroughly bad evening . A lot to do to put a side together that can win on Saturday,

What a shocker, we were pretty poor all over and thought Wealdstone deserved it. We lacked creativity and movement off the ball and struggled to get through their high line.
Don't like to criticise individuals but one or two had really off nights tonight and Saturday is going to be tough if we start without Taylor and McAtee
Shocking ground with dreadful views. Can't think of anything positive other than Maccas penalty save.

We lacked a bit of pace. Took too long getting the ball out wide giving them time to get organised. Ref was shocking. Pen was given when their player tripped himself up, ref had a clear view. If he was looking. We hardly got any decisions our way, except, amusingly, or a couple of dives by Willbap.

Safe trip home everyone on to Saturday

Herve and Kingston got it about right imho. Gritton's comments on Fox and Coke tends to support the poster's view that they can't play together. TBF Fox was probably our best player, but Coke just didn't contribute enough (as my mate pointed out they were more than happy to let him have the ball, and hardly closed him down 2nd half)
tone was set in the first 10 when we looked slow and there was no crispness in the passing or movement.They did to us what we have been doing to others - snapping into tackles , 'mobbing up' when we had the ball and winning 2nd balls - there were very few times when Sousa, Bapaga or Shop didn't have 2 or 3 players around them
i don't think we were helped by having 5 defensive players out there - needed fullbacks like efete or revan out there to make forward runs and cause them headaches. The fact that they doubled up on our wingers should've meant that there was plenty of space elsewhere, but it never looked like that

will need a big response to this poor display on Saturday, and without a new forward coming in and Clifton and McAtee as doubts it would look a big ask.
ps on lennie - tbf he didn't get much service and was isolated, but i do think he looks lost / ineffectual without someone to play off his hold up work
in all honesty we can't rely on 30+ Taylor and Mcatee to play 40 odd games and without them 2 we are painfully light - reinforcements needed and needed pdq!

Got what we deserved but what an arrogant, incompetent w@nker referee.

A bad day at the office all-round. Yet to be convinced by Bapaga to be honest. Think he highlighted what we missed due to Clifton’s absence.

Agree with the comments so far, a poor performance tonight. Never been that impressed by Coke especially last season too pedestrian for me and just didn't work with playing alongside Fox.

Hurst waited far too long to bring Hunt on and playing LJL as a lone striker never works.

Tonight summed it up for me, we need another striker in and possibly another midfielder as well.

Agree with most comments on here.

As solid as Crookes and Sears have been, these are the sort of games where we need the attacking abilities of Revan and Efete from full back to stretch a bank of five out wide. Towler and Fox were the only players that played anywhere near their best although the back four were generally solid against a powder puff attack. We looked a mess going forward, no cohesion or intelligent movement to stretch them and a lack of bodies getting into the box. Fox probed but there wasn't any forward passing with purpose until Hunt came on.

I agree with arryarryarry, definitely a forward needed, a back up for McAtee and another option in centre midfield. We lose three or four first choice players and we can look very average.

Don't care what anyone else says, we won't be winning promotion starting either Coke or LJL. Able late in the game substitutes maybe, but starters? Nah..

Wealdstone were ok. Best they've played all season apparently. An official of theirs told me they run on a playing budget of 8.5k per week but benefit from signing players who don't want to play full time because they have well paid jobs already. That sole advantage of being part time showed as I thought they had an excellent right back, two really good central defenders and a couple of decent midfielders too. That policy seems to work for them, although their left back was terrible and I couldn't believe we didn't have the nous to exploit that weakness. Didn't think much to them going forward either, but very very solid everywhere else, a bit like Maidenhead were. We have to work out ways to beat these sides.

Worst away facilities I've seen at this level, but hats off to the 800 or so that travelled, seemed a few more than that tbh

800 on the road for a Tuesday night!
7,000 at home on a Saturday!
Unbeaten at home!
Top of the League!

And we’re still not happy!

Quoted from exiledmeggie

800 on the road for a Tuesday night!
7,000 at home on a Saturday!
Unbeaten at home!
Top of the League!

And we’re still not happy!

As a team top of the table we’re able to hold ourselves to the highest of standards and if they’re not met people can voice their opinions.

I’ve hardly seen anybody moaning about it but all 800 of those are right to be unhappy, there are still some holes in this squad and injuries are starting to exploit them.

No doubt the team will get full backing on Saturday yet again.

Quoted from exiledmeggie

800 on the road for a Tuesday night!
7,000 at home on a Saturday!
Unbeaten at home!
Top of the League!

And we’re still not happy!

Not really, this was a massive missed opportunity. We can blame the ref if we like but he was an average national league official and we need to get used to it and stop using them as an excuse. We should have dismantled Wealdstone last night

Bad day at the office but always going to lose a few games here and there even if we finish the season top. Subs too late to make a difference. Couldn't really tell if we had a plan b or not.

Worried about Saturday without Mcatee and Taylor. Hoping for something unconventional maybe Sousa upfront with Max and Bapaga out wide. If Lennie gets 90 minutes we'll struggle.

Bad day at the office, feel for the fans who travelled. But we go again Saturday UTM

Quoted from buckstown

Not really, this was a massive missed opportunity. We can blame the ref if we like but he was an average national league official and we need to get used to it and stop using them as an excuse. We should have dismantled Wealdstone last night

I said before the game that with Wealdstone having their two key midfielders out this was the kind of game genuine title contenders should be expecting to win. I stand by that, however it’s possible that we’re starting to experience a bit of what Wrexham have faced all season in that we are a big, big scalp for some of the league’s smaller clubs.

I’m not suggesting we were complacent, but it sounds as if Wealdstone themselves were up for it, had a game plan and played well to a man. They deserve credit for that but it doesn’t sound like we matched them on all of those fronts last night, and that’s something we’ll need to look at.

All in all, these were the kind of nights I feared in coming down however I never in a million years dreamed we would start as well as we have or be top of the league at this stage. Time to dust ourselves down and prepare for a different kind of challenge in front of a packed a BP on Saturday.

If there was a sense of expectation and even complacency in the stands at the Yeovil game, I imagine last night’s result may add a bit of edginess to that. We’re not just gonna rock up every game and turn teams over for fun; they’re out there to beat us as much as we are them. A reminder of that might just have come at the right time.

Enjoyed the trip but not the result.

McAtee struggled with an injury and had to come off. His lack of fitness was evident from the start, and was impacted further once he was clattered. We need a striker in urgently for Saturday.

Sounds like PH is looking at stop gap solution up top with existing players being out of their natural position. Hope that isn’t the case and fingers crossed for some news this week.

Coke wasn’t at it, and it’s interesting to read the comments of Gritton, who felt he can’t play alongside Fox.

Missed HC massively. Missed Hunt too in my opinion.

Wealdstone seemed to have done their homework. Very compact defence and midfield that didn’t let anything in behind them. When faced with this, we just seemed to be clueless on how to open that up.

It’s one to put down to experience and learn from, because there will be other teams that realise that this is how to stop Town playing. Nothing to get too down about though.

If we are going to be champions then we will know how to put this aside and start again. Better still, If we lose back to back games on Saturday for the first time ever this season, then that will be a real test of our championship title credentials, to see how we can climb back to the top again.

The real nitty gritty of the season might just be around the corner and I’d urge any of those that are quick to moan, to stay positive and back the manager and the players like you do when things are going well. A bit of adversity and nip and tuck in a season is what makes football great

spoken to my mate this morning who was at the game
Mirrors everyone elses thoughts in that a new striker HAS to be a priority, he said Lennie was so isolated but that the ball bounced off him anyway
Ref was arrogant and let their keeper get away with murder but wasnt the reason we lost the game
we were flat and the effort was there just no end product at all

Rubbish ground, too many Town fans packed in the away end. Hardly saw anything in the second half. Yet huge areas of open terrace in the home areas. I'll go in the home end if I go again.

I just dont understand why people who are giving constructive criticism are called moaners!
They only want us to improve and surely thats what we all want...!
I for one think it is healthy to make your feelings known and hopefully it will keep those in charge of our beloved club on their toes....!  

Slightly less disappointed in cold light of day. Tried to think of a positive to add to my initial comments above .
so burgers were excellent and at London prices Wealdstone must have taken more on our burger tea stall then there usual gate receipts.
Returning to the match I just hope Hurst is not drifting back into negative team selections . Coke like Lennie is a sub for a late shoring up not a starter and we have got we’re we are playing on the front foot . We shouldn’t be afraid of teams like Wealdstone.

After having time to think on the game last night I think we was well and truly 'non - leagued'

Wealdstone are a semi pro side and we should have took them apart last night - but they did everything they could to stop us and do a job on us and it worked

I got to the home game on Saturday as well and also thought we looked a tad slow and fatigued but still we came away with the win - last night there just seemed to be that real lack of energy but as a full time outfit we still should of had enough to get the three points

Disappointed but not deflated

Hursty needs to get them up for Saturday now

Players gave everything they could imo, line up just didn't work against a a very defensive minded Wealdstone , especially second half.
Effort of the Players deserved a point but the performance as a team didn't.
We have said for a few weeks now how will we deal with a park the bus side, that second half gave us the answer. We didn't look like breaking it down at all.

One game, one result let's hope we bounce back Saturday to keep it as an isolated bad day at the office

Away games on a Tuesday night are our achilles heel it seems, especially in the south east.

My worry for a while has been that we may be in a bit of a false position, having only played one of the top eight teams so far, which we lost. My other concern being losing key players and whether the replacements are up to the task.

We'll find out in the next couple of months as we are about to play 6 of the current top eight in the run up to the new year, with 5 of them being on the trot and playing Halifax twice in a week. The two games straight after that are Bromley at home and Wrexham away, so a very tough run of fixtures. The next ten weeks will be make or break.

Think we could do with at least one more striker bedded in before that run.

Saturday is extremely interesting. The squad is a little depleted ATM. If we can manage to pick up three points, I think it will be very significant. Our PPG is currently title winning form and after the weekend Taylor and Efete will give us a boost. A real test of Hurst's tactical nous to see if he can find a formula to get us the victory. He appeared very self reflective in his interview, which I see as a positive.

If Macatee is fit, I think we will see the same team apart from Clifton and Hunt for Coke and Bapaga.

He ref was shi te but we didn't really deserve anything. That said, not many teams will come away from Wealdstone with three points IMO.

To be bluntly fair, Taylor and McAtee have gelled into a lethal partnership, so if L J-L plays, then the upfront is seriously upset and he ploughs the lone role to the best of his ability  but not as easy as the other two make it look.

The favoured two are also more mobile across the front line and easier targets for crosses and through balls

Bapaga can play the No 10 role as in the cuptie, but the opposition was 2 leagues below us.

It shows how much Town have been able to utilise Clifton and Hunt feeding the forwards, and giving some forward drive to moves. Both missed even with Hunt coming on late in the game.

Would Revan had made a difference going forward last night - fresh, eager, and attack minded?

So Paul Hurst now knows what teams are likely to do to stifle our runners, and a Plan B is needed.

Still top, but a big target for clubs to knock down.

Let's hope a big home crowd can re-inspire the team on Saturday.

No easy matches coming up because no one packs in just because it's Town.

Every victory has to be earned.

One of those nights.

But it has again highlighted a couple of issues.

Aside from Hunt where is the invention in the middle. Coke's lack of playing time may account account for his subpar display but he is not the most mobile and it showed up withClifton and Hunt out.

We ARE light up front. Taylor has established himself as the main striker. But Lenny is the only other proper striking option. I am not going to be over critical of him right now. He has his qualities but he is not a deadly finisher needing several chances to put one away. If anything happened to Taylor we need better. Would not be comfortable with Lenny as the only option over any length of time.

McAtee, Bapaga, Sousa and Wright (and a couple of untested kids) could fill in as a number 9 but the word makeshift springs to mind.

I know Hurst has been looking but has been reluctant to bring someone in for the sake of it but we need strengthening now. Be it a short term loan and look at something in January to see us through to the ned of the season.

Lets not waste what has been a very good start tot the campaign.

Quoted from acko338

To be bluntly fair, Taylor and McAtee have gelled into a lethal partnership, so if L J-L plays, then the upfront is seriously upset and he ploughs the lone role to the best of his ability  but not as easy as the other two make it look.

The favoured two are also more mobile across the front line and easier targets for crosses and through balls

Bapaga can play the No 10 role as in the cuptie, but the opposition was 2 leagues below us.

It shows how much Town have been able to utilise Clifton and Hunt feeding the forwards, and giving some forward drive to moves. Both missed even with Hunt coming on late in the game.

Would Revan had made a difference going forward last night - fresh, eager, and attack minded?

So Paul Hurst now knows what teams are likely to do to stifle our runners, and a Plan B is needed.

Still top, but a big target for clubs to knock down.

Let's hope a big home crowd can re-inspire the team on Saturday.

No easy matches coming up because no one packs in just because it's Town.

Every victory has to be earned.

Great call on Revan.

Attacking substitutions don't always have to be forwards. Would provide impetus from full back and more overlapping. Not a criticism of Crookes, who has looked solid so far.

In the short term our main rivals dropped 19 points last night.  We got away with some damage limitation there.  Still 13 points clear of Wrexham.  Imagine how their fans feel today?

Losing key players to Covid and injury has severely weakened us.  We thought we had a good first team squad after the win with the reserves at Bromsgrove.  The chickens have come home to roost very quickly.

Last night highlighted the pressing for a striker and midfield player.  We knew this anyway.  Action is needed now.  Maybe a stopgap solution rather than waiting for the ideal player?

We can at least appreciate what our best players bring to the table.  We miss them.   Another blessing in disguise is that we should have a much stronger team out in the medium term when we have tough games against our main rivals soon.

This Sat we may struggle to do well.  A game that has come at the wrong time for us.

Lots of very solid support on this website. I like the positivity.

Champions still lose games. It happens. The occasional defeat can actually give you a bit of a reality check and a bit of a mini reset to focus and go again. The first defeat certainly did.

Keep enjoying the ride. I certainly am, and I haven't regretted giving Grimsby my recent support one bit.

Massive respect to the 794 supporters that travelled last night

Quoted from exiledmeggie

800 on the road for a Tuesday night!
7,000 at home on a Saturday!
Unbeaten at home!
Top of the League!

And we’re still not happy!

I am, you said it all.

Quoted from Mariner Timsky

After having time to think on the game last night I think we was well and truly 'non - leagued'

Wealdstone are a semi pro side and we should have took them apart last night - but they did everything they could to stop us and do a job on us and it worked

I got to the home game on Saturday as well and also thought we looked a tad slow and fatigued but still we came away with the win - last night there just seemed to be that real lack of energy but as a full time outfit we still should of had enough to get the three points

Disappointed but not deflated

Hursty needs to get them up for Saturday now

According to some of their fans several of their players have been offered full time contracts further up the pyramid but they couldn't earn what they do now-working and playing football part-time. Three of them are in business together. Wealdstone are ideally placed to take advantage of that scenario. Maybe they aren't quite as fit as full timers but not sure that makes a big difference.

WE were poor  that it really, they scored and went all defensive  in all honesty we never really looked scoring. It happens   disappointed  but we move on UTM