Just back.

Good for 60 mins, then it fizzled out a bit, with a very poor Gillingham huffing and puffing, but not really getting anywhere near Eastwood, who had no saves of any note to make.

Thought we were excellent at the back and Rodgers is one hell of a centre back, and again, my MOM.

Midfield worked well, with Conteh making the game look easy and Harry full of running, which nearly brought him our third but for a good save from their keeper, but it was a nice height for him. Holohan tidy and busy and took his goal well.

Thought Gnahoua started to show what he can do and has very good close control. He also got back well and won a great defensive header at the back post, showing he is getting fitter and working hard. Eisa and Rose also worked hard without much reward.

Very good 90 mins which we mainly controlled against a team of no mugs, so well pleased with that.

Said it before and I’ll say it again, Harvey Rodgers is the best centre half in the league!

Wouldn't disagree with that.

Rodgers and Maher are an excellent centre back pairing and together with Danny Rose and Arthur G all had outstanding games. It looked to me like Harry had a bit more freedom today and had his best game of the season so far.

Gillingham, for all their pedigree, looked a bit disjointed and never really laid a glove on us. All in all, an excellent afternoon.

Brilliant performance. Had them on the rack for long periods so maybe could and should have had more. None of our lads had a bad game. Felt as though we threatened a lot more through the wide players today which was pleasing given many including myself thought we’d struggle going forward after yesterday’s disappointment.

Another tricky fixture negotiated. Played 6 including four against teams in the top 7 and we’ve got a decent 9 pt return whilst remaining unbeaten at home.

Fair one to their fans who travelled in good numbers a very long way and got an absolute stinker in return.

Rodgers and Maher could well be the best centre half partnership in the whole division.

Better tempo from us from the off, high press, energy deserved the lead.
Second half same story up until 60 mins when a couple of players started to fade.....Hurst has to make subs....yes we were comfortable but we had lost control of the game possession and territory wise....instead he waits until an absolutely fcked Rose dallies on a counter and they go straight up and give us a scare. 87 mins he brings on subs.....its just too late and leaves on a fcked Rose...risking injury were not necessary and were don't have cover.

Good 3 points...Good team performance...Still things to improve on.

Brilliant 60-70mins. 3 points. Up the mariners.

Excellent, Maher, Eisa, Holohan, Rodgers, Rose, outstanding and the rest were not far behind.  Best  home performance I have seen in a long time. It was dominant and suffocated Gillingham. We looked a very good team utm

Really good performance all around. I was really impressed with how well the midfield gelled with Holohan and Clifton getting forward when required and Holohan, especially dropping back into the centre to keep the ball moving a lot of times. Conteh there as the backstop to allow them a bit of freedom. I thought Gnahoua was quiet during the first half, but did a great job in the second, both in attack and defence.

Defensively, the full-backs were solid, but I'm a little concerned that they won't offer enough going forward as neither managed a decent ball into the box when well placed that I can remember. Actually, Mullarkey might have managed one in the first half but there's lots of room for improvement. Central defenders did really well. Keeper was fine but for his kicking and one worry in the first half where they threatened after he dithered and failed to come out and win one down our left.

Eisa worked his socks off and Rose was utterly selfless again as well. The issue, of course, is that both of these two were knackered long before the end and, had we had replacements available on the bench, they'd have been hooked with 20 minutes to go.

A promising cameo from Andrews who put his foot in and looked almost as calm on the ball as Conteh. Wouldn't surprise me if he stepped into the same role when Conteh is away on international duty.

Made a good team look very poor today. Our press was way too much for them.

Lots of good performances, the back 4 great.

Big shout out to Danny Amos for his stunning last ditch tackle in the first half.

Rodgers was superb today. Gillingham were bloody awful.

In my personal opinion, that was the most professional all round performance by everyone since we regained our league status, 100% effort by all the players in every department, if they did play like this every game i could see us making it to the playoffs. Well done to you all, including the fantastic support from those wonderful mariners fans.

Not a 100% perfect performance but not far short. When everything clicks and the gears go into place the players have shown what they can do. A few more performances like today and we will be promotion candidates.

The team is starting to gel, next Saturday will be a good test.

I could not go today.  Can we maintain this high level in most games?  We have injuries and missed out on new players. However, we can get loanees in.

Are we a mid table team or good enough to make a serious challenge for the playoffs? The picture might be clearer in a few games time.  

We have a solid base to build on.  We have a great CB partnership.  Only Wimbledon have conceded fewer league goals.

Well it looks good from down here , 2-0 up at half time !! At the interval at Chichester theatre.
So at the end of the show great to turn phone on to See FT a win and not throw away a lead .
Drive home Chichester  to Caterham with a big fat grin on my face ..."Come on Town!"
UTM 2023 --24

We made it easy for once and had a two-goal margin to defend for a change. Their number 10 didn't have his shooting boots on in the first half, but they were no threat at all in the second. I didn't even grumble at the late substitutions.

Not seen anyone mentioning Eisa and his latest thunderbolt what a goal that would have been BOOM

Sounds a very encouraging performance. It would be wonderful if we could now progress and find some consistency. UTM

Quoted from moosey_club

Better tempo from us from the off, high press, energy deserved the lead.
Second half same story up until 60 mins when a couple of players started to fade.....Hurst has to make subs....yes we were comfortable but we had lost control of the game possession and territory wise....instead he waits until an absolutely fcked Rose dallies on a counter and they go straight up and give us a scare. 87 mins he brings on subs.....its just too late and leaves on a fcked Rose...risking injury were not necessary and were don't have cover.

Good 3 points...Good team performance...Still things to improve on.

.
re. the substitutions, Sir Alan said on radio Slumberhide that he himself wouldn't make any substitutions as it would keep the bench fit for Tuesdays game.Who would be a football manager, eh !!

Quoted from Grimal

.
re. the substitutions, Sir Alan said on radio Slumberhide that he himself wouldn't make any substitutions as it would keep the bench fit for Tuesdays game.Who would be a football manager, eh !!

When was Sir Alan on the radio?

Quoted from Grimal

.
re. the substitutions, Sir Alan said on radio Slumberhide that he himself wouldn't make any substitutions as it would keep the bench fit for Tuesdays game.Who would be a football manager, eh !!

It was Stuart Watkiss

We did good today. The players look like a real team. No superstars just a bunch of players who work for each other. UTM

Quoted from Grimal

.
re. the substitutions, Sir Alan said on radio Slumberhide that he himself wouldn't make any substitutions as it would keep the bench fit for Tuesdays game.Who would be a football manager, eh !!

Quite honestly ....I didn't even know we were playing Tues...its not even on the official club sites fixture list that's how important it is.
Hurst said earlier this year that he was almost bemoaning that the League didn't vote in extra subs...yet he still won't fking make a single one until a guns at his head.

Possibly a controversial opinion but maybe not signing anyone new this week is a good thing.  Firstly, I can imagine PH's teamtalk - the fans think we needed to strengthen the squad, go out there and show them what you can do.  Secondly, this group have, with the exception of Andrews, been together for a couple of months and are probably getting to know each other and form a tight knit squad.  Bringing in 2-3 new players could have disrupted that togetherness just when the team is starting to gel.  

So far this season, we've lost one game against County who are now top and dropped points against Mansfield and Wimbledon who are in the play off spots currently.  The main disappointment is the draw against Walsall and by all accounts we might have won that game on another day.  If we had won it, we'd be 4th which is maybe flattering anyway, but it shows we've had an ok start so far.

Was traveling back from Greece so missed this one which is, it appears, very unfortunate as this appears to have been the type of home performance that we’ve all been crying out for so well done to everyone involved and long may it continue.

Quoted from bawarmy

We did good today. The players look like a real team. No superstars just a bunch of players who work for each other. UTM

Which feels a bit like what got Stevenage promoted.

Without doubt the most enjoyable Town home league game I’ve been to since our return to the league - a game we totally controlled from start to finish, and it’s been a long, long time since I can remember us doing that in an EFL fixture.

Town were very quick out of the blocks and barely relented in an excellent first half where we simply huffed and puffed and blew the Gillingham house down. Loved the diving header from Maher but for the second, real credit has to go to Eisa for spotting Holohan’s run from behind his left shoulder when the easy option would have been to shoot. What a start he has had in a Town shirt. A word also has to go to Danny Rose for his swashbuckling tackle to start the move. He set the tone today.  

Defensively, it was almost the perfect performance, limiting Gillingham to next to nothing for the most part but doing the last ditch stuff brilliantly when required. The tackle from Amos in the first-half was unreal when the slightest error would have meant a penalty. I can barely recall an uneasy moment, the only Gillingham shot of note being a header floated comfortably in the arms of Eastwood.

As for the Gills, it’s always difficult to know whether they had an off day or we were simply too good for them, but make no mistake; their wage bill will be at least 50% bigger than ours. They’re also 3rd in the league so far, so the balance of evidence suggests it was probably more us than them. They looked bang average all over the pitch, despite some impressive names on their team sheet. Macauley Bonne’s ball control no better than that of his BMW.

Ultimately, it’s a performance and result that takes our start to the season from “ok” to somewhere between “good” and “great”. 12th place might reek of mediocrity at first glance, but doesn’t really get close to telling the whole story.

2 wins, 3 draws and a single narrow defeat from what must have been one of, if not the toughest start to anyone’s League Two season. 3 clean sheets, with just the 1 goal conceded in 4 home games - the joint second best defensive record in the league. One of the better goal differences too.

We can save conversations about squad depth for another day - that was an excellent win made possible by a brilliant team effort. It’s easy to get too high or too low on the back of a single result this early in the season, but I think the signs are beginning to show that, as a team, we are more than capable of doing alright in this league.

A thoroughly enjoyable afternoon in the sunshine. UTM!

Really pleasing performance and win. Dominated from start to finish, Rodgers my motm, thought he was imperious in defence. 1 downside was that with that brilliant last ditch tackle I thought Amos injured himself and he seemed to be carrying a knock for the rest of the game so I hope he's fit for the Bradford game. We looked solid defensively all round and knocked it about at the back well.

Eastwood acquitted himself well with what little he had to do, clifton had a good game and nearly scored a good goal and holohan did score. Ganouah had easily his best game in a town shirt, albeit that's an extremely low bar, so I'd say he was decent nothing more. Still a pleasant surprise mind. Rose just does not stop running and I'd agree with others he needs protecting more with a substitution in a game like that - he can't be expected to keep that up for 90 minutes all season. Eisa nearly got another but for the woodwork. Conteh was his usual comfortable self.

For a game we dominated so relentlessly you'd like to have seen us score more perhaps but Gillingham have been a tough nut to crack for other teams, they don't concede easily (bar the previous week!). Let's hope for more of the same against Bradford. At last a comfortable entertaining win at home in the league  

Quoted from TownSNAFU5

I could not go today.  Can we maintain this high level in most games?  We have injuries and missed out on new players. However, we can get loanees in.

Are we a mid table team or good enough to make a serious challenge for the playoffs? The picture might be clearer in a few games time.  

We have a solid base to build on.  We have a great CB partnership.  Only Wimbledon have conceded fewer league goals.


No loan signings till the widow reopens

Best performance I have seen at Blundell Park for over a year!

Sounds like a good performance and a really good win. Haven’t been able to follow it as at a wedding but delighted with the win.

Hopefully, that performance will give the lads confidence.  Seemed a lot better communication all round.  Rodgers was great, especially first half.  Didn't have much to do second half but that shows how good the team was further up the pitch.  Amos had a good game with a beautifully timed tackle. Should have had subs earlier but not one player deserved to be taken off.    Who the hell do we play on Tuesday?  UTM!

We play Barnsley away in the EFL Trophy, so no biggie.

A really enjoyable game where I never felt threatened. We controlled the game from beginning to end.

Every player performed well toddy. For me though, whilst it is hard to single out a MOTM, I was most impressed with Arthur Gnahoua.

I really enjoyed that performance yesterday .

Eastwood is impressing me , and looks an upgrade on Max judging by early performances .

The back 4 is superb and if we can keep all of them fit we will keep a lot of clean sheets .

Conteh just does the simple things so well , he seems to be getting less of the ball as teams have figured out we play through him and are putting 1 or 2 men on him , which is freeing up more space for the midfield players .

Gav & Clifton were excellent in the press , that was boths best games of the season for me .

Eisa is just a very good player isn't he ? Love that he can go both ways to keep the full back guessing - my heart was in my mouth when he took a heavy hit down near me in the lower , but he got up and carried on seemingly fine which was a positive sign .

I thought Gnahoua looked sharp , and is getting up to speed and will be a good signing .

Danny Rose was Danny Rose .

Positive signs and it makes for a good start , can we pick up 5 points or more in the next 4 to continue it ? Why not .

A hugely encouraging performance.

The plaudits for Maher & Rodgers are very much deserved. On a side note, you won’t see many better headed goals than Maher’s this weekend.

Midfield was effective & thoroughly enjoying Gav providing some doubters wrong (myself included!). On  his day, he’s a very classy midfielder.

Also, a special mention for Rose. He’s not scoring at the moment so perhaps is getting overlooked but his contribution to the team is immense.

One negative, Danny Amos was very fortunate to not get sent off at the end. He seems a lovely bloke so I don’t think for one minute he meant to hurt him. However, it was a certain red.

Yesterday shows what that group is capable of. If we can keep in touch with the play offs by the end of the month, that’s a huge hurdle overcome.

I'm a little surprised people are saying good for 60minutes...

We started fantastic, and had a corner within the 1st minute
And ended fantastic, with Clifton linking up with Rose superbly throughout, and running onto his lay offs at the defence.

We was that good yesterday, that Conteh had a quiet game and wasn't needed to stop attacks constantly.

Can only echo the Rodgers comments, a real luxury type of defender.... A Nsiala without the calamity of mistakes in him. So calm on the ball, wins the headers, and also has a wonderful long ball on him every now and then.

Eisa looks to be really enjoying himself and full of confidence. You would hate to play against him at the moment, and was laughing when the findus was singing his song, beautiful!

Overall, you could notice yesterday what PH is trying to do with this squad.
Wingers high up, Clifton close to Rose, and it worked, so didn't always look like a lonely 1 up top.

I think what I like about how we’re playing is that we have individuals who the opposition have to pay due attention to in how they set up. Conteh is so influential that he has to occupy an opposition midfielder. Even then, he’s so good on the turnover due to his reading of the game, skill (and leg length) that he will frequently catch the opposition with one or two out of position and instigate a breakaway play. This creates space for Clifton and Holohan to work in, and you can see how they are effective in forward positions. Same goes for Eisa - needing to be man marked or doubled up in case he finds space to shoot. All this means that opposition have to set up to stop us from playing our way - a welcome change. Rose is the fulcrum - such an industrious and physically effective player and a great jumper. This is a blueprint that will acquire plenty of points for us.

i know the other day i said prefer harry on the left but his energy rubs off on others no matter where he starts , team did well yesterday especially first half very disapointed in gills not sure if it was us bang at it or they're not as good as table suggests

Could not make the match yesterday or listen to it so just going off what others have said. Sounds like a great all round performance. I am delighted for Amos and Holohan as both were written off at start of season but I have always rated both and they have now cemented their place in starting eleven.

Good point, neatly illustrated by Gav’s fantastic running off the ball to receive the pass to score the second goal, and Amos’ superb tackle to win the ball and set up that piece of play that effectively won us the game.

Good, committed performance yesterday right through from the off. We never let Gillingham get started and eased through it really didn’t we.

Rodgers was fantastic again but Maher was my MOTM because I thought he was equally as good and obviously got his goal. I wouldn’t have argued with Gnahoua taking it either and you could have probably have made a case for most.

There was some great link up play between the front 4. Harry had so much space at times playing between the lines and I noticed him putting his foot on the ball in there and trying a give and go a lot more than usual and it was working well. Eisa is a constant threat and as mentioned Gnahoua on the other side looked to get on the ball and drive inside and go past players constantly.

Really enjoyable day yesterday at BP. Not sure if it was just me but the atmosphere seemed to be cranked up a notch as well as the loudspeaker.

Special shout-out to the Harvey Rodgers fan club in front of me at the back of the main stand also  

Thought there were a lot of similarities with the Salford performance with us completely outworking and outbattling them and just not letting them have any time to play. Thought we were excellent  for the first 15 minutes of the second half and very good for the rest of it. Still a lack of fluidity in the final third but hopefully that was a glimpse of things to come at the start of the second half.

Quoted from bradzmilne

A hugely encouraging performance.

The plaudits for Maher & Rodgers are very much deserved. On a side note, you won’t see many better headed goals than Maher’s this weekend.

Midfield was effective & thoroughly enjoying Gav providing some doubters wrong (myself included!). On  his day, he’s a very classy midfielder.

Also, a special mention for Rose. He’s not scoring at the moment so perhaps is getting overlooked but his contribution to the team is immense.

One negative, Danny Amos was very fortunate to not get sent off at the end. He seems a lovely bloke so I don’t think for one minute he meant to hurt him. However, it was a certain red.

Yesterday shows what that group is capable of. If we can keep in touch with the play offs by the end of the month, that’s a huge hurdle overcome.

Never a red card in a million years, the play acting from Dieng tried to get him sent off... says it all when Tondeur and Watkiss were surpised it was even given for a foul. Was strong in the tackle, boot wasn't high and he won all ball and that's what should be applauded in this day and age... football is a contact sport.

I thought yesterday was an excellent performance from all involved, with no weak player. They have set the bar at that level and promotion will come if they play like this every week. The commitment and team spirit reminded me of what we saw in our promotion season.

Bradford next week will be a good test for us so let's hope for our first away win.

Half way through reading this thread I had to check I was still on The Fishy...

Another 90 mins further proves my point. When we don't play Hurst ball with 10 in the 6-yard box hoofing to a loan striker and instead just attack, press, and harass teams we look and are often the better team.

Played well, and never really felt too worried at the back, controlled the majority of the game, still not creating enough clear chances when we attacked, but certainly an improvement this week.

Oh and a decent reffing performance to boot, not something we often get to say at this level.

It's nice being right  

As a matter of interest, does anyone on here think that we don't go out deliberately to defend, but good teams like Mansfield are better than us and we just end up being pushed back by a good side? It might look like we see sitting back but in reality we are just being forced back.

Quoted from mimma

As a matter of interest, does anyone on here think that we don't go out deliberately to defend, but good teams like Mansfield are better than us and we just end up being pushed back by a good side? It might look like we see sitting back but in reality we are just being forced back.

Those of us who don't understand football agree with the above but experts like SonofMadeleyinho can see through it.

I know we only 6 games in, but I just noticed only Wimbledon have conceeded less than us...
And we've already played 1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th in the current standings which is very impressive.

When they have pace out wide or up front teams will defend deeper, not just us. We also drop deeper when Waterfall plays.
It's easier to press from the front if the defence also push higher up.

Quoted from Rodley Mariner

Those of us who don't understand football agree with the above but experts like SonofMadeleyinho can see through it.

If we just attack and press all the time, we will urine the league.

Quoted from sonofmadeleymariner

Another 90 mins further proves my point. When we don't play Hurst ball with 10 in the 6-yard box hoofing to a loan striker and instead just attack, press, and harass teams we look and are often the better team.

Played well, and never really felt too worried at the back, controlled the majority of the game, still not creating enough clear chances when we attacked, but certainly an improvement this week.

Oh and a decent reffing performance to boot, not something we often get to say at this level.

It's nice being right  

So if we win, you’re right but if we lose, Hurst is wrong.

Quoted from sonofmadeleymariner

Another 90 mins further proves my point. When we don't play Hurst ball with 10 in the 6-yard box hoofing to a loan striker and instead just attack, press, and harass teams we look and are often the better team.

Played well, and never really felt too worried at the back, controlled the majority of the game, still not creating enough clear chances when we attacked, but certainly an improvement this week.

Oh and a decent reffing performance to boot, not something we often get to say at this level.

It's nice being right  

The levels of delusion and self congratulation in this post are staggering.

Hurst when setting up the tactics for the Gillingham game.

"What you think Doigy, lets not go with Hurstball this week as i think it'll give us a better chance at winning. Instead i propose we go with plan b lets call it Hurstball Pro"

Wtf some people must think football is a one sided game where the opposition have no impact on what we do.

Quoted from sonofmadeleymariner

Another 90 mins further proves my point. When we don't play Hurst ball with 10 in the 6-yard box hoofing to a loan striker and instead just attack, press, and harass teams we look and are often the better team.

Played well, and never really felt too worried at the back, controlled the majority of the game, still not creating enough clear chances when we attacked, but certainly an improvement this week.

Oh and a decent reffing performance to boot, not something we often get to say at this level.

It's nice being right  

I'm keen to get a proper understanding of your definition of "Hurst ball" as you call it.

Is it planting "10 men in the 6 yard box and hoofing it to a lone striker"? Or is it "attack, press and harass teams"? It's just that you've used both descriptions in the same paragraph.

If it only relates to the first description then who was it who directed the tactics on Saturday? Perhaps it was you who slipped into the changing room before the match, and as soon as Paul Hurst's back was turned you then instructed the players to forget "Hurst ball" and play the match your way?

You don't know the faintest thing about Paul Hurst and his tactics which are thoughtful and variable to suit a given situation, and have on occasion completely ripped teams apart (Chesterfield away during the promotion season springs to mind amongst many examples).

Nice to be right, did you say? You're not only wrong, you're also making yourself look a bit of an idiot on this forum. Maybe you should find something else to do with your spare time.

Quoted from sonofmadeleymariner

Another 90 mins further proves my point. When we don't play Hurst ball with 10 in the 6-yard box hoofing to a loan striker and instead just attack, press, and harass teams we look and are often the better team.

Played well, and never really felt too worried at the back, controlled the majority of the game, still not creating enough clear chances when we attacked, but certainly an improvement this week.

Oh and a decent reffing performance to boot, not something we often get to say at this level.

It's nice being right  

Quoted from sonofmadeleymariner

Another 90 mins further proves my point. When we don't play Hurst ball with 10 in the 6-yard box hoofing to a loan striker and instead just attack, press, and harass teams we look and are often the better team.

Played well, and never really felt too worried at the back, controlled the majority of the game, still not creating enough clear chances when we attacked, but certainly an improvement this week.

Oh and a decent reffing performance to boot, not something we often get to say at this level.

It's nice being right  

If and when we find evidence of it we'll let you know.

Quoted from sonofmadeleymariner

Another 90 mins further proves my point. When we don't play Hurst ball with 10 in the 6-yard box hoofing to a loan striker and instead just attack, press, and harass teams we look and are often the better team.

Played well, and never really felt too worried at the back, controlled the majority of the game, still not creating enough clear chances when we attacked, but certainly an improvement this week.

Oh and a decent reffing performance to boot, not something we often get to say at this level.

It's nice being right  

So right you even get a deadline day deal that no-one else gets to see.

Superb performance all-round, can't add anything to the praise that is already written.  One thing I will add is that I thought we looked dominant yet always felt we had another gear or two if needed, which is incredibly encouraging.