Back from the game - Derby (A)

[LoyalRoyal22]

Solid first half, second half Roberts and Hunt were much better and we built off them basically. The back 5 are awesome, enough said, i would not change any of them with a full fit squad. We seem to know how to win ugly

my ratings

Feds- 7
Connolly- 7
harte- 7
Kasper- 7
Pearce- 7
Kebe- 7
Robson Kanu- 7
Ledge- 7
Karacan- 6
Roberts- 6
Hunt- 6

[RobRoyal]

What a night. Some of our football was out of this world, it really had to be seen to be believed. Incredible that we only had two shots on target, really, but that was twice the number we actually needed. In years too cone we can say "I was there, son, I was there. What they call Kebeball, back then they called Football."

Hunt MOTM, best he's played for a while.

[LoyalRoyal22]

What a night. Some of our football was out of this world, it really had to be seen to be believed. Incredible that we only had two shots on target, really, but that was twice the number we actually needed. In years too cone we can say "I was there, son, I was there. What they call Kebeball, back then they called Football."

Hunt MOTM, best he's played for a while.

[Friday's Legacy]

Solid first half, second half Roberts and Hunt were much better and we built off them basically. The back 5 are awesome, enough said, i would not change any of them with a full fit squad. We seem to know how to win ugly

big bad wolf

[urz13]

Very pleased with the win. We were the better side by far. Awful, dire, terrible first half, but much improved in the second. Anyway, onto the ratings:
Feds: 7, had little to do bar a few weak long shots and corners that he dealt with comfortably. Never looked threatened.
Harte: 8, very solid in defence and put a few decent balls in. Good performance and nice passing to Roberts/Hunt.
Pearce: 8.5, won everything in the air (yet again) and completely nullified Derby's attack. Superb.
Gorkks: 8.5, another superb performance. This partnership may take us up imo.
Connolly: 8, excellent defensively but could've got forward more. Very confident.
HRK: 9, best performance when he's been starting for RFC. Excellent throughout, good vision, touch, skill etc. Great counterattack for the goal.
Karacan: 7, broke up Derby's passing well, some nice balls forward. Gave it away a few times though.
Leigertwood: 7, very solid and clever in midfield. Dominated Derby's midfield first half.
Kebe: 7, didn't see much of the ball but was very good when he got it. Great cross for Hunt to score.
Hunt: 9, MOM. first touch was superb, scored a fantastic header, won a lot in the air, nice dribbling and goo passing. Superb.
Roberts: 7, very strong again and some nice touches. Could've scored in both halves and was constantly fouled throughout.
Subs:
Mills: N/A as I don't remember him touching the ball.

Ref: 3, some very strange cards and infuriating decisions.

Spotted Shane Long with his mum too, which was nice to see. A good win despite the scrappy game.

[SLAMMED]

[RobRoyal]

[1871 Royal]

3 threads.

What a shambLOLes

[Snowball]

The back 5 are awesome, enough said, I would not change any of them with a full fit squad. We seem to know how to win ugly

!!

[Snowball]

Hunt-Roberts partnership

P3 W3 D0 L0 4-0

[RobRoyal]

Ban this filth.

[urz13]

Sorry - was typing on my phone and the joys of mobile data didn't show me the other threads. Feel free to merge/delete

[Pete10]

Get in.

[loyalroyal4life]

What a night. Some of our football was out of this world, it really had to be seen to be believed. Incredible that we only had two shots on target, really, but that was twice the number we actually needed. In years too cone we can say "I was there, son, I was there. What they call Kebeball, back then they called Football."

Hunt MOTM, best he's played for a while.

Didnt sound like it from radio/sky sports

[winchester_royal]

Enjoyed that, pretty much a perfect away performance from us. Kept it tight first half, and in the second half unleashed Kebe and Kanu who had their fullbacks on toast. Not a fantastic footballing display for sure, but for the first time in a while we dominated the opposition completely. Derby were really really poor though.

And also, if anyone thinks that our fans are quiet at home, they should go spend 90 minutes in Pride Park, shocking display from the home fans. Not sure I heard even one song from them.

Fed - 7 - Didn't need to do much, but his distribution was pretty good.
Connolly - 7 - Booked early on, but kept Ward (their best player by a considerable margin) quiet most of the night. Good addition.
Pearce - 9 - Rock.
Gorkss - 9 - Awesome, again. If this main doesn't get POTS then something is very wrong with our fanbase.
Harte - 9 - Best game this season. Defensively solid, and good delivery.
Kebe - 8 - Good cross for the goal, worked veryyy hard, and even gave the fans a clap at the end out of his own volition.
Karacan - 6 - Worked hard, but pretty poor on the ball, especially towards the end where we were hanging on and he kept giving the ball back to Derby.
Ledge - 7 - Solid.
HRK - 8 - Excellent, seems to have lost some weight in last few weeks too.
Roberts - 7 - Held up the ball well despite being assaulted pretty much every time the ball came within 10 feet of him. Think there's still much more to come from him when he gets match sharp.
Hunt - 8 - Great header, worked hard, him and Roberts are getting a nice little partnership going.

Well worth the trek across the Dales.

[RG30]

That was a good win with an excellent team performance. First-half we were never really troubled without creating too much ourselves. Kebe was booked early on and while it may have warranted a yellow card the lack of consistency shown throughout the match from the ref was shocking. It took endless hacks on Roberts, Hunt and Kebe before the ref started showing some consistency and balls. Second-half we were far more positive and upped the tempo and looked like the team who wanted it more. Kebe's delivery for Hunt was excellent and it was a nice header to put us ahead. From there we got stronger as the game went on and Derby offered very little going forward. The workrate of the front two set the tone for the night with both chasing every lost cause and really putting it about. It may have only been 1-0 but it was far more dominant than the scoreline may suggest.

Nigel Clough showed himself up to be a total prat with every contentious decision he was rushing to the edge of his technical area moaning. Connolly looked assured and more than capable of retaining his place. Robson-Kanu was good in glimpses and plenty of positives to take forward while Gorkss and Pearce look to me like the best CB pairing in the league.

[3 veesinarow]

+1 for the Derby fans comment - they were utterly shocking, More noise in a library? More noise in a morgue, more like...

The evening didn't bode well when we pitched up at the away sales window to buy a smidgen under £100-worth of tickets only to be told "cash sales only". Not fcuking impressed. Really, who carries a ton plus of cash around with them on an average day?

Having trooped halfway around the stadium to the cashpoint to gain the necessary folding stuff, the general consensus at HT was that it was the biggest waste of money ever spent...ever. Recent memory can be a distortion and all that, but i'm not sure I've ever seen a worse 45 minutes of football. My missus commented that it was dire, but it didn't live up to that high assessment in my opinion.

Second half was much better from our side of the fence, but Derby were so woeful it almost defies description. The comedy moment came as Shackell was announced as their MOM just as he played a throw-in straight back out of play. A well-taken goal by Hunty and some decent defending for 95% of the match - the last five minutes got a little bit harum-scarum - led to an ultimately comfortable three points.

Roll on Friday...we'll be third by the end of the night and three points off the top...

[Archie's penalty]

Thanks for the comments lads. The table makes great reading. 6 points off top. Who'd have thunk it?

[Snowball]

Moi

[Rex]

Poor poor fist half which really took the shine off what i was hoping was both sides coming out of the traps to give the willing crowd of away supporters the feast we deserve. I thought it would be a close match where we would just shade it and by christ was i right. It was abject misery stood there and attempting to watch. We controlled the best part of that match but Derby were by far the worst of the two teams out on show tonight. It was pure grind football, errors plenty and thankfully a very lack-lustre side in Derby.

The first half misery continued at half time with the grot burger,

Second half we started to take the game more to the Derby defence who on occasion we ran rings around, dancing on the edge of the box and looking for the breakthrough.
Kebe did look off form but the sharp cross in for the goal redeemed him. For once he never tried to take on the two defenders and put a potentially ineffective cross in.

Hunt though was reminiscent of his terrier brother fighting for the ball, some of the team passing was peachy, controlled but pure possession football.

Derby had come to the game to maul us into submission and it almost worked out for them tactically.

We broke them down with pure meat and veg football and walked out with a doggy bag of three points. Happy with the result but often not with the display put on.