by Nuremberg Royal »
19 Oct 2014 08:57
marlowuk
Member
Posts: 172
Joined: 18 Aug 2012 16:25
Re: BFTG/OTWH Derby (H) 0-3 by marlowuk » 18 Oct 2014 20:11
Sorry about this but I appear to have been at a different game than most of those who have posted!
We will - correction - we have already played worse than we did today and taken 3 points. At HT I felt that I had experienced an entertaining game between two good well-matched footballing sides and that 2-0 very much flattered Derby. Both teams played at a high tempo, pressed the opposition high up the pitch and played the ball to feet most of the time.
I was not in a good position to see but it looked as if we conceded a soft first goal but we had plenty of chances to even the score before they scored a second well-worked goal. But, at that stage, we were unlucky and still very much in the game.
The second half carried on from where the first half ended but quickly became somewhat bad-tempered and disjointed. I think this may have stemmed from an incident at the end of the first half where the game was stopped for an injury to a Derby player when we were in possession. At the subsequent dropped-ball Derby fiercely competed for the ball when 'sportsmanship' (remember that?) dictated that they should have given the ball back to us. Maybe because of that, we didn't give Derby the ball back after another stoppage at the start of the second half much to the annoyance of the Derby players (and their supporters). In any event the match was punctuated by numerous silly fouls and the flow of the game disrupted.
All the same we were pressing hard for a goal and when a team does this they are vulnerable to a counter attack and thus it was that we conceded again. I don't think any of our players had a bad game but, conversely, none of them had an outstanding game! I was surprised by the substitutions as we were a constant threat to their goal at that stage of the game (around 60 mins). In the event Pog hardly saw the ball (except to miss a good chance) and Blackman and Khul, although effective, did no better than Mackie and Norwood.
On their second half chances I think Derby just about shaded it but a draw would have better reflected the relative performances of the two sides. But I am not downhearted. We need a ball-winning mid-fielder like Karajan back and together with Williams, McCleary, Guthrie and Norwood with Blackman and Mackie as well we will have have good options. In defence Hector will come better with more experience and is already playing well. Pearce is the weak link in my opinion. Although good in the air he is the one player we have who is not confident with the ball at his feet. Maybe Cooper (who is also good in the air) can do his job or maybe we need to go into the loan market.
So - disappointing result? Yes. But an encouraging performance!
Last edited by marlowuk on 18 Oct 2014 20:15, edited 1 time in total.
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