Well.....that was an interesting evening. On balance I suppose the right team went through. We were pretty dire in the first half, Meite was too isolated and the midfield just couldn’t take control. We had some decent moments, but never really looked like scoring. Once the changes were made in the 2nd half, we looked a different and much more dangerous team! Ovie and Swift were excellent (despite Ovie’s ridiculous 30 yard shot in injury time!) and Puscas was lively too! We deserved to make it 1-1, but I was never confident with the pens. Still feels weird to not have extra tine though!!

However if the more senior team had started the match AND if we had our No1 in goal, I reckon we’d have won. Which leads me to Virginia. He didn’t actually have abad game, distributed it decently and made two decent saves........but all that will be remembered is the abysmal goal he let it. I feel really sorry for him because his confidence is clearly shot and it shouldn’t be. If he can iron out those kind of brain fades, he can be a reasonably decent keeper. However if that keeps happening......he may need to look into another form of gainful employment!!

I agree with everything you said. Virginia's first save was very good watching it back better than I realised at the time but it was such a bad mistake. I think we would have won had there been extra time too. It was such a change with swift and ejaria shows they are actually good! Of course it was a weak wolves with lots of debuts but I think we and the team should take the positives from this.

We were playing against 9 men. If it went to extra time and we somehow didnt win it would be impressive.

Agree about Virginia, not bad overall, one decent save, but ultimately an absolute howler for the Wolves opener. Overall not too bad, Adam played lots of short passes but lost the ball a lot and didn't contribute much, we looked much more of a threat with Ejaria in the middle. That said, I'm not sure a 433 really works with Adam as the sole midfielder given how immobile he is. Last 20 minutes of 424ish was fun, but the team played with a better tempo and more urgency and that really helped us be more of a threat. The last 10-15 minutes playing against basically 9 men was attack v defence but pleased we at least got the equaliser to take it to pens.

First half was meh-diocre. Virginia did alright, dropped a clanger, and then did alright again.

The subs changed things. Decent midfield and wingbacks operating as wingers. Meite started wide and then clocked he can't cross and can head the ball. Had a decent change cleared sort of off the line. Very well worked and well taken goal and we'd had chances.

Penalties - beh. I think the better team went through, but extra time would have been different gravy.

Player thoughts:

Adam - good, when the ball is on the floor and the players close by. Every so often, you can see him go "I have become Charlie, passer of balls" and Row F gets a beating.

Ejaria and Swift - the difference in pace these two introduced was telling

Barrett - off the pace a bit, I think, but promising.

Pub Thoughts:

Cobra on tap, huge 'medium' mixed grill meant I had leftovers to share with Schards and co., not so sure on the tikka paneer tho', keema naan very red and nicely done.

OH, and somewhat reassured by celebrations. Team really wanted that goal. Gives me some confidence that there's something there, once the squad gets its act together.

Isolating Meite and Boye out wide in the first half achieved absoltutely nothing. Wolves makeshift team were better prepared and knew how to contain our full backs. Disappointing performance again first half.

Another yellow for the bench.
Adams past his sell by date.
Keeper. Far too inexperienced for this level. Feel sorry for him.


Time for Gomes is ticking away I'm afraid to say. We are too easy to play against, too predictable.

He's so frustrating. Obviously got ability but he just doesn't have a brain. Believes his own hype and too often opts for the Hollywood cross-field pass or long range shot instead of keeping it simple.

Adam was gash. I was in the Wolves end with a mate. No-one around me could work out why we signed him. Feel sorry for Virginia - he's clearly a prospect but he's out of his depth. I hope we don't break him and I hope Coniah and his people are watching what happens when you go too far too soon.

On the upside, Howe looks promising. Rino (after he shook off that rocket to the face) showed why he should be starting every game. Swift and Ejaria changed the game and I wish I'd been in the away end when we equalised. Great scenes.

Then the pens

Virginia - 19 year old lad making his 3rd or 4th ever professional appearance - As Adie Williams said on BBC Berks, It's not his fault - he probably just isn't ready..... which begs the questions of why we signed him on loan and why he was in the starting lineup?

I don't think we'll see him in a league game again this season, he has potential to develop into a decent keeper at this level and possibly beyond but he's at the early stage of the development curve.

I know we beat Wycombe but as a club we seem to bottle pens all too often...

The Swift pen was a very good save tbf

The Boye pen was an absolute horror show

Agreed, if the Swift one had gone in, people would've been saying it was an excellent penalty, much better than the Meite one which was missed v Cardiff.

The Boye one was poor, he just went for pure power and got it really wrong.

looked like a toe punt

looked like a toe punt
I found the ball in the ASDA car park on the way out. It had ice on it......

We were playing against 9 men. If it went to extra time and we somehow didnt win it would be impressive. I wouldn't put it past this team sometimes...

We were playing against 9 men. If it went to extra time and we somehow didnt win it would be impressive. I wouldn't put it past this team sometimes...
Yeovil...

Don't understand the love for Virginia when we have our own young keeper available.

That howler was as bad a mistake as you could possibly manage in goal. Second only to turning around and scoring an own goal. The worry isn't that one howler, it's that he is full of them. He was dropped because of mistakes and even before that in this game he tried to pass to Omar RIchards but somehow didn't see McIntyre in the way and he was very lucky it didn't ping off him into an empty net. The guy is an absolute liability, and GK is one position you just can't have someone who makes those sorts of mistakes so frequently. Is it now every game he's screwed up on something? Feels like it. Yeah ok, so I get that he's young and will improve and will probably be excellent one day, but I don't give a toss. He's not our youth player, we don't need to develop him and give him howler experience. We have our own young keepers like Walker if we want to give a young keeper match time. I say send him back if we can and let Walker be our number two.

As for Adam - the lead up to the goal was his fault. I lost count the number of times he lost the ball just being lazy and useless and losing concentration, and that's exactly how we gave the ball away that lead to their ridiculous goal.

On the plus side though, I thought we did ok and deserved the draw. Boye is his usual self. One of the most frustrating players I've ever watched. Bags of ability yet manages to cock up every single good move he does somehow. EJaria and Swift ruled the midfield when they came on. Rino did well mostly. Barrett had good energy. We have massively been missing Miazgo, good to see him.

We are a good side really and can be proud I guess for a draw away from home.

Never thought I'd say this about Wolves but I hope their injured players are ok.

To be fair, the lead up to their goal was Migaza’s foul throw.....that is inexcusable in any professional match.

To be fair, the lead up to their goal was Migaza’s foul throw.....that is inexcusable in any professional match.
Happens most games, but almost never penalised.