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Post by gazz on Jan 6, 2018 16:58:40 GMT
FT 2-2 Ah well, given what we're up against I guess it was expected
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Post by marketharborough on Jan 6, 2018 17:07:54 GMT
Excellent Gazz!!!!!!!
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Post by bringbacklenwhite on Jan 6, 2018 17:14:14 GMT
Would have taken a draw before the game. Disappointed to lose a point and 3 places in the last few seconds.
A couple of cup games to think about next and then we move on.
Second best "recent form" in the league (behind Boston !). So plenty to look forward to this spring.
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Post by sandbachhatter on Jan 6, 2018 17:29:43 GMT
So infuriating we couldn't hold on for just another 10 seconds. Still, a point against top of the table is progress, I guess.
Sandy Jnr didn't get a round in, but did spend £3 of my money in the jukebox putting on a very eclectic mix of music.
At one stage, we had Bowie, then Blink 182, then Thin Lizzy!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2018 18:23:36 GMT
Could have been worse juke box selections! Every cloud and all that...
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Post by bringbacklenwhite on Jan 6, 2018 18:56:36 GMT
What a choice of juke box entertainment....................
of course though , I blame the parents.
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Post by hermannsays on Jan 6, 2018 20:12:51 GMT
Sat in traffic at 2.45pm, we decided to make the rest of the short journey on foot. Arriving to the ground, the queues for the turnstiles were long and at 3pm we had just about got inside EP. Luckily, the game kicked off a little late (I told Mini-Herm they would wait for us) and the atmosphere was really good.
We went with an attacking 4-2-3-1 and the first half hour was relatively even. Salford worked into positions to win a few corners but were often, in open-play, looking impatient and devoid of ideas. This was leading to some of the worst long-range shooting you could imagine. We had an outlet through Stephenson's pace on the left and that side of the pitch looked to be our best chance of creating.
On the half hour, Salford opened us up and Cowan, running round on the cover, was forced to make a last ditch tackle in the box to stop their player shooting. This was shortly followed by him getting back on the line for a goal-saving clearance. Immediately after, we were up in their last third. The referee awarded us a foul and thankfully didn't interrupt Stopforth who took it quickly. Duxbury seemed to have an age to pick his head up and find Oswell, who may even have made 2 different runs - such was the time Duxbury had! As the ball landed on Oswell's head, there was no defender in sight. He nodded it home and ran to the Main Stand to celebrate.
The rest of the first half saw us grow as a team, passing more confidently and Salford struggling to compete. Hogan, their CB who was already on a booking, could have been shown a second yellow for fouling Oswell. Instead, the referee decided to wave on play. Next for getting fouled was Thomas who was crudely taken out. The dangerous Stephenson worked his way once more down the left and let leash with a strong left footed drive towards the far post. The 'keeper dived full stretch and fingertipped it behind. Stephenson was in the mix again straight after, heading on target and producing another fingertipped save which went for a corner. As the half drew to a close, Piergianni (who had already avoided a booking for the most blatant of yellow offences) was finally booked for a foul. I remember posting on the away fixture thread that we really need to run at him - and the two times we did, he had been forced to foul. Unfortunately, we were still trying to play balls into Oswell and he was being bullied by the stronger CBs. Anyway, in essence, both their CBs could have been off by HT so it shows how they were struggling with us.
Second half was a different story. Salford came out and Redshaw, their biggest threat, was now playing very cute and finding spaces between our midfield and defence. It was overloading our midfield and we needed to change something. Unfortunately, before we were able to do anything we played a passage of play in slow motion, leaving their LB to hit a (poor, looping) cross onto the left of our defence. Redshaw, who is certainly playing below his level in this league, collected it and there was an absence of *danger, danger* type reactions from us. He seemed to have all the time in the world to finish it. After all the good work, a sloppy passage with a lack of concentration had cost us.
Over the next ten minutes, it really felt like Salford would score again. They were dominating possession and territory and the ease with which Redshaw was finding space behind Ball/Stopforth was alarming. Anyway, on the hour mark we brought on Winter and Turner. The crowd didn't seem too pleased with the subs (I guess they have been our two top scorers!) but it was the subs we had probably needed to make within a couple of minutes of the restart to be honest. The ball hadn't been sticking up top (to be fair to Oswell, he was left fighting back to CBs too often), we were over-run in midfield and so a #4 coming on and blistering pace behind when we were sitting deep made perfect sense.
Within five minutes, things started to even up a bit more. Turner's first involvement was to hold up the play and his touch was clearly a high standard. He also gave their defence a new challenge - keeping up with him. We got back down their end forcing some corners and even a free kick, central and 25 yards out. With Winter helping to secure midfield, Ball returned to his first half (strong) performance and started running the ball again. However, my heart sank when O'Halloran (up near their corner flag) went in for a tackle. Given we were 70 yards away and it still looked like an 'asking the ref to make a decision' challenge, I feared the worst. Their players surrounded the ref but nothing came of it.
Dixon, who came on for Thomas with 10 left, was immediately involved. Ball broke and while I shouted 'Shoot!' he had other ideas... pausing 20 yards out to weight a perfect ball in to Dixon who neatly finished on the left of the penalty box. First touch? I think so!
In added time, we won a corner and they left a few players up front. Winter was sent towards the taker leaving us man-for-man in defence. Whatever the plan was for the corner, we neither got a ball in nor ran down the clock as we lost it cheaply. Soon after, it was back down our end for their corner in the final seconds - a corner the ref awarded after seemingly guessing who it came off. Nottingham, their 6'4 RB, met the corner - goal. Last season he and Grand got 20+ from defence. For as well as the likes of Smalley had defended all game, it was a gutting way to concede at the death but perhaps an unsurprising method for them to score.
Everyone put in a great effort today and rose to the occasion and the crowd. No-one did poorly at all but I'll pick out a few of the best showings. Cowan showed strong concentration today and looked mentally fitter throughout the 90 leading to a strong performance. Smalley was (rightly, IMO) named MOM and Ball showed that he has that ability to create a goal when unleashed from the #4 role. Stephenson is looking good now and it'll simply be about end product and Dixon came on and showed a lot of desire as well as reminding us he had some quality too.
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Post by dudleyhatter on Jan 6, 2018 20:27:00 GMT
Cheers herm, great report
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Post by gazz on Jan 6, 2018 20:36:10 GMT
Cheers herm, great report Seconded - cheers, H!
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Post by hatter_in_macc on Jan 6, 2018 20:53:24 GMT
If anyone can explain to me how in Heaven's name my (trying-to-be-responsible) promise to post further information once available has caused Mr Neville to see red, I will be both obliged and enlightened! An early contender for the most bizarre tweet of 2018...
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Post by newtownafc on Jan 6, 2018 21:07:26 GMT
First time at Stockport today - was an enjoyable game with great atmosphere- glad I got to see Jason score would have been good to leave him on for another 10 mins but the subs worked well - see u all again soon
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Post by hatter_in_macc on Jan 6, 2018 21:09:42 GMT
Glad you enjoyed your day with us, Newtown - and that you got to see Jase nod one in!
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Post by gazz on Jan 6, 2018 21:18:33 GMT
If anyone can explain to me how in Heaven's name my (trying-to-be-responsible) promise to post further information once available has caused Mr Neville to see red, I will be both obliged and enlightened! An early contender for the most bizarre tweet of 2018... What an incredibly strange man.
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Post by gazz on Jan 6, 2018 21:21:24 GMT
First time at Stockport today - was an enjoyable game with great atmosphere- glad I got to see Jason score would have been good to leave him on for another 10 mins but the subs worked well - see u all again soon Thanks for taking the time to pay us a visit, mate - best of luck to Newtown!
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Post by hedgegrower on Jan 6, 2018 22:22:07 GMT
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