County v Bradford PA: FA Trophy Match Thread (26/11/2016)

Another home draw. Can't complain with that.

On paper - winnable.


So, we play them 2 weeks running at home. Deep joy with the limerick competition !!!!

That is one of my pet hates - so called double headers in a week.

Agree it's definately winnable and thank god its at home as BPA's ground is like a wind tunnel at this time of year.

They had their first pitch inspection of the season at The Avenue on Saturday.

Hoping to goodness that the tie doesn't entail a replay...

primarily because they haven't anything better to do - they're not going to be building a new hotel complex on an FA trophy gate of four or five hundred.

A 2-0 County win with a brace from Ball in the 32nd minute. No pressure, Jimmy.

Even if it's not physically possible, I think we have to set high standards!  

With Minihan in for Ross and Marsden in for Ball, it was clear that we needed to be much livelier than last week's effort as we were never going to match their height on the pitch! Although we started sloppy, we were still able to have our fair share of the ball and get Lloyd involved quickly. A good early sign was Cartwright finding K with a cross.

Like last week, we were happy to let them have possession where it wasn't dangerous and they didn't look very creative. That said, early on there was a fair bit of movement that was confusing our players, they looked to exploit Smalley's side and had identified their physical advantage (Sharp over Cartwright) from goal kicks. It took a long time into the 1st half to move Montrose over to deal with this.

After Stopforth had a penalty shout turned down early on, I think the best moment of the first half (well, except the goal!) was when Lloyd used Cartwright on the overlap. He (Cartwright) put in a lovely ball for K who made good contact with his header but it went just wide. You can't beat a bit of old fashioned play and it's the kind of variety that will help Lloyd too, so the opposition aren't always expecting him to run the ball.

Soon after this, Felix (very quiet today but worked back a lot) and Lloyd switched flanks. Within a few minutes it had paid off handsomely when Lloyd cut back on his left from the right hand side and put in a whipped ball. From right back, and making an run into the box, was Minihan who made the sweetest contact with his outstretched leg, directing it into the corner for the opening goal. It looked a great goal from the Pop so hope the highlights show the same!

From memory, there was nothing too much thereafter to say we should have sealed the game... that was until about 20 minutes from the end when Marsden (desperate to do well, he was!) had a shot saved. The parry fell to Ball who had replaced K as the lone striker and, on his left foot, he hit wide. It should have been 2-0 and all over. To be fair to Ball, he had a decent impact in his 20 minutes as a striker today, adding mobility and linking up well from time to time.

With about 5 minutes to go of normal time, it should have been 1-1 when Sinclair turned Clarke centrally in the box and got a shot off. For me, Clarke's one of the most improved performers this year. He could tidy up his tackling a bit more but he's now a lot more combative and looks to win those headers with a lot more conviction.

And as we ticked into the 3 minutes of added time, Marsden got the goal his absolute 'want' deserved. He was buried under a sea of County bodies near the Main Stand and it was great to see the team share his personal moment. Good on JG for leaving him on for the full match and for getting Duxbury on for some minutes. It will take him time to get back to his level but he had one incredible run which, if he had converted with the goal, would surely be a goal of the season contender!

Overall, a workmanlike performance to put us through and it was great to see Minihan (MOM), Marsden and Duxbury back in the action.