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Shrewsbury 3-2 Barnet

Discussion in 'Shrewsbury' started by Lenny, Oct 8, 2011.

  1. Lenny

    Lenny Well-Known Member

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    Meh. I think that sums up that game nicely. A really poor performance, marred with a victory - or should that be the other way round?!

    Anyway, we started off poorly. Sharps spotted a fiver on the floor, and bent to pick it up just as the ball came drifting serenely in. Cansdell-Sherriff was never going to get there, McCleod held him off then it broke down for them. The bloke behind me seemed to have some kind of vendetta against Richards, who was the best player early on, playing some lovely balls and getting stuck in. They had a good chance, I can't remember whether it was before or after our first, when they shredded JJ (who had been poor, beaten too easily and taking too long on the ball, conceding possession cheaply), waltzed through our defence and shot straight at Neal when they should've scored. Neal did his best to atone for the striker's miss by spilling the ball, but sadly nobody was around so he jumped on it like it was a surprise purple fruit pastille hiding at the bottom of the packet.

    Then/earlier, we scored. Richards beat the offside trap, slowed down to a walk as he composed himself, smoked a crafty cigar and put the ball through the keeper's legs. 1-0, but undeserved.

    Gornell made it two shortly after, although he also tried to help Barnet by missing a shot completely earlier on from a similar position, smashing home after great play from this new winger with blonde hair we signed.

    2-0 up, some bizzare offside decisions at both ends from the linos, although the referee himself was good, and really it was 3/4 good chances of ours to one of theirs, and several potshots from their forwards as they attempted to hit AJ with a ball.

    Second half, we continued upon our theme of wanting to help out Barnet, not really creating anything (fortunately not looking in danger too much) until a hoof through was left by Sharps for SCS, who saw Neal off his line and attempted to head the ball over him from 15 yards. Neal pushed it away, but some ****er was there to tap in.

    Then we were really on the ropes, the poor Wroe was replaced by McAllister, but we still conceded a second after some abysmal defending from a corner, nobody closing down or pushing up, and it was curled, well, past Neal, by some ****er.

    We brought on Collins, inexplicably left on the anonymous Wright with Taylor on the bench, started chasing, won a few corners, and then scored. Long ball forward by JJ, good flick on from Marv, Big G was there to flick goalwards with his heel as only he can, and Ainsworth tapped in.

    We won, but we were pretty ****.
     
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  2. Matster

    Matster Well-Known Member
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    Great summary <laugh><ok><ok>
     
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  3. shrewsie

    shrewsie Member

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    You got it about right Lenny. Poor game lucky 3 points but then we should have got points at Bristol Rovers and didn't, sometimes it goes like this but we have to get back to playing better than that.
     
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  4. Lenny

    Lenny Well-Known Member

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    I suppose one can argue it's the sign of a good team to play badly and still win, it's what Man United do and get praised for everywhere, and a similar thing with Gornell who I thought was dreadful but scored, although it's worrying we're capable of playing so poorly against arguably the worst team in the league.

    It's also worrying that we're incapable of keeping a clean sheet; barring the Torquay game I can't think of a clean sheet we've kept this season. I'm sure there's more, but I can't think of any at the moment.
     
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  5. ManFeelings

    ManFeelings Member

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    Abject performance and in the end very, very lucky but i'm a happy Salopian tonight. The 50 or so Barnet fans who casually sat through an entertaining 90 mins will feel hard done by but at least Lady Luck is smiling on us as opposed to some of the home games last season, when we couldn't score in a brothel.
     
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  6. Lenny

    Lenny Well-Known Member

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    Was it that many?!
     
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  7. greenhousmeadowman

    greenhousmeadowman Well-Known Member

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    Interesting how many different opinions you can get about individual performances in a game. I thought Gornell was a constant threat, he used the ball intelligently and looked much more likely to get another goal than Morgan (who seems to have lost his early season verve) and I was astonished to see him substituted. As for Wroe I thought he did OK but he and Richards were clearly outnumbered in midfield - what we needed was an extra man in there and Wright should have gone off when Mcallister went on. When we are playing well our two wingers are our strength - we can really stretch the opposition and spread the attack. But when we are under the cosh (as for long periods in this game) they can become a weakness as they tend to become sidelined and offer very little protection for the full backs. I am a big fan of Wright and he was great for us last year with his passing and classy goals but he has not been at the races for most of this season. He never seems to be substituted however poorly he is playing and I wonder what effect this is having on John Taylor, who would have given us something different if he had come on today.
    As for the defending the less said the better and I hope the two centre-backs can return to their usual reliable selves when they are fully match fit. My final moan is about our poor finishing with both Wright and Morgan making absolute hashes of very straightforward chances in the second half. We have had some very exciting games at Greenhous Meadow this season and we always look likely to score but with such poor defending and finishing as we have seen today I cannot see us getting an automatic promotion spot.
     
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  8. Matster

    Matster Well-Known Member
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    79 I heard
     
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  9. Lenny

    Lenny Well-Known Member

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    Well that's fair enough, different interpretations <ok> I just remember his air shot and lack of closing down and this makes me sad.

    As for Jonny Taylor I really agree, why on earth wasn't he brought on? Wright was really quite poor, and we know that he can give us a goal, but Taylor was arguably our best forward player in the second half of last season, and can make things happen. His pace would've stretched the game, but we were lucky.

    I also think Bradshaw needs to be on the bench instead of Gornell/Collins. Those two are probably better players right now, but won't have as much impact off the bench as Bradders with his pace and youthful exuberance.

    Finally, I agree with you about Morgan, he does seem to have lost it a little, although he did win a lot in the air and had some good moments, but never looked like scoring - a Harrold performance!
     
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  10. Matster

    Matster Well-Known Member
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    Bradshaw is on international duties. I would like to see Gornell and Collins play up front together, even if it was only for a solid half. Morgan was a constant threat today, I know he didn't get solidly onto to too many chances he did cause problems. I must admit that Morgan missed another three foot sitter where the ball flicked over the bar and should have gone in the unmarked area of the net (he did this a couple of games ago), if he had put it in we'd been 3 nil up and I think that would've been game over, but obviously that didn't happen!
     
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  11. Lenny

    Lenny Well-Known Member

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    He missed a one on one as well when he had loads of time and acres of space but tried to shoot with his left foot and it went straight at the keeper.
     
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  12. Rocky blue army

    Rocky blue army Well-Known Member

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    well done to the shrews,a win is a win no matter how you get it
     
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  13. Matster

    Matster Well-Known Member
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    Hi Rocky, hope all is well with you. Good point against Walsall for you too.
     
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  14. Hounded Out By Morons

    Hounded Out By Morons Well-Known Member

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    I agree about Gornell. Offers more than Collins as he seems to recognise what is around him. His pass for the Richards goal was sublime. As for the air shot, the ball bobbled just as it reached him. In defence of Wright, he has produced more, defensively, this season (worked harder) but I agree the extra central midfielder was necessary before Barnet equalised. When Taylor first appeared as a sub against Bury last year, he ran around like a headless chicken. He then had a short purple patch but reverted to being ineffectual, although with his verve he always makes watching interesting. In his brief appearances this season he seems to have gone backwards.
     
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  15. ManFeelings

    ManFeelings Member

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    Taylor got burnt out after less than half a season last time around-he was very effective at first, but covers so much ground that by the end he looked knackered and was useless.

    This sounds ridiculous, but maybe GT is saving him for Christmas time? a breath of fresh air?
     
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  16. ManFeelings

    ManFeelings Member

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    Taylor got burnt out after less than half a season last time around-he was very effective at first, but covers so much ground that by the end he looked knackered and was useless.

    This sounds ridiculous, but maybe GT is saving him for Christmas time? a breath of fresh air?
     
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  17. greenhousmeadowman

    greenhousmeadowman Well-Known Member

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    Manfeelings,
    You are probably right that Taylor is being saved to make an impact later on the season. I think everyone there was a bit disappointed in the performance but, if you look at it overall, 5 wins and a draw in the first six home games is probably better home form than anyone else in this league
     
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  18. Lenny

    Lenny Well-Known Member

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    Don't get me wrong; I like Gornell and I think he's a very good CF. I just think he didn't play that well yesterday. I also happen to rate Collins, I have backed him ever since we signed him - he always puts a shift in and seems to have a decent goals per game record.

    Morgan is a player who we can't really replace, we have no other CF who's anywhere near as good as he is in the air, and the fact the we use the wings a lot, and hoof the ball forward a decent amount, means that we need an aerial presence. I thought he was never looking like he was going to score yesterday, but still was a pain, winning most high balls and setting up the crucial third goal with a brilliant flick on.

    As for Taylor, he is unlucky in that he has Ainsworth ahead of him who continues to impress. Even yesterday, when he went for a Peter Odemwingie look, he set up one and scored another, and was, for me, our best player over the 90 minutes. To be fair to Turner, when Ainsworth and Taylor were both in the same team towards the end of last season, we did have a dire couple of performances, with both tried on the left and both completely ineffective.
     
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  19. tinned hats

    tinned hats Member

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    look. we played badly and won, its going to happen,but we are also going to play well and loose...thats what football is all about...keep the faith:smile:
     
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  20. shrewdchemic

    shrewdchemic Member

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    I'll take a below par performance and 3 points. We could & should have killed the game early in the 2nd half, even though we were fortunate to be 2-0 up. We shouldn't have let them back into the game and why we were defending with 11 in the box when we were two up baffles me. It's no wonder we came under pressure playing like that.

    I'd take issue with the comment that Barnet are the worst team in the league. Far from it with the likes of Marshall, McLeod and Holmes but their defence wasn't great and their final ball even worse than ours.

    No high marks for anyone, though Richards impressed me. I disagree with those wondering why Taylor wasn't brought on. We were ahead and needed to play a tighter game, which isn't Taylor's strength. I still think we could deploy a midfield three of Wroe, McAllister and Richards at times like that (or away from home). Neal was a bit unconvincing - Smith has been caught out coming too far off his line recently but at least he takes a lot of crosses and eases the pressure on the defence. Neal always seems to stay and that just made us look vulnerable on Saturday. Their comedy goal was one of those things but it looked to me as though Sharps was the chief culprit by leaving the high ball - unless someone called. We need last season's Sharps back - this season's can't get through a game without making a couple of glaring mistakes. Is he carrying an injury?

    Anyway, that's the 2nd set of 6 games completed and we collected 12 points this time, after 11 in the first set - bang on target for 85 points. Of course we need to play much better - but does anyone believe we can't? We know we can. So far, so very good. It's going to stay tough with 2 hard away games next and so many away games before new year (I think we'll have played 13 away by the halfway stage). If we can improve our away record over the next 3 months then the signs will be very promising for a good run in.
     
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