Meh. Brizzle came and played for a draw, played dirty and dived a plenty; ref was ****e; we were the better team and a great finish from Collins won us the game. Decent atmosphere at times, very subdued at others. Good following from the gas on a Tuesday, Valentine's day to a stadium where they were never going to get anything. But we won (whilst not getting out of second gear), Crawley and Cheltenham lost, and the top three could change completely when the games in hand are played. Those Gulls are looking ominous though. Player Ratings Neal: 7 - Had a couple of routine saves to make, commanded his area well and there was one incident at the end when some twat fouled him and the Brizzle fans were up in arms demanding a penalty. Bless. Dealt well with some awkward passbacks. Regan: 6.5 - Still not 100% convinced, but he didn't really do anything wrong other than just make me a little nervous. Grandison: 6.5 - Missed a sitter. He was his usual hapless self going forward, but looked worse on the ball at the back. Won everything in the air as ever though and was nearly killed by a filthy challenge by some ****er. He also nearly had a fight at the end, but the linesman saw something for the first time that evening and split it up. His worst game I've seen this season. Sharps: 7.5 - Superb. He looks like the Sharps of last season. Fouled all the first half by Harrold (he was anonymous) and all the second by some tit. What a monster. Jacobson: 7 - Mr reliable. He even put in some dangerous crosses. Very impressed. D. McAllister: 6.5 - Got stuck in, lucky not to get booked and didn't look anything special today. Richards: 7 - He just has that touch of quality. Worked hard, broke down attacks and played some sumptuous balls. A couple of uncharacteristic mistakes, though. Taylor: 8 - My MotM. I was irritated not to see Lionel starting, but this lad ran his socks off, beat his men, got stuck in, linked up well and played some excellent crosses in. Really good game, and I wonder whether his work rate is why he starts ahead of Lionel with Regan not 100%. Irked that he was booked for a petulant act early on though. Wright: 7.5 - Outstanding in the first half, beat their defence so easily and nearly scored a great goal. Faded a little in the second half when he was away from the noise and the criticisms being completely drowned out by the Town fans. Excellent corners today. Collins: 7.5 - This lad just gets better and better. Ran his socks off, won a lot, linked the play with the midfield and was at the heart of a great move along with Taylor that almost culminated in a superb goal. Great finish. GIVE HIM A NEW CONTRACT! Gornell: 6 - He worked hard, but his usually superb first touch was awful tonight. Real shame. Didn't really get into the game. Sawyers: 7.5 - Looked very sharp when he came on. He just looks like a player from a higher level. First touch and passing ability and that close control all look excellent. If this is just the tip of the iceberg, then I'm excited cos he looked good. Wroe: 6.5 - Didn't really change anything in his 15-minute cameo. Gave the ball away once but looked decent enough. Referee: 2 - Didn't know what he was doing. He looked about 13, and there were two incidents when a red card should have been brandished IMO. Very inconsistent, didn't seem to blow for the majority of "fouls" on us but gave Brizzle any 50-50. McAllister should have been booked. One particular incident springs to mind: a Brizzle player sliced a volley horribly, there was nobody near him and the ref bizzarely gave a corner (from which they almost scored). Brizzle fans: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH ****erS. Feel free to criticise all our players, or even add to the debate, just like I did in a mature, sensible manner.
Well done tinpots. Wholly irrelevant to the outcome of your season though. As you will, of course, bottle it.
Spot on Lenny. First half 0-10mins all Shrews - should of scored, but didn't. 10-45mins blah, blah, blah. Wright made mincemeat of his marker and nearly scored. Harrold looking for carrots - has now applied for a new job on Blackpool beach. Second half 45-55mins all Gas - should of scored, but didn't. 55-77mins blah, blah, blah. Gas player should of seen red for late challenge on God. 77mins subs required and made. 77-94mins Town start to realise they can win the game and finally start to test the keeper. Collins scores a cracker 1-0. All in all three points gained when it looked like we would only get one. Town can be frustrating at times, with tonight being proof. I've heard it said on here that Town lack ambition and "do not want to be promoted" and at times tonight this looked to be the case. Too many times tonight we did not shoot and test their keeper. Rovers were not a strong team, and certainly a team we should be rolling over. We have some testing games in the next couple of weeks which will determine what league we are playing in next season. If we aren't promoted automatically we will not win the playoffs. Ref was **** as usual, turned up in green and black (rovers away kit) - surprised he didn't have the rovers badge on his shirt, he was that one sided!
Baldee why are you always so bitter about football teams which are head and shoulders above the gas? Well done shrews
Well done Tinpots, it sounds like you deserved to win this one. However do agree with Baldee you will bottle it. Jenny, they have let you out then heavily sedated i expect. Where have you been? Please feel free to pleasure yourself over your 1-0 win
No stand out Salop performers. We were comfortable but, apart from some excellent early crosses, we weren't great in the final third until the subs come on (should have been 15 mins earlier & maybe Ainsworth too). Ball retention very good though & stopped them applying any real pressure, apart from a few minutes early in the 2nd half. So man of the match goes to Richards, yet again. Question for the ref - why book Taylor for kicking the ball away and ignore two of their players doing the same? [That's when they thought they were on for 0-0 of course!] Consistent refs - that'd be good. And well done Jermaine G for not milking the late tackle you took and getting their man red carded. A lot of players wouldn't have been so honest (can think of one at Southend). Even more respect to the big G.
Exactly, I forgot to add that in. I was almost crying with frustration at that stage. It's also the same as timewasting, that's why it's a bookable offence, yet he didn't book any of their players for timewasting (Neal didn't get a chance to!)
A thoroughly detailed and interested posting as usual Lenny but I must disagree with you on a few things. I thought Wroe turned a tight game on its head with his very classy passing and that meant we were able to have a sustained period of pressure which lead to their defence finally cracking. I did not think they came for a draw - they have won a lot of games recently and the possession stats must be fairly even. We were limited to a very few chances, mainly because they were very good at closing us down in midfield. GT is often criticised for his lack of substitutions so he must be given credit for putting on Wroe and Sawyers at a point where we were struggling to dominate - that was the turning point of the game. Finally, I thought the ref was OK. It is not easy for him when players go to ground so easily as some of the Rovers players did and he did not make any major mistakes.
Fair enough, everyone has their own opinion. I can accept other aspects, like players' performances are very much subjective, but I stick by my assertion that they just wanted a point - their keeper was timewasting as early as the 8th minute. Coupled with McGhee's post match comments, I think that they were a little overawed by our home record and went to stifle our attacks rather than instigate their own - which I think is a decent tactic for a point at our place due to our tight defence and dodgy goalscoring record (although we have only drawn one blank at home this season).
should we be worried about the continued impotence up front or will a good dose of hormones plus gentle words of comfort from gt suffice. well done jamie but 86 mins is a long time to wait for a goal against journeymen. well done the lads, a bit more sex appeal up front will be needed for barnet and a ruddy orgasm for swindon
I'm definitely a Collins fan. I think he can be a great player and it's imperative we hang on to him imo. I think Bradders has a lot of potential, but needs to go on loan. I personally would give Ainsworth a start up front. Morgan is a tricky player and scares defences, but Ainsworth's pace and good return when utilised up front last season would make him a good shout imo. Taylor (of whom I'm not a huge fan) has hit some good form, and Wrighty's goal threat and quality mean he is nigh on undroppable presently. Gornell just looks slightly off the pace at the moment.
well rest gornell until he is sexed up, marvin should be able to play soon, he needs match practice. we need to get our marve to have they rotties begging for it
Didn't go to the game so can't really comment on it, but online stats suggest rovers had a decent game with more attempts on goal than the tinpots. Nevermind, it is 1-1 after 2 legs and a third in the playoff final will ensure rovers are the bigger, better, classier side on the whole
Says something about Harrold that he was unable to score against us despite the fact he is an ex player!
harrold was not match fit if he went off with fatigue, according to magoo. note chris still thinks the gas may get to the playoffs. i admire his confidence, and i am not betting against it. i have gas in 7th place in may, you heard it here 1st
Too true AJ Wouldn't you just love a re-match at Wembley against the might Bristol Rovers? You can bring your 4,000 fans and we can have the rest
i suspect it will be at old trafford again, and not wishing to brag, swindon shrews and crawley may not be in the playoffs, but we shall look down on the gas and torquay fighting it out at the stretford end. sadly the gas may not be their unless matty h is fit soon. may i suggest a diet of carrotts, complan, lucozade and irnbru to get him back in shape
Matty H is getting there AJ, should be fully fit in a matter of days We have injured players coming back from all over the place, which is probably why we have been quite strong and winning games lately. When the whole lot are back and 100% fit, we might have a good chance
