A fair result in a rather uninspiring game. Probably the best stadium in this league but a deathly atmosphere even with a crowd of 8000 plus due to the vast empty spaces. We dominated possession in the first half but only created the one real chance and they suddenly came alive before the break with Deano having to make a smart couple of saves. It was more even second half and they made a well-worked goal after a couple of errors from our defence. After that we still did not create much (even with Dodds and John-Lewis on) until Whalley's great shot which came out of the blue and into the top corner. Their keeper did not move as he was as surprised as we were because I do not remember us attempting another shot from outside the box the whole game. A couple of idiots by me were barracking Payne but I felt sorry for him as he was feeding off scraps with very little support and virtually no quality crosses. Difficult to pick a Man of the Match but I would give it to Ogogo who was dominant in midfield. Despite an iffy last month or so in the league we are still second with a great FA Cup tie coming up and a definite chance of getting to Wembley in the Checkatrade so what's not to like about this season?
From the radio and the stats it looked/sounded like we were all over MKD in the first half and should have been winning at HT. I think there needs to be a change of tactics up front as it is not working sufficiently atm. Either the central midfield need to be shooting more from distance or different forward line-up needs to be trialled.
Completely agree with you Matster. We are set up to defend against 'superior' teams and hit them on the break - the problem is that we have been so good at stopping the opposition from playing that we usually have the majority of possession and teams are defending deep against us. With only Payne in the box we rely on midfielders to break alongside him but we have no natural goal-scoring midfielders and Nolan is wasted by playing so far forward - he is much better controlling the game from deeper. Rodman and Godfrey have done little wrong this season but both seem off their game slightly at the moment so I would bring in both the Morrises to start and give us a bit more upfront on the assumption we will have the majority of possession. I was a bit perturbed to read such negative comments about Payne and Beckles on B and A - the former needs more support in the box (even Premier league strikers miss the odd chance) and the latter has done well in my opinion - he played out of position on Saturday but defended well against a quick winger and made a fair few forward runs and I think he will be a good long-term acquisition.
