Unfortunately this is Football sometimes this season we'll be 1-0 / 2-0 up and end up drawing, other times we could be 2-0 down and end up drawing. I felt though that the Referee was very poor today. (1) How was it not a Free Kick at the end when Green was thrown down after winning the ball back from the Scunny player (especially with the Linesman two yards away) (2) Apparantly your not allowed to block a player anymore, i.e. when it was down by their corner flag we were wasting time fair enough but when their player wins the ball back and gets a free kick because he hasnt got the brain to hit it against our player giving them a Goal kick is beyond me. (3) Surely it was a penalty both Jason Euell and the ball were just inside the area when he went down?? (Did anyone get a better view than me who can say otherwise?) (4) Where did 5mins come from at the end of the game after there was just the 1min at the end of the First Half especially as BWP was down for about 3mins right at the beginning (did the Ref forget that incident or something??) On a bright note Morrison and Taylor were both excellent once again, putting their bodies in the way of the ball on numerous occasions and were unlucky to concede (along with Elliot making some great saves) Green when he came on looked really good especially with his Ball Delivery and Euell I thought played a lot better than the Notts County game (was unlucky he didnt put BWP through twice) In all I thought we played well against IMO one of the toughest sides in the Division, Scunny will definitely be up there at the season once they get going. Sadly as I walked away the comment from one fan that he was glad because the draw would bring us back down to earth was total B/S (Could anyone else see any of the riot pictures they put up before the game??)
Thank goodness someone's posted, C4L, I was beginning to think everyone had jumped lemming-like into the Thames in despair... Agreed - disappointing yes, disastrous, no. The radio mentioned several times that Robbie Elliott had a blinder, although they kept insisting that 'Newcastle were in for him' - was that right?
Agree Tewks after posting I was wondering where everyone else was seeing I was the only one to post a "match report" He made some very good saves but a lot were straight at him. It must help loads having Morrison and Taylor in front of him (impossible to tell them apart from distance) Part of me though wonders if the rain didnt help at the start - poor excuse I know but it proper lashed down during the first half and felt that Scunny adjusted a lot quicker than us in the conditions
i'm actually really disappointed with the result. we totally owned the whole game. we shouldve def had that penalty towards the end. the only reason the ref didnt give it was 'cos we looked comfortable and didnt want to make the defeat for them a big one. 5 mins was a total joke, some of the ref's decisions were nonsensicle. it got to the point where the biggest cheers were for when he got a decision right. we should have won, but its not the end of the world. we bossed 80% of the game. hope the fans dont start getting at the team cos the last thing they need is nerves. last year, we'd have lost this game about 4-1. oh, and why's he keep bring doherty on for a striker, holding out for a win can still be done with 2 strikers, 1 perhaps (euell?) dropping into midfield...
I reckon Powell brought on Doherty at the end to tighten it up at the back - Going into injury time we didnt need to go all guns blazing to get a 3rd we just needed to hold on (on this occasion it didnt work but against Notts County it did). Meant to say as well Tewks I agree in away about throwing away the 2-0 lead being disappointing yet not disasterous, i.e. we played a side who were playing Championship teams last year so it was always gonna be hard (Being 2-0 up against such a side is a huge positive and we can learn lessons from that when we face Sheff Utd and Preston). Had we played say Bury or Chesterfield with the same outcome then I'd be disappointed
I think this Reading game has come at just the right time, it's going to be a good chance to have a look at a few of the players hovering there or thereabouts, and they should be able to play a pretty relaxed game - seven subs as well won't hurt. And Reading managed to lose today, right on cue.
Hayes had a decent first half...second half he faded,Scunny bossed the midfield second half and stopped us playing fair plat to them .
Yeh that was another thing MT, there were times when Scunny really got in our faces in the second half and we had absolutely no room to pass it around ourselves
A4L agree the refereeing was sub standard and that it was a penalty. Thought there might have been a hand ball in the play before their 2nd goal as well. Whilst Robbie had a good game from the long balls but couldn't see that he commanded his box for the two Scunthorpe goals, but it was at the other end of the pitch. The booking of Green was a joke which typified the referees performance. I may have Charlton tinted glasses but he appeared one sided in his view. However Bradley didn't help by going up to him and making a comment as he was being substituted which probably made the ref not give us another decision. Euell played well in his time on the pitch, made space for himself and crafted one or two moves which showed his class. The rain at the start affected our play more than theirs, it normally rains in Lincolnshire, but would give me a concern for a wet Tuesday night against Wycombe. The good news is that this is not a disaster just a reality check and gives CP the option of making some changes to freshen the side after seeing how the Carling Cup team plays on Tuesday. Green showed class and in my view should start next weekend. I guess we may see two Spanish midfielders on Tuesday as well, but whether they will play well enough to displace Hollands and Stephens, who played well today, remains to be seen.
I'm not so sure the first Scunny goal should have counted....it looked suspisciously like the guy handled the ball to gain control. Overall, I thought we looked very comfortable for long periods of the game. Should we have shut up shop with 10 mins to go? On anither day yes but for me the best form of defence is attack and we should have left two up front.
