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Match Day Thread versus Cheltenham

Discussion in 'Plymouth' started by sensiblegreeny, Dec 22, 2022.

  1. sensiblegreeny

    sensiblegreeny Well-Known Member
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    The fast becoming Boxing Day date with the several horse Town. Not doing brilliantly this season so far but not about to drop into the relegation zone just yet. We on the other hand huffed and puffed to beat the bottom club last time out even if we did have the ball for most of the game. Trouble is we kept putting it into the massive away crowd. We have huffed and puffed a bit too often lately so there is hope after winning last time that we have turned a corner. Lets face it we should win this one stats wise and as we put so much store in stats that should be good enough. Will we though or was last time out just a fortunate blip. I don't really think so and believe we will win this one if not at a canter. Looking at the fixtures for this round I forecast a shed load of draws for others. That would do me.



    COYG
     
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  2. Plymborn

    Plymborn Well-Known Member
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    Cooper, Gillesphey, Scarr, Butcher, Edwards, Mayor, Ennis, Mumba, Whittaker, Randell, Lonwijk.

    Subs.
    Burton, Houghton, Wilson, Hardie, Cosgrove, Jenkins-Davies, Roberts.
     
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  3. Plymborn

    Plymborn Well-Known Member
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    ..........................................................................Cooper

    ...............................Lonwijk............................Scarr................................Gillesphey

    .............Edwards...................Randell..............................Butcher...........................Mumba

    ...............................................Whittaker..............................Mayor

    .........................................................................Ennis
     
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  4. Plymborn

    Plymborn Well-Known Member
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    0-1...F/T.......Whittaker...78mins.

    Excellent 3pts.
     
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  5. Plymborn

    Plymborn Well-Known Member
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    Definately down on form....but picking up points to stay top....can we hang in there until we get our act together and get injured players fit.
     
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  6. sensiblegreeny

    sensiblegreeny Well-Known Member
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    "Definately down on form". Did you watch the game plymborn? I watched on tele with No'1 son. Cheltenham were not poor. They played some decent stuff and stuck to their plan which would have happily taken a point. They were hard to break down at times. We could have played better in patches but in others looked quite reasonable. They were the home team yet seemed to be set up to stop us playing. They pressed high quite often and made it difficult. They also bombarded our box with long throws at every opportunity they could. We withstood the onslaught quite well and what we didn't defend properly Cooper backed up and saved. It would have been easy to lose the game despite the difference in league position. Schuey made a number of subs and that seemed to be the go button for a concerted effort. The goal when it came was very well taken. After that Cheltenham were showing much more urgency than their half speed had shown before but we never quite looked like conceeding. The Ref let a number of things go as they all now seem to do. I thought there were a number of times he could have given us a free kick but didn't. Couple of times the other way but not quite as many. On the whole it was a decent result for us and we should simply be grateful for it rather than downgrading the team performance. It's all about opinions I know.
     
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  7. notDistantGreen

    notDistantGreen Well-Known Member

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    I watched it too.... albeit with constant stoppages in the video feed.

    This was much like last week: much better approach play against obstinate if not lavishly gifted opponents and we definitely deserved the win. With better finishing, we could have scored more. Whittaker has been the biggest culprit of late but scored a good goal late on and hopefully that will restore confidence to a lot of talent.

    We were solid defensively apart from a few worrying moments down our RH side. Cooper hardly made a save which would make the highlights but that's because he has the ability nearly always to be standing in the right place at the right time.

    I'll repeat my reference to the opening game of the season, against Barnsley. They came expecting to meet lower league opposition but but came crashing down to a team far better than them. We rode that wave of being underestimated for a while but it wasn't all about that: on 25th September, we beat Ipswich in a game that wouldn't have looked out of place in the Premier League. As someone who does watch the Premier League, I'm not joking: move outside the top third of the Premier League and it's not all champagne football. This was at least a very good Cava. We were scoring for fun at that stage of the season too.

    Since then, even quite highly placed opposition are setting out to stop us and with a rash of injuries disrupting things, sometimes that's worked. The strikers have gone through barren spells, which saps confidence.

    We had a distinctly sticky spell through November but based on the last two, I'm firmly of the opinion it's coming back together. The approach play is better and all of the strikers have scored recently, Whittaker being the last to do so with a sniper's goal yesterday. Confidence is everything for strikers and hopefully they'll all carry that forward into a run which includes more home games than we've had through the autumn.

    Lastly, let's not forget we've been without Azaz. No injury helps and no team can rely on one player but on his day, he's unplayable in this division. I read somewhere that he's progressed into the second stage of recovery and could be back on the grass in January. He'll make a lot of difference when he returns.
     
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