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Heads Up Chaps
Views: 3460
First loss at home in ages - in all reality it couldn't last.
They appear to be our new bogey man. No win in nine is it since they re-joined the top flight?
I really did not want to read Lewis Smith ran unchallenged - that lad has been a consistent thorn against us.
The day they hit six past us he was on fire.
East Thurrock deserve credit they constantly work very hard.
Sounds as if we just could not penetrate their defences.
Mutual respect. Now let's put the disappointment behind us and go again.
Re: Heads Up Chaps
Views: 3246
Another cagey home-game in which we rarely looked fluent and often looked a touch out of sorts. Thurrock were very solid all over the pitch and matched us for organisation. We didn't appear especially balanced as the squad was rotated a bit.
A few questions I found myself pondering over a late night kebab;
What is Maz Bettache's best position? Is he a winger? (if so, which wing?) or is he best used centrally in a midfield three where he can find gaps and play off the striker? (like Erhun Ozthumer in his Dulwich days). In time, will he and Scott Shulton be competing for the same spot?
Is Courtney Harris able to play effectively anywhere other than a defensive midfield role? I suspect this is his preferred position but will need time to adjust to the pace and style of Ryman League football if he is to be truly effective elsewhere in midfield.
Is Tony Taggart fit enough to start league games? (he looked fine at Molesey). Him and Oli Sprague appear to have a good understanding.
Can we get the midfield blend right to allow us to play 4-4-2? (thus getting two of our strikers playing together).
Will Sam Flegg be seen as a first choice defender? (either at right-back or centre-back) PS: I thought he skippered the team well at Molesey.
I love this time of the season....so many things to ponder and everything to play for! Last night's gone....it's how we react that will give us a better idea of how we are shaping up. See you all at Leiston!
Re: Heads Up Chaps
Views: 3335
Very disappointing performance, particularly after the wonderful display at Needham Market. We could not put two passes together and East Thurrock thoroughly deserved the win. A number of players had really bad games - not going to name them. I can only single out Sam Murphy as having a reasonable game - his work rate is amazing.
Crucial game now at Leiston - has the bubble burst or is it "onwards and upwards".
Re: Heads Up Chaps
Views: 3253
I spoke with Gary this morning and his thoughts will be on the news page later today or tomorrow. He made a very interesting point, whilst stressing he was neither using it as an excuse nor in any way criticising East Thurrock.
Last Saturday, on the hottest football day of the year, we had to make a 250-mile round trip to Suffolk and play on a very lush, grassy, slow pitch. East Thurrock, in contrast, sat at home because their match against Farnborough was postponed.
It is asking an awful lot of our players to make that sort of trip on a broiling hot day, have 24 hours to recover, do a day’s work, rush off to Harrow and then play on a horribly greasy, slippery pitch where the ball flew off the surface at great speed. There is no blame or fault at all on Harrow for the state of the pitch; the 10 hours of pretty incessant rain on rock-hard undersoil was entirely beyond anyone’s control.
It could be said this was a perfect storm of contributory factors, and it still took a 96th-minute goal to beat us.
Re: Heads Up Chaps
Views: 3307
I'm confident that when Gary has a full squad available and they are up to match fitness that we will again be up with the leading pack in the League and setting our sights on emulating last season's Cup exploits.As for Monday's game I'll be surprised if E.Thurrock aren't in the mix at the business end of the season,they looked pretty good to me.
If any of the club hierarchy are looking in ,is there anything to report as to when building work will kick off at SJP ?
SJP Update
Views: 3119
Then application for Football Foundation (FF) funding has been submitted. Due to the resident Objections our planning application took over eight months and we missed the FF panel meeting this week. We have now been given a decision date of 4th November. Whilst this is disappointing we still believe most of the works can be done during the winter months weather permitting. Until we have a decision from FF we must not start any works under the terms and conditions of applying.
Re: Heads Up Chaps
Views: 3237
Another example of Monday home games costing us. Last season because of the pitch being ruined by two games in 72 hours, this season because of the quick turnaround of games. Still don't know why we didn't try to get a Wednesday slot for midweek homes.
Oh well, can hope to be back to the normal Tuesdays next season at SJP...
Re: Heads Up Chaps
Views: 3162
In answer to your question, Paul, Wednesday home matches are unlikely to be an option at Harrow as they then remove the option of having training on Thursday.
Re: Heads Up Chaps
Views: 3200
Strange match on Monday. Most of us left in a state of shock, really because Hendon had battled back from a very poor first half showing, where we were lucky to be level, to look the far more likely victors. It was so frustrating that less than a minute after Kezie Ibe was a whisker away from scoring the winner for Hendon, East Thurrock scored themselves. I thought that for the ten minutes or so that Kezie and Leon were on the pitch together we looked really strong, but having said that, Tony Taggart did subsequently provide width and service down the left. A draw would have been a good and fair result.
Edited by dw at 21:47:36 on 26th August 2015
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