A really poor first half, a better scond half but still a disappointing defeat.
We started OK. There was some good movement down the left from Molly and Bennett but there was very little down the right. Bod was trying hard to make an impact but was having little joy. They realised that thery could push the ball around at will and get us really stretched. Their 39 was only about 5 foot 7 but he was lively and we were having trouble containing him. Their Gallagher was playing wide left and was giving Romeo a run for his money. All in all we were being pressed back and having little joy going forward. We were helping their cause by playing poor passes or giving the ball away in the middle and it honestly looked just a matter of time. And so it proved to be. No surprise it was Bradley Dack who was the thorn in our side again. He had too much room on the edge of the box. Evans closed him down but he pulled the ball across to his right. His shot was covered by Bart but it took a deflection off Hutch and found the top corner. They now had a cushion and just kept us at bay. The only chance we had in the whole first half came from a corner and fell to Jed but his chip was easily saved. And so the half ended with them one up.
I am sure that GR realised we were short of legs and I was surprised that he made no changes after the break.. However, we started brightly with a Molly free kick from the right. It was back heeled by Jed but nothing came of the clever piece of play.. After ten minutes GR had seen enough and off went Mitchell and on came Smith. We moved to a back four with Evans moving forward into midfield. A decent move down the left from Woods put Molly in the clear and his decent cross was headed wide by Smith. A few minutes later a free kick fell to Molly but his shot was easily saved. A decent knock on by Bennett was knocked over by Bod. GR needed more fresh legs so off went Bennett Jed and Mahlon and on came Burey Danny and Fergie.
We had some pace down the right and were looking to exploit this for an equaliser. And then we pushed the self destruct button. Some poor interplay down the right by Hutch and Cooper let them into it. A sharp cross in the box cannoned off Cooper, hit their Gallagher on the chest and flew into the net.
We tried to press back. A good ball from Fergie to Molly produced a decent cross but Smith's shot was blocked. Another good cross saw a nod down to Evans but his shot was wide.A corner quickly followed from Molly and a touch by Bod on the near post sailed over.With 3 to go Molly burst into the box but his shot hit the post and the follow up from Bod was saved. With 2 to go Williams came on for Woods but the game was lost by then and the 5 added minutes were played out without drama.
Bart made a couple of decent saves but could do little about the two he conceded. Romeo tried but lacked a bit of energy down the right. Hutch was solid along with Cooper but unspectacular and Evans had a fair game. Molly shaded MOM as he never gave up right through to the end to score. Woods was tidy and Mitchell tried hard but didn't have the impact he had on Tuesday. Jed was as poor as I have ever seen him. He never created one moment of threat and gave the ball away more times than he retained it. Bennett had a couple of moments but rarely threatened and Bod ran his nuts off but never threatened either. Smith gave us focus but missed a good chance. Fergie and Molly combined well on the left but never really fashioned a chance. Burey did very little and Williams hardly broke sweat.
All in all a performance which lacked energy and drive. They had plenty of gas in their tank and had made 6 changes to their starting line up to give them plenty of pep. Our unchanged line up had run out of gas after 15 minutes and we never recovered and they were worthy winners. At least we have a whole week to recover, maybe get some fresh legs in the team and head up to Derby with a spring in our step. The defeat was certainly something that GR did not want on his 45th birthday!
We started OK. There was some good movement down the left from Molly and Bennett but there was very little down the right. Bod was trying hard to make an impact but was having little joy. They realised that thery could push the ball around at will and get us really stretched. Their 39 was only about 5 foot 7 but he was lively and we were having trouble containing him. Their Gallagher was playing wide left and was giving Romeo a run for his money. All in all we were being pressed back and having little joy going forward. We were helping their cause by playing poor passes or giving the ball away in the middle and it honestly looked just a matter of time. And so it proved to be. No surprise it was Bradley Dack who was the thorn in our side again. He had too much room on the edge of the box. Evans closed him down but he pulled the ball across to his right. His shot was covered by Bart but it took a deflection off Hutch and found the top corner. They now had a cushion and just kept us at bay. The only chance we had in the whole first half came from a corner and fell to Jed but his chip was easily saved. And so the half ended with them one up.
I am sure that GR realised we were short of legs and I was surprised that he made no changes after the break.. However, we started brightly with a Molly free kick from the right. It was back heeled by Jed but nothing came of the clever piece of play.. After ten minutes GR had seen enough and off went Mitchell and on came Smith. We moved to a back four with Evans moving forward into midfield. A decent move down the left from Woods put Molly in the clear and his decent cross was headed wide by Smith. A few minutes later a free kick fell to Molly but his shot was easily saved. A decent knock on by Bennett was knocked over by Bod. GR needed more fresh legs so off went Bennett Jed and Mahlon and on came Burey Danny and Fergie.
We had some pace down the right and were looking to exploit this for an equaliser. And then we pushed the self destruct button. Some poor interplay down the right by Hutch and Cooper let them into it. A sharp cross in the box cannoned off Cooper, hit their Gallagher on the chest and flew into the net.
We tried to press back. A good ball from Fergie to Molly produced a decent cross but Smith's shot was blocked. Another good cross saw a nod down to Evans but his shot was wide.A corner quickly followed from Molly and a touch by Bod on the near post sailed over.With 3 to go Molly burst into the box but his shot hit the post and the follow up from Bod was saved. With 2 to go Williams came on for Woods but the game was lost by then and the 5 added minutes were played out without drama.
Bart made a couple of decent saves but could do little about the two he conceded. Romeo tried but lacked a bit of energy down the right. Hutch was solid along with Cooper but unspectacular and Evans had a fair game. Molly shaded MOM as he never gave up right through to the end to score. Woods was tidy and Mitchell tried hard but didn't have the impact he had on Tuesday. Jed was as poor as I have ever seen him. He never created one moment of threat and gave the ball away more times than he retained it. Bennett had a couple of moments but rarely threatened and Bod ran his nuts off but never threatened either. Smith gave us focus but missed a good chance. Fergie and Molly combined well on the left but never really fashioned a chance. Burey did very little and Williams hardly broke sweat.
All in all a performance which lacked energy and drive. They had plenty of gas in their tank and had made 6 changes to their starting line up to give them plenty of pep. Our unchanged line up had run out of gas after 15 minutes and we never recovered and they were worthy winners. At least we have a whole week to recover, maybe get some fresh legs in the team and head up to Derby with a spring in our step. The defeat was certainly something that GR did not want on his 45th birthday!
