Post by stevek192 on Mar 11, 2018 11:33:08 GMT
After missing last weeks game at MK Dons it was great to be back watching the Gas again yesterday in what was always going to be a difficult game against a much improved Northampton side from the team who took such a mauling in the 6-0 win at Sixfields. That said it must also be taken into account that it was a game we should be winning if we do have aspirations of sneaking into a Play off place and I have to admit that I never in a million years thought at Christmas that come March we would even have the slightest chance. I am not sure if the fact that we are even as close as we are is down to our performances or the poor form of the teams who were holding the Play off positions. Personally I am pleased that we have now reached the 50 points with still 10 games to play! It was no real surprise that with Sinclair fit again Luke Russe was left out of the squad completely after an impressive game last week- that is very much Darrell Clarke's way to fill the squad with experienced players as he has them at his disposal and also the reverting to a much more compressed team with Gaffney partnering Harrison rather than starting with two wingers. No real complaints on my part although I would have liked to see Byron Moore get an extended run but also would have kept Russe in to see how he would cope in a home game with fans baying for a win.
Slocombe 7 Produced a couple of good saves but in my opinion should be coming and taking the sort of cross that brought Northampton's undeserved equaliser to taker the pressure off two centre halves who both lack height. Trouble is that Smith would also have been glued to his line and perhaps DC would have been better off trying to sign a collosus of a centre half because in all honesty at the moment we only really look susceptible to high crosses and our overall defending has been pretty good. The big plus with Slocombe over Smith is his distribution which is much quicker with more throw outs and more accurate kicking.
Partington 7.5 This for me was his best overall performance with his defending solid and composed and also providing a regular attacking threat.
Lockyer 7.5 It is not coincidence that alongside Tony Craig Tom Lockyer has returned to his best form and other than the height factor has provided a partnership that generally can cope on their own and not rely extensively on midfield players getting back. Tom gave the opposition no time or space and his reading of the game is always his strong point.
Craig 7.5 For me he has done exactly what DC brought him in for in bringing experience to the back line and instead of picking on every mistake supporters should be looking at the composure and organisation he has brought generally to our defence with his talking and his general play.You are always going to be susceptible to a high cross with two relatively short centre halves and goalkeepers neither of whom are great on crosses but you have to balance that out and IMO we no longer look like a side who will concede goals. It will be interseting in the next two games to see how we cope with in form sides.
Brown 7 Steady performance although probably should have done better on the goal although both gaffney and Harrison didn't exactly do a lot to stop the cross coming in and that is my biggest gripe with the way DC sets up our defending that we end up with our two centre forwards ina full back position!!
Sercombe 7 Unlucky not to add to his tally with two good strikes; one hitting the bar and the other well saved by the keeper. He worked hard throughout in what was a compact midfield where four players played without much width in a diamond formation with Lines and Sercombe taking it in turns to stride forward with the ball and football wise I think it was some of the best midfield moves I have seen in a long time especially in the first half where 1 goal was scant reward for a good attacking performance especially in the middle third and only the finishing really let us down.
Sinclair 6.5 Typical dynamic performance from "the Beard". Kept us ticking over and did a lot of the work that can go unnoticed however what we gained in numbers I felt we lost a bit in width although both full backs played well and provided that whenever they could.
Lines 7.5 Chris is playing with skill and imposing himself on the opposition and IMO those who don't think he should get a new contract need to think again. He is IMO up with the best midfielders in this division especially when the ball is at his feet. He was, like the team, better in the first half than the second and is now making a lot more of those runs at the opposition.
Bennett 8 MOM A bag of tricks who is always looking to make space and bring other players into the game with quick slick passing and footwork to match. The goal was a bonus as he was quick to react to the keepers parrying Harrison's shot and joyfully placing the ball over the keeper and in the net. It was well deserved on the back of the best performance he has given since arriving from Portsmouth and he always looked dangerous and most of all he is always happy to be on the ball and another master move by DC to play him "in the hole" rather than out wide.
Gaffney 5 A very mixed bag from him yesterday and probably should have been substituted earlier. Far too many slack passes and he seemed to completely slow up most attacks when he wasn't caught carelessly offside. I feel we very much lack a real goalscorer at present with neither striker really wanting to be the "leader" of the attack and neither really being the "fox in the box" type. Obviously Nicholls was meant to be this man but his poor season has now resulted in him slipping to probably fourth choice though I wonder whether now is the very time when he should be playing alongside Harrison.
Harrison 5 Since his injury a while back his overall performance has slipped a little and yesterday he struggled to really get into the game a lot although he did set up the goal with a turn and shot and was unlucky not to score in the first half with another slick shot but I would really like to see him attacking crosses in the oppositions penalty area with the same enthusiasm that he defends corners. Missed the chance from two yards in the second half which should have clinched the points when he rushed his shot and drove the ball high over the bar when it was easier to score. He should have done much better to prevent the cross coming in for the equaliser where the case for not having strikers back defending was shown with him and Gaffney both failing to stop the cross.
Subs
Clarke 6 Came on and gave a steady performance. Good to see him back again.
Moore 6 Good on the ball and again looks like he is now up for it. i would like to see him on the right wing especially at home.
Telford 6 Should have been brought on earlier and very unlucky not to score with the keeper bringing oiff a good save.
Crowd 7 Pretty noisy at times and kept behind the team.
Ref 8 Very good performance but I wish they could use common sense when the tackle whilst warranting a yellow card from their player did not really deserve him to be sent off. In fact there was more a case for their forward to get a
straight red for the tackle on Lockyer but referees have to be seen to follow the Code of conduct and so within that he was one of the best officials we have had this season.
Northampton 5 A poor side who deserved nothing and should have gone back with nothing. They came for a point and got one.
DC- What can I say? Ninth in the League with ten games to go speaks for itself and has definitely improved the squad over the season. I hope at this stage that we can really go for it in the next two games and if that fails to generate enough points to continue a quest for the Play offs that he bleeds a few youngsters. I feel he should have used the subs earlier yesterday to give us a bit more width but at least he is trying to win games rather than just stick for the point
So that really was two points lost as we move on to two of our toughest away games and need to look at the games as a pair and 3 points or more will keep us in contention, six would push us right to the edge of the Play off places whereas one or two would I think leave us too much to do. That said, are we ready for the Play Offs? IMO it is a step too far at the present time and we are not good enough in the attacking third to achieve it however if we win at Plymouth then maybe I will start believing it is possible! UTG
but as to how the season will go could very much depend on the next two games which are both away from the Mem
Slocombe 7 Produced a couple of good saves but in my opinion should be coming and taking the sort of cross that brought Northampton's undeserved equaliser to taker the pressure off two centre halves who both lack height. Trouble is that Smith would also have been glued to his line and perhaps DC would have been better off trying to sign a collosus of a centre half because in all honesty at the moment we only really look susceptible to high crosses and our overall defending has been pretty good. The big plus with Slocombe over Smith is his distribution which is much quicker with more throw outs and more accurate kicking.
Partington 7.5 This for me was his best overall performance with his defending solid and composed and also providing a regular attacking threat.
Lockyer 7.5 It is not coincidence that alongside Tony Craig Tom Lockyer has returned to his best form and other than the height factor has provided a partnership that generally can cope on their own and not rely extensively on midfield players getting back. Tom gave the opposition no time or space and his reading of the game is always his strong point.
Craig 7.5 For me he has done exactly what DC brought him in for in bringing experience to the back line and instead of picking on every mistake supporters should be looking at the composure and organisation he has brought generally to our defence with his talking and his general play.You are always going to be susceptible to a high cross with two relatively short centre halves and goalkeepers neither of whom are great on crosses but you have to balance that out and IMO we no longer look like a side who will concede goals. It will be interseting in the next two games to see how we cope with in form sides.
Brown 7 Steady performance although probably should have done better on the goal although both gaffney and Harrison didn't exactly do a lot to stop the cross coming in and that is my biggest gripe with the way DC sets up our defending that we end up with our two centre forwards ina full back position!!
Sercombe 7 Unlucky not to add to his tally with two good strikes; one hitting the bar and the other well saved by the keeper. He worked hard throughout in what was a compact midfield where four players played without much width in a diamond formation with Lines and Sercombe taking it in turns to stride forward with the ball and football wise I think it was some of the best midfield moves I have seen in a long time especially in the first half where 1 goal was scant reward for a good attacking performance especially in the middle third and only the finishing really let us down.
Sinclair 6.5 Typical dynamic performance from "the Beard". Kept us ticking over and did a lot of the work that can go unnoticed however what we gained in numbers I felt we lost a bit in width although both full backs played well and provided that whenever they could.
Lines 7.5 Chris is playing with skill and imposing himself on the opposition and IMO those who don't think he should get a new contract need to think again. He is IMO up with the best midfielders in this division especially when the ball is at his feet. He was, like the team, better in the first half than the second and is now making a lot more of those runs at the opposition.
Bennett 8 MOM A bag of tricks who is always looking to make space and bring other players into the game with quick slick passing and footwork to match. The goal was a bonus as he was quick to react to the keepers parrying Harrison's shot and joyfully placing the ball over the keeper and in the net. It was well deserved on the back of the best performance he has given since arriving from Portsmouth and he always looked dangerous and most of all he is always happy to be on the ball and another master move by DC to play him "in the hole" rather than out wide.
Gaffney 5 A very mixed bag from him yesterday and probably should have been substituted earlier. Far too many slack passes and he seemed to completely slow up most attacks when he wasn't caught carelessly offside. I feel we very much lack a real goalscorer at present with neither striker really wanting to be the "leader" of the attack and neither really being the "fox in the box" type. Obviously Nicholls was meant to be this man but his poor season has now resulted in him slipping to probably fourth choice though I wonder whether now is the very time when he should be playing alongside Harrison.
Harrison 5 Since his injury a while back his overall performance has slipped a little and yesterday he struggled to really get into the game a lot although he did set up the goal with a turn and shot and was unlucky not to score in the first half with another slick shot but I would really like to see him attacking crosses in the oppositions penalty area with the same enthusiasm that he defends corners. Missed the chance from two yards in the second half which should have clinched the points when he rushed his shot and drove the ball high over the bar when it was easier to score. He should have done much better to prevent the cross coming in for the equaliser where the case for not having strikers back defending was shown with him and Gaffney both failing to stop the cross.
Subs
Clarke 6 Came on and gave a steady performance. Good to see him back again.
Moore 6 Good on the ball and again looks like he is now up for it. i would like to see him on the right wing especially at home.
Telford 6 Should have been brought on earlier and very unlucky not to score with the keeper bringing oiff a good save.
Crowd 7 Pretty noisy at times and kept behind the team.
Ref 8 Very good performance but I wish they could use common sense when the tackle whilst warranting a yellow card from their player did not really deserve him to be sent off. In fact there was more a case for their forward to get a
straight red for the tackle on Lockyer but referees have to be seen to follow the Code of conduct and so within that he was one of the best officials we have had this season.
Northampton 5 A poor side who deserved nothing and should have gone back with nothing. They came for a point and got one.
DC- What can I say? Ninth in the League with ten games to go speaks for itself and has definitely improved the squad over the season. I hope at this stage that we can really go for it in the next two games and if that fails to generate enough points to continue a quest for the Play offs that he bleeds a few youngsters. I feel he should have used the subs earlier yesterday to give us a bit more width but at least he is trying to win games rather than just stick for the point
So that really was two points lost as we move on to two of our toughest away games and need to look at the games as a pair and 3 points or more will keep us in contention, six would push us right to the edge of the Play off places whereas one or two would I think leave us too much to do. That said, are we ready for the Play Offs? IMO it is a step too far at the present time and we are not good enough in the attacking third to achieve it however if we win at Plymouth then maybe I will start believing it is possible! UTG
but as to how the season will go could very much depend on the next two games which are both away from the Mem