Post by stevek192 on Apr 8, 2018 8:33:35 GMT
With just a solitary point from our last three games ( although in all honesty it could easily have been 7 !) and an injury list that seems to be getting worse I didn't really hold out much hope against a recently free scoring Charlton side who have beaten us in the last three contests however when the team sheet came out it wasn't as bad as I feared. The "quick" return of James Clarke and Sercombe hid the injury crises a bit although as it turned out both struggled a bit for match fitness with Sercombe having to give up quite early on which was a shame as we were really in the ascendancy when he went off and we lost control of the midfield after that and were never to really regain it but it was more a battling performance.
.
Slocombe 8.5 Seen loys of comments as regards " routine saves that were made to look difficult" but I think that is far from the truth and the more I see them it was at least two wonderful saves from shots that in recent years I have seen both Puddy and Mildenhall struggle with and with those saves was an all round commanding game with good distribution and the only question mark would be whether he could have done better on the goal although it took a wicked deflection off Lee Brown. I am going in Slocombes favour that he had little chance with the deflection and the blame lie with our failure to close the man down.
Clarke J 7 Returned from injury and against a very tough quick and skilful opponent overall I thought he had a fair game before departing late in the game struggling with match fitness. He still for me has this worrying habit of holding on to an opponent when it is not necessary and is sure to be picked up one match but luckily not yesterday.
Lockyer 6 Was doing Ok early on and IMO should have been left to continue in defence as we ended up making three changes instead of one with Sercombe leaving and Broadbent going back causing Craig to have to change sides as well and Lockyer moving into a midfield rule where in all honesty I felt he struggled to get to grips with and looked almost totally lost for most of the match. Personally I would have played Broadbent in the midfield in the defensive role as he is far more capable on the ball as regards both possession and passing and would for me add the height we are lacking in there.
Craig 8 Really proving what a good player he is and like at Peterborough, Plymouth and several other teams on form and with good attackers he has done a much better job than those before him and his leadership qualities shine through everything he does. Only those who are really looking for errors will find them and for me he has to captain the side next season.
Brown 7 Has come back and established his position again and did well both defensively and as an attacking outlet and did Ok when swopped to right back late in the game to allow debutant Kelly to play in his normal position. It was his unfortunate deflection that took the ball past Slocombe in first half injury time when a number of players failed to close opponents down.
Mensah 6.5 With more experience which he may as well get this season now I see a good player. Raw yes but some subtle ball skills and a bit of pace he could become a really good player as he looks very strong in the air which is unusual for a winger. I just hope he isn't coached out of the creativity he shows -ok it gives the ball away at times but we do need those players who are always looking to go forward rather than the more DC type of player who goes sideways and back most of the time.
Sercombe 7.5 Can only mark him for his performance in the short time he was on the pitch and he looked very good and we looked very comfortable with the Sercombe/Ollie Clarke partnership. For me, with him went our real hope of winning this game as without him we lacked both the creativity and the goalscoring threat as well as the understanding of the position. His period onn the pitch was also the best period I have seen of Ollie Clarke this season and his game went down without his partner when it was looking possibly a better p[artnership than the Lines/Sercombe one.
Clarke O 6 Went missing far too much after Sercombes departure which was a shame and gave away possession too easily at times. Him and Lockyer are both what i would term defensive players and like when we play him and Sincalir together for me it leads to us just defending what we have rather than setting out our own attacking game.
Bennett 9 MOM The best player on the pitch . Did well to nip in and score the goal and was dangerous throughout. Really like everything about him and although he won't score the amount of goals that Bodin scored overall I think he could be a more reliable all round player as he is more a team player where Bodin did most work for himself. Shame however that we couldn't have had both at the same time!
Moore 8 Close to Bennett as Man of the Match with his skilful runs and tremendous work rate I would stick with him for the remaing games and for me he has turned from a "must get rid of" to a player who could have an important role to play next season.
Harrison 6 A poor game by his standards but still does enough for a six with his defensive headers and the fact he has to do this role which needs so much energy and he must be envious of strikers who can just play up front. myself if he is going to have to keep coming back then maybe more of a wider roloe would suit him and the team better. In the scramble in the second half he made two brilliant blocks although it seemed ridiculous that a referee who seemed to penalise our attackers for next to nothing challenges allowed play to continue when Slocombe lay in the goalmouth after a much stronger challenge on him. Ellis should have won us the game when he shot too late and wildly when through on goal.
Subs
Broadbent 7 Good solid game but not the dominating centre half we really lack but the best we have in the circumstances. He is the best general passer at the back with the only one who consistently looks capable of bringing the ball out from defence but I can see why DC goes with Tony Craig in preference but can't necessarily see why he perseveres with Tom Lockyer every game. That said the reason is obviously that Broadbent cannot play on the right. on the otherhand surely it would have been worth giving Broadbent a go in the defensive midfield role where Lockyer looked totally lost. I think Broadbent has all the qualities to do an "Eric Dyer" role.
Gaffney 5 An OK performance as he held the ball up well but his confidence does not seem at its highest and I'm not sure if we can afford to keep him next season with his lack of goals- you can only have so many players in your attack who are not scoring!
Kelly 7 For a player so young,making his debut in a match that was finely balanced he looks a very good prospect and makes you wonder whether DC should be pushing our own lads rather than the use of Bola. perhaps it is just too soon for him but his attacking qualities on the ball looked impressive although there were not many chances to see his defensive capabilities. would definitely like to see him get a full game to see what he can do.
Crowd 7 A good crowd considering recent results and the truth that our season is over as regards chasing the Play off spot. Not the noisiest but stayed behind the team in adversity and "understands" the difficulties we have been facing recently as regards injuries.
Ref 6 Pretty good apart from the goalmouth scramble following an obvious foul on Slocombe where he allowed play to continue and yet only moments earlier had been penalising our strikers for even the slightest touch on a defender. I liked the way he restricted use of the yellow card and after the Plymouth and Fleetwood refs well he was a breath of fresh air. There again anything would have been an improvement on them!!!
Charlton 6 A good side with some exciting, skilful and pacy players. A draw was a fair result but how their "Caretaker" could go so much the other way and think they deserved to win I don't know. We should have been at least two up at half time and but for a cruel deflection we would have won the game. Remember how many players we had missing I would say that Charlton are an average side in this division and wil probably not be good enough to reach the Play offs.
DC Hard really to criticise in the situation we are in as regards injuries and suspensions and amazing that we can produce a side that can provide stern opposition for one of the better sides. Don't like his "contain the opposition" tactics especially the "most if not all back for corners" that allows the opposition to camp in our half and pressurise us even more and our attacking players having to use all their energy up chasing lost causes with insufficient back up.
So we move on from one tough game to another even tougher game next week against a Blackburn side that are surely going to leave this division behind this season. the line up and our chances will very much depend on who is available but if we can get another point then that would be a good result in the circumstances. The game at Blackburn for me was the big robbery of the season where we lost the game entirely down to a referee. We controlled that game for large parts and surely would have won if "that goal had not been wrongly disallowed 30 seconds after scoring it!! UTG
.
Slocombe 8.5 Seen loys of comments as regards " routine saves that were made to look difficult" but I think that is far from the truth and the more I see them it was at least two wonderful saves from shots that in recent years I have seen both Puddy and Mildenhall struggle with and with those saves was an all round commanding game with good distribution and the only question mark would be whether he could have done better on the goal although it took a wicked deflection off Lee Brown. I am going in Slocombes favour that he had little chance with the deflection and the blame lie with our failure to close the man down.
Clarke J 7 Returned from injury and against a very tough quick and skilful opponent overall I thought he had a fair game before departing late in the game struggling with match fitness. He still for me has this worrying habit of holding on to an opponent when it is not necessary and is sure to be picked up one match but luckily not yesterday.
Lockyer 6 Was doing Ok early on and IMO should have been left to continue in defence as we ended up making three changes instead of one with Sercombe leaving and Broadbent going back causing Craig to have to change sides as well and Lockyer moving into a midfield rule where in all honesty I felt he struggled to get to grips with and looked almost totally lost for most of the match. Personally I would have played Broadbent in the midfield in the defensive role as he is far more capable on the ball as regards both possession and passing and would for me add the height we are lacking in there.
Craig 8 Really proving what a good player he is and like at Peterborough, Plymouth and several other teams on form and with good attackers he has done a much better job than those before him and his leadership qualities shine through everything he does. Only those who are really looking for errors will find them and for me he has to captain the side next season.
Brown 7 Has come back and established his position again and did well both defensively and as an attacking outlet and did Ok when swopped to right back late in the game to allow debutant Kelly to play in his normal position. It was his unfortunate deflection that took the ball past Slocombe in first half injury time when a number of players failed to close opponents down.
Mensah 6.5 With more experience which he may as well get this season now I see a good player. Raw yes but some subtle ball skills and a bit of pace he could become a really good player as he looks very strong in the air which is unusual for a winger. I just hope he isn't coached out of the creativity he shows -ok it gives the ball away at times but we do need those players who are always looking to go forward rather than the more DC type of player who goes sideways and back most of the time.
Sercombe 7.5 Can only mark him for his performance in the short time he was on the pitch and he looked very good and we looked very comfortable with the Sercombe/Ollie Clarke partnership. For me, with him went our real hope of winning this game as without him we lacked both the creativity and the goalscoring threat as well as the understanding of the position. His period onn the pitch was also the best period I have seen of Ollie Clarke this season and his game went down without his partner when it was looking possibly a better p[artnership than the Lines/Sercombe one.
Clarke O 6 Went missing far too much after Sercombes departure which was a shame and gave away possession too easily at times. Him and Lockyer are both what i would term defensive players and like when we play him and Sincalir together for me it leads to us just defending what we have rather than setting out our own attacking game.
Bennett 9 MOM The best player on the pitch . Did well to nip in and score the goal and was dangerous throughout. Really like everything about him and although he won't score the amount of goals that Bodin scored overall I think he could be a more reliable all round player as he is more a team player where Bodin did most work for himself. Shame however that we couldn't have had both at the same time!
Moore 8 Close to Bennett as Man of the Match with his skilful runs and tremendous work rate I would stick with him for the remaing games and for me he has turned from a "must get rid of" to a player who could have an important role to play next season.
Harrison 6 A poor game by his standards but still does enough for a six with his defensive headers and the fact he has to do this role which needs so much energy and he must be envious of strikers who can just play up front. myself if he is going to have to keep coming back then maybe more of a wider roloe would suit him and the team better. In the scramble in the second half he made two brilliant blocks although it seemed ridiculous that a referee who seemed to penalise our attackers for next to nothing challenges allowed play to continue when Slocombe lay in the goalmouth after a much stronger challenge on him. Ellis should have won us the game when he shot too late and wildly when through on goal.
Subs
Broadbent 7 Good solid game but not the dominating centre half we really lack but the best we have in the circumstances. He is the best general passer at the back with the only one who consistently looks capable of bringing the ball out from defence but I can see why DC goes with Tony Craig in preference but can't necessarily see why he perseveres with Tom Lockyer every game. That said the reason is obviously that Broadbent cannot play on the right. on the otherhand surely it would have been worth giving Broadbent a go in the defensive midfield role where Lockyer looked totally lost. I think Broadbent has all the qualities to do an "Eric Dyer" role.
Gaffney 5 An OK performance as he held the ball up well but his confidence does not seem at its highest and I'm not sure if we can afford to keep him next season with his lack of goals- you can only have so many players in your attack who are not scoring!
Kelly 7 For a player so young,making his debut in a match that was finely balanced he looks a very good prospect and makes you wonder whether DC should be pushing our own lads rather than the use of Bola. perhaps it is just too soon for him but his attacking qualities on the ball looked impressive although there were not many chances to see his defensive capabilities. would definitely like to see him get a full game to see what he can do.
Crowd 7 A good crowd considering recent results and the truth that our season is over as regards chasing the Play off spot. Not the noisiest but stayed behind the team in adversity and "understands" the difficulties we have been facing recently as regards injuries.
Ref 6 Pretty good apart from the goalmouth scramble following an obvious foul on Slocombe where he allowed play to continue and yet only moments earlier had been penalising our strikers for even the slightest touch on a defender. I liked the way he restricted use of the yellow card and after the Plymouth and Fleetwood refs well he was a breath of fresh air. There again anything would have been an improvement on them!!!
Charlton 6 A good side with some exciting, skilful and pacy players. A draw was a fair result but how their "Caretaker" could go so much the other way and think they deserved to win I don't know. We should have been at least two up at half time and but for a cruel deflection we would have won the game. Remember how many players we had missing I would say that Charlton are an average side in this division and wil probably not be good enough to reach the Play offs.
DC Hard really to criticise in the situation we are in as regards injuries and suspensions and amazing that we can produce a side that can provide stern opposition for one of the better sides. Don't like his "contain the opposition" tactics especially the "most if not all back for corners" that allows the opposition to camp in our half and pressurise us even more and our attacking players having to use all their energy up chasing lost causes with insufficient back up.
So we move on from one tough game to another even tougher game next week against a Blackburn side that are surely going to leave this division behind this season. the line up and our chances will very much depend on who is available but if we can get another point then that would be a good result in the circumstances. The game at Blackburn for me was the big robbery of the season where we lost the game entirely down to a referee. We controlled that game for large parts and surely would have won if "that goal had not been wrongly disallowed 30 seconds after scoring it!! UTG
