Good result in the circumstances

After a well deserved three nil win at Blackpool last week it is questionable whether a break from the League programme was a good or bad thing. Bad because it would have been good to build on it but good because it is always good to go into any break in League fixtures with a win under your belt. The team sheet brought the disappointing news that Bonham would not be allowed to play which for me is worrying because although I believe he is on a season long loan I am not sure what the position is in January and the fact that he was not allowed to play makes me think that maybe we won't have him for the full season and could need to find another "gem" in January Past experience makes me think that DC is better at finding loan keepers than he is at finding a permanent occupant of the gloves. That said at least we could call on an experienced keeper and  perhaps supporters should remember that and get behind Smith despite his shortcomings and at least give him credit for saves he makes.

It was always going to be a game of two halves with a strong wind blowing towards us away supporters but we couldn't have had a worse start to that half against the wind than to be rightly down to 10 players after only 7 minutes. it then took us quite a time to get into the game and I cannot stress the importance of us only being the one goal down at the break. To be fair we played the last 20 minutes of the first half pretty well and then despite being one down in both scoreline and personnel we went on to dominate the second half and only the woodwork and some atrocious decisions by the referee prevented us from going on to a comfortable win.

Smith 6.5 Lacks the quality and control of his area of Bonham but performed admirably and actually kept us in the game with some good saves in the first half when we were struggling to cope with a strong wind and being a player short so early on and once in the second when he was left badly exposed by a terrible pass back that was well short of target but I'm not sure who it was from so have not marked anyone down because of it. I was so sure that they were going to score at the time that I couldn't tell who blocked the second shot in the incident after Smiths initial block..It is not easy for a keeper however experienced to come back in to replace a "hero" in such difficult goalkeeping weather conditions. I thought Smith did pretty well.

Leadbitter 6 Not quite at the races yesterday but didn't do a lot wrong and can hardly be criticised for a tactical substitution brought about because of Sinclairs actions. It is difficult to say how his game would have gone because we were always going to have a difficult first half against the wind.


J. Clarke 7 Mr Reliable. 100% commitment to the cause and for me has become a very important member of the team. Whatever defensive position he has been asked to play I can recall only one poor game. From a player whom I thought could well be released he has now IMO got in front of Partington, Broadbent and is close to pushing Tom Lockyer and I have the feeling he will be the player to replace Locks next week like before this season and he was very unlucky not to retain his place on that occasion.
Lockyer 8 We have now got back to the stage where thankfully I can say we will really miss Lockyer next week when he goes on International duty. The first 20 or so minutes you could see that both Locks and Craig missed Bonham's authority but once they got settled into therir stride there was little that went past them. 
Craig 7 A mark less than Locks because he was at fault on the goal allowing his player to lose him and beat him in the air to send a header accurately past Smith. Apart from that he grew into the game and gave a dominant performance and was able to alter his game with ease as we switched formations several times.


Kelly 6.5 IMO unlucky to be the player sacrificed as he looked competent without being exciting in the first half but again DC got the decision right, He did show confidence in a tight situation with two chest backs to Smith that he made look far easier than they actually were.




Sinclair 2 Headless chicken comes to mind with a two footed challenge that was only going to go one way and if we had gone out of the cup it would have rested totally on that stupidity.
Sercombe 6 Had one of the few strikes at the Barnet goal in the first half  and then went on to produce a much better performance for the rest of the game and his vicious volley in the second half from the edge of the penalty area looked a goal all the way but cannoned off the crossbar.
O. Clarke 5 I was worried at the start because he was so good last week that I almost expected a below par performance and the first 45 minutes was definitely that as he struggled to get into the game and IMO was very lucky to not be one of the players substituted but DC got it right and he went on to become more involved with strong running both through the middle and down the right flank. He was very unlucky not to score with a shot that cannoned off the cross bar.


Nichols 8.5 MOM Won the penalty with a brilliant piece of running into space and dragging the foul from the defender. He ran his guts out all game and though outnumbered he gave the physically strong defenders a torrid time and generally was first to the ball and showed excellent control and the ability to retain possession. His play deserves a goal and surely if he maintains current form it WILL come and then who knows it might be like Bristol Buses and all come at once. The booking was ridiculous as he went past the last man and was taken out but on seeing the replay it looks like he got away with a foul seconds earlier.


Payne 4 Present form probably sums up his early substitution as with 10 players we were always going to go down to one striker but you would have thought that he would be the main man to hold the ball up however currently Nichols is in a vein of form that only lacks a goal and DC got the decision spot on.
Subs:
Matthews 7 The introduction of him and Bennett helped turn the game in our favour. I like a lot o what I see from him as he is a strong runner and has the skill to beat players however at the moment he can be very frustrating with his final ball and lacks the defending part of his game. that said it was a good performance and he actually looks like he has a goal in him and I am sure it will not be long before he finds the target.


Bennett 7  Trickery, good close control together with a  bit of pace to run at players was just what was needed and suddenly the Barnet defenders were stretched as they struggled to get back into the game and resorted to numerous niggly fouls. Needs to get some consistency in his game because he has the ability to be one of the first names on the teamsheet but instead is struggling to produce the form he showed last season. I would definitely start him in the replay and like Matthews he should be scoring and assisting more.


Lines 7.5 Changed the game by giving us a player who can control the middle of the park whilst those around him needed an inspiration. Don't like his dead ball style but apart from that he played both Ollie Clarke and Sercombe into form by always wanting the ball and having the ability to make time for himself to provide a range of passes and prompts to bring Matthews and Bennett  into the game. Add to this the coolness to dispatch the penalty for the vital equaliser and the brilliant low drive right at the death that beat the keeper hands down only to hit the inside of the post and come out.


Crowd 7 Well with a total crowd of around 1700 with just over 500 from Bristol this is very much a club in decline who have a lovely ground for the standard but next to no supporters. the only noise I can really remember from them was the irritating drum and the ground certainly lacked the usual potency of a David versus Goliath clash! Even our support was quiet in a poor first half but then got right behind the team as every player produced the sort of effort and performance you expect from them in a 10 against 12 clash!!!


Ref 1 Apart from the penalty and the sending off he hardly got a decision right. On seeing the incident again he probably got the Nichols decision right in the first half as regards a penalty but for all the wrong reasons! It looked to me that there was a foul on their centre half as Nichols pushed into his opponent but having let it go the referee totally read the situation totally wrong as Nichols was clearly fouled as he went past the other defender and the booking was totally unfounded. He went on to use his card for fouls committed by us but mainly kept it in his pocket for similar and more numerous fouls by the home side. How he didn't book the Barnet player for deliberate handball which cheated to stop us having a clear breakthrough is beyond me. it was too far out to be considered a clear scoring opportunity but definitely enough for a yellow card and a severe reprimand and made to look worse for his willingness to book Nichols for so say "diving" and yet allowing an much clearer case of cheating to go unpunished. Don't expect an easy ride to the second round at the Mem with this man in charge!!
 
Barnet 5 Spurred on by the early red card and backed by the windy conditions they started well and deserved their goal lead however when the weather came in our favour they looked exactly what they are - a National League side with little in the way of quality and backed by a quiet home support both numerically and vocally. Gone was the swagger and cockiness of a few years ago when they pipped us at the post for automatic promotion from the Conference. Their ground has improved immensely but the team has gone in the opposite direction.

Dc 9 This was a day where his tinkering came off. It was either going to be stupidity or inspirational to have all three substitutes on so early in the second half. Had we suffered an injury we could have been down to 9 players and on our way out of the cup to continue probably the worst FA Cup run in  our history and this mark would have been halved but thankfully he ; together with the windy conditions; changed the game around and put us in the ascendancy and very unlucky not to be progressing at the first attempt. I must admit that I was worried when Sinclair was selected in the midfield in preference to Lines when Upson was ruled out by injury, it looked very much a case of being over defensive against such lowly opponents but pretty typical of his Management this season. It looked like he also suffered the wrath of the referee with a yellow card. Anyway come the end of the game his decisions were just perfect and only rank bad luck prevented the victory.

So we move on to Exeter for a Noddy cup match that victory will give us an "advantage " of being seeded to face a runner up!! Big deal- at least a home draw in the next round may have been worth the effort!! Anyway for the first time this season I cannot be bothered to attend so there will be no match report and I apologise to anyone who is more interested in this match than I am. See you all next week for a vital League game at the Mem. UTG