Good all round performance tames the Irons

As I said on last weeks report I felt that it was essential we picked up at least 3 points from our next two away games and the fact we got them yesterday is a bonus and I feel to keep this going with at least 3 points in our next two games now would be good going and give us a great chance of avoiding the dreaded drop. If I had to give a required points total as a target I would say 54 points may be needed so that would be my target although with teams playing each other it could well be that 51 points will be enough.

I was more than happy with the team selected yesterday but disappointed that Holmes-Dennis was missing and hope it is not along term lay off. I have to say at this stage that I find it great to have a Manager where there is some consistency in Team Selection and I think we are seeing the benefits of this with more consistency in both the team and individual performances. 


Bonham 8 Apart from a worrying parry of a shot straight out in front of him which was blown for an infringement anyway he controlled his area excellently. He didn't have a great deal to do in terms of shots  but looked in total command of his penalty area. He does make mistakes as do all keepers at this level but I would jump at the chance of signing him for next season.


J. Clarke 7.5 good all round game in what was a real team performance by all the defenders. The main thing about both full backs yesterday were that they were good when the ball came in from the opposite side 
Lockyer 9 MOM superb in all aspects of the game. Won tackles, read the game superbly and for a change brought the ball out from defence with confidence and rarely gave the ball away. We will certainly miss him at Plymouth if he gets the expected call up and it is annoying that a team in League 1 should be losing an important player for a very important game for a non important international.
Craig 8.5 got booked for probably being too truthful to referee Kettle but is a natural leader  and his performance oozed confidence and enthusiasm and proved yet again that he is a very solid player who whilst lacking in pace can more than hold his own and lets be honest how many times in the last twenty years have we conceded so few goals especially away from home.
Kelly 8.5 Great performance from him and for someone so inexperienced he kept his cool well and one chest back to Bonham was brilliant. 


Upson 7.5 Another good performance, he holds the midfield together by maintaining a position and generally made good use of the ball and at last we had some good deliveries from free kicks. like all players at this level he does sometimes give a stupid pass like the one to James Clarke when he could have taken the ball forwards but you have to take into account for all our midfielders that we do not play with much width and therefore a lot of their work is going to be maintaining possession and short passes. Clarke-Harris has at last given us other options but in the long term I hope we can get a bit more width in the team.
O. Clarke 7 faded as the game went on but battled hard throughout. He fluffed an easy chance to put us two up when set up by Clarke Harris  and losing all composure with a shot high into the crowd and too often gave possession away  with basic passing flaws but then did a lot of good things too including a strong run on the goal and generally getting in some good strong tackles.
Ogogo 8 Another dynamic performance from a player who looks a natural leader and gives our midfield a good edge 
Sercombe 7 not at his best but like all our players works hard and was unlucky not to score with a great shot that hit the post before we opened the scoring. I am sure it won't be long before we see a long range goal from him as at the moment he is certainly trying to tee himself up but defenders are tightening up on him well and things are just not coming off. 


Nichols 6.5 another assist and played reasonable although faded a bit in the second half 
Clarke-Harris 8.5 this bloke is the business and 5 goals in as many games is what we have been missing but more importantly he is every bit a leader of the attack and no doubt the Scunny defenders knew they had been in a game. took his goal expertly and also set up a couple of other good chances with his strong running and hold up play. I think we have found our "Andy Ramell" for this season and the great thing is that he is ours so hopefully the next couple of seasons are settled too.  


Subs: Jakubiak 6 did Ok in a short appearance 
Sinclair 6 did Ok in a short appearance  

GC The thing I would say about a GC side is that it is far more of a team effort rather than an individual performance. they are playing for each other. Our defence looks solid and mean and our midfield whilst not giving sparkling individual performances are covering for each other and winning the ball back well because there is a balance in there. each are working hard and each are having good spells in the game although tend to switch off in possession sometimes.


Crowd 8 Scunthorpe were very quiet but you could say that was due to the way we played which didn't give them much to cheer about.! Our crowd gave their usual backing away from home and were rewarded with another good away performance.. 
Ref 4 Trevor Kettle need I say more? At least we won so I don't feel so bad marking him so low as it cannot be considered sour grapes but he is a truly atrocious referee. 
Scunthorpe 5 it is interesting that we are marking opposition (Sunderland apart) lower now and many are saying that the opposition are awful or poor whereas personally I don't see that the teams we are playing are necessarily poor but rather that we are playing well as a team and are a difficult side to beat especially on the road. Yesterday Scunthorpe gave us an aerial assault and yet I was only worried on two occasions and overall I thought we defended excellently against what could be dangerous opponents as their results would suggest with only two defeats in the last 10 games.

So we move three points nearer survival and face another tough away game against opponents who are around us in the league but like us are in good form. it is true to say that it is another ground where we don't have a great record (in fact it is a bloody dreadful record) and add to that for the supporter it is a horrible ground to visit especially if the weather is bad. I would take a point now from the game but in all honesty we have laid many "bad grounds" to rest especially under GC and there is no reason why, if we can keep Tom Eaves at bay, we should not bring another 3 points back home.

I have to say that I believe away supporters have had a much better deal this season as regards good performances and the fact that quite often we are saying that opponents are poor may well be down to our own performances in that as a defensive and midfield unit we are playing well and now with Clarke-Harris we actually have a real attacking threat. I would go for a same again team on Tuesday if Holmes-Dennis and Rodford are not available. UTG