Post by stevek192 on Oct 24, 2018 13:05:03 GMT
Well after Saturdays atrocious game and no goals scored for god knows how many minutes I was not exactly brimming with confidence last night even though the opponents were AFC Wimbledon, a team that were no better than us. I was hoping that at least we would play an attacking side but when the Team Sheet came out it was very much a defensive looking unit with only Tom Nichols up front which surprised me as Wimbledon are always a very physical team with usually big players. Matthews and Bennett both came into the side after substitute appearances against Oxford Ollie Clarke was again selected despite being substituted at half time on Saturday with Sercombe and Upson retained his place. It was no real surprise to me that we struggled early on as we allowed Wimbledon to dominate us despite their lowly position. They looked much better organised than ourselves but you could see why they too struggle to score goals and a few scoring chances were denied by good goalkeeping and bad finishing. I honestly felt that this game was going to be another 0-0 until a terrible goalkeeping error pushed the dropping corner onto Upson and into the net for an undeserved lead. the goal really seemed to affect the Dons because for the 20 minutes up to half time it was probably our best period of the game. I hoped that it would drive us on for a good second half performance but couldn't really have been further from the truth as although Wimbledon gifted us the second goal with an own goal after a period of pressure the 2-0 lead had the opposite affect as did the substitutions made and we really spent the rest of the half holding on to what we had. It was very much a case of the result was far more important than the performance however we are a very poor imitation of a footballing side at the moment and the only thing that can't really be faulted is the effort and commitment.
Bonham 8 I could write pretty well the same comments for him every game. Couple of good saves especially in the first 20 minutes, safe handling and command of his area for the entire game. If only he was ours!!
Leadbitter 7 Reinstated and played a lot better, more like his old self and now I would ask that DC gives him a few games rather than changing it again Saturday. His pace is a huge asset and put over one excellent cross and covered the right side well.
Lockyer 8 Back to his very best.Ok some would say that the keeper had too much to do but when you consider that overall it was probably about 70% of the game played in our half and Tom ,like Craig, put his body on the line with some great tackles and challenges and kept his calm under pressure.
Craig 9 MOM Probably one of his best performances if not the best. Stood up to the aerial onslaught well and could be heard driving the defence on throughout. Him and Lockyer are without doubt the best partnership when at their best. Did well to clear the ball off the line early in the game..
Kelly 6.5 Obviously still learning but well worth persevering with. One or two slack moments but against a good opponent did pretty well and it was his cross that led to the second goal with a good ball in that Upson flicked on and the defender finished with aplomb!
Matthews 4 Far too lightweight like too many of our players and gives away possession far too easily. Other than his corner which set up the first goal I struggle to think of a pass that found one of our players in the first half hour and could easily have been substituted in that period. He just seems to overdo everything and ruin good work with sloppy passes and losing possession.
Upson 8.5 Good performance. Always wanted the ball and always looking to get the team moving but his main problem is that there are not a lot of options in front of him and all he can really do in that situation is to hold on to the ball and wait for support or pass short. This he did well and was in the right position to force the goalkeepers howler over the line for the first goal and it was his header that the centre half sliced into his own net to seal the 3 points. Our best midfielder who I would like to see alongside Lines for a few games.
Sercombe 5 Seems totally lost and struggling for form like a few others in the side. Is involved more than last season but is this an effective use of his talent? I would say No as he i8s having to spend a lot of his time very deep and no longer looks likely to score whilst last season a goal always seemed likely
Bennett 5 Some good moments but is really struggling to influence a game for a long period and is far off his form of last season. That said I would still keep him in because he does at least possess the ability to excite and at the moment we need that to ensure that the game is an improvement on watching paint dry...just!
O Clarke 5.5 Is the latest player who DC is playing all over the place and his early season good form is now threatened by him playing in roles to which he is not suited similar to Sinclair, Sercombe and a few others!
Nichols 6 Can't fault his effort and to be fair to him he had little chance to do anything with virtually no support whatsoever and four opponents around him. When he did get a worthwhile ball he showed good control and awareness but his goal drought is well beyond worrying. I felt we would have been better off bringing Payne on to play up front with him but there again I would have started with that partnership whereas our defensive minded Manager sets us up to not concede rather than to try and score some goals.
Subs:
J. Clarke 6.5 Another good performance a second half substitute to effectively "keep what we had". I feel he is very unlucky to not have a regular place in the team based on his consistent appearnces.
Jakubiak 4 Poor again and feel that Payne should have come on rather than him and Nichols should have stayed on with Payne taking the pressure of leading the attack off him.
Payne NOLE Cannot agree with the criticism of no effort by some supporters on here as he was only on the pitch a very short time and we were just seeing out the game by then. There again his name is not "Sinclair".
Crowd 4 Little atmosphere which is hardly surprising given the low entertainment being dished up.
Ref 7 Refrained from dishing cards left right and centre and was consistent with decisions for both sides and that is all you can ask for based on most of the Officials this season.
Wimbledon 5 Better than us for long periods and especially the first 20 minutes. Have the feeling their manager will be gone before DC but that both teams will struggle to move up the table.As always they were a physically big side and after the first goal they resorted to changing from playing pretty good football that outplayed us to constantly just lumping it in the air and pushing players forward at Corners. I thought it was quite funny that someone said to me at how effective they were at corners yet we were the only team that actually scored from one.
DC 4 Seems to have totally lost the plot. I think DC should spend an hour looking at the old "Eastville for Entertainment" slogan because there are no signs whatsoever that we are going to see much entertainment any time soon in what was probably the worse performance of the season- it was that bad but thankfully the result was the only thing that really mattered last night.
We move on to Saturday but I shall not even waste my time selecting a team because I have no chance whatsoever of predicting what DC will do. My head says we are in for a hammering on Saturday but whilst we have Bonham in goal we always have a chance to prolong the agony. UTG
Bonham 8 I could write pretty well the same comments for him every game. Couple of good saves especially in the first 20 minutes, safe handling and command of his area for the entire game. If only he was ours!!
Leadbitter 7 Reinstated and played a lot better, more like his old self and now I would ask that DC gives him a few games rather than changing it again Saturday. His pace is a huge asset and put over one excellent cross and covered the right side well.
Lockyer 8 Back to his very best.Ok some would say that the keeper had too much to do but when you consider that overall it was probably about 70% of the game played in our half and Tom ,like Craig, put his body on the line with some great tackles and challenges and kept his calm under pressure.
Craig 9 MOM Probably one of his best performances if not the best. Stood up to the aerial onslaught well and could be heard driving the defence on throughout. Him and Lockyer are without doubt the best partnership when at their best. Did well to clear the ball off the line early in the game..
Kelly 6.5 Obviously still learning but well worth persevering with. One or two slack moments but against a good opponent did pretty well and it was his cross that led to the second goal with a good ball in that Upson flicked on and the defender finished with aplomb!
Matthews 4 Far too lightweight like too many of our players and gives away possession far too easily. Other than his corner which set up the first goal I struggle to think of a pass that found one of our players in the first half hour and could easily have been substituted in that period. He just seems to overdo everything and ruin good work with sloppy passes and losing possession.
Upson 8.5 Good performance. Always wanted the ball and always looking to get the team moving but his main problem is that there are not a lot of options in front of him and all he can really do in that situation is to hold on to the ball and wait for support or pass short. This he did well and was in the right position to force the goalkeepers howler over the line for the first goal and it was his header that the centre half sliced into his own net to seal the 3 points. Our best midfielder who I would like to see alongside Lines for a few games.
Sercombe 5 Seems totally lost and struggling for form like a few others in the side. Is involved more than last season but is this an effective use of his talent? I would say No as he i8s having to spend a lot of his time very deep and no longer looks likely to score whilst last season a goal always seemed likely
Bennett 5 Some good moments but is really struggling to influence a game for a long period and is far off his form of last season. That said I would still keep him in because he does at least possess the ability to excite and at the moment we need that to ensure that the game is an improvement on watching paint dry...just!
O Clarke 5.5 Is the latest player who DC is playing all over the place and his early season good form is now threatened by him playing in roles to which he is not suited similar to Sinclair, Sercombe and a few others!
Nichols 6 Can't fault his effort and to be fair to him he had little chance to do anything with virtually no support whatsoever and four opponents around him. When he did get a worthwhile ball he showed good control and awareness but his goal drought is well beyond worrying. I felt we would have been better off bringing Payne on to play up front with him but there again I would have started with that partnership whereas our defensive minded Manager sets us up to not concede rather than to try and score some goals.
Subs:
J. Clarke 6.5 Another good performance a second half substitute to effectively "keep what we had". I feel he is very unlucky to not have a regular place in the team based on his consistent appearnces.
Jakubiak 4 Poor again and feel that Payne should have come on rather than him and Nichols should have stayed on with Payne taking the pressure of leading the attack off him.
Payne NOLE Cannot agree with the criticism of no effort by some supporters on here as he was only on the pitch a very short time and we were just seeing out the game by then. There again his name is not "Sinclair".
Crowd 4 Little atmosphere which is hardly surprising given the low entertainment being dished up.
Ref 7 Refrained from dishing cards left right and centre and was consistent with decisions for both sides and that is all you can ask for based on most of the Officials this season.
Wimbledon 5 Better than us for long periods and especially the first 20 minutes. Have the feeling their manager will be gone before DC but that both teams will struggle to move up the table.As always they were a physically big side and after the first goal they resorted to changing from playing pretty good football that outplayed us to constantly just lumping it in the air and pushing players forward at Corners. I thought it was quite funny that someone said to me at how effective they were at corners yet we were the only team that actually scored from one.
DC 4 Seems to have totally lost the plot. I think DC should spend an hour looking at the old "Eastville for Entertainment" slogan because there are no signs whatsoever that we are going to see much entertainment any time soon in what was probably the worse performance of the season- it was that bad but thankfully the result was the only thing that really mattered last night.
We move on to Saturday but I shall not even waste my time selecting a team because I have no chance whatsoever of predicting what DC will do. My head says we are in for a hammering on Saturday but whilst we have Bonham in goal we always have a chance to prolong the agony. UTG