20th - 21st March Match thread

[SomeMightShay]

Halifax fans are very quiet today. Happy with the point really, they probably did enough to shade it. Halifax's teenage "firm" was cute.

Enjoyed the day out but when it is sunny Alty is a good away day, perfect pre-match fish and chips and a friendly next to the ground. Both sides had few chances but at the same time needed their keepers to pull off top drawer saves. We are a funny side at the moment in that we can't get the balance between potent attack and strong defence. If we keep it clean at one end then we struggle at the outher end and vice versa. A great but dry (ridiculous to say that as our pitch has 8 tonne of sand soaking up the water) helped us pass the ball around first half but we seemed to run out of ideas in the second, 10 mins in it became obvious 0-0 was going to be the eventual outcome.

Now i don't condone smoke bombs and bangers at all , however as i had four friends from Norway visiting who are used to pyrotechnics and a lot of singing i admit to fearing they might be a bit underwhelmed by it all, but the weather, the banter with Coburn, plenty of singing they all said they were surprised at how much they enjoyed a 5th division football game. And on the plus side the little fucker Clee didn't score against us for once.

Wish Aspin had been brave and used a conventional 4-4-2 with that surface and Jackson/Smith seemingly enjoying the fact it gave them chance to run with the ball for once. Back to the cabbage patch on Tuesday, will be interesting to see how Gateshead fare on that surface.

 

[eightiesrobin]

I enjoyed the day too. Quite an exciting game, agree it had 0-0 written all over it soon after half-time. I thought the Halifax defenders were good, very organised and composed, and Jackson looked a handful. I actually quite like the smoke bombs. Was the smoke bomb / banger the reason those two men were escorted out early?

 

[Cardsfan]

Enjoyed the day out but when it is sunny Alty is a good away day, perfect pre-match fish and chips and a friendly next to the ground. Both sides had few chances but at the same time needed their keepers to pull off top drawer saves. We are a funny side at the moment in that we can't get the balance between potent attack and strong defence. If we keep it clean at one end then we struggle at the outher end and vice versa. A great but dry (ridiculous to say that as our pitch has 8 tonne of sand soaking up the water) helped us pass the ball around first half but we seemed to run out of ideas in the second, 10 mins in it became obvious 0-0 was going to be the eventual outcome.

Now i don't condone smoke bombs and bangers at all , however as i had four friends from Norway visiting who are used to pyrotechnics and a lot of singing i admit to fearing they might be a bit underwhelmed by it all, but the weather, the banter with Coburn, plenty of singing they all said they were surprised at how much they enjoyed a 5th division football game. And on the plus side the little fucker Clee didn't score against us for once.

Wish Aspin had been brave and used a conventional 4-4-2 with that surface and Jackson/Smith seemingly enjoying the fact it gave them chance to run with the ball for once. Back to the cabbage patch on Tuesday, will be interesting to see how Gateshead fare on that surface.

How many Halifax fans there roughly?

 

[eightiesrobin]

445 in the away end, according to the club match report. Would have been a few in the main stand too. I thought there would have been more home fans, but I suppose the recent dip in form, and the fact that there is almost nothing to play for takes its toll.

 

[GTFC1979]

Talking to a guy at work today he said after Burton was sent off he pushed the referee over. Did any other town fans who went see it?

 

[Chris FGR]

Since we've been in the Conference, we've been to Woking so many times I've lost count, what with H & Y and a few cup games added to all those visits in the league.

Always enjoy going, the Woking fans are a decent bunch, the bar's nice and food is alright as well. The problem is on the pitch, where we're nearly always crap, whoever the manager/opposition is or whatever budget we've spent.

Yesterday was another crap performance to add to the ever growing list, we just couldn't string anything together, constantly hoofed it at Parkin and looked second best, especially in possession, to a well organised, high energy Woking side. The only way we were likely to score was a bit of luck with the right bounce in the area or from a set-piece, and our only 2 decent chances came from those 2 scenarios, firstly for Dale Bennett when it came back to him and he hit the bar, and secondly Aarran Racine's header from a corner which forced a great stop from Jake Cole.

For Woking I thought Keiran Murtagh bossed the midfield, completely dominating against our non-creative ineffective efforts, and they also looked comfortable at the back, with Brian Saah doing a very good job on Jon Parkin. Scott Rendell predictably scored, although it was a very dubious penalty as another of our old boys, Yemi Odubade, seemed to go down very easily after very little apparent contact from what was claimed to be a push in the back from Charlie Clough. The fact he was running out of the box at the time made it even more annoying, as it was a needless challenge to make.

Some of the home fans seemed to be a bit irked by some of Parkin's challenges, tbh I couldn't see a lot wrong, he was his usual combative self but was starved of any decent service.

Woking look a decent side and it wouldn't shock me if they make the play-offs, whereas our form has tailed off at exactly the wrong moment. Hopefully an out of form Lincoln plus the return of a couple of key players might help us spark back up again, but I'm not confident.

 

[Cardsfan]

Otherwise, a decent summary. Murtagh was class yesterday which was both brilliant and frustrating as he's been shit and unfit for most of the season.

 

[Gladders]

Talking to a guy at work today he said after Burton was sent off he pushed the referee over. Did any other town fans who went see it?

He didn't push the ref over, didn't see why he was sent off but he made a theatrical dive holding his face then the ref after consulting the linesman sent him off and he went for both of them before being pulled back

 

[Chris FGR]

Otherwise, a decent summary. Murtagh was class yesterday which was both brilliant and frustrating as he's been shit and unfit for most of the season.

Lol, having seen that maybe I can understand some of your fans reactions after all, although Parkin does take a lot as well as dishing it out. Your players did seem a bit prone to the odd bit of play acting as well tbf, I'm not sure Jon did too much damage with those challenges. He was probably a bit lucky not to get carded though, which is fortunate for us because our whole game is based around him, I dread to think how toothless we'd be without him.

Luckily that footage probably isn't conclusive enough for there to be any retrospective action.

 

[The Cards]

Otherwise, a decent summary. Murtagh was class yesterday which was both brilliant and frustrating as he's been shit and unfit for most of the season.

Makes me feel like Welling by uploading a video like that

 

[Cardsfan]

Makes me feel like Welling by uploading a video like that

Ahah, hopefully he'll get a suspension in the same way that Joe did, he deserves it and could halt their play-off charge.

 

[les.gtfc]

I thought Disley and Clay did well, sure Clay gave the ball away a couple times but he works hard and puts in some tackles, he is keeping Brown out and rightly so imo, wouldn't go as far as giving him MoM like some yesterday but i also wouldn't say he was poor either.

Edit: Oh and Clay is in the team of the day in the non league paper.

Clay did fine yesterday. He was MOTM in the NLP today as well as being in the team of the week. He just seems to be the latest player Lew has a downer on seeing that there's not been much chance to criticise LJL in the last few games.

 

[SomeMightShay]

I enjoyed the day too. Quite an exciting game, agree it had 0-0 written all over it soon after half-time. I thought the Halifax defenders were good, very organised and composed, and Jackson looked a handful. I actually quite like the smoke bombs. Was the smoke bomb / banger the reason those two men were escorted out early?

Don't know if one was identified as the smoke bomb culprit but i did hear one was ejected due to his language towards Coburn.

 

[Luke Imp]

Where did Lincoln find Sean Newton? Fucking hell...

You've given us Cranston to that's 1-1.

Wanna swap back?

 

[Greenacres]

Chris FGR sums the day up pretty well. Despite losing there were far more positives, the journey to and from Woking was fairly painless, not always the case when you take to the roads on a Saturday. On arrival the majority of those who had travelled on the coaches made a beeline for the bar, where a warm welcome was received, there was a degree of surprise that the game wasn't segregated and that we were as welcome in all areas of the ground as the home fans. That is how football used to be and probably should be, treat people like adults and they normally respond.

There was good humour and an exchange of songs between the two sets of fans behind the goal, which just avoided reaching a level where the wisdom of having both singing groups stood together might have been doubted. This lasted for about 20 minutes when it died down almost completely, either because the respective fans had run out of songs to sing or just developed a mutual respect for each other. The only problem was that I was stood closer to the Woking fans and started to sing on a couple of occasions before realising that I was singing for the wrong team and had to stop, fortunately I don't think anyone noticed.

As for the game, the fact that the two best players on the pitch were Racine and Saah, both of them defenders, pretty much sums it up. It was a game likely to be decided by narrow margins, that proved to be the case. Was it a penalty, who knows, I was too far away and my view was slightly obscured by the crossbar, but it was probably a needless challenge as the aggrieved party was heading out of the penalty box at the time. Rovers certainly didn't do enough to win the game, but even as the clock ran down I was still optimistic that we might get a point. Alas it wasn't to be and the disappointment of losing was eased slightly with the knowledge that several rivals for the play-offs had also ended their day in defeat, only Halifax had managed to secure a point.

 

[GTFC1979]

He didn't push the ref over, didn't see why he was sent off but he made a theatrical dive holding his face then the ref after consulting the linesman sent him off and he went for both of them before being pulled back

Maybe Gateshead will try and sign him....?

 

[Chris FGR]

There was good humour and an exchange of songs between the two sets of fans behind the goal, which just avoided reaching a level where the wisdom of having both singing groups stood together might have been doubted. This lasted for about 20 minutes when it died down almost completely, either because the respective fans had run out of songs to sing or just developed a mutual respect for each other.

Yeah I enjoyed the fact it wasn't segregated, reminded me of what it used to be like at this level. I think the fact that the chanting stopped was due to people falling asleep more then anything else, thanks to the erm, entertainment.

 

[Pliny Harris]

Halifax fans are very quiet today. Happy with the point really, they probably did enough to shade it. Halifax's teenage "firm" was cute.

Twee folk.

 

[Greenacres]

Blimey, that is a bit different to Rovers...we don't have a firm, we have an infirm!

 

[Jemfy]

Diamonds drew 1-1 thanks to a last minute equaliser, well even later than that actually, with reports varying between 90 +8 and 90 +10. Either way the game finished just after the goal. By all accounts it was a poor match, but it maintains our unbeaten home record, and our lead at the top of the table. Elsewhere Holbeach won, meaning our lead for promotion has been cut a bit, but I would hope we will pick up enough points that it won't matter what they do for the rest of the season, this will only define when and not if.

Seven games left. 21 points to play for.

We've also signed Darren Purse on dual registration with Staines, he's been managing our U18s and will serve as backup to come in if required with the registration deadline looming. Hopefully he won't be needed, and will be available if required.

 

[SomeMightShay]

CeeBeebies remakes a Paul Newman classic.

 

[DarkSithLord]

Diamonds drew 1-1 thanks to a last minute equaliser, well even later than that actually, with reports varying between 90 +8 and 90 +10. Either way the game finished just after the goal. By all accounts it was a poor match, but it maintains our unbeaten home record, and our lead at the top of the table. Elsewhere Holbeach won, meaning our lead for promotion has been cut a bit, but I would hope we will pick up enough points that it won't matter what they do for the rest of the season, this will only define when and not if.

Seven games left. 21 points to play for.

We've also signed Darren Purse on dual registration with Staines, he's been managing our U18s and will serve as backup to come in if required with the registration deadline looming. Hopefully he won't be needed, and will be available if required.

Purse has gone from Conference Premier with Welling to Conference South with Staines and UCL with AFC R+D in less than 2 months!

 

[Jemfy]

Purse has gone from Conference Premier with Welling to Conference South with Staines and UCL with AFC R+D in less than 2 months!

He's been managing U18s with us (joint with a local academy thing) since the start of the season. I guess he will only be available for us when Staines don't have a game. Arguably CB is where we are strongest, so he might not even make the team when available...

 

[pontoonlew]

Clay did fine yesterday. He was MOTM in the NLP today as well as being in the team of the week. He just seems to be the latest player Lew has a downer on seeing that there's not been much chance to criticise LJL in the last few games.

Eh?! I've not mentioned Clay once before yesterday, and that was to say I don't think he was great. Others feel he was, I felt going forward he gave away the ball one to many times in decent positions, which he did. His other work was fine.

If you're not happy to see others constructive opinions on players performances then it's probably best you don't read forums.

 

[Sparrow]

For Woking I thought Keiran Murtagh bossed the midfield, completely dominating against our non-creative ineffective efforts, and they also looked comfortable at the back, with Brian Saah doing a very good job on Jon Parkin. Scott Rendell predictably scored, although it was a very dubious penalty as another of our old boys, Yemi Odubade, seemed to go down very easily after very little apparent contact from what was claimed to be a push in the back from Charlie Clough. The fact he was running out of the box at the time made it even more annoying, as it was a needless challenge to make.

That's a fair assessment. Kieran Murtagh was very good yesterday yet that's only really the second time we've seen him do that. He's been carrying far too much weight since August and has been a shadow of his former self when he has played. All of a sudden he seems to have lost a stone and he's back to his best - conveniently just as teams are deciding on players for next season.

I thought it was a penalty albeit a soft one. Odubade used his experience to wait for the contact from the FGR player and then hit the deck. The highlights show a clear hand in the back. I was more amazed that the referee actually gave it seeing as he missed everything else in the game.

 

[Davidimp]

You've given us Cranston to that's 1-1.

Wanna swap back?

Actually its 2-1 Counteh they gave us the goal machine that is Tyrell Waite before we got shot!

 

[Look Out There Are Llamas]

That's basically what I meant. The refereeing is shocking in this league though, it's gone against us a fair bit in the past - although we had a few half-decent penalty shouts in the first half. Brian Saah was immense, two times he saved us with last-ditch challenges. Yeah, it was pretty even, just good to see us hold out solidly as our defending has been poor this year. We passed it about very nicely at times in the first half, certainly played better football than them, although they did look very dangerous from set pieces and counter attacks especially. Parkin kicked Ricko on the ground (and Joey Jones later in thr game apparently) so hopefully our video shows it and the fat lump gets the ban he deserves, dirty thug.

How come you were at Kingfield anyway, what did you think of the setup?

Although having seen the penalty again, it was a bit silly of Clough to put his arm into Odubade's back.

Was doing a bit of work at the match. Really liked it, I think the best way to describe it would be 'homely'. I really like the no ticket thing as well, wish more clubs would do that. It's been a while since I've been to a game without segregation, appreciated that, although I think promotion to the Football League may be a bit of a shock to the system. But I hope you guys do it, good luck to you.

 

[Cardsfan]

Although having seen the penalty again, it was a bit silly of Clough to put his arm into Odubade's back.

Was doing a bit of work at the match. Really liked it, I think the best way to describe it would be 'homely'. I really like the no ticket thing as well, wish more clubs would do that. It's been a while since I've been to a game without segregation, appreciated that, although I think promotion to the Football League may be a bit of a shock to the system. But I hope you guys do it, good luck to you.

Cheers, we'd certainly be out of our depth budgetwise but all the games would be segregated I'm sure (we do it for about half of the games anyway). I'd much rather we keep a sensible budget in League Two then go Big or Bust because one or two years in the Football League before a return to non-league is fine by me. Glad you enjoyed it anyway.The penalty is debatable but if you shove someone like that you can have no complaints, correct.