9th April Weekend Match Thread

[chipmunx]

I agree that Macclesfield looked good - apart from Styche who i didn't know was playing until he got subbed off. Sampson looks a fairly decent player and Rowe - is he another of the Danny Rowe's that we have had at Barrow before?
Macclesfield's goal came from a break away after a series of Barrow throw-ins and corners and was perhaps the only time between 20 and 45 mins that Macclesfield got out of their own half. Barrow's equalizer came after Walker was pushed in the back (he did go down easy) after 5 minutes where Macclesfield didn't get more that 10 yards further up-field that the 18 yard line. Barrow almost won it in injury time when a Tomlinson header went just wide after he beat the keeper and last defender to a cross - but it just went wide of the post.

 

[CrazyImp]

Congratulations Cheltenham - richly, richly deserved, the best team has won.

Braintree, as everyone alluded to months ago, have hit the wall. Hopefully Tranmere will edge Eastleigh out for fifth.

 

[Master D]

Infuriating Dover were everything you need to be a side near the top of this league, loads of big lumps, solid as hell with quality players up top who make the difference, not to mention being masters of playacting/time-wasting. Referee let them get away with murder regarding it and if you don't start booking people for it they will just continue to do it all game long. The ref just refused to book any players today, both sides could have done anything and he wouldn't have done shit about it. No real complaints though, Dover showed how you win games away from home.

We were abysmal today, no clue and just no quality and starting a lamppost up front, well the writing was on the wall straightaway. We just haven't got any match winning quality up front, that was basically the difference. Stefan Payne is one of the best players I've seen all season, the goal was all his making.

 

[MTFC_07]

Congratulations Cheltenham - richly, richly deserved, the best team has won.

Braintree, as everyone alluded to months ago, have hit the wall. Hopefully Tranmere will edge Eastleigh out for fifth.

From a selfish, revenue generating point of view, I would much rather Eastleigh than Tranmere went up - 1000+ Tranmere away fans makes the club a lot more money than 30 Eastleigh away fans. For the same reason, whilst again I like Grimsby as a club, it would be disappointing to lose all the money brought in by the large Grimsby away contingent every season.
Also, Eastleigh is by far my least favourite away day in this league.

 

[Maccman]

I can't remember the last match I went to at this level where the fans were unsegregated. Is that normal practice at Barrow ? I'm not excusing the moronic behaviour ,by the way.

 

[Bluandwite]

Typical, get ourselves back in it and have to see it out with ten men because we'd used all of our subs.

Best three players all lost to injury in one game, the luck of that.

 

[SomeMightShay]

Fair enough. As for the keeper flap, apparently your man just jumped straight into the keeper with no chance of getting the ball.

Think i was only one of a handful that saw it the same way. Can't jump in on keepers in this day and age.

 

[SomeMightShay]

A three day reprieve. Delighted with that!

With the way we played today you may well get a week.

 

[appletablepenny]

Just watched the same Altrincham match for the 19th time this season. Still I can't kiss the season goodbye, as everyone else around lost today. Bromley were actually as bad as any team I've seen this season.

 

[Harrier94]

We're still alive somehow just feels like too much false hope now

 

[Tranmerewhite]

Officially our best ever season away from home. 37 points from 22.

Also our longest unbeaten run away from home, 11 games, 23 points... Probably a good thing we play Eastleigh away.

 

[Reginald Fodstain]

Well that was a tad frustrating. Tranmere played some neat football at times in the first 20 minutes or so, but this was quickly overtaken by hoofball and a hell of a lot of play antics. Unfortunately the ref seemed to lap it up and allowed them to run the show, especially with regards to time wasting in the later stages. Decent header by Higdon in his only real sniff at goal. We could easily have equalised but for a few decent stops by your keeper.

Pleased to see we've not lost any ground though - Tuesday is a bloody big game now though.

You've been kind to us there, I'd call it a smash and grab today. You didn't deserve to lose, which may well be down to one of the worst wingers I've ever seen repeatedly putting crosses straight on the heads of our fans behind the goal. Think you'll be ok though, much better than in the reverse fixture.

 

[Reginald Fodstain]

Btw whoever suggested our team for today was picked out of a hat, that would make perfect sense...

 

[yellow]

You've been kind to us there, I'd call it a smash and grab today. You didn't deserve to lose, which may well be down to one of the worst wingers I've ever seen repeatedly putting crosses straight on the heads of our fans behind the goal. Think you'll be ok though, much better than in the reverse fixture.

Haha, I imagine that's Toby Ajala?! Was a strong player for us last season and became a bit of a fans favourite - joined Dover, did nothing, came back here and has been terrible.

Very much an example of a confidence player - at the moment he has none.

 

[Monkey Tennis]

I can't remember the last match I went to at this level where the fans were unsegregated. Is that normal practice at Barrow ? I'm not excusing the moronic behaviour ,by the way.

There's quite a few games where there's no need for segregation and fans swap ends at HT, but never seen it where the away fans stand right amongst the home fans like that - I could only assume that Macc fans came through the home turnstile by mistake (it's not clear) and nobody picked up on the fact they also wore blue and white...

 

[Superobin]

Can't say I'm not happy with how the table looks tonight. Made it difficult for ourselves in the first half, but a double substitution and formation change at half time seemed to sort that. Never looked in trouble but it looked like we'd never score when we hit the post twice in a minute.

Enjoyed this season a lot especially after such a poor one last year!

 

[Si Robin]

Words can't explain how happy I am at the moment. There's still that little niggle telling me it's not done yet, but I this really does seem to be it now.

Love this from Danny Wright tonight as well:

https://twitter.com/Dwrighty9/status/718858594658217985

 

[Southern Shayman]

Words can't explain how happy I am at the moment. There's still that little niggle telling me it's not done yet, but I this really does seem to be it now.

Love this from Danny Wright tonight as well:

https://twitter.com/Dwrighty9/status/718858594658217985

#thugbants

 

[Harrier94]

Here's our winner today, brilliant counter attack (you might want to mute because of the awful sound quality)

 

[DarkSithLord]

Alfreton 3-2 Harrogate (Jordan 45, Jones 49, Jackson 74) (Thewils 31, Daniels 76)

Superb game at the Impact today. Both sides went for it and it made a entertaining and open game.

Great to see Alfreton legend Paul Clayton on his return to the Impact. He was a really pain in the neck too! Missed him!

We were back to our best today too which was good. Joe Leesley was exceptional with 3 assists too. His best performance in an Alfreton shirt.

Harrogate are an impressive side and to record a league double over them is a real achievement.
Harrogate took the lead on 31 minutes when a poor Duke goal kick was pounced upon as Clayton showed trademark strength to hold off a defender before feeding Thewils who side stepped one and finish past Duke with aplomb.

We deservedly levelled right on HT as Todd Jordan of all people powered a good Leesley free kick past Crook.
We started the second half as we finished the first as it was Leesley once again who beat his man before firing across a quality ball for Sam Jones to steer home for his 18th of the season.

After missed chances and plenty of action it was 3-1 as once again Leesley run the right back ragged before seeing his shot spilled by Crook straight to the waiting Jamie Jackson.

The dangerous Daniels replied just seconds later to ensure a nervy finish.

We were en debited to an World class save from Duke as he superbly tipped Ellis header over the bar for a corner. Stunning save to top off a great performance!

 

[CrazyImp]

Having looked at the table, I think if you get to 47 points, you stay up. Think it'll take a brave man not to say it'll be the current bottom quartet to go.

Huge well done to Torquay for looking like they're going to prove me wrong.

 

[Blue Lion]

There's quite a few games where there's no need for segregation and fans swap ends at HT, but never seen it where the away fans stand right amongst the home fans like that - I could only assume that Macc fans came through the home turnstile by mistake (it's not clear) and nobody picked up on the fact they also wore blue and white...

We spoke to your ground staff about this during half time. Apparently there was a family day taking place today (you'll probably be aware of this) and so the club decided it would create a more friendly atmosphere if the match was unsegregated and fans of both teams could mix together. There wasn't really anywhere for away supporters to enter the ground so there were Macc fans dotted around all over the place inside the ground. I know our coach was advised to park outside the seated stand but myself and others entered round the other side where it was cheaper. I gather the other coach was full of people preparing for a stag night, some of which were drunk and obviously wanted trouble. Once we were all in the ground, we tried to gather behind one of the goals but were then joined by Barrow fans. A few of us went down to the other end but some stayed. The decision to try to segregate the fans after the start of the game was one that should really have been made earlier.

 

[appletablepenny]

#thugbants

CTFCTopladz

 

[Blue Lion]

So that it's not a huge wall of text, I'll give my thoughts on the match in another post. A draw was probably fair with the first half more entertaining than the second. John McCombe hit the bar for Macc from a corner and then we went ahead with a Danny Whitehead finish after some good build up play. Barrow hit the post from a free kick and then won a penalty just before half time. The penalty looked fair enough to me from the other side of the ground, although Macc fans behind that goal thought it was a soft one. The second half was less entertaining with neither side playing especially well. There were a lot of long balls and areal challenges, some ending with players clattering into the ground, meaning that there was a lot of injury time added at the end. Barrow nearly scored at the end of the match with a Tomlinson header going just wide. 1-1, fair result.

 

[DarkSithLord]

Also there was an ugly alleged Racially motivated clash between Nicky Law and the Harrogate assistant manager today. Something that resulting in a fracas after the final whistle. Bitterly disappointing that Nicky could mar such a good performance like that. Dont know the exact details but if it is found to be true I hope the appropriate action is taken by the club and authorities. No place for it in the game.

 

[Davidimp]

Two cracking finishes for our goals today in an otherwise pretty poor game played out by two average sides.
The injury to Hannah finally did for Chester whom looked like doing what Kidderminster did to us a bit back, turning it round to beat us.
Back in the top half and our 4th double of the season.

 

[Alty]

Just watched the same Altrincham match for the 19th time this season. Still I can't kiss the season goodbye, as everyone else around lost today. Bromley were actually as bad as any team I've seen this season.

Yes, miraculously we're still in with a chance. Such a poor result against a side with nowt to play for, though.

Can't work out whether I'd take a draw on Tuesday - I probably would at this rate. Just to keep us in touch.

 

[Pablosammy]

Here's our winner today, brilliant counter attack (you might want to mute because of the awful sound quality)

"...and look what it means to every single one of them!"

 

[Sparrow]

Draw a fair result today. Gateshead were pretty unspectacular. They had two good, solid centre-backs but they lacked creativity going forward. I understand they have some injuries so maybe that was why.

It's time the season ended.

 

[Shotsfan1993]

Just got back from Halifax and after a very satisfying win.

First half was pretty even although we made Halifax's keeper work more than they made Thomas work (the save their keeper made before half time at the near post while he was diving the other way was exceptional).

Second half we grabbed a goal within a minute of the restart, and surprisingly it was from a corner - Stevenson took a whack to the face for his troubles although it was well worth it. After that we did our usual job of sitting on the lead for the next 25 minutes and letting Halifax have all of the ball, although they did pretty much nothing with it. Then suddenly we realised that we might need a 2nd goal to seal the victory and after a couple of failed breakaways Browne finally killed the game. Other than the last 5 minutes when Thomas had to make a couple of decent saves I would say it was a relatively comfortable clean sheet.

Really solid win and for me the best player on the pitch was a 36 year old who hadn't played for 5 months - I dont think Barker put a foot wrong all game and while he doesnt have a lot of pace he more than makes up for it with his reading of the games. I do wonder at times whether he would have been better playing more often this season as he is still easily good enough for this level.

Thought the referee was a bit of a homer today, gave Halifax a lot of very soft fouls especially in the first half and despite their players being all over Lafayette all game (there was one 30 second spell in the 2nd half when he was fouled FOUR times yet the referee gave nothing) the only thing he got from the referee was a yellow card when i'm not even sure he committed a foul?