Match Day Thread - 7th/8th March 2015

[Farncombe Shot]

We've only gone and fucking won away from home.

This is too much, I need a lie down. Dover should be punished with immediate relegation for this, terrible.

What the dick are #TheMaccMachine playing at drawing at home to such dross? Such a missed opportunity.

Take it that means... "Well played Aldershot" ?????

 

[Clarkey_GTFC]

In the previous 4 games including the loss to Bristol he made one change to the starting line up and that was the last game against Braintree with Pittman coming back from injury, and then today he has made one change because LJL wasn't available, not sure why you think he doesn't stick to the same side.

Force of habit really, in the past Hurst has been notorious for it, though credit where it's due recently he hasn't changed it up too much.

I actually think LJL would be better coming off the bench anyway. His fresh physical presence would be an absolute nightmare for knackered defenders later in the game, could open up a lot more gaps than when he's starting. Then again I'm no football manager and Hurst is, so eh.

 

[Deuce_Bigalow]

Massive result for Alfreton, I'm sure DSL will be watching tomorrows match on BT a little more closely. FGR and Eastleigh winning keeps that 5th place spot challenge alive. Torquays season looks over and no one interested which is good for us if we need to go there on the last day in search of points to cement the play offs.

 

[GTFC1979]

It is pretty simple, John-Lewis's all round play is superb, but his finishing is shit.
He will always be a bit like marmite, but as we are now back in the title race, please can't we leave this debate for a little bit, and enjoy those set of absolutely perfect results that have just happened?

 

[miagsygas]

We aren't shitting ourselves, we lost one game against a good team.

Fair play to Eastleigh, they came and did a good job on us. Horrendous keeper error for their first. Let a free kick slip behind his legs. Eastleigh began time wasting in the 20th minute. First ever booking I've seen that early for time wasting.

The only contentious decision I can be annoyed about is Midson. He got booked in the first half and then dived in the box. Ref signalled for a dive but didn't book him for that one and then he pops up for the second when, in my opinion, he shouldn't have even been on the pitch.

Still, fair play to Eastleigh, they ground out a win with an ideal away performance, get a goal, close up shop, score on the counter and they deserved it. If they get in the playoffs, they'd be my pick to win it.

Thankfully, Barnet lost, or this loss would hurt a lot more.

 

[TheGas]

Bad day at the office. We were due a loss. Hopefully the last one this season. Confident we can beat halifax next week

 

[yellow]

What a load of fucking shit this whole campaign has been.

I hate football.

 

[Luke Imp]

Your good run seems a loooooong time ago.

 

[GTFC1979]

REALLY looking forward to Gary Hills post match interview.......

 

[slaphead]

What the dick are #TheMaccMachine playing at drawing at home to such dross? Such a missed opportunity.

The same dross that are second in the form table? We were shit when you played us but since then TFG has gone and we are a different side, as Halifax will find out on Tuesday

 

[Pliny Harris]

Shite.

 

[Shotsfan1993]

Excellent point for us. 1st half we were the better side and should have been ahead. Williams and Plummer both guilty of missing a sitter each. 2nd half Macclesfield were better but we defended well and on balance earned the point that we deserved. A draw was a fair result in my opinion.

 

[Gashead]

A blip, we were dire today and Eastleigh executed a game plan.

Early goal was a huge error from Mildenhall, time wasting ensued from 10 minutes onwards. But, as the second half began we became stretched, and Eastleigh could have had two or three more. Once we got the goal, our final ball was terrible which stopped us from getting the equaliser. Nearly everybody had an off day today.

Gotta hope Eastleigh do us a favour and we win at Halifax next week to set us back on track. However, it's no longer just Barnet in it - big day for Macc and especially Grimsby today.

 

[The_Boss]

Excellent point for us. 1st half we were the better side and should have been ahead. Williams and Plummer both guilty of missing a sitter each. 2nd half Macclesfield were better but we defended well and on balance earned the point that we deserved. A draw was a fair result in my opinion.

I'd of said neither team deserved a point, two truly shocking teams out there.

 

[yellow]

Your good run seems a loooooong time ago.

Yep. So much promise at the start of the season with that 6-game winning run. No way did I or any other fan see this coming. Completely disillusioned with it all right now.

 

[Gassy]

Grimsby must be creaming their pants tonight!

Fair play Eastleigh, the better team won. That defeat has been coming for a while now. We could have been 3 or 4 down before we scored.

Hopefully we can bounce back on Saturday as we need to win this league. Trust me, I do not want to be playing eastleigh that's for sure

 

[Son of Cod]

 

[Shotsfan1993]

I'd of said neither team deserved a point, two truly shocking teams out there.

I'd disagree from our point of view. First half we played some decent stuff at times and should have been ahead. 2nd half after you took control we settled for what we had which was a point. From our point of view it was a decent away result.

 

[Urban]

The one thing I learnt today was that I once used to think that annual relegation fights in League 2 were depressing.

This is far, far worse. Won't see my team playing league football for a long while. And that's really quite depressing.

 

[The_Boss]

Come away so so pissed off today. The league title should now be in our own hands after today, but another shite performance has put paid to that.

 

[Sparrow]

A disappointing day for us. I thought before hand that if we were to win, Eastleigh and FGR would both lose. If we were to lose, Eastleigh and FGR would both win and well...

A pretty low quality game. Neither side passed it much and both were pretty solid for the most part. Grimsby forced us to play more direct which was frustrating once we went behind. Goddard missed a decent chance in the first-half. Ollie Palmer tapped-in after a shot hit the post and fell to him. Odubade also had a good chance after the break but failed to take it. We went to three at the back in the second half after about 60 minutes which I thought was too early. Not long after, Grimsby took a free-kick quickly and crossed to get a second. Good, quick-thinking which we often do but incredibly amateur to switch off against. Goddard got one back but it was too late.

Fair play to Grimsby. They weren't spectacular but it was a near perfect away performance. They looked comfortably like a play-off side but not much more - who knows though with Barnet and Bristol losing.

Brian Saah was our MOTM. Very assured performance. Ollie Palmer was poor. He took his goal well because it fell to him on a plate although Saah had him in his pocket all game. I have no doubts Palmer can do it against the weaker centre-backs in the division, of which there are many, but today up against an experienced pro (who hadn't played since December) he didn't have an answer. No more than a Conference Premier striker.

It looks like that's it for our play-off hopes yet we'll still be pushing for them until it's impossible.

 

[CrazyImp]

The one thing I learnt today was that I once used to think that annual relegation fights in League 2 were depressing.

This is far, far worse. Won't see my team playing league football for a long while. And that's really quite depressing.

You need to get a grip sunshine. It's your second season and you're right in with a glorious chance still. Heaven knows what you'd be like if you were in our current league position after four seasons.

 

[Urban]

You need to get a grip sunshine. It's your second season and you're right in with a glorious chance still. Heaven knows what you'd be like if you were in our current league position after four seasons.

Oh I'm sure I'm feeling the exact pain you are. And I bet I'm feeling exactly how you were after 2 seasons down here as well.

Btw, our chance isn't glorious. You've not seen how bad we are recently! Well you did, but imagine that game at Sincil Bank every single week.

 

[TheGas]

Come away so so pissed off today. The league title should now be in our own hands after today, but another shite performance has put paid to that.

It would've have been in your hands even if you did win

 

[GTFC1979]

If Grimsby somehow win this now, it'll be the biggest insult to the Conference since Steve Evans. You've been crap and got away with it.

Spoken like a true un-biased Lincoln fan!
Just because we were crap against you doesn't mean we have been crap all season, 10 away wins out of 18 can not be achieved through luck now can it?
Say what you like about Hurst but he certainly knows how to prepare for an away game.

 

[pontoonlew]

It is pretty simple, John-Lewis's all round play is superb, but his finishing is shit.
He will always be a bit like marmite, but as we are now back in the title race, please can't we leave this debate for a little bit, and enjoy those set of absolutely perfect results that have just happened?

'Superb' is a slight exaduration.

I agree with Clarkey, LJL would arguably be better off the bench as his qualities will be 10x more difficult for a tired defender to handle.

Saying that a rest could be just what he needs to recapture his early season form. One thing is for sure, an instant recall after today will send all the wrong messages to the rest of the squad IMO.

 

[Gladders]

Well he may get that recall as Hurst said Palmer wasn't ready today but played because of no LJL and he felt his hamstring again and Pittman was taken off due to his calves being tight so one or both may not be fit next week.

Though like I said if both are fully 100% fit they should start but they may not be

 

[DarkSithLord]

Fantastic day for us. Our best performance for a while. Everyone in a reds shirt were instrumental. Karl Hawley had his best game in a Reds shirt. Johnston was excellent again and Howe and Graham were rocks at the back. For the first time this season we actually didnt look like we were gonna concede. I had forgot how it felt to be comfortable. Ok Lee hughes had a chance one-on one with Mooney seconds before our first goal but that was it. Tells all you need to know about Kiddy going forward really. Hughes aside who was his evergreen self and was Harriers MOTM they were poor and looked to be on their holidays TBH.

Thats the second time we have had two consecutive clean sheets this season and were have scored in every game this season apart from Woking away a far cry from Kiddys 2 goals in 8 games and 1 in 5.

The only negative of the day is Bradley Wood who hobbled off in the first half after a crunching challenge which was not even notified by the ref who was absolutely abysmal BTW for both sides. Even by this leagues dire standards he was the worst of the season so far.

Very happy about our chances of survival tonight. The Double header against Dartford is still huge 6 points there and with Welling at home to come then I think we will be fine.

 

[ComeOnIrene]

A poor Gas performance today. Never got going.

I had a bad feeling about the game all week and as soon as the first whistle sounded I knew we would lose. Eastleigh started better than us, played the referee expertly and we couldn't get out our half for the first 15 minutes. Unfortunately we conceded the softest goal you will ever see (Mildenhall let a weak free kick slip between his hands and his legs) and that was that really.

As an attacking force we were non-existent and we seriously missed Stuart Sinclair in the middle of the park, because we had absolutely no presence. We needed to stand up to their play-acting and dirtiness in midfield and we just didn't, so they prevailed with the ball throughout the 90 minutes.

In that sense you have to give them credit because their game plan worked, but my God the time-wasting and general play-acting was a different level to anything I've ever seen. Every single one of their players was a dirty, slimy, whining so-and-so and I hate seeing cheats like that prosper. Ex-Gas Harry Pell, James Constable and Jack Midson were unbelievable with how often they were in the ref's ear, diving all over the place.

We need to look at ourselves though and sort it out sharpish. We weren't at the races at all today and whilst Matty Taylor's goal was a great strike we lacked an awful lot up front. Fingers crossed Jermaine Easter is back next weekend to offer us further quality, because we seem to lack ideas at the moment.

I'm not panicking, because it's our first defeat in 20-odd games and Barnet are continuing to wobble. They've let us off today, although the real winners are Grimsby I have to say. It's a four horse race now and we need to get back to winning ways at Halifax, as difficult as it may be.

 

[Gassy]

We are in desperate need of a creative midfielder too. Perhaps Balanta could be the answer, he looked decent when he came on