Wealdstone away

[comrade powell]

1 up, Watkins after 35ish!

[comrade powell]

Ends 1-0 to City. Very, very welcome win. Well done to those fans who made it there tonight - your loyalty was rewarded!

[Luton Roman]

Phew. Flash scores went 1-1 near the end, then the tweet bout offside. Well done boys.

[BenE]

Fantastic result and a clean sheet too. Well done to the lads for keeping at it.

[A36]

I thought the first half was about the best that I have seen City play this season, controlled the game, made decent chances and actually looked likely to score. Wealdstone came more into it in the second half, but didn't really feel like City were clinging on until that offside decision in the final seconds of injury time. Impossible to tell from where I was stood, but some Wealdstone fans that had been in line said there were about three of them offside (so, not a close call). Also, nice touch from Gary Owers to come over and shake hands with the City fans behind the goal after the final whistle.

[Ashley]

Guess you beat me by half an hour Alan & Blake! Agree with pretty much all of that, an excellent team performance and well earned win.

[Midsomer-steve]

I would just like to add that, in my view, we had a very well balanced side out tonight. It is never right to say that injuries to certain players are fortunate but I will venture to say that McCootie and Hemmings were not exactly missed. Tyler brought a breath of fresh air to the forward line, and, for as long as he is with us, I can envisage Nick and Marvin fighting it out for the one place in the team to play alongside him. As for Chaz - there is no obvious place for him now, unless injuries dictate otherwise.
We looked a good outfit tonight, and I hope they can show the home fans more of the same on Saturday.

[comrade powell]

As I wasn't there last night I'm not qualified to comment on how the selection played out, but I will be staggered if Hemmings is not an automatic selection once he recovers from injury. As I keep banging on about, results need to be seen in the context of who we are playing. Was last night's performance against a team who are dreadful at home better than Saturday's against one who have opened up a gap at the top of the table?

[Sir Ged Roddy]

I was unable to go last night, but enjoyed the Twitter (I couldn't listen to the Radio as I was at a meeting). Wealdstone fans are not too pleased at the moment http://www.wealdstonefc.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=10162&sid=a8c7ee6cc70155975fd2b03fb3d5d68c .
I liked this comment on their substitutions "Those substitutions were like throwing a bucket of mismatched Lego at a six year old and asking him to build the Palace of Versailles."

[stillmanjunior]

Yes, I spotted that. One of the best opposition forum comments I've read, up there with some from Newport after a poor run of results.

[Midsomer-steve]

As I wasn't there last night I'm not qualified to comment on how the selection played out, but I will be staggered if Hemmings is not an automatic selection once he recovers from injury. As I keep banging on about, results need to be seen in the context of who we are playing. Was last night's performance against a team who are dreadful at home better than Saturday's against one who have opened up a gap at the top of the table?

As you have asked the question you are due a reply. Yes - I thought that the performance against Wealdstone was better than what we have witnessed for some time - maybe the best that we have seen this season (As witnessed by and commented on). Please do not be staggered by an exclusion of Hemmings in any future line-up. In my opinion, and the opinion of many, unless we sacrifice a position for him to fulfil a role as a central defensive midfielder, I can see no place for him. As, in my opinion, our general strength this season has been our mid-field, it would be detrimental to disturb it (except for injury and/or suspensions of course). I except your very valid point that team selection should be determined by who we are playing though. That is the main job of the manager. It must be assumed that all of our players have their particular attributes, therefore they should be particularly used to the attain the highest League position possible.

[comrade powell]

Steve, we all have our opinions on individual players - but of course the only important one is the manager's and considering that Hemmings has made 17 starts this season, I'll be very surprised if there is suddenly no place found for him. I agree that he should probably play as a central defensive midfielder, but as the player who would presumably be 'sacrificed' for him would be Artus I'd see that as a positive. There seems to be general agreement that the latter is struggling there and would be better deployed further forward. I'm not sure, but Hemmings has the skill and vision to be very effective in that withdrawn role as well as offering decent protection to the back four.

Re my 'valid point about team selection', I think you need to re-read it. I wasn't suggesting it should depend on who we are playing against, simply that it's unwise to read too much into performances against teams as weak as Wealdstone are (at home anyway). I believe Hemmings' absence on Monday was down to injury, not tactics, but I'd disagree that he should be left out when he returns to fitness. Still, we shall see!

[BenE]

I agree with Steve that generally our midfield has held its own against all opposition and that weaknesses in attack and defence have let us down. However I would suggest that a large part of the problem is that we are not creating enough chances and this depends on the midfield.

GO himself said that Frankie was a big player for him and yet he has not performed as well as we know he can. Many of us have put this down to his need to protect the defence. As Martin says Chas is probably the best we have at this and with Murphy also providing a shield Frankie could move forward.

Our best 11 is therefore Phillips, Rigg, Batten, Monthe, Ball, Chas, Frankie, Murphy, Watkins, Harvey, Morgan.

I think we are not getting enough out of Hunter, Daiby, Marshall and Hutchinson or indeed McCootie when they get their chance. They all have talent - they just need to show it.

[stillmanjunior]

I personally think Chas is an important member of this team and one of the reasons he wasn't missed on Monday was Wealdstone being truly dreadful and devoid of ideas going forward. I thought we lacked creativity at times, they were something else.

Benyon was presented with one opening all game, which he took, but he was offside. The lack of service to him was bewildering, when I saw his goal tally I assumed he was constantly fed the ball. Huge thumbs up to our defence, Batten and Monthe in particular were rocks, but they'll come up against tougher opposition this season, starting this Saturday, I'm sure.

With Artus suspended, if Hemmings is fit it'll be interesting to see if he gets the nod ahead of Diallo. I very much doubt the back four will be amended.

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