Down to Earth with a bang

[bonzodog]

Oh dear, after Saturday this was a disaster darling. Second half tactics were far too defensive. Even Jimmer was quite. You see people he leads from the side we win, stands there all hushed and we lose. Disappointed.

[the demon headmaster]

Well what happened? I heard we were 1 up at half time

[yuffie]

In control for an hour. Could have been 2 or 3 up and Gosport should have been down to ten men. Then an unmarked header makes it 1-1 and a unfortunate deflection of Mellor for their second. The third from Mellor's attempt to quickly play the ball out rather than aimlessly lumping it forward.

Nothing to do with imaginary defensive tactics or Jimmer shouting or not (though that may have been tongue in cheek).

[2weirdtown]

Just proves that you need to make it count when you're on top,  We couldn't quite do that tonight and paid the price.
I'm sure if Jimmer had jumped up and down a bit more we would have bagged the points.

[BenE]

I think we just ran out of steam and weren't able to stem the tide when Gosport upped their game. They had three players booked in quick succession and I thought then - they are getting more determined we need to be careful.

In mitigation we hit the post at 1-0 which would have changed the game our way.

But we had several dead ball deliveries and absolutely nothing came from them. They had one which was a peach and they scored. Then a corner and they got another.

As Yuffie said we controlled the game for an hour but we hadn't seen them off by then. They did more in the last thirty minutes.

[yuffie]

And as a slight aside - after Watkins was taken out when about to run clear am I the only one (not an unheard of situation) that though their keeper caught the ball well outside his area - presumably because he thought a free-kick was going to be awarded?

[Ashley]

He was about 3 yards outside. I think he fielded the ball expecting a free kick, and when it wasn't given ran back into the box!

[comrade powell]

Big reality check after that 2nd half performance. gosport were simply too streetwise, giving us a lesson in how to take your chances when you're on top. But let's take heart from that excellent first 45 minutes - if we can reproduce that against Chelmsford and Hemel in the coming week, we should be on for 6 points.

[Marc Monitor]

Being a reasonably tough critic, I have to say that there wasn't really any one think to put the blame on tonight. Up until 60 minutes, we were well on top and in the last 5 minutes of that hour, could have scored 2 or 3 times with quite an onslaught on their goal. As has been said, it was one of those nights when you knew we were going to rue our chances. All their goals had a bit of luck, clumsiness or misfortune about them (like our first and third on Saturday) and I can't really say that I would have done much more - perhaps, the eternal bringing on Stearn earlier but I am not sure that would have made all that much different.

The thing is that, normally, you would have said that it was a bit "two steps forward, one step back" that clubs have all the time. Unfortunately, with the statements from the club and the bad start to the season, confidence is a touch fragile with us. Hopefully, we will just put tonight behind us. I don't think there is much wrong with the team presently. Hemmings is still doing well in the defensive midfield position (although I will check the goal videos to make sure). Perhaps the 433 could come back with Stearn on the right of a front 3. The main thing is to get the team up for two games that we should get at least 4 points from. Tonight isn't an East Thurrock style disaster. Gosport have had a pretty decent run together now.

[Bridgeyate]

After a great first half,they came out in the second and did a great job on us.Whenever a team closes us down quickly our whole game falls apart.We resort to hoofing the ball,mis place passes and our tactics disappear.Such a shame as felt we had turned a corner.May have been a different game if the one that hit the post had gone in and we were 2 0 up.

[Peteboa]

Not much to add to that. More than a match for the first 60 mins, better of the chances without ever putting them under the cosh. Gosport very well organised and more streetwise and maybe deserved their points on that alone. Was disappointed to see us resorting to hoof ball second half, but guess we were blowing a fair bit

[Marc Monitor]

That is a good point. We still do resort to long ball too much when we panic which is something the management need to address. You only have to look at how well we do when we keep it on the ground. We only have to look at the Swansea U21 team that have come the last couple of pre-seasons. We always go ahead with them but they never panic nor change their passing game and always end up on top. Obviously, there are many differences, not least that they have always been trained in that way of playing but it is still a good model.

[SteveS]

I thought we played very well for an hour with only 1 goal to show for it, they got back in for 30 minutes and scored 3. Very unlucky first part of second half when Pratt hit the post and ball ran back along the goal and then directly after lovely ball across the goal but despite 3 city players being there no one could get a touch.
The but is that I felt it noticable that heads dropped quickly after they equilised, back to the leadership issues.
Gosport looked a good side though and if Pratts effort had gone in I think we would have gone on to win.

[stillmanjunior]

First half especially I thought we made a side that are flying at the moment look very ordinary. It's all fine margins - their guy should have been sent off, Pratt's effort rolling along the line etc. Then they score when the ball hits the upright, hits Jason and goes in.

I guess it proves that Gosport are going to be tough to beat this season as if they can still rather comfortably win after being so under the cosh for a bit, they must have something about them.

It was also Dave Pratt's fifth goal against them in four games. We'll miss him on Saturday.

[yuffie]

That is a good point. We still do resort to long ball too much when we panic which is something the management need to address. You only have to look at how well we do when we keep it on the ground. We only have to look at the Swansea U21 team that have come the last couple of pre-seasons. We always go ahead with them but they never panic nor change their passing game and always end up on top. Obviously, there are many differences, not least that they have always been trained in that way of playing but it is still a good model.

I think you have to remember we are a Conference South side. It is a regular comment on other club forums that when their team isn't playing well they result to hoof ball. I don't imagine for one second the management tell the players to do this but at our level it is not that surprisingly that it happens. Also, the third goal last night came from Jason trying to play the ball out rather than just aimlessly hitting it forward toward their two big centre-backs.

[comrade powell]

I think you're being very generous to Mellor there. I think he has played very well since his nightmare at Thurrock, with hardly any misplaced clearances. But as the pressure from Gosport mounted, so he seemed to lose his composure. There were a couple of poor clearances from him just before the 3rd goal, putting his team under pressure, and I thought his throw out was the same.

[comrade powell]

Oh dear, after Saturday this was a disaster darling. Second half tactics were far too defensive. Even Jimmer was quite. You see people he leads from the side we win, stands there all hushed and we lose. Disappointed.

Gosport manager sits in stand first half and they're second best. Stands on touch line after halftime, bawling out instructions, and his team are transformed. No, I think it may have been down to him observing from a good vantage point what was going wrong and putting it right. It was noticeable how he was in deep conversation with his assistant just before the break. Why don't our management do the same, instead of huddling up at pitch level with such an awful view of the game?

[yuffie]

I think you're being very generous to Mellor there. I think he has played very well since his nightmare at Thurrock, with hardly any misplaced clearances. But as the pressure from Gosport mounted, so he seemed to lose his composure. There were a couple of poor clearances from him just before the 3rd goal, putting his team under pressure, and I thought his throw out was the same.

I'm not saying it was the right decision - the end result suggests it most certainly wasn't - just that it shows even when we were chasing the game we were still triying to play the ball out from the back.

[Eddie Hitler]

Great first half. Second half Gosport's tactics were spot-on and we were unable to adjust our own tactics.
They gave us too much time and space in the first half, but flew at us from the off in the second half (sorry whoever (above) - we were no way in control for 60 minutes). They closed us down and forced us into playing the long ball and misplacing passes.
In response our changes were naïve and ineffective. Simply throwing on attacking players (or in Walsh's case - a defender in attack) to get goals back is very obvious, but we were losing the game through our midfield and exposing our defence, and in my opinion it was that which needed bolstering, not weakening.
Stearn seemed to have no idea where he was playing - was he poorly briefed or playing badly? A complete waste of a player.

[comrade powell]

Yes, fair point, Yuffie. The problem was that by then our defence looked very jittery and they would probably have preferred a long kick down the middle, especially as Walsh had been brought on to add to our arial threat up front.

[comrade powell]

They closed us down and forced us into playing the long ball and misplacing passes.

Well said. It always annoys me when it's assumed the management have instructed our players (or they have made the choice) to hoof the ball forward. It's nearly always the result of intense closing down by opponents. There's the same result when we do this to other teams, usually before tiring. Credit to Gosport for having the energy to do this after the break.

I also thought their first substitution was inspired - the bloke linked excellently with their two dangerous strikers. I hoped Stearn might do the same when he appeared, but he rarely does well against such hard working opponents.

[stillmanjunior]

And as a slight aside - after Watkins was taken out when about to run clear am I the only one (not an unheard of situation) that though their keeper caught the ball well outside his area - presumably because he thought a free-kick was going to be awarded?

I did not spot this, and neither did our dugout who were incensed with the original decision. Poor officiating all round. Incredible that we had a referee from Lincoln for this game. I hope they don't have the same rules as in Premier League where the officials have to travel to all games together, if so I expect Sam Allison is just about returning to Trowbridge.

[BenE]

I hoped Stearn might do the same when he appeared, but he rarely does well against such hard working opponents.

Really?

He was not likely to make any impact. The cheer when he came on was mooted because the fans have learnt that he is rarely effective when we are on the back foot as we are when we have just conceded a goal; and when all the other players are hoofing the ball down two hulking centre half's throats.

I agree that it was the wrong choice of substitution at that time.

I had been thinking for a few minutes before we conceded that we needed to make a change but couldn't decide who should be taken off. I would have taken Artus off before Kingston and brought Walshy on in defence. We had already had a scare when their big No9 rose above our defence but planted his header wide.

As you say it is a mystery why managers choose to watch a game from navel level.

[comrade powell]

Actually I was thinking it would be a good move to bring on Stearn a few minutes before they scored, as we were losing momentum. He would possibly have made a greater impact in the 1st half when we were on the front foot.

[stillmanjunior]

I know this debate is used again and again, and sometimes I actually think Stearn has been left out for the right reasons.

But this recent omission is odd. He was man-of-the-match against St. Albans and played really well at Ebbsfleet. I'm not saying the players that have come in have performed poorly, but what did he do this time to be left out? Was it just tactical?

I actually thought maybe he was left out on Saturday to save himself for Gosport, but he didn't start either. I'm assuming McCootie wasn't fit and we need him on Saturday with Pratt suspended.

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