Billericay 1 Staines 1

[Onthesidelines]

Bradley gave us the lead in the 7th minute and we had the better of the first half. Their main attacks came from their long throw specialist. They had more of the game in the second half and finally equalised in the 84th.minute after we failed to clear from a free kick. Ashley Dumas had a good game in the centre of our defense as did Wayne. Heffer also had a good game. Ferguson was the pick of the attack and Billy had another good game. Although Jamie Dormer played well I thought we lost out in mid field with Deane having another quite game. Probably a fair result.

[Adam.S]

I thought it was a good game, we dominated the first half and probably had more of the posession in the second half but they got back into it for the last 15/20 minutes.

 

Well taken goal from bradley although I thought he went quiet after that for a while.

 

With the defense we had I thought we done very well, especially Heffer, Wayne and Dumas.

 

From a game where I would have taken a point, I feel a bit upset that we didn't come away with all 3 points. I thought that we did deserve the 3 points but we did miss a few golden chances to get a second goal. For most of the game i didn't think staines looked a good team but when they started passing the ball and stop the long throws they looked a very good side.

 

I didn't think it was a freekick from what they got the goal and I think the ref cost us for that.

 

Keep it up blues.

[jl]

Fair result my [****!!****].

 

For 75 minutes we were far and away the better side. Staines only had one song, the long throw which is sadly polluting football at every level these days.

 

The free kick which led to their goal was never a foul as Dumas won the ball. The ref gave them loads on the edge of our box but not one decision the other way. He must have had it down for a draw on his coupon.

 

Considering the "makeshift" nature of out back four we did well at the back. For me our forward line let us down a bit today failing to take several very presentable opportunities to make the game safe.

 

Staines upped it when they equalised and we were under the cosh for the last 15 but all in all I thought we were worth a win today.

 

Hopefully we can be more clinical in front of goal next week.

 

Come on you Blues!!

[finisterre]

I agree with JL re: the forwards missing plenty of chances, but I suppose that will happen occasionally. I did think Fergie had a couple of good chances to shoot and he passed instead. He ought to be more selfish perhaps?

 

Their equaliser was annoying because it was so obviously going to happen with their dominance in the last quarter of the game. Maybe we should have beefed up the defence (Henry/Ketchell) for the last 10 mins?

[Brightside Bloke]

I also agree with JL.

I thought before the game that this was our big test and would either prove that we have the squad back on form or would leave us with lot's more work to do,

Fair play to the squad for being so solid for the best part of 70/75 mins and making a so called top team look very average.

 

Not sure if having Burbs on in the 2nd half did us any good as he did not seem in the game (IMO) but i did hear afterwards that he was Ill so maybe he should not have been even on the bench if that's the case?

 

Still looked like we had the points and deservedly so for a long time but quite happy to come away with a point.

 

A big well done the people that helped out with the sand this morning, Job well done guy's.

 

Come on you Blues!!

 

[Rick the Dick]

A performance that confirms we are good enough to be a contender in this league. Sure, we probably deserved the win, but hopefully the ying/yang balance will work in our favour another time.

Heffs war enormous for us. & Ash did great playing out of position. Billy & Bradley were my pick of the attacking players.

Whilst the point is important, the best thing that we take from today is confidence & self belief.

 

Well done guys.

 

[Bill of Shenfield]

BB I agree, with your comment on Burbs, he didn't get into the game.

Why was Flackie subbed?

[JoeV93]

I am content with a draw, but am perhaps more dissapointed that we did'nt take the 3 points. We should always of capitalised on our first goal, but we did'nt. So 6 games unbeaten and hopefully a 7th next week at T&MFC so onwards upwards.

 

Come On You Blues!

[GazzaBTFC]

Altho I agree with JL, a draw was not a good result but lets think back to four weeks ago...we would've taken the point. Whilst we're looking at the negatives of not winning the game, the positive is that we have come a long way since Ashford (in all departments). We're now looking good with a make shift defence, we're solid and looking good going forward, our midfield is starting to move the ball on the ground and there is a "can do" attitude amoungst the players. With the league looking tighter than a "ducks [****!!****] on a winters day", there is a lot of the season to play. We'll pick up,I'm sure of that and we'll be challenging for a play off place come April.

 

Why was Flackie subbed? Good question. IMO the wrong player got pulled off. IMO in the box, Flackie is our most potent striker, especially when there are "bits" to pick up. The stats show Billy is a great striker but he is a diffrent type and isn't as quick as Flackie in the box. I would've preferred Flackie with Bricknell to finish the game but the long throw was causing us some trouble and we required some height to deal with it. Decisions like these are not an exact science and they are made for the best of the team performance on the day, it is only in hindsight that we all give an opinion...

 

 

[jl]

I actually said that a draw wasn't a fair result - not a draw wasn't a good result.

 

As Gazz said I think Burbs was brought on to assist us in defending set pieces. The logic behind it was clear, but I felt it probably had a negative affect on our game overall - But that's Harry Hindsight for you. I'd like to see Flackie back next week too.

[GazzaBTFC]

Sorry JL...I know and I agree...Fingers got crossed whilst typing.

 

I would like to see Flackie given the whole match and perhaps with Burbs knocking down for him to pick up the bits.

[Onthesidelines]

So drop Bricknell then!!

[GazzaBTFC]

We have enough striking options to partner whomever up front. My suggestion looks crazy on paper and certainly does not bear out Bricknells stats. I feel that Flackie is the more sharper in the box. I suppose, in hindsight, perhaps our front line should be Bricknell and Flack. Yesterday, IMO, I thought we should've persisted with our starting front line but if there was a sub to be made, I would've preferred Flackie to have finished the game. As I said, hindsight is a wonderful science and there is no criticism of the decision that was made. On the stats it was the logical decision...

 

 

[Adam.S]

Originally Posted By: Onthesidelines

So drop Bricknell then!!

If you was jason or grant, would you drop Bricknell? After scoring most of our goals this season so far, the second leading goal scorer in the league and the top goal scorer so far this season for our club, would you be willing to drop him and play Burbs? No.

Yet if you drop flackie after the goals he has been scoring lately would that be the right thing to do? No.

I think the better partnership is Flack and Bricknell but maybe for a tactical change you would put Burbs in if the opposition had a bit of height in their team? But looking at yesterdays game, did Burbs have a bigger impact on the game than Flack? I don't think so.

[Brightside Bloke]

Quote:

But looking at yesterdays game, did Burbs have a bigger impact on the game than Flack? I don't think so.

The only impact Burb's had on the game yesterday was a negative impact.

Burbs is fine if the ball is played to his feet but he is reluctant to chase loose ball.
On the other hand Joe Flack & Billy Bricknell will chase down the ball at every given chance.

[Simon BTFC]

A useless fact for you - we've only won 2 games this season (out of 10) when Flack and Bricknell have started together.

 

For me at the moment Billy is the man in possession, and the other striker should be whoever is the best partner for him.

 

The other question yesterday threw up is that I'm not convinced we can afford to play 2 out-and-out wingers, with out current options at centre mid (although yesterday we had little choice). The recent improvement came when Dormer played on the left of midfield with Hunter and Deane in the centre which gave us a more solid look.

 

Personally I'd like to see BWG given a chance alongside Billy up front, with Fergie on the wing and the midfield 3 as above.

[Bluetone]

Thought we were great 1st half, good to see all our attacking options back! Absolutely no idea why we changed it at half time, was Flack injured? If the Management were worried about the long throw why not either start or bring on Ketchell rather than what looked like an injured Burbridge? Baffling.

 

Anyway lets hope we can re-produce the 1st half performance against Tooting and come away with 3 points.

[Adam.S]

Originally Posted By: Bluetone

Thought we were great 1st half, good to see all our attacking options back! Absolutely no idea why we changed it at half time, was Flack injured? If the Management were worried about the long throw why not either start or bring on Ketchell rather than what looked like an injured Burbridge? Baffling.

Anyway lets hope we can re-produce the 1st half performance against Tooting and come away with 3 points.

Ketchell wasn't match fit, he was recovering/ had just recovered from the flu and he hasn't played many game recently. Burbs apparently has or had the flu aswell but he had been in games recently so perhaps the best option was to play Burbs?

[Keith.P]

Staines are a good side so a point is a big plus. However, it kind of felt like 2 slipped through the net, (A mark of the improvements recently)? I thought the big winners for us were our defence and especially Heffs mom imo, but Dumas for me had possibly his best game that i have seen him play thus far.

 

The big shame is we could have beaten both Maidstone and Staines which would have been 4 points more. Now a few weeks back i dare say we would have looked at a draw with both of these sides as superb results - But now i think the team should start to believe just that little bit more and believe they will and can beat anyone in this league.

 

Is that the end of the long ball throw in teams for a while !

 

 

 

 

[Keith.P]

Actually, this Staines poster from their forum seems to agree on my opinion of us being a tad disappointed not to of won !

 

"Thought our midfield seemed to go 'missing'in this game.Scott Taylor and Marc-Charles-Smith didnt seem to get the chances and the defence was put under a lot if pressure.Billericay are a side on the up having had a poor start to the season and not many sides will get points there.The pitch didnt suit our normal passing games although at times we played some neat football.I agree Billericay would feel dissappointed they didnt win this one as they squandered much more chances than we had.The substitutions worked towards the end for us and we created a lot more.

But no games are easy anyway in this league no matter who you play and you cant be brilliant in every game.In the end I was quite happy to come away with a point and well done to the team for that.

Man of the match for me: Marc-Charles-Smith."