Updates from Ashford Mx

[Cookie]

Originally Posted By: Ian_Sanderson

shocked your not at Southwood Cookie ?

I only go to see you Ian so I suppose I wont be venturing over there anymore this season then.

[dannyriding]

hmmmm me thinks two points wasted there then!!!

[MummyBunny]

but at least it wasnt 3 points thrown away tho! a point is still a point

 

xx

[seasidesteve]

terrible result after a good start its looking more and more like last season all over again

[Guernsey Tom]

Why do we let that idiot from Ramsgate dominate this forum ?????

[michael]

From being 2 nil up-i guess its 2 points lost as opposed to one point gained, but overall it was just about a fair result-arguably-Ashford were marginally the better team.

 

Saw harrow-did not see cray-would say we were 10% better than against harrow-but even with limited expectations-not that special.At least its 'improving' although slowly.

 

Ashford hit bar after literally 10 seconds,and were marginally better in first 20 mins-then we got goal-result of Lacy throw in and ball came to West with good shot from near penalty spot.

 

Then Ashford hit post or bar in interim-think thay hit post/bar about 3 times in total during the match.

Second goal-penalty -well taken by blackman-was a penalty but ball hit defender as opposed to defender hitting ball so a bit harsh.

 

At end of first half -two absolutely stunning saves by Nichols-one with no exagerration was unbelievable-and second was merely world class !!

 

Second half-fairly even throughout.

Ashford first goal-unlucky for Margate as foul against Lacy-when i was right by it-and foul should have been given against Ashford.Then whilst i'm not certain, the player who put ball in net may wel have been offside-so that goal was a bit of a bummer all round.

Their second goal was a good move-started by Joseph-who played well as usual -and well finished.

A few narrow misses late on by ashford.

 

So overall we were better but not great.

 

Nichols for his saves and then lacy and robinson our best players-best game i have seen Lacy play.

To be fair-neither robinson or lacy were up against a speedy winger though.

 

Would have been a good game for the neutrals.

Was dominated by long throws by both sides-both sides looke dangerous from set pieces/throws but not much else.

 

4-4-2 today-but for me-it was never the formation that was the problem in the first place-but actual quality of play and lack of midfield support for wilson.

 

Our problem area remains midfield.

Even with Lawrence ther-did ok-but did not dominate (probably more to come in future) we did not win midfield-Wilson played widish right.Healey wide left -both were ok -but not special-but again-not played in their best postions -so we did not control midfield ,and this week, instead of wilson on his own in the centre-it was lawrence on his own with a bit of help from millington

Surely Wilson has to play alongside Lawrence with healey behind the strikers in a more central position.

healey and wilson were wasted playing wide.

Millington did ok-but not as good as wilson would have done in central midfield.

Once we get midfield sorted-we can both create a few chances and stop other teams from playing so much.

 

Young and Haverson-just about ok-young had good second half in particular-had tough opponents against them today in harrison and Haule-both agile yet tall strikers.Haverson had a couple of dodgy moments in first half-but there again, in the other matches i have seen, i thought he was our best defender.

 

West and blackman will continue to do ok .

 

Just about satisfied with a point in the end, but must sort midfield out

 

 

[blue balls]

Thanks for the report Michael. I assume Nicholls has put pen to paper then? Still playing too many out of their best positions it seems. Would like to see Smith start in defensive midfield position to help protect our back 3 or 4 whatever formation we play with Wilson supporting the front 2. Agree we are still a decent midfielder short though and we need more cover up front now that Pratt has been surprisingly released.

[blue balls]

Meant Healy supporting the front 2 not Wilson!

[michael]

Probably ought to add that the tempo of the game was quite fast-which must be a credit to both sides-although a bit worrying that Ashford were in the ascendancy again late on.

 

I did'nt say much about the Ashford guy being sent off as i did'nt see it clearly but think healey may have provoked it a bit and guy struck out at healey-not really sure.have a feeling though that healey may have been a bit lucky to go unpunished (we don't need more senseless red cards-look at the damage/imbalance lacys sending off caused )

 

Thinking a bit more about lawrence-perhaps expected too much-and he was fine-it was after all his first game in midfield-and he lasted the whole 90 minutes-and looked reasonably fit -so thats all good-.

 

I am convinced though that the reason we are not great at the moment-is little to do with formations-but simply that we are not controlling the game from midfield-thus creating chances-and taking pressure off defence;and keeping possession for longer.

 

I think the jury remains out on millington.

Is Aaaron beech injured-or left club-he was fairly impressive in the psf's-but i will concede there is a vast gulf between looking ok in a friendly-and the league games themselves.

We do remain short of a midfield player though-and thats before injuries/suspensions

[Porka]

Originally Posted By: michael

I am convinced though that the reason we are not great at the moment-is little to do with formations-but simply that we are not controlling the game from midfield-thus creating chances-and taking pressure off defence;and keeping possession for longer.

That's exactly why IMO. We have a load of players who will shine when they see plenty of the ball to feet. We need a ball winner in the centre of the park. At 39 we can't expect Lawrence to do this, but his quality could be useful alongside. The main problem with Millington I see is that he's small, and won't win much in the air. Granted, he can stick a foot in, but he looks to be more of a stop-gap unless he can prove otherwise.

[Red Ivan]

Change the subject slightly if I may . Where was everybody yesterday?

 

I know Ashford is not the most atractive fixture and we're nothing to write home about at the moment, but come on, yesterday's turn was poor.

 

Up the 'Gate!

[seasidesteve]

mabe lewis is the man for central midfield he played there in one of the friendlies and looked good to me but in defence he has been poor

[Ian_Sanderson]

Change the subject slightly if I may . Where was everybody yesterday?

 

I know Ashford is not the most atractive fixture and we're nothing to write home about at the moment, but come on, yesterday's turn was poor.

 

SO ON THE ALTERNATIVE FORUM THEM SAYING THERE WAS 50 PLUS WAS A PISS TAKE

[Andy .]

even though the result was dissapointing i see next weeks cup tie being alot closer now . I see our form starting to settle as each week comes .

[buzzgate]

I feel sorry for the defence at the moment, they are lacking midfield support. Haverson and Young have done OK in my opinion.

[michael]

Originally Posted By: seasidesteve

mabe lewis is the man for central midfield he played there in one of the friendlies and looked good to me but in defence he has been poor

I suspect you did not see Ben Lewis play in midfield in the second half against Harrow a week ago.You may have a different view if you did SSS ?
Unfortunately ,Ben made Paul Smith look fit by comparison.
I think rooted to the centre of defence is Bens one and only position.

He was of course, conspicuous by his abscence yesterday.

[Brickie]

Great to see a switch to 4-4-2, just want to see a settled side now then results may start to improve.

[michael]

We were'nt exactly great yesterday though Brickie,even though the result was better.A slight improvement-yes.

 

Arguably, with different 'breaks' or yesterdays team against harrow-we could have beaten Harrow 1-0 and still lost 5-1 yesterday.

 

Not expecting 'the world' but and accept we will lose as many as we win; but would like to see the much needed 'settled' aspect you refer to applied in midfield.

I don't think its the formation itself-but simply the lack of possession won and then kept in midfield.

[Coffin Ender]

Re: Lawrence. Yesterday he played a John Keister-type role. Yes, he's 39 but he seems naturally fit and he runs an academy during the week so I presume he gets in more fitness work per week than the average player at this level.

 

West is slow but he does win stuff in the air and for us that is invaluable.

 

Also, has anyone mentioned the incredible goal-line clearance by Haverson at the end of the first half? He basically threw himself head-first along the line when their guy just had to tap it in.

[michael]

Yep-your right-add in nicholls saves, hitting the bar2/3 times etc. we could have lost 6-1 -not 5-1 despite being two goals up;so the more i think about it-the more it was a point 'won'.

Just aggrieved that the Ashford opening goal followed Lacy being fouled-not the other way around