Barton Rovers

[Nathan]

1-1 h/t

 

Oh dear! This has been Keystone Kops stuff from us so far! Should have been 3 goals down by the time we equalised! We look disjointed, with little in the way of shape or ideas.

 

Must do better second half!

[Cookham Rebel]

Good win in the end, 3-1, thought Jake Parsons was excellent!

 

Last season we played 7, won 4, drew 1, lost 2, scored 14, conceded 7.

 

This season, identical results record at the same stage but we have scored 6 more and conceded 1 more...

 

Maybe we are seeing a more attack minded style of play whilst keeping our defensive stability!

 

Lets keep this up, COYR!

[Don Juan DeMarcus]

A wins a win, but felt taking off out two best providers... Parsons and swift... Made us look very defensive minded against 10 men! With ten mins left I thought 2 2 was more likely than 3 1... Again Danny was superb but alex brown mom for me. Parsons was superb and bringing him off seemed a very strange idea. But 3 pts is all that counts! So a good day at the office. Coyr

[Ian]

On the one hand three points is what matters but you have to think we should be doing better than having to shield the ball in the corner with minutes left against Barton Rovers with ten men.

 

Once they went down to ten men we were poor and instead of keeping the ball and stretching the play we just surrendered possession far too easily. Part of that problem was not having anyone on the left of midfield so everything was focused down the right. Good performances from Parsons and Fraser.

 

Danny Angel Burnell talked his way into the referees book after just three minutes although the officials were consistently awful to both teams.

[Ted]

Odd game indeed. Poor in the first half until Barton finally scored, we sprang into life, equalised, then controlled the game, going 2-1 up and looking likely to score again. Then Barton had a player sent off, we made 2 substitutions, and we were struggling again, with some truly awful passing, which was exceeded in its awfulness only by the over officious referee. .Alex Brown MOM for me. Good goal, and his first half goal line clearance was outstanding. 3 points is what matters though.

[A Rebel and a Saint]

Yes it wasn't great, but the important thing was the 3 points.

I wasn't convinced by Bateman's decision to start Parsons as a right wing back, as we clearly suffered down that side. Maybe it would have been best to just put Jake in the middle of the midfield instead. Fair play to the management though, they spotted the problem and changed it to a 4-4-2 which produced the 2 goals. The problems seemed to emerge again when we switched back to a 5-3-2 near the end of the game.

The goals were well taken, and the defending was good at times. Once again Burnell was very good up front, as was Smith. Alex Brown marshalled things at the back well. Need to improve ahead of next Sunday though.

[codpiece]

Very impressed with Parsons who looked full of confidence & wasn't afraid to take people on.I believe he was subbed because of a knock.Great performances from Smith,Burnell,Fraser & Brown.Not so great from the Ref.who spoiled quite a good game.Still a win is a win & 3 more points.Need to match this away from home as 6 of the first 7 games at home is quite unbalanced.

[BFR]

Important result to keep in touch with the teams ahead considering there is cup action next weekend. Godalming, Burnham and Guildford (6-1!) failing to win means three valuable points today even if gained in an unconvincing fashion

[Nathan]

Whilst we got the right result in the end, it doesn't change the fact that this was a very unconvincing performance.

 

For much of the first half (and much of the second half for that matter, even after Barton had a player sent off), we struggled to get the ball out of our own half, largely down to our inability to pass to a player wearing a yellow shirt! And for the second game running, we only wake up after we've gone behind. We could easily have been 3 down by that stage! A better team (like Gosport Borough perhaps?) will punish us by more than the 1 goal, and won't let us back into the match.

 

On the plus side, Jake Parsons looks to be an excellent signing, chasing down balls and trying to be creative; exactly what our midfield has been lacking since Paul Coyne left us. Let's hope it was just a slight knock that he was taken off for, because I honestly can' see what else it would be!

[readingrebel]

Good performance in the end after the formation was changed at half time with Fraser reverting to right back behind Jake Parsons who I thought had an excellent game and vying for MoM with Alex Brown.

 

SB said in the bar that Parsons came off because he was 'blowing through his arse' and had signalled this to the bench. SB also said that once Parsons is fit he'll get even better which can't be bad.

[Mark44]

At times we didn't set the world alight but I did not think we were ever in trouble and if need be could have stepped up a gear.

 

We have now won 6 out if 7 games and I think a big well done needs to go to Steve Bateman for getting the team to gel so quickly.

 

Onwards and upwards. Come on you rebels!!!!

[Ian]

Good performance in the end after the formation was changed at half time with Fraser reverting to right back behind Jake Parsons who I thought had an excellent game and vying for MoM with Alex Brown.

 

SB said in the bar that Parsons came off because he was 'blowing through his arse' and had signalled this to the bench. SB also said that once Parsons is fit he'll get even better which can't be bad.

 

Jake was blowing through his arse after half an hour!! I'm not sure the wing back role is his favourite and I'd rather see Sean over that side as well. With Parsons and Fraser on the RHS we'll be a handful for lots of teams.

[readingrebel]

Jake was blowing through his arse after half an hour!! I'm not sure the wing back role is his favourite and I'd rather see Sean over that side as well. With Parsons and Fraser on the RHS we'll be a handful for lots of teams.

 

 

Agree, far too skillful and dangerous at the other end to play the wing back role, leave that to the defenders.

[Martin]

To be honest within five minutes of kick off it was plain to see that Sean Fraser was a bit lost in centre midfield. Five or six of us behind the goal were saying it should be switched. The second we went to 4-4-2 we looked much more threatening and promptly scored.

 

Fraser is a cracking right back who was in good form and should have been left in his position. Jake Parsons is clearly a very good player but we shouldn't have disrupted a form player by moving Fraser out of position. In the end it worked and Parsons had an excellent game.

 

I think 4-4-2 could well be the future of this side. I think Wooz can play at left back if necessary but it may be that SB will have to make a big decision with one of the three centre backs to accomodate all these wingers we have.

[readingrebel]

To be honest within five minutes of kick off it was plain to see that Sean Fraser was a bit lost in centre midfield. Five or six of us behind the goal were saying it should be switched. The second we went to 4-4-2 we looked much more threatening and promptly scored.

 

Fraser is a cracking right back who was in good form and should have been left in his position. Jake Parsons is clearly a very good player but we shouldn't have disrupted a form player by moving Fraser out of position. In the end it worked and Parsons had an excellent game.

 

I think 4-4-2 could well be the future of this side. I think Wooz can play at left back if necessary but it may be that SB will have to make a big decision with one of the three centre backs to accomodate all these wingers we have.

 

 

I think it would be a big mistake to disrupt the Brown, Woozley, NBH partnership. SB did it last year after one bad game and I don't think we ever recovered. Besides who could you possibly leave out of the three IMO they are all playing exceptionally well.

[3spirit]

Thoroughly enjoyed both the Thatcham and the Barton Rovers games.Think Ed Smith is a great signing and a very good footballer,who links play well and can spot a pass. Danny Burnell is playing as well as I've ever seen him and they are thriving together.

Jake Parsons looks a useful acquisition but is well short of match fitness to play as a wing back.

 

Thought Steve Bateman got it right when he put Sean Fraser back as a right back in a straight back four,as the 3-5-2 wasn't functioning well and Barton in the 1st half were finding gaps.We must play a tighter game against Gosport,as they exposed our slowness at the back in the Trophy game.

I,too,thought Alex Brown,was Man of the Match and it was nice to see him score using his foot rather than his head for a goal.A very well deserved MOM.

[readingrebel]

Thoroughly enjoyed both the Thatcham and the Barton Rovers games.Think Ed Smith is a great signing and a very good footballer,who links play well and can spot a pass. Danny Burnell is playing as well as I've ever seen him and they are thriving together.

Jake Parsons looks a useful acquisition but is well short of match fitness to play as a wing back.

 

Thought Steve Bateman got it right when he put Sean Fraser back as a right back in a straight back four,as the 3-5-2 wasn't functioning well and Barton in the 1st half were finding gaps.We must play a tighter game against Gosport,as they exposed our slowness at the back in the Trophy game.

I,too,thought Alex Brown,was Man of the Match and it was nice to see him score using his foot rather than his head for a goal.A very well deserved MOM.

 

 

I too like Ed Smith, he has good close control and lays off a nice simple ball and has an eye for goal. As far as I know he's still only on loan.

[3spirit]

I think it would be a big mistake to disrupt the Brown, Woozley, NBH partnership. SB did it last year after one bad game and I don't think we ever recovered. Besides who could you possibly leave out of the three IMO they are all playing exceptionally well.

 

Didn't think Dave Woozley had his best game today.With Danny Murphy to come back we have good options.I would like to see Dave Woozley play just in front,or in between,the centre backs Alex Brown and NBH rather than playing on the left of the three centre backs all the time.With Wooz and Steve Perkins we have two excellent potential sweeper or holding midfielder types, which so far we've never tried using as such.

 

I agree with you,RR,that Brown,NBH and Woozley are a formidable defence but I don't believe our midfield players always complement them or protect their lack of speed, well, and this is what the Gosport manager sussed out when we played them last.I hope Steve Bateman has something different up his sleeve for the FA Cup match, to combat the mobility of the Gosport play.

[Ian]

Still dual registered.

[Martin]

I agree to an extent RR that Brown, NBH and Wooz are too good to split up. But clearly Fraser (at the moment at least) is the best option at right wing back. Left wing back is wide open with Murph, Swift and Rhone all having claims.

 

How then do you get Parsons into the team? He looked excellent today going forward but is definitely an out and out winger and it would be wrong to ask him to play in the centre of midfield.

 

Football now is a squad game and it is good to have options but I don't think the squad is balanced for 3-5-2. Having signed all these wide players it does seem to me that maybe 4-4-2 is the way SB is heading.

 

Still good win today and we got there in the end.