Whitehawk v Town - GAME ON

[Scoreline]

Come on chaps. Raah Raah Raah!

[seemgee]

1-0 to Whitehawk after 12 mins

 

KO delayed until 3:15

[seemgee]

2-0 25 mins. Town down to 10 men Kendall sent off

[seemgee]

Half time we trail 2-0

[seemgee]

Hawks lead now by 3-0

[big guy]

any chance the management /players can tell us what went wrong today ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????? we would like some answers

[Out_Of_Towner]

Have just heard its 6-0 and still playing WTF ?????

[big guy]

2 players sent off 6 goals nil points sort it out please

[Out_Of_Towner]

Embarrassing and Shamefull . How much longer is this going on. Is the club short of funding ? The players we have are clearly not up to the Job . we need about 5 fresh faces at least . If it doesnt change soon fans will vote with their feet . SORT IT OUT NOW BEFORE IT GETS MORE EMBARRASSING.

[MbrunoB]

I don't like put anything on here against our players, so after todays game my view is....

Edited December 30, 2012 by MbrunoB

[Tom S]

Well...

 

We set up with three centre backs (Kendall, McKay, White) to try to soak up pressure and hit them on the break. For 12 minutes it worked, then they scored.

 

Then Kendall gave away the most blatant penalty/red card you'll ever see: still holding onto the player's shirt while he was several feet away lining up his shot. Not surprisingly he couldn't make a clean contact and the calls were inevitable. 2-0 and game over.

 

It was still 2-0 when McKay got himself for his part in a scuffle that I didn't really see. Apparently he took exception to a bit of play acting by a Whitehawk player (who was booked for it) and then stamped on him. Not bright if true. After that it was always going to be a case of whether Whitehawk wanted to boost their goal difference. When they brought on Jefferson Louis it was clear they did.

 

Where do we go from here? It seems to me that the wheels have really fallen off since Joe O'Brien broke his wrist. Is there any news on his progress?

[Enfield United]

I've got my tin hat on as I always seem to be accused of being an 'over optimist' in the face of adversity. Good Job our players and manager were optimistic when going into the Needham market away game last season with 6 games remaining and some supporters holding razor blades to their wrists.

 

I agree toatally that 1pt from 5 games is a poor run and sends us in one direction. But 'wheel's come off' GET REAL. Our 4 defeats in the last 5 games have been v Lowestoft(home), Wealdstone(Away), Whitehawk (Away) and the in-form Leiston (away). Our next 6 games see's us play 4 more away games of which 2 are in mid-week in South London. It's a tough run amidst some untimely injuries and suspensions.

 

Teams go through different phases during a season, we need to re-group and re-discover the spirit which gained us a 4-3 win at Canvey, 2-0 at Concord and 6-3 v Hendon, or do we only choose to highlight the defeats???? The players are their to see us through this hectic period, they just need to be fit and available.

 

By the way, if your a real supporter you back your team when the chips are down not put the boot in.

[Tom S]

 

By the way, if your a real supporter you back your team when the chips are down not put the boot in.

 

Put the boot in? I thought I was giving a reasoned summary of yesterday's game. I hate to play the numbers game but I reckon i've missed less than 20 games since the club was formed. Is that not being a 'real supporter'? There's a difference between backing the team and sheer blind optimism in the view of the facts. Which are that since those three games you quote, in which O'Brien played a key role, he's been injured and we haven't looked remotely like scoring enough or conceding few enough to win or even draw games. You're right that Wealdstone and Whitehawk were never games we could expect to win but it was surely reasonable to expect a greater degree of resistance than was shown. 4-0 at Wealdstone definitely flattered us. It's not the results so much as the manner of them that worries me. If you look back you'll see that I've tended to be positive in reaction to some of the wrist slitters but now, from my view, it appears that we are in danger of falling into a real downward spiral.

[Steph]

Unfortunately I agree with Tom rather than EU.

 

Yesterday it was difficult to see where our strengths are on which we can build. There are excuses to be made. Two long trips over the christmas period is the obvious one. We are the only side who played the two games. Bad refereeing yesterday whose home bias was seen in the decision on the far side when he misread the lino's flag and had to change his mind. (Wonder what was said in the officials dressing room at half time). Similarly the lino on the stand side did not flag for a foul when Jordon jumped for a ball but had the Hawks defender with his arms over his shoulder. A thin s

[Steph]

(Post cont) quad decimated by injuries. Two sendings off yesterday but these are purely excuses and cannot present the proper facts as I see them.

 

Adam does not play in the centre but is a damn good winger- similarly Tyler is not a provider but can play wide. So who did we have playing wide yesterday. Bardle and Lockie? Bardle as I said before is no winger. Lockie can play wide but needs support at the back. At one time yesterday in the first half Hawks were attacking down the flank and Lockie was left in the worst situation for a full back - a man running on to him on the inside with a player wide. Fortunately it did not lead to a goal on that occasion but it was a near run thing. Usually Lockie finds himself as the wide man with Adam inside. We did not do that yesterday as Adam was too far in the centre.

 

Bardle can pick the ball up from deep and make good passes to the centre but cannot carry the ball to the byeline a function that every winger should be able to perform.

 

So we have the players we have. Hunt and O'brien are our playmakers. People are concentrating on the absence of O'Brien but Hunt is also missed and may be back tomorrow.

 

Now if we had a forward line of Adam, Tyler and Hope with Adam and Tyler playing wide ably supported by Jordan and Jey that is an attacking force which has some shape and dynamism. In the absence of Hunt and O'Brien we can only afford one play maker in the middle and at present I would play Hahn.

 

People who can count would realise I have picked 6 players so far now we have to look to the defence. Bardle behind Jey and three centre halfs with one taking responsibility on Jordan's flank: Gio? Kendall and White (Henry) in the middle. I think we will be without Kendall and Gio for two games so these are replaced by Kirby (Who has to play his guts out AT THE BACK if he wants to retain his place) and ................. I dont know Allen, Bardle in the centre in place of Kendall with Jey further back. This is a pretty thin squad isn't it!

 

All players have to run harder and last longer.

[Steph]

Have to edit before people come back. I accept that other sides played two game over christmas but none had the long trips we did.

[andyetfc]

 

By the way, if your a real supporter you back your team when the chips are down not put the boot in.

 

I cannot comment on the game yesterday as I was not there but it sounds as though we were there for the taking. Is this our worst defeat in a league game? Two sendings off? A lot of 'true' supporters and owners of this club have been here since its inception and have the right to make their opinions heard, whether they be positive or negative. Yes, people want the team to do the best it can, but if things aren't working out, then they need changing.

 

We cannot do much about injuries, but sendings off and bookings meaning players missing games! Surely we cannot blame the match day officials for these all the time.

 

Let's hope for a much better performance on Tuesday.

[AnfieldTowner]

Yesterday was a disaster from start to finish - unlike the Leiston game where I thought the players battled well, yesterday we were weak spirited throughout. Yes I think we're missing O'Brien and Hunt too but them coming back won't resolve the problems. Looks to me like we're missing the drive of Rudi - Steve, Jason and Peter now have a lot of work to do! We need a leader on the pitch too - hope Kirby rises to the challenge, he must be disappointed with some of his recent performances but he hasn't become a bad player overnight.

 

How bad was Whitehawk's ground? Awful - surely they can't go up with that. Another side charging £10 too - no wonder they have very few supporters.

[OldTowner]

Could not get to the Whitehawk game - good one to miss from reading this thread - but along with other supporters of the Club,we must be allowed to voice a view and opinion, be it to praise or not.

 

Recent results have been nothing short of awful and shipping 6 goals and having 2 players sent off is an unacceptable low.

 

There have been many threads about the decline in the quality and numbers to the current squad. The Board and the Management Team just HAVE to do something or the results will take the Club back into the Ryman North.

 

Confidence has to be raised and results will come, however it is almost impossible with a squad we currently have, in terms of size and quality. Just read the various non-league web pages to see that almost every Club in the league are bringing in Players to strengthen their squads. ETFC are not active in this direction.

 

A lot of people work extremely hard for the Club, but we are in a results ( on the field ) business.

 

Tuesday needs 100% from EVERYONE connected to the Club.

[OldTowner]

Suspensions ( FA site )

 

Kendall = 1 game

McKay = 3 games

 

All start 12th Jan ( Hastings match )