Frome Away - FA Trophy Saturday 14th November

[Irishadrian]

RR People see things differently so I'm sure you will get different opinions Without being mindreaders I dont think anyone can say who wanted it more but Imo Frome worked harder and thought quicker.

[Fulham Rebel]

 They were the slightly better team first half, we were the better team second half by a country mile but we left our shooting boots at home, I don't agree that they worked harder than us but it was a hard fought game, the less said about the few morons the better, heads up lads the luck WILL change.

[RebelDelaney]

Did Puts go of injured or was it a tactical move.

[staines_rebel_Jr]

Did Puts go of injured or was it a tactical move.

 

Injured

[HorshamRebel]

Match photos : https://www.flickr.com/photos/horshamrebel/albums/72157658881687963

[Gashimoto]

Couldn't make it today but did listen to the commentary.

 

Won't make any comments on that basis.

 

At least we can concentrate on our promotion push now

 

Coyr

[HorshamRebel]

Merthyr travelled all the way to Hastings, went 2-0 up and also went down to 10 men, in a very eventful first half in the rain.

 

Then the Referee abandoned the game due to the harsh weather waterlogging the pitch, after many attempts of getting the ball to roll.

 

So they have another long trip to Hastings to play a night match there now.

[Mr Rebel]

frustrating game in which for the 2nd weekend in a row we struggled to make many clear cut chances and when they did come we didn't test the keeper. in the conditions wish we would have just tried our luck a bit more, a couple of occasions 2nd half we had players not just have a go at goal when in decent positions. 

 

a draw was there for the taking but unfortunately we didn't do enough and we can't really blame anyone but ourselves. fair play to Frome for standing strong leaving us to ponder what might have been 

Edited November 15, 2015 by Mr Rebel

[Curtis]

I have restrained from posting, but still feel the same 24 hours after getting back from the match..... disappointed on just numerous levels.

 

To mention a few, our team selection, our performance, Frome's time wasting (both players and management), their diving (which eventually resulted in a second yellow) and their desire to start a physical confrontation (which they succeeded with when Scott and S. Harris must have run 30 yards to get involved in).

 

It is a dreadful advert for non league football when Frome's tactics yesterday result in winning.

[3spirit]

I have restrained from posting, but still feel the same 24 hours after getting back from the match..... disappointed on just numerous levels.

 

To mention a few, our team selection, our performance, Frome's time wasting (both players and management), their diving (which eventually resulted in a second yellow) and their desire to start a physical confrontation (which they succeeded with when Scott and S. Harris must have run 30 yards to get involved in).

 

It is a dreadful advert for non league football when Frome's tactics yesterday result in winning.

 

What do you mean by 'our team selection' Curtis?

 

Thought Bakes and Unders picked the right starting eleven, taking our injuries and absences into account and also with the conditions. 

[Curtis]

What do you mean by 'our team selection' Curtis?

 

Thought Bakes and Unders picked the right starting eleven, taking our injuries and absences into account and also with the conditions.

 

OK, I will elaborate..... I don't see Hicks and Clayton currently being our best centre-back pairing & I don't see Scott Harris and Mpi as our strongest striking partnership.

 

And when you combine those with us not having our first choice centre-midfield pairing (because of unavailability), then the spine of the side is weakened to the point where you get Saturdays performance and result.

[Neil Baker]

OK, I will elaborate..... I don't see Hicks and Clayton currently being our best centre-back pairing & I don't see Scott Harris and Mpi as our strongest striking partnership.

 

And when you combine those with us not having our first choice centre-midfield pairing (because of unavailability), then the spine of the side is weakened to the point where you get Saturdays performance and result.

Guy injured, so not sure what else you would have done at centre half Mark... and decision at centre forward is one we are happy with, Scott is currently in the top 10 in southern league scoring charts with Charlie just outside...

[Curtis]

Neil,

 

I don't mean to labour the points, maybe it is just a lack of understanding of the circumstances but:-

 

1. wasn't Guy on the bench? What happened? Did he travel all the way to Somerset to have a fitness test to then determine he was injured?

 

2. Since the beginning of October it has appeared your preferred striking partnership was Mpi and Strutton. Then on Tuesday Scott Harris scores twice (in a farcical second half at Marlow that is entertaining but has eight goals and resembles a training match), which catapults him in to the top ten league scorers, and he becomes your preferred choice over Strutton?

 

You and Jon are the Managers, and you've done a great job of putting together a good squad and getting some unexpected results..... I'm just an opinionated fan who every once in a while is confused about team selections and gets angry about a poor result.

[Glover]

Shame we didn't win, Frome v Chesham next round ......

[Neil Baker]

Clearly Guy was not fit (he would be the first name on the team sheet if fit), he was named on the bench, but you would have seen that he did not get changed, it was all communicated in the preview... he picked up the injury Thursday night at training.

 

Scott has scored 10 goals in all competitions, and most games he has played in this season he has been excellent, he was in the top 5-10 goalscorers before Tuesdays game, think it took him into the top 5...

 

Strutts was brought in to cover Eddie who got injured, and has co incided a few times with Scott being unavailable.

[RebelDelaney]

I would say Puts going off early in the game injured was a big lose to the team as we were not then able to stretch our play something we did not do when they went down to 10 men

Also the midfield were out fought in the 1st half losing all the battles the conditions with the swirling wind did not help. Also if Puts 2nd chance at goal had gone in the outcone might of been different.

[Curtis]

Neil,

 

Stats from our last eight league matches (W5 D1 L2) which led me to believe Mpi and Strutton were your preferred strike partnership:-

 

Mpi and Strutton have started 6 times (W5 L1, Mpi 6 goals, Strutton 2), Scott Harris was a sub for five of these matches and unavailable for the other.

 

Mpi and S. Harris started once (W0 L1), Strutton was a sub, and no one scored

 

All three started in the other match at Chippenham (I think the front two were Strutton and Harris with Mpi wide left) it was a 3-3 draw (Strutton two goals and Harris the other).

[Neil Baker]

I know all the stats Mark (positives and negatives), however as many have always said, stats can be skewed any way you want them.... Redditch are the form side in the league and we lost that game 1-0, we lost 2-1 at kings Lynn and did not create a huge amount.... Both different partnerships...

Strutts was not the reason we won those games, same way Scott is not to blame for us losing on Saturday...

 

If you asked me again would we make the same change, then I would say yes every single time, it was right for plenty of reasons that I do not need to go into on here. You also have to remember that Strutts loan finished next week.

 

At the end of the day we went with what we felt was the right side Saturday, and we lost a game in terrible conditions... lads didn't not have a go,, however they lacked a bit of quality second half, which could also be put down to difficult conditions under foot.... I was struggling to walk across the pitch at the end... the fact that we lost Guy Hollis, Adrian Sear and Lewis Putman after 20 minutes also had an impact for sure.

[staines_rebel_Jr]

In my opinion I think that the choice of Scott and Mpi was the right one. Both have been in good form for the last month or so and have been scoring goals and creating the most chances.

 

Strutton is clearly and excellent finisher and would do well at a few levels higher but he doesn't seem to create that many chances. He is best when he is played ball to feet in and around the box.

Something that with the conditions on Saturday we found difficult to do with the ball bobbling and skidding of the ground.

 

Scott Harris is great in the air and can hold up the ball to allow our attackers to get forward. He also works hard to get the ball back and has a great understanding with his brother, who when they are playing at the best combine brilliantly together.

 

Charlie Mpi has bags of pace and energy and will harass the defence and force them into errors which he can then capitalise on and create himself chances. He is also good in the air like Scott and can play as a target man.

 

 

The pitch and conditions on Saturday made it harder to play quick short passing football which we like to play, not saying it was impossible but just harder. It was much easier, with the wind, to play more direct balls forward to a target man. Or wait for a defender to slip or make a mistake on the surface and nip in to steal the ball and go in on goal.

All in all, the conditions meant that Scott and Mpi attributes would have been more effective and as was proven when Stutts came on he had very little impact and I cant remember him getting many touches of the ball.

Edited November 16, 2015 by staines_rebel_Jr

[3spirit]

To me a fit Charlie Strutton will bang in the goals and be prolific, in a similar vein to how Danny Burnell did for Steve Bateman, and because of this he would be one of the first names on my team sheet.

 

On Saturday, though, I think the managers were right to go with Scott Harris especially given the conditions, Struts isn't fully fit and running on heavy pitches wouldn't have been ideal for him or for our team.

Also as we were away from home against a team with a new manager, we needed hard workers in the team to battle it out for the result. Scott fits that bill perfectly.

 

The only position to me that was debatable was what player should replace Adrian Sear. It was good management that Bakes and Unders went for Ryan Hope to partner Leigh Rumbold, as Ryan has been on the subs bench several times and had played well in the Marlow game so deserved his chance especially with Nathan Webb only just coming back from injury.

 

Guy Hollis was never going to play, so Justin Clayton had to come in.