Irishadrian Posted November 3, 2016 Share Posted November 3, 2016 Hitchin are the leagues form team at the moment unbeaten in eleven games so this could be a real test although once again I am hoping a large vocal partisan crowd will help us edge it. and that Elijah is in top form again. Hitchin do most of their training on a 3G pitch so they will probably be at home on the Arbour Park pitch. Im expecting a really entertaining game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3spirit Posted November 3, 2016 Share Posted November 3, 2016 I like Hitchin as a club but not keen on a couple of their players, who play, shall we say, close to the edge but one thing's for sure Hitchin are never a pushover, so I'm expecting a tight game whatever. Let's hope that we prevail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reading Rebel Posted November 3, 2016 Share Posted November 3, 2016 Our games against Hitchin are always good games full of incidents. I'm sure Donnelly, Rolf and co will be doing their utmost to get a reaction from our players so we'll have to remain disciplined and not react to their intimidation and shenanigans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HorshamRebel Posted November 3, 2016 Share Posted November 3, 2016 This is the featured match in the Non League Paper (NLP) this Sunday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
staines_rebel_Jr Posted November 5, 2016 Share Posted November 5, 2016 A very frustrating game today. The ref was abysmal but towards both teams ! Hitchin were the better team today and deserved the win by the single goal. Hitchin closed us down excellently with our players marked by two players whenever they had the ball and stopped us playing our usual game so credit to them for that. Our substitutions were a little strange today; Stonehouse coming off was expected due to known hamstring problems and Harris didn't look anywhere near his usual self and didn't look for the ball so not surprised either came off. The subs on were strange though with Putman coming on to force Dobson (our best attacking option on the day) to go to left back the Dunn coming on to push Webb wide right were he went completely missing. With what was happening between Webb and their number 8 with both looking like they could get sent off at any time for something stupid it was surprising Webb wasn't taken off. No league matches for 2 weeks but potentially 3 matches in between we need to look back at where we went wrong today and learn from it. My MotM was Scotty for being our best attacking threat !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3spirit Posted November 5, 2016 Share Posted November 5, 2016 I'm just glad I watch Slough and not Hitchin, week in week out, as Hitchin are a bunch of spoilers and they just grind out results. To be fair to them though, they are difficult side to beat and the negative tactics they employ, you have to say they are good at them. However, the better footballing team lost today IMO. SRJ, I thought our managers got the substitutions spot on. Nathan Webb was asked to tuck in, rather than go wide right. That was where the space was to attack and Hitchin were winning the battle in centre midfield and so that had to change if we were going to get anything from the game. A tight midfield three made a difference in the second half but our biggest hurdle was we were unable to keep hold of the ball up front. Hitchin defenders and their goalkeeper were a credit in this regard and they had done their homework on us. Today was a game that got away from us. First half we struggled to impose our game at all but least second half we improved and were unlucky not to get a draw. Just one of those days when things just didn't go our way. Thankfully, though, we don't have to play Hitchin every week ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HorshamRebel Posted November 5, 2016 Share Posted November 5, 2016 Match Photos https://www.flickr.com/photos/horshamrebel/albums/72157674696582772 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Juan DeMarcus Posted November 5, 2016 Share Posted November 5, 2016 Better team won today. Hitchins were a niggly little bunch of gits and I thought we were very lucky not to go in a few down. One gilt edged chance at the start and a few chances right at the end meant we could have scraped a draw. Best team we've played coupled with our worst performance (I've seen) meant this loss was inevitable... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reading Rebel Posted November 5, 2016 Share Posted November 5, 2016 A very frustrating game today. The ref was abysmal but towards both teams ! Hitchin were the better team today and deserved the win by the single goal. Hitchin closed us down excellently with our players marked by two players whenever they had the ball and stopped us playing our usual game so credit to them for that. Our substitutions were a little strange today; Stonehouse coming off was expected due to known hamstring problems and Harris didn't look anywhere near his usual self and didn't look for the ball so not surprised either came off. The subs on were strange though with Putman coming on to force Dobson (our best attacking option on the day) to go to left back the Dunn coming on to push Webb wide right were he went completely missing. With what was happening between Webb and their number 8 with both looking like they could get sent off at any time for something stupid it was surprising Webb wasn't taken off. No league matches for 2 weeks but potentially 3 matches in between we need to look back at where we went wrong today and learn from it. My MotM was Scotty for being our best attacking threat !!! I thought Dobbo had his quietest game for a while and not surprised that Putts came on, took players on and put in some really dangerous crosses and almost scored. Again not surprised that Dunny came on and showed the attacking intent that was missing from Nathan Webb today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stan Posted November 5, 2016 Share Posted November 5, 2016 Really disappointing result and performance. HItchen had us sussed from the off. Closed us down in every area of the pitch but most importantly stopped Harris and Dobson getting the ball and putting in crosses. We then lost confidence and started going long to Elija without supporting him. Last week he scored three with his feet running on to goal. Today we gave him most balls to his head and always with his back to goal. When we lost to Basingstoke I said we got mugged and needed to learn how to handle physical teams but clearly have not yet. HItchen set out to bully us physically and soon realised that the weak ref was going to let them get away with it so even their number 8 , who should have been off, carried on kicking out the whole game even after being booked. In games like that you need to keep your temper, stop moaning to the ref and get in their faces to let them know you will match them for 'effort' then your skill will carry you through. HItchen deserved their win but some of their players were severely out of order at the end making gestures at the Slough fans. Celebrate with your own fans when you win rather than winding up the oppos. No class some people! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reading Rebel Posted November 6, 2016 Share Posted November 6, 2016 Firstly, over the ninety minutes I thought Hitchin were the better team and deserved to get the 3 points. In the first half we were second best all over the park and we were a little fortunate to go in at half time with the score at 0-0. Second half started in much the same fashion as the first half with Hitchin on the front foot, again closing us down and making us rush into playing long balls to Adebayo. The free kick given away by Dan Hicks that lead to the goal was IMO wrongly given. Not sure if it was a good free kick or the wall didn't do it's job, perhaps someone behind or in front of the goal can enlighten us. Once Hitchin scored we then seemed to come to life and started to take the game to Hitchin, putting them under pressure and in the end we were a little unfortunate not to get the equaliser. I thought once Simon Dunn and Lewis Putmen came on they looked very lively and for me they showed the effort and commitment to drive us forward that we were missing for most of the match. In the end it was a bad day at the office and a poor performance from us. t Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Rebel1965 Posted November 6, 2016 Share Posted November 6, 2016 This season so far has vastly exceed any expectations I ever had and my hat goes off to the managers and players for that. However we all knew the bubble would burst at some point, and yesterdays game deflated the the euphoria that has surrounded our return to Slough. Hitchin came with a very large needle and used it very effectively to show where our vulnerabilities lie. I must say I hate the way they play, but it did the job and neutralized what the Slough fans have loved this season, but demonstrated where the weak links in the Slough squad are. The sooner that the injured players are back on the pitch the better, as there were several liabilities playing yesterday. We ended up with one defender who should have been sent off as he lost the plot and is out of his depth at this level, one forward who cant/wont jump, tackle, chase balls down and bottles 50:50's, and a number of players who can bite when wound up.. It was obvious after just 5 mins that the Slough tactics were not going to work, with Hitchin doing exactly what was needed to neutralize the smooth flowing play that Slough are so good at. Slough resorted to hoofing the ball up the pitch and with just one effective forward this was not going to work, as even though he is a big lad, the clever Hitching shoves and two man marking were limiting what he could do. Unfortunately due to the great success of our method of play recently, some players have forgotten that they need to switch their approach and grind this sort of game out, without lowering standards, but wising up to getting a naive ref to work with you. Gary's photos were interesting to show how much holding the 6 and 11 were up too and what the ref missed. I love when Scotty comes up front as he terrorizes the defense and it almost paid off - problem is he is trying to save the game at that point! Time to re-group and use a quiet week to reflect on how to deal with this type of team and get the momentum back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SloughFlyer Posted November 6, 2016 Share Posted November 6, 2016 Seemed like one of those games to me today. Eventually came down to the tail of 2 free kicks, both from exactly the same spot on the pitch, one went in the other didnt. Hitchin clearly came with a game plan and executed it perfectly to stop us doing everything that has made us massively successful so far this season. Too many "meh" type performances from the lads today, but i dont think we should be too down hearted on things off the back of that game, just need to make sure that we use the next 3 games in cups to regroup and be fully ready for the game on 19th November. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reading Rebel Posted November 6, 2016 Share Posted November 6, 2016 Seemed like one of those games to me today. Eventually came down to the tail of 2 free kicks, both from exactly the same spot on the pitch, one went in the other didnt. Hitchin clearly came with a game plan and executed it perfectly to stop us doing everything that has made us massively successful so far this season. Too many "meh" type performances from the lads today, but i dont think we should be too down hearted on things off the back of that game, just need to make sure that we use the next 3 games in cups to regroup and be fully ready for the game on 19th November. SF, have to ask what does 'meh' mean? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HorshamRebel Posted November 6, 2016 Share Posted November 6, 2016 I've just added another photo into the match album, which I missed whilst editing last night. https://www.flickr.com/photos/horshamrebel/30775387076/in/album-72157674696582772/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SloughFlyer Posted November 6, 2016 Share Posted November 6, 2016 RR - "meh" - very average, in different performance. Not good, not bad, just meh. I think we were better yesterday than against Basingstoke, just came up against a well drilled, experience side that knows how to play against good sides and stop them playing, which is what Hitchin did the whole game to us. IMO we have an excellent group of players throughout the squad this year and anyone getting too down on them after losing a tight game 1-0 to a side who IMO will be top 5 at the end of the season is premature to say the least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reading Rebel Posted November 6, 2016 Share Posted November 6, 2016 No player played well and were second best for most of the game yet we only lost 1-0 nil to a Hitchin team who were at their best, we had them on the rack at the end and could have snatched a draw. I make that something to be really positive about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebelade Posted November 6, 2016 Share Posted November 6, 2016 General sense of opinion in the press area was that the free kick for the goal should have been awarded to Slough not against. I did notice that Slough came out for the warm up quite late, around 2.15-20, and although I don't normally notice what time they come out, it was 20 mins after Hitchin, and we had a mixture of players wearing thick coats and base layers, and the first 5 minutes looked very lethargic. Still don't know how their no.8 didn't get sent off after being booked on 22 minutes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Baker Posted November 6, 2016 Share Posted November 6, 2016 General sense of opinion in the press area was that the free kick for the goal should have been awarded to Slough not against. I did notice that Slough came out for the warm up quite late, around 2.15-20, and although I don't normally notice what time they come out, it was 20 mins after Hitchin, and we had a mixture of players wearing thick coats and base layers, and the first 5 minutes looked very lethargic. Still don't know how their no.8 didn't get sent off after being booked on 22 minutes Came out at exactly the same time as normal, let's not start looking for reasons that are not there, we weren't quite at our usual levels, but some of the credit has to go to Hitchin, who worked hard all over the park to shut us down and limit us on the ball, which therefore means you end up going long, which we did yesterday, it is something we have done to many teams this season... Frustrating but that is football, we will regroup and go again... We were not great yesterday, however how many shots has Mark Scott had to make in comparison to their keeper? I think they were better in general on the ball, though still think we did enough to share a point... As someone has said Hitchin will be right up there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reading Rebel Posted November 6, 2016 Share Posted November 6, 2016 General sense of opinion in the press area was that the free kick for the goal should have been awarded to Slough not against. I did notice that Slough came out for the warm up quite late, around 2.15-20, and although I don't normally notice what time they come out, it was 20 mins after Hitchin, and we had a mixture of players wearing thick coats and base layers, and the first 5 minutes looked very lethargic. Still don't know how their no.8 didn't get sent off after being booked on 22 minutes I was very surprised when the free kick was awarded against Dan Hicks. For me Hicksy did the first header which went straight up in the air and for the second header he kept his eye on the ball all the time and genuinely thought the Ref blew for a free kick to us. Probably sums up the Refs inept performance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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