v Thatcham (friendly)

[Reading Rebel]

No idea what the line ups were for both halves but we lost 2-1.

The goal we scored looked like an own goal.

 

[Holyport Rebel]

1st half Dan L*,  Josh J*,  Tyrese D,  Joe D,  Scotty*, Temi E,  Munashe S,  Lenchy*,  Johnny G*, Jeanmal P, Nathan M*.

Six Subbed at halftime, those marked *.

Halftime score 0-1.

I think the six subs were Ryan North in goal (?),number 13 a youngster on the fringes of the squad(?), Steven Bala, David O, Dom H & Mickel P.

I think they are correct but there were no PA announcements or display board notifications so if I'm wrong I apologise.

Own Goal ?

Looked to me like Temi headed it in from a corner, but if you've seen something different I'll go with that.

Might explain why I thought Temi was laughing as he made his way back to our half for the restart.    

Edited December 6, 2023 by Holyport Rebel

[Reading Rebel]

57 minutes ago, Holyport Rebel said:

1st half Dan L*,  Josh J*,  Tyrese D,  Joe D,  Scotty*, Temi E,  Munashe S,  Lenchy*,  Johnny G*, Jeanmal P, Nathan M*.

Six Subbed at halftime, those marked *.

Halftime score 0-1.

I think the six subs were Ryan North in goal (?),number 13 a youngster on the fringes of the squad(?), Steven Bala, David O, Dom H & Mickel P.

I think they are correct but there were no PA announcements or display board notifications so if I'm wrong I apologise.

Own Goal ?

Looked to me like Temi headed it in from a corner, but if you've seen something different I'll go with that.

Might explain why I thought Temi was laughing as he made his way back to our half for the restart.    

Just saw a clip, I think from Connor McNeish, which does look like their player headed the ball into the net.

I know it's only a friendly but did Thatcham deserve the win and how did we perform in the striking dept.?

 

[Sir Rebel1965]

5 minutes ago, Reading Rebel said:

Just saw a clip, I think from Connor McNeish, which does look like their player headed the ball into the net.

I know it's only a friendly but did Thatcham deserve the win and how did we perform in the striking dept.?

 

The answer to "how did we perform in the striking dept.?" looks to be fairly obvious - last two games against much lower opposition has only generated two goals, one from a penalty and the other looks like it was an own goal.

The other question that needs asking, is against these two lower-level teams, why were 7 goals conceded?

 

And yes Norbert 22 I am not happy with these results!

[GlenSTFC]

17 minutes ago, Sir Rebel1965 said:

The answer to "how did we perform in the striking dept.?" looks to be fairly obvious - last two games against much lower opposition has only generated two goals, one from a penalty and the other looks like it was an own goal.

The other question that needs asking, is against these two lower-level teams, why were 7 goals conceded?

 

And yes Norbert 22 I am not happy with these results!

Personally these 2 games were a county cup and a friendly which means nothing to me so I couldn’t care less the result or performance. It’s only the league and two FA competitions that matter. 

[Reading Rebel]

1 hour ago, GlenSTFC said:

Personally these 2 games were a county cup and a friendly which means nothing to me so I couldn’t care less the result or performance. It’s only the league and two FA competitions that matter. 

Although our last two games were in the County Cup and a friendly which in terms of the season don't mean a lot, it should mean a lot in terms of our performance.

Scott and the players will not have wanted to lose these games so the effort and endeavor to win these games will have been there.

Ok we put out a weakened team in the County Cup against a side 2/3 levels lower than us but certainly at least for the first half last night we played pretty much our strongest side, conceded a goal without scoring against a side 2/3 levels lower than us.

So even though the results don't mean a lot the performances in these games ahead of a huge test on Saturday will have.

Conceding 5 in the county cup could be excused because of the side we put out but losing 2-1 last night with only an own goal to our credit is not as acceptable that's why I asked the question what was our performance like. 

[GlenSTFC]

2 minutes ago, Reading Rebel said:

Although our last two games were in the County Cup and a friendly which in terms of the season don't mean a lot, it should mean a lot in terms of our performance.

Scott and the players will not have wanted to lose these games so the effort and endeavor to win these games will have been there.

Ok we put out a weakened team in the County Cup against a side 2/3 levels lower than us but certainly at least for the first half last night we played pretty much our strongest side, conceded a goal without scoring against a side 2/3 levels lower than us.

So even though the results don't mean a lot the performances in these games ahead of a huge test on Saturday will have.

Conceding 5 in the county cup could be excused because of the side we put out but losing 2-1 last night with only an own goal to our credit is not as acceptable that's why I asked the question what was our performance like. 

Not sure anyone went (hardly an attraction in this weather!). We win on Saturday and you’ll soon forget the performances in these 2 matches!

[Curtis]

1 hour ago, GlenSTFC said:

We win on Saturday and you’ll soon forget the performances in these 2 matches!

Really?
 

If we win some will complain it will distract from a relegation survival battle & cause a fixture backlog, and if we lose some will say we’re useless.

At least they won’t have a draw to complain about!

[GlenSTFC]

11 minutes ago, Curtis said:

Really?
 

If we win some will complain it will distract from a relegation survival battle & cause a fixture backlog, and if we lose some will say we’re useless.

At least they won’t have a draw to complain about!

Exactly you can never please every punter. But I’d rather win on Saturday than lose as we still have a decent amount of games in hand. Plus do you not think a win at Bromley would massively boost confidence?

[Nathan]

33 minutes ago, Curtis said:

If we win some will complain it will distract from a relegation survival battle & cause a fixture backlog, and if we lose some will say we’re useless.

If we don't take the FA Trophy seriously because we can't cope with the "fallout" of winning, then we shouldn't enter the competition in the first place.

And I wouldn't say that we're useless if we lose; Bromley are near the top of the league above and are expected to win, just like Ebbsfleet and Grimsby were.

Regarding Thatcham friendly, I wonder if hosting the match at Arbour Park cost the club any money?

[Holyport Rebel]

I went, and thought for a Tuesday evening in December it was quite mild !
I guess the attendance was about 75 (?).
We had I would say about 85+% of the play, and Thatcham relied mostly on counter attacks when we misplaced a pass or lost possession.
Fair play to Thatcham, they made it I thought an interesting friendly match to watch.
We definitely didn't bombard their goal or anything like it, but when their goalie needed to make a good save, he did.
The ref let an awful lot of stuff go unchecked.
Obvious things he ( and the lino's) missed were a blatant push on Tyrese as he was running full tilt down the wing, a (to me ) obvious bodycheck/block by Scotty which prevented a Thatcham attacker getting past him,  and a handball by Temi in the second half which also stopped a Thatcham attacker getting around him.
The two goals we conceded ?
I can't believe the first one wasn't given as offside.
A ball played through to two Thatcham players in our half on their own down their left wing, the first one who then ran with the ball into our penalty area and then just passed it sidewards for his mate to sidefoot it in. 
Nothing Dan in goal could do about it. 
Surely it was offside ?
The second one was a bit of a soft one.
A ball was played through by a Thatcham player into space about 35 yards from our goal
The Thatcham attacker nearest it was walking backwards to the halfway line showing that he was not involved in the move and therefore not offside, when another Thatcham player ran forward from midfield  to chase after the ball..
Our sub goalie, who had been standing on the edge of his area, ran two steps forward to try to get to the ball before the attacker did, but then stopped, basically leaving himself in no man's land.
The attacker got to the ball easily now, pushed it to one side past our goalie and passed it into the net from about 20 yards out. 
Don't think he could believe his luck.
Literally a minute before Thatcham scored their second, Dom put a header over the crossbar when you would have thought it would have been easier to score.
So rather than 1-1, a minute later it was 0-2.
What did I learn from going to that match that I didn't know before ?
 1, having had a chat just before kick off with Dan Bayliss as he was doing some exercises near the touchline, he seems a very friendly bloke who is close to becoming available for first team selection.  
 2, Lenchy's mum and dad were due to meet up with friends/family and stay overnight near Taunton but because the match was called off their plans were thwarted  
and 3, Nathan Minhas I think wears contact lenses as he had to go off the pitch and down the tunnel for a minute or so to sort out a lens that had become dislodged.
Yes, it would have been nice to win last night, but I didn't lose any sleep because we lost.
 

Edited December 6, 2023 by Holyport Rebel

[Sir Rebel1965]

29 minutes ago, GlenSTFC said:

Exactly you can never please every punter. But I’d rather win on Saturday than lose as we still have a decent amount of games in hand. Plus do you not think a win at Bromley would massively boost confidence?

I would agree with Glen, a win is a win and it would be extra cash, but we have played the least in the league and already this winter there have been a good number of postponements due to the weather. We already have 8 games in January; and January and February are always the worst weather so although a cup run is good, we could end up with a fixture backlog.

Either way winning is the name of the game.

[Irishadrian]

I believe the result of the Bromley game will depend not so much on ourselves but to an extent on what team they decide to put out  They know theyre up against a lower league team that has flirted with the drop zone since August so may decide not   to play their optimum choice.

Edited December 6, 2023 by Irishadrian
Omission

[Nathan]

8 minutes ago, Sir Rebel1965 said:

already this winter there have been a good number of postponements due to the weather. We already have 8 games in January; and January and February are always the worst weather so although a cup run is good, we could end up with a fixture backlog.

If we end up with a fixture backlog, it'll be down to the League not having the brains to play games as many games as possible in August and September when the weather is good. These problems happen every year when there is bad weather in winter (shock, horror!) and teams have a cup run.

This year we could have played on Tuesday 8th and 22nd August, as well as 12th and 26th September; potentially 4 more games out of the way before October (I've left out 19th September, so that's 5 assuming no FA Cup replays). I know this sounds like a hectic start to the season, but is playing 8 games in January not also hectic?

A bit of bad weather in January (not unheard of) and there'll be a scramble to fit them in before the end of the season.

[Reading Rebel]

8 hours ago, Holyport Rebel said:

I went, and thought for a Tuesday evening in December it was quite mild !
I guess the attendance was about 75 (?).
We had I would say about 85+% of the play, and Thatcham relied mostly on counter attacks when we misplaced a pass or lost possession.
Fair play to Thatcham, they made it I thought an interesting friendly match to watch.
We definitely didn't bombard their goal or anything like it, but when their goalie needed to make a good save, he did.
The ref let an awful lot of stuff go unchecked.
Obvious things he ( and the lino's) missed were a blatant push on Tyrese as he was running full tilt down the wing, a (to me ) obvious bodycheck/block by Scotty which prevented a Thatcham attacker getting past him,  and a handball by Temi in the second half which also stopped a Thatcham attacker getting around him.
The two goals we conceded ?
I can't believe the first one wasn't given as offside.
A ball played through to two Thatcham players in our half on their own down their left wing, the first one who then ran with the ball into our penalty area and then just passed it sidewards for his mate to sidefoot it in. 
Nothing Dan in goal could do about it. 
Surely it was offside ?
The second one was a bit of a soft one.
A ball was played through by a Thatcham player into space about 35 yards from our goal
The Thatcham attacker nearest it was walking backwards to the halfway line showing that he was not involved in the move and therefore not offside, when another Thatcham player ran forward from midfield  to chase after the ball..
Our sub goalie, who had been standing on the edge of his area, ran two steps forward to try to get to the ball before the attacker did, but then stopped, basically leaving himself in no man's land.
The attacker got to the ball easily now, pushed it to one side past our goalie and passed it into the net from about 20 yards out. 
Don't think he could believe his luck.
Literally a minute before Thatcham scored their second, Dom put a header over the crossbar when you would have thought it would have been easier to score.
So rather than 1-1, a minute later it was 0-2.
What did I learn from going to that match that I didn't know before ?
 1, having had a chat just before kick off with Dan Bayliss as he was doing some exercises near the touchline, he seems a very friendly bloke who is close to becoming available for first team selection.  
 2, Lenchy's mum and dad were due to meet up with friends/family and stay overnight near Taunton but because the match was called off their plans were thwarted  
and 3, Nathan Minhas I think wears contact lenses as he had to go off the pitch and down the tunnel for a minute or so to sort out a lens that had become dislodged.
Yes, it would have been nice to win last night, but I didn't lose any sleep because we lost.
 

Thanks HR for the brief report of the game and mainly of the goals we conceded.

Interesting that you've mainly mentioned the goals scored by Thatcham but hardly anything about goal chances/created/missed by us.

Even more so because you write that we had around 85%+ of the play against opposition way lower in the pyramid.

Did we not create or miss any chances, Dom Hutchinson header apart, in the 90+ minutes?

 

 

 

[Holyport Rebel]

Hi RR.

I wanted to try to highlight that Thatcham's goals were not a case of them "tearing us apart" to score them or anything like that.

I still can't believe that their first goal wasn't disallowed for offside.

Perhaps I'm mistaken but it looked to me like it had to be.

The second was down to indecision from a young substitute goalie who apart from that incident I don't think had very much to do in the 45 minutes he played.

Otherwise, I don't recall Thatcham creating anything that concerned us in the game.

To me, Slough were obviously the team with the much greater quality and skill, , but Thatcham hung in there and battled away as best they could. 

Chances we created ?

To be honest, when we went one down I felt confident that we would still win the game.

First half especially we got into several good positions to have shots on goal, but as I said in my original post, their goalie made good saves when he was required to. 

It was very disappointing that we didn't convert these chances into goals, and that really needs to change. ( I think I've heard that before.)

That is easier said than done though.

I thought it was a very entertaining game for a friendly, and was much better for the team than a normal Tuesday night training session would have been. 

[Reading Rebel]

43 minutes ago, Holyport Rebel said:

Hi RR.

I wanted to try to highlight that Thatcham's goals were not a case of them "tearing us apart" to score them or anything like that.

I still can't believe that their first goal wasn't disallowed for offside.

Perhaps I'm mistaken but it looked to me like it had to be.

The second was down to indecision from a young substitute goalie who apart from that incident I don't think had very much to do in the 45 minutes he played.

Otherwise, I don't recall Thatcham creating anything that concerned us in the game.

To me, Slough were obviously the team with the much greater quality and skill, , but Thatcham hung in there and battled away as best they could. 

Chances we created ?

To be honest, when we went one down I felt confident that we would still win the game.

First half especially we got into several good positions to have shots on goal, but as I said in my original post, their goalie made good saves when he was required to. 

It was very disappointing that we didn't convert these chances into goals, and that really needs to change. ( I think I've heard that before.)

That is easier said than done though.

I thought it was a very entertaining game for a friendly, and was much better for the team than a normal Tuesday night training session would have been. 

Thanks for the reply HR.

So unless I'm mistaken sooner or later (preferably sooner) we are going to need another decent striker to add to our ranks.

We can't keep relying upon our midfield or a defender to rack up the goals.

Yes, great that they chip in but a striker is in the side to mainly score goals on a regular basis.

[Sir Rebel1965]

26 minutes ago, Reading Rebel said:

Thanks for the reply HR.

So unless I'm mistaken sooner or later (preferably sooner) we are going to need another decent striker to add to our ranks.

We can't keep relying upon our midfield or a defender to rack up the goals.

Yes, great that they chip in but a striker is in the side to mainly score goals on a regular basis.

Should not be a problem RR as there is plenty of cash from the FA cup run to fund a good striker, as this money was not budgeted for in the playing budget as we have been told.

Edited December 7, 2023 by Sir Rebel1965

[Curtis]

I’m hoping we see Tenconi back for 2 or 3 matches during his Uni break….. not the long term solution some are looking for, but he scored 2 in 2 matches this time last year.

[Reading Rebel]

Strikers who are banging in the goals are in the main at clubs challenging towards the top end of their division going for promotion and on very decent money.

They are either reluctant to move to a club towards the bottom with relegation fears or are asking for silly money knowing a club has some money in the bank and are desperate.

Probably the reason why a Loan deal will be the option we go for if we bring another striker on board.

Not ideal but maybe the only credible option.