Fleet 1 Carlisle 3

[FleetFanatic]

I thought the scoreline flattered Carlisle!

 

We matched them in the first half & dominated the second half, although (as Dave pointed out to me) Carlisle were 3-1 up by then & could 'afford' to take it easier.

 

Drury was superb today - it's about time - more of the same please!

 

Pinnock played very well too - certainly given Andy something to think about!

 

Main problems were in defence (no surprise there) but we looked good going forward - can we play like that against the 'lower teams' as well as the big guns please?

 

Really hope we have some fresh blood in soon - things look a bit depleted.

[Richard C]

The centre backs is the only area worrying me at the moment. Shearer does need to come back as some in the crowd were singing BUT not if there has been a bust up etc.

 

Oh well one of those things - if we play like that and better we will have no problem with ANY other conference side.

 

Obviously Moore is suffering extreme confidence problems at the moment but i honestly dont think the goals were all attributable to defensive error. The finishing was superb - their second goal was a masterclass.

 

Anyway onwards and upwards!!

[Stu B]

I agree Drury did play well but i still think he tries to do too much or try to beat one more man than he can..

We really need to sort out defense. For their first goal,fair play to their striker but they really carved open our defense. For the 2nd that man really should have been picked up, but again, a good finish. I thought they got a bit lucky on the 3rd just before they did the throughball, fell nicely for him to put the ball through and then a superb finish. It's been said time and time again but we need more cover at centre back, Saunders isn't *bad* but we really miss him in midfield, and we can't play him at centre back every week, and against teams as excellent coming forward as Carlisle.

Another thing,I know he's not the most popular player but i thought Lovell had a good game before he went off!

As for our chances for the rest of this season..if we finish anywhere above 11th we'll have done superbly. I simply don't think we're good enough(or big enough in terms of crowd size..despite todays good turnout)to get into the play offs..

That'll do me for now..

[Alan W (GNFC)]

Much as I like Skins, he left Chris Moore in the lurch on at least a couple of occasions today - Chris was pulled across to left back for both the first and second goals - hes fine as a centre back, but if he gets pulled out of that position, he struggles.

 

Thought Surey had another excellent game today, and considering he was playing in a totally unfamiliar position, Proths did well covering Macca's role.

 

Still think Pinno was our best player, though - apart from the goal, he was all over the pitch and worked his socks off - certainly proved his point (and he was only playing as Manny apparently had a slight hamstring pull).

 

I heard criticism of Wilko for their 3rd goal, but dont see how he should be blamed - as was said earlier, the ball broke kindly in the middle of the park & then it was an excellent finish - 9 times out of 10, the ball would probably have ended up flying over the bar or end nearer the corner flag, mind you !!

 

Drury's run 10 minutes from time really deserved a goal - he jinked inside about 4 players and was most unlucky to see the ball come off the post.

 

Carlisle had only 7 efforts at goal by my reckoning - the 3 goals, 2 they dragged wide in the first half and the effort over the bar at 3-1. Wilko only had one "save" to make and that effort was a 25 yard effort straight at him.

 

Oh well - we'll play an awful lot worse and win - we've dropped to 9th, but a couple of wins will set things going again, I'm sure.

 

One disappointment today - the crowd was only just over 2000

[carjam]

You all sound pretty pleased with that..please remember we lost

 

mind you

 

It could have been somewhat differant. We were way over committed for the first goal. Really should'nt do that against quality teams. We hit the post and missed a few. Not a bad performance overall. The Carlisle finishing was outstanding. That was the differance.

 

Highlight of the game

 

Seeing Tony Sitford back at Stonebridge Rd and well done to the Carlisle fans for giving him a cheer. Im sure they all enjoyed there day and look forward to seeing them again. 2030 crowd...nothing wrong with that.

[Matt (GNFC)]

I actually think 3-1 was a pretty fair result, and i agree with u Alan that Skins often left Moore exposed today, yet i think we can all see that Moore is horribly exposed when he's faced with a quick opponent. Gledhill played well and was solid, all 3 goals came down the left hand channel for them. Disagree with point raised above i thought Lovell was poor and we looked better when Sidibe came on and Drury switched over. Pinnock played well, excellent control of the ball, is there anyway we can put him in the same team as Roy and Manny just behind them as i feel the balance upfront is not quite right. We need Manny in the team for his pace but we need to give him the right service and all to often lately we resort to the long ball up to Roy. If we can get Pinns playing behind them perhaps he can be the link man for Manny?

[Hempstead Gaz]

I feel Manny is a bit 'weak' up front at present and does not put himself about enough. pinns had an excellent game today and really lets defenders know he is about. Controled the ball well, shielded it and laid off some first class passes. looked a really good partner for Roy.

I would go for Dukebox behind these two, now he has rediscovered his form. or was it a kick up the backside from Fordy?

Top marks also to Gledders and Protheroe , link up well throughout and proved there is room for them both on trhe right.

Mooro again looked suspect for pace, on current form I think Andy must bite the bullet and recall Shears asap, whatever their problem is.

Great also to Tony Sitford again, he appeared to enjoy the huge cheer he got. Respect.

[Slartibartfast]

I thought Pinnock was a goal scoring midfielder before he joined us and got pushed up front due to our lack of forwards ( and the policy of only picking shortarses up front )at the start of last season.

[Alan W (GNFC)]

Didnt feel the result was a fair reflection today - whilst Carlisle did no doubt sit back a bit second half, really didnt think we deserved to lose by 2.

 

We had far more of the ball than them, and the finishing was, as much as anything else, the difference between us - that and the odd bit of good fortune with the run of the ball (their 3rd goal saw the ball break kindly for them and there were a couple of occasions where the bounce of the ball could have been kinder to us (keeper dropping the ball by Chris Moore for instance, but luckily right by the byline).

 

If we perform like that against lesser teams than Carlisle, we will win more than we lose.

[Robbo]

Gotta say well done to whatever Fordy done during the week to get the lads going again. Played excellent flowing attacking football again, like we haven't seen for a while now. In the end though, our un-doing was poor defending from their excellent counter-attack play. They just moved the ball so quick our defenders didn't have the quality against their strikers.

 

Drury and Pinnock were both brilliant. Pinnock done what he does best. Holding the ball up and playing nice short passes. Drury ran the wing brilliant and was so unlucky not to get that goal at the end. Thought Lovell also made a good stake for more consideration in future as a winger, excellent first half. Sidibe made a massive impact coming on and for a moment thought he was gonna do another Stevenage. When he went on that run and he ran round the outside of the linesman, I thought that was class! Midfield coped well without Maccas.

 

Defence was poor though. Moore looked inconsistent still, at times he makes you cringe, and at other times does well. Still seems to lack confidence and fitness. Saunders seemed outmuscled a few times and was caught drifting forwards a lot. We need extra cover for defence quickly, it's lucky we have a break next week.

 

A few other comments, Pennock on the bench? Although I'd welcome his experience if he thinks he can still cope with the speed of a conference game, but isn't it being a bit desperate? And only 2030 for attendance was a bit disappointing i think, 31 less and it wouldn't of even been over 2000. And the singing today was poor. No drummer. Someone who knows him needs to get hold of it for the Woking game if his new jobs gonna stop him being able to get it to games. Great game though I thought, very entertaining.

[fat fleet bloke]

I had the priviledge (or mis-fortune depends how you see this) to sit with the sponsers today..had i been in my normal position i to would have looked at chris moore and struggled to beleive this was the same player that we highly praised last season, but after talking to certain staff members they told us that he was carrying a slight knock/injury.

Can't agree with comments above about Lovell for me he was poor today sorry!

Yes Drury and Pinno were great today but so were the team against a very good Carlisle side as Alan w says if we perform like this week in week out we will pick up points.

come on the FLEET..

[Guest]

I would just like to say as a Carlisle fan that I thought the score flattered us. We didn't play well at all, but took all our chances well, except for Hawley's miss at 3-1, all he had to do was put it in and somehow missed.

 

I thought "The Fleet" played well in the 2nd half. If Hawley had not got a lucky break for the 3rd it would have been a different game.

[Bernard]

I agree totally. The only thing between the two teams was Carlisle's superior finishing: they took their few chances, we didn't take ours.

 

It was very good to see our attendance over 2000 (first time in the league since Canvey at home in the Ryman?), although it was clearly to do with the amazing Carlisle support more than anything else.

 

As to our performance, much of what I believe has been said already; our defence was terrible, at times a disgrace. When Carlisle were counter-attacking in the first half, Mooro seemed to be the only man back - no wonder they scored so early. However, I thought the midfield was excellent, particularly Jukebox - as was Pinns. Our attacking play warranted more from the game and probably would have got it if it weren't for the shambles at the back. Furthermore, Lovell looked very good on the wing, certainly better than at full back. So, on the bright side, at least we seem to have sorted out the problem with who to play on the flanks.

Also, on the down side, Roy might have been absent, for the amount he contributed to the game. Plus, trying not to sound like a stuck record here, the supposed cure-all that is Moussa looked a weary tactic once more. Moussa's cameos seem to add very little to the game and he plays little better than the players he replaces. We call desperately for his appearance and we are left feeling a little disappointed but we still call his name the next week. Remind anyone of a certain Tostao Kwashi?

 

As for that tw*t behind the goal slagging off Wilkerson at every opportunity, we'd rather you didn't come to the game if you're just going to talk such b*ll*cks. Funny how, in his mind, Wilkerson was at fault for all things wrong with the Fleet today...Idiot.

 

So, in effect, we have a weekend off ahead of us. Let's hope we return after the holiday with a renewed enthusiasm: Tamworth has not been an easy place to go and get points so far this season, we will need to be at our best again to get a positive result.

 

By the way, did anyone hear if the coach is running? Thanks in advance for any help...

[FleetFanatic]

Quote:

Mooro again looked suspect for pace, on current form I think Andy must bite the bullet and recall Shears asap, whatever their problem is.

That isn't going to happen - once they go, they never come back.....

[chilled out entertainer]

and i read somewhere (i think) there is no call back clause in the loan.

[FleetFanatic]

You can't recall him during the first month - is that what you mean?

[chilled out entertainer]

thats what the paper said, i think it was the kent messenger.

[jc]

Quote:

It was very good to see our attendance over 2000 (first time in the league since Canvey at home in the Ryman?), although it was clearly to do with the amazing Carlisle support more than anything else.

I'm just going to put my anorak on and clarify this. Our biggest home league attendance since Canvey in the Ryman was in fact the 2036 who saw us lose 2-1 to Daggers in the 2002/2003 season.

Despite kind words from this Carlisle fan on confguide, I have to say our lack of quality in front of goal compared to Carlisle's means we didn't really deserve anything from the game - despite good displays from Jukebox and Pinns as already mentioned. Macca's absence cost us somewhat today (I didn't think I'd be saying that after some of the below-par performances we saw from him last season), for with Jay in defence, the midfield had an unfamiliar feel to it. Credit must go to the visitors for three very well-taken goals, even though we were caught somewhat short at the back for the first and third of them.

I fear FF's words on Shears may well be right - we have of course witnessed players given the sudden cold shoulder by Andy before, such as Lew Watts. If a bust-up is at the heart of this, as Richard C says, it probably wouldn't be right to call Shears back at the end of the month, but it doesn't disguise the fact that not replacing both him and Romauld may well cost us. To release Romauld when Andy presumably knew full well that Porter wasn't going to be available for yesterday's game is somewhat confusing. Ade's place on the substitutes' bench yesterday underlined just how stretched we are at present.

We've had some tough games lately, and having got very little from them, even more importance has been placed on the Tamworth game in a fortnight - the sort of game we really need to win to get back on track, even though their relatively good home form is a concern.

[Guest]

Sometimes you have to admit that teams Fleet play against are better sides. I thought Carlisle were extraordinary in the way they appeared to effortlessly move around the pitch and throughout the game worked far less than the Fleet to great effect. They were patient and allowed the Fleet to push too far forward and punished them on three occassions. Having said that, it was a lack of quality finishing by the Fleet that caused Fleet's failure on the day. Fleet's work rate was high but at times a little frantic and sometimes too clever by half when exotic passes simply go astray. However, it is great to see some of this adventurous play nearly come off; the finishing touch and anticipation just let them down. Yes, can all see there are defensive frailties but with the chances we had a draw would not have been unreallistic had concentration, confidence and a bit of luck been forthcoming. I'm sure that Andy has plans for bolstering up the central defence and hopefully in the next few weeks we shall see an improvement. It's been a tough few weeks and the outcome is that the Fleet have been flattered with a top 5 placing and talk of a play-off position. Let's stop dreaming. Realisically, if they finish just above mid-table, top of the part time pile and money in the bank then it will be another good all round season and a sound footing to continue to expand and build on.

[Mepis]

Thought we played quite well, was pleased Pinnock was given a chance, he played well as did Drury who i thought today was our best player, i counted 6 shots on target from Carlisle the finishing was excellent although once again we gave away two soft goals, we left Wilko exposed and they found the gaps, we need to take our chances in front of goal,thanks to Carlisle fans for the applause for Tony Sitford.

Shame about the crowd i thought it would have reached 2500.