Billericay 3-1 Slough

[Simon BTFC]

Good win in the end, Slough made us work for it forst half.

 

Team

Mel

Macca Thomas Saps Kerrigan

Lay Hunter Game Dormer

Cousins Hockton

 

Changed things round at half time with Game going to right back, macca into the middle and Thomas into midfield

Subs

Wareham for Dormer (Ross played wide left)

Poole for Hockton

Perfect for Lay

 

Good start - 1-0 up after 6 mins when there keeper, who never looked confident on crosses, flapped at a Cousins cross under pressure, spilling the ball to Lay who netted on his debut

 

Throughout the match, when we got the ball down we played through them with ease. For some reason though midway through the half we started playing it long allowing Slough into the game and they equalised when Hodges got goalside of Pat and scored.

 

First 10 in the second half saw us wrap up the points. Cuz finished well after a cracking through ball from Dorms then Hockers scored with the aid of a wicked bobble in front of the keeper. He has now scored on the opening day for each of the last 3 seasons...

[Barry Scott]

fair assessment, but I'm waiting for the rest of our fans to return so they can blame the referee for our own ineptitude

[Don Juan DeMarcus]

Liam i know you are going to get mouthy about this but i spoke to 5 Ricay fans at half time and all agreed that Parky was fouled, and added that the ref was unsighted, and it was the linesman who stated the goal was fair. However, Ricay deserved the win, and i reckon will do very well this season!

[Barry Scott]

no Marcus you are wrong again. There are certain elements of our fanbase who will blame anyone and everyone about the result rather than looking to the real reason for the result. In this case, I don't think it mattered whether the goal was given or not because Ricay would have steamrollered us anyway

[Don Juan DeMarcus]

I agree in that i always thought it would be a loss- in fact i said 3-1 would be the result when the fixtures came out, and as said at the end of my previous comment- "'Ricay deserved the win".

[Matt]

I thought a point today would have been a great result, but one which could only pretty much have been achieved by sticking 10 men behind the ball. Ultimately we lost 3-1 but so what? The way I see it is, we had 4 debutants today and another two from the bench. Some looked good in the pre-season games, others maybe didn't. If we get some good results in the following weeks I'll happily eat my words, but I just have a feeling that some of our new players will struggle. Harsh, maybe, but just a feeling. We're missing three or four first-teamers for various reasons and that doesn't help. Billericay on the other hand will be title challengers and will finish in the play-offs at the very least. They are a very strong team. For us, staying at this level is the ONLY thing that matters whilst the off-field problems are (hopefully) resolved. Anything else is a bonus. We have 41 more league games to make that happen, so roll on Tuesday.

 

Oh and Ricay, for goodness' sake make sure you finish in the top 3 as you're part of an accumulator I have going <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

[Chris]

Our Forum's here boys... <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/achso.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/achso.gif" alt="" />

 

http://www.nonleague.co.uk/slough/

[Ian]

The critical factor in determining whether a foul should have been awarded for their first goal was the fact that the Billericay keeper was awarded one for a challenge significantly less robust than the one on Parkin. If he's going to give one, he has to give the other.

 

It may not have changed the result, they may well have scored another anyway and yes, they deserved to win. None of that however alters the fact that it should have been ruled as a foul.

[Chris]

certainally looked a foul from where we were. Will be interesting to see the match highlights on the official website (www.sloughtownfc.net) when they are uploaded.

[TrueBlue]

Good result, we're watching the scores from across the north sea.

 

Bit of the topic, but Vaalerenga won the cup quarter final in Norway today. And we're playing Brugge for a place in the Champ. League on Wednesday. Looking good! Both BTFC and Vaalerenga..

 

Cheers from Norway!

 

Lars W.

[Nitetime Neil]

Well done chaps! Can't argue with that result, good start to the season. Couldn't get to the game today, but just seen the highlights on the Slough site - well worth watching if like me and JL you found yourself elsewhere (no, I wasn't in a field in Chelmo-ville! LOL if u know my music tastes!!) http://www.sloughtownfc.net/movies/index.php

 

See y'all at Folkestone though !

[jl]

Great result and start for us...cheers gazz for the txts

day 2 of V now...ouch my head

[GazzaBTFC]

What I find quite amusing is the goals were the product of the hard work and skill of players that some had down as a question mark as regards effort and skill...the perfect answer to their critic's.

 

A great game and very enjoyable...3 points in the bag....

[extaffyjim]

Lively and enjoyable game. We looked a bit off the pace in the first half, and Slough matched us. For the first goal, it looked one of those that the ref usually gives in favour of the keeper, but i think it was probably a fair challenge. Still, i wasnt sure whether the ref was pointing for a goal or a free kick at first!

 

As soon as they scored, we dropped off the pace, and suddenly didnt look comfortable for the rest of the half. However, whatever was said at the break paid off straight away, and Cousins kept cool and finished very well.

The third was a product of good strong work by Lay on the wing, and Hockton hit a good strong shot, but the keeper got unlucky with a bobble.

 

Overall id say a good opening day, deserved the win. Roll on Monday, where we play Folkestone, one of the two teams who we failed to score against last season (the other being Salisbury). We lost 1-0 away and drew 0-0 at home, so lets hope we can avenge that and go top of the league (unless Heybridge get a better result than us <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />)

[GazzaBTFC]

I think what we have forgotton here is that our better performance in the second half isn't just down to the players but also the management should be given recognition for having the courage to change the formation at half time. Instead of waiting and hoping for something to happen, a change was made to make things happen and they did.

 

Yesterday's performance was a team performance as far as the team is as a "whole", from management through to players and supporters...

 

522 the attendance...a good start.

[YELLOW]

Folkestone were thrashed yesterday by Wimbledon so may be rather low on confidence.

[paulc27]

i thought we looked a better team in the 2nd half. I was a fan of Thomas at centre half but he looked much better in midfield although whats going on with his barnet? he is about 2ft taller than everyone else due to his hair!

I thought Kerrigan had a very solid game, much better than last season.

Our first goal for me was a foul. I am certain you will see less contact made on a keeper and a foul given. Not complaining though!!

I thought Hockers was very quiet but he did his job so again no complaints there.

One thing, why bring ross on and stick him on the left wing? surely the obvious move would have been to move cousins over there and get ross up top.

Great start lads, well done.