First impressions Hendon v Margate

[Chris1]

A few thoughts about the game (will be interested to see what others thought):

 

A much needed victory against a reasonable side. Hendon had most of the early chances, having one disallowed for offside, and a header tipped past the post by Charlie when it looked a cert. We settled down and got into it more, with some missed chances, especially by Taylor. Bertie’s first half goal was a beaut: Keister‘s good long ball from defence found Adolph, who crossed to Bertie outside the area. He left two defenders for dead and cracked it in, no messing about.

 

I was just saying we seem to have overcome the shaky starts, when about a minute after half time their no.11 (good player, can’t remember his name) lobbed Charlie from the centre circle.

 

Hendon played some quality passing football in the second half, but we held them off somehow and managed to get forward a few times ourselves. McGowan looked good after he came on for Standen, and won the penalty. You felt much more confident when you saw Bertie step up, and sure enough he nearly broke the net with it.

 

Our defence (Keister/Edwards/Donovan) had some shaky moments. Marking was not good. Midfield was variable, but Deen had a good match at both ends. Brayley looks total class.

 

The Hendon supporters seemed a nice bunch. I didn’t see the incident involving one of their players after the final whistle. Perhaps someone could describe it?

 

Marks out of 10:

Mitten 5. A good first half save, but beaten from 45 yards.

Edwards 5. Patchy and some miskicks.

Keister 6. Just about the best of the defenders. A good pass led to the first goal.

Donovan 5. Looked a bit sleepy. Gave their forwards a lot of space.

Sesay 6. Right wing-back. Made some good runs and crosses.

Allman 6. Left wing-back (?). Didn’t get forward much, but good defending.

Deen 8. Best I have seen him play. Looks much more confident. Solid defending and good work in attack too. A couple of times managed to get above their no.6, who was about 8ft tall.

Standen 5. Some good through balls in the first half, wasted by the forwards. Apart from that didn’t seem to fit in all that well. Subbed.

Brayley 9. Best player on the pitch. Always looked likely to make something happen. If he can keep this up he will put a couple of hundred on Hartsdown attendances.

Amoako 6. Looked as keen as ever. How did he manage not to get a foot on that perfect pass from Brayley towards the end of the first half?

Taylor 4. I am sorry to mark the lad down, but he just didn’t make anything happen despite seeing plenty of the ball. Wasted some good chances, and got forced into the corner too often. Somebody said on here we need a good strong goalscorer, and that was perfectly demonstrated today; with that amount of service Taylor should have had 3. The good thing is, he has time to improve. I think Kinnear substituted Amoako first to spare the lad’s feelings. I can’t think of any other reason.

Stowe 5. Sub forward. Got a couple of shots in. Also lost the ball a few times.

McGowan 6. Sub midfield. Played well. The way he celebrated when he won the penalty you would think he had just got his hat trick.

Hilaire 6. Came on at the end and managed to impress.

 

Margate fans 9. Good support as usual. Surprisingly faded a bit towards the end.

Hendon physio 11 out of 10, possibly even 12. Can we sign her please?

 

The best thing about today’s game was you could see the team taking shape and knowing what their jobs were. Ok it wasn’t perfect, but the plan is coming together. Also Bertie is a real star. He is way too good for this league. We have needed a talisman probably since the Braithwaite/Collins days and this guy could definitely do it for us.

 

If anyone reading this is wondering whether to go on Boxing Day, you should. Pretty soon this side is going to give someone a real thrashing.

[geoff pay]

yep good analsise chris i think we will tonk someone soon. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

[geoff pay]

According to their web site today was their second highest home crowd this season at 221 <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

[seasidesteve]

fair comments, taylor not good enough every time ive seen him hes not up to it.brayley great we need 10 more like him.all in all we nicked it today but we are due some luck.charlie must have a rest

[P.W.]

[color:"blue"]

 

We were greeted with news of another new signing, a centre forward - Chris Stowe (I misheard & thought it was Stone) from Maidenhead. He was not in the starting line-up, which was unchanged. Conspicuous by their absence at the ground were Ellis Remy, Musa Jalloh, Lawrence Yiga and Leon & Corbett (both rumoured to have left). Pat & Greg were both there, but neither were involved in the warm up.

 

We started quite brightly and quite early on had an opening with the goalie off the line Charlie Taylor only had to lob him with an open net. Charlie hit the lob too high & skied it over the bar. At the other end we were guilty of leaving large gaps, with a right winger finding himself in acres of room - Allman had left him exposed and was in the 'pack' in the centre of the field. Charlie, who is still struggling with an injury(Can't we get someone in on loan & let him recover?)pulled off a fine save against the post. Minutes later a poor back pass left us struggling again - this time exposing Charlie who was helpless - luckily the Lino was on the ball & we were saved by an offside. Going forward we looked promising, but struggled defensively, real defenders out of position, other 'defenders' (Sesay, Keister) getting easily caught out. A bright move up front saw Bertie make some space in the centre of the area - his class shone through & we were 1-0 up! We continued to attack well, but defend poorly and a later in the half nearly had another goal when Bertie lobbed the keeper but hit the bar.

 

The second half saw Hendon play in a more determined manner and they soon reaped the rewards - a shot, come forward pass, from the centre circle soared over a startled Mitten & it was 1-1. Charlie was hardly to blame as he was positioned where you'd expect him with the ball on the centre of the pitch. We were struggling on the pitch so Chris decided to change things around, on came Stowe for Adolph (a surprise as Taylor had looked the poorer ofour front pair). Stowe is a stocky but agile forward, but didn't add too much to the equation. Later McGowan came on for Standen, who'd not done too much wrong. McGowan looked eager to impress and was in the thick of it, a short pass from the right found him up-ended in the box (though the foul was in my opinion exaggerated by a balletic dive)however the Ref had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Captain Brayley took command of the ball and was not put off by their keeper who was protesting on the spot about the placement of said ball, blasting it straight into the centre of the net. 2-1 up against the run, could we hold on? Third substitute Ian Hillaire (surely too talented to remain for so long on the bench) came on and did a magnificent job of holding the ball up (whilst being hacked to death by defenders). Eventually the Ref blew for full time. A nice gesture at the end was to see Bertie shepherding the players towards us to reciprocate our applause - the guy is an MFC legend in the making.

[MargateFan]

I would like to add that Hasim had a towering game today. He just goes from strength to strength.

McGowan impressed me when he came on - grit and determination.

Sesay showed some lovely skills and switched the ball round well - his crosses are very accurate, and he plays phenominally for his age and being out of position. I would welcome a chance to see him come further up in a more attacking role.

Ian Hilaire should be used more, he has considerable skill on holding the ball up and he has a very cool head under pressure.

Big plaudit also for Anthony Allman, always the first to come forward and salute the fans at the end.

But a great deal of passion and commitment out there today from our lads - well done to them.

I thought the Hendon team had a couple of very good, quick, small players who used the width of the pitch well. Plus they were a good, clean, sporting lot (apart from being let down when their No.2 lost his rag).

[geoff pay]

well said june and just to add, no one noticed the ref always a good sign, he was five yards from the penalty incident and had no hesitation. Also he turned down one strong a ppeal from them and one dodgy one ( thank goodness) well done ref.

[michael]

Thanks al for grea reports-always easier whenwe win.

 

A big positive that Allman sees himself as a proper defender and does that job effectively, as opposed to the 'wing back' role which seems most players at this level caught in no mans land.

Keep it simple and just do the defensive job-let the others do the attacking-if you don't lose the nil ,you don't lose

[RichG]

Agree with MargateFan. Hasim was my man of the match, although Bertie will probably get the plaudits. Taylor looked cold and disinterested all the time. McGowan gave the midfield some stability when he came on. Would like to see Hiliare given more of a chance as he showed some effort.

 

The bumpy pitch did not help when we knocked the ball around, mainly in the first half.

 

Clearly we were fortunate to win.

[Chris1]

From the Hendon message board:

 

Quote:

SteveHFC said:

I missed Ben's goal, but felt we looked more likely to nick a winner until Murphs gave away that needless penalty as an early Christmas present to the travelling Margate fans. On which note it was nice to see a decent travelling support, and a travelling support that made a bit of noise. Friendly people too as they came through the turnstiles. They got their revenge for the FA Cup win back in 99.

[teamster]

well done to the lads in getting 3 points. Lets not get carried away just yet. The next few games are very important as we must get a few points fom these as its against teams in the same state of play or worse of than us. Having said that yesterday I went to see Ramsgate play as I often do. My shift on a Saturday doesn,t finish until 2 o clock so Ihave no chance of going to any away matches. Anyway Ramsgate demolished quite a good police side with ease, without several players out with injuries or suspensions. I would suggest it wouldn't do CK any harm in taking a look at Ramsgates forward line as it looks pretty certain they will be playing us next season.If I were him, I would try and sign acouple of them. Big tall lads who can hold the ball up and are not afraid to have a shot at goal.THey have scored 10 goals in the last 3 matches so that tells you something. To come up one league and performe as they have is comendable. I see our forwards didnt manage again yesterday so a couple of changes would'nt go amiss

[Cookie]

We wont be seeing Ramsgate next year believe me. Though your comments on their form is spot on.

[I am Spartacus]

It seems that we have sorted out the midfield noe and have healthy competion for places now we need to somehow sort out the defence. Hopefully when Oakes comes back this will help (this is not meant to be slur on Sessay who has done a splendid job there). We will definetly not be seeing Ramsgate next season as they have to beat Dover and the angels in there next 2 matches.

[teamster]

On current form I can see Ramsgate beating Tonbridge and at least getting a draw at Dover

[Coffin Ender]

Given a choice between Dover or Ramsgate being promoted I would rather Ramsgate as the comedy value of Dover staying down would be priceless. Still, there is a long way to go.

[superblues]

Quote:

Joseba said:
It seems that we have sorted out the midfield now and have healthy competion for places now we need to somehow sort out the defence. Hopefully when Oates comes back this will help (this is not meant to be slur on Sessay who has done a splendid job there)....

If Greg does come back soon, I hope we'll see Sesay in a midfield role (even if it's a 15 minute run off the bench), his forward runs at Hendon were inspired (though his defending leaves a lot to be desired).

[seasidesteve]

we have got to now play 4-4-2 with brayley in the team he has to be given licence to roam and play just behind the front 2 we will then see the full potential of the team

[MargateFan]

I agree with you there, Seaside, I really do think 4-4-2, given the current strengths of our players, would suit them.

[TonyM]

Can someone out there tell me is Teamster a Gate fan,or a ramsgate or dover whatever????.

[Cookie]

Good question Tone.I was trying to work it out too.Maybe he will enlighten us. Maybe he is none of those and is just a roving supporter of ALL local teams.