Tonight

[Graham S]

They weren't 3-1 better, but that's what happens when you're a good 5-10% above everyone else in the league, which clearly Stanley are & fully deserve to go up as champions. Their work on the training pitch really showed after they weathered the storm we threw at them for the first 20 minutes: they knew exactly where their team mates would be without looking around, finished clinically when it mattered & were the first team to look fitter than us in the last quarter of the game.

 

That said, that's the best I've seen us play at home against teams destined for promotion. We weren't outclassed as we've been before against the likes of Yeovil, Doncaster & Carlisle, or in the way we were by Exeter in the 1st game of this season. Rawle & Sodje looked very dangerous for much of the game, though obviously we need to be able to penetrate or get behind teams better (as per our consolation at the end) if we are to capitalise on what we have up front. Still Accrington only went full time last season & they've shown us the way. Who can say where we'll be this time next season with all that extra time on the training pitch under our belts (provided we have a settled squad of course & are not depending on loan players.)

 

We might have lost but I, for one, enjoyed the match.

 

Graham S

[Riverview Red]

Guys be realistic here please.

 

Our boys run themselves into the ground last night but just weren't quite good enough

 

Accrington are a very well drilled side and very, very professional. Every time one of our midfielders tried to run with the ball they either blocked or chopped us down. They also closed our forwards down superbly the whole game. Then, on the break, they were clinical.

 

Overall, a superb away performance by them - we saw the "Champions elect" at Stonebridge road last night

 

Fair play to them !

 

Nothing to criticise about our performance, and if we battle like that evey game between now and the end of the season, we'll win more than we lose.

 

Shame about "sicknote" Charlie missing again, but no surprises there really + I don't think he would have made much difference. The midfield were stopped feeding our forwards all night.

[Riverview Supporter]

Totally agree with Riverview Red.

 

I thought out midfield were bullied at times by a very professional team.

 

They had width available whne they wanted it and did the professional things well.

 

The fleet performance was on eof the best I have seen this season and Danny was awesome going forward at times.

 

Cant see us playing Stanley again for a long time. Unless we go up or they come down.

 

Looking forward to an equally well drilled perfomance Tuesday and then at home next Saturday

[Graham S]

Quote:

Riverview Red said:
Guys be realistic here please.

Er ... so which bit of my account do you see as unrealistic? Don't really see much daylight between my analysis & yours. Basically we were beaten by a better, very well coached team, but there was a lot to be positive about in our performance & if we play like that between now & the rest of the season we won't get turned over very often.

We're not ready for the play offs. We all know that & we should aim to finish as far up the table as possible. I wouldn't be surprised to see us as high as 7th, which will be a nice base to build from next season.

Graham S

[EUFC superb]

I felt we outplayed them in the first half and were unlucky to go behind. The Assistant flagged for their goal which was strange as the ref gave it.

Second half we had a good effort but didn't do much with our chances. The short story is that they took their chances and we didn't. Thats why their top of the league. But overall a good performance which we can take into the forest green & scarborough games.

P.S - Their keeper should've been booked.

[Harry J Allstars]

Played well but basically not good enough. Agree with what has been said already, not ready yet for the play offs.

 

I thought our players played well as individuals but never really gelled as a team.

 

Jukebox was class, if only he could play like that every week. I think he is getting more and more consistent.

[BustaGut]

seemed to me there midfield to good for ours and they were snuffed out,felt we had very few chances on there goal.To be fair they scored 3 but prob only had about six direct chances on ours i feel.there second goal was due to sheer panic in our defence, lashed out with boot rather than look up.caught our own defender in the back. great through ball for them.

[EUFC superb]

The ref was a bit leniant as well - that high foot on Sodje/rawle? could've been a red but he didn't give a card.

[BustaGut]

yes i agree thought he should have been red

[EUFC superb]

I see the stanley fans think they were class

I wasn't impressed by them that much - best team down here hvae been York so far.

[Alan W (GNFC)]

Possibly flagged for offside - since backheader came from our defender though, it couldnt have been offside.

[Vera]

Normally I don't comment - I leave that to the men, but I felt we played well, particularly the first 20 - 30 mins. and I think Accrington were quite worried, as it really looked as if we definitely had the edge on them. I thought their passing was superb, as they seemed to know exactly where their players were, without even looking up and this was very telling when they were on the attack as they seemed to find their players so well. Possibly they have had more opportunity to play together as a team and hopefully if we can avoid injuries and suspensions we can experience the same. Where does Danny get his energy from? I thought Watkins battled well, especially at first when (laugh if you like) I thought we were on top. I await your 'expert' criticisms.

I am sure they will go up, which I am sure will help towards the sanity of their manager who must have pushed his blood pressure way past normal limits from what I saw of him.

[Jimmy]

Kipax's pictures are up from the game.

 

Some Interesting Looking Away Fans

[BustaGut]

The reason they can do that, is unlike us they use both sides of the pitch so have width,where as we are inclined to follow the ball.The times our right flank is totally empty is (yes depending which way we are kicking)unbelievable,leaves us unable to hit cross field balls,or pull there defences wide to attack through the middle. so we hit it left or lose it in the mid field, at times a good third to half of the pitch is empty except there players, who use that room against us, surely our playing staff must notice this week after week.sometimes standing on the terraces you need binoculars to see the game as it,s all down the opposite side.I realise i will get a lot of flack for this post, but is how I feel.I want to see us use all of the pitch and stretch there defences across the park.

[Unrecognized Genius]

Quote:

Vera said:
Normally I don't comment - I leave that to the men ... I await your 'expert' criticisms.

Never fear, Vera. Unlike some of the self appointed experts, your comments are always sensible & worth reading.

Agree with Mr Gut about stretching play. The best sides do this & you could see Stanley doing this more & more when they retained the initiative last night. I'm sure our coaching staff are aware of it & it's something we must work on for the future. You need players with vision, confidence, a good 1st touch & loads of time together on the training pitch to get it right.

EC

[UP FLEET]

Well done to Kipax again, good photo's as usual.

[Slartibartfast]

Quote:

gnfc superb said:
I see the stanley fans think they were class
I wasn't impressed by them that much - best team down here hvae been York so far.

York looked very average to me, Exeter and Stevenage were both better and Accrington were far better.
It's easy to see why Accy are clear at the top, they were big and strong and played very professionally, reminded me of the Shrewsbury team two seasons ago the difference was that we competed better than we did against Shrewsbury.
The first two goals were defensive errors and the third wouldn't have happened if we hadn't taken off the right back to bring on an extra forward so that one goes down to the defensive errors too.
Accy are the best team in the league and on last nights performance I reckon we are still moving in the right direction but are obviously still not quite there yet.

[John Pearce]

A very dissapointing night, particularly with such a large attendance and many 'floating' supporters.

 

A workman like performance by the Fleet, but the overall performance showed once again just how 'light-weight' the team are, particularly in mid-field.

 

That said I think the 3-1 score line flattered Accrington, particularly as the first two goals came as a result of very poor defending.

 

What a crap weekend....first the Fleet lose, then Manchester United lose....lets just hope that Gillingham get stuffed!

 

It would appear that Accrington must now be favourites for immediate promotion to the League, tonights result showed just how far the Fleet are away from being serious contenders, even for a play-off place.

 

In my view however, I do not think that Accrington are the best side seen at Stonebridge Road so far this season. That honour belongs to Morecambe.

 

What a crap weekend....first the Fleet lose, then Manchester United lose.....just hope that Gillingham get stuffed!

[Unrecognized Genius]

Quote:

White Van Nistelrooy said:
In my view however, I do not think that Accrington are the best side seen at Stonebridge Road so far this season. That honour belongs to Morecambe.

<img src="/forum/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> Are you sure? We must have been brilliant that day then. 1-0, courtesy of Charlie, I believe & I don't re-call us having outrageous helpings of luck holding out.

EC

[Robbo]

Thought the team really put in a lot of effort yesterday. For spells we were definitely the better team but couldn't find the space to break them down. It didn't help that they got the first goal and could sit back, which they done very well, we found it hard to get near the goal despite having possesion. Rawle and Sodje didn't get great service from the midfield but Drury got better as the game went on. Thought we lacked bite in the middle too, hopefully Saunders will be back soon.

 

Perhaps it wasn't the wisest decision by Daish to declare this match our biggest game of the season now we've lost <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> but if we put that effort in for our remaining games we'll get very close to the playoffs.