Newport 1 City 3

[Rob_the_Saint]

Hann 4

Marwa 37

Walshe 64

 

Great result especially with Weymouth losing.

 

Howay the lads! <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/applaus.gif" alt="" />

[rwsacfc]

good result today,terrible pitch, hard to play our pasing game on. Walshe with a great goal, Bastock was brilliant once again. Burton, lewis both looked solid at the back.

[AFF]

The result was a lot better than the game. We were curiously out of sorts yesterday against a hard-working Newport side. We relied on the long ball, and seemed to leave the passing game at the Severn Bridge toll booths. As a result, we gave the ball away quickly and far too easily.

 

It was a dreadful pitch, but I don't think that carries all the blame.

 

Lee Flynn was injured so Mark Burgess had his first start for City. Patrick was suspended. Matt 'Matty' Hann scored his 15th for the season. Ben Walshe's goal was a cracker ["showng purpose and pace that belied his bulk"], and his, our third on the day, was City's 70th of a remarkable season., but the only candidate for Saints' Man of the Match was Paul Bastock who gave a shot-stopping masterclass.

 

 

Their keeper, who is highly rated had three goal-bound efforts to save all day .... and didn't.

 

Their striker, 18 year old Matt Green, looked the part.

 

Three very welcome points particularly with other results going our way. Bring on the Thurrock.

[cityman]

"We were curiously out of sorts yesterday against a hard-working Newport side. We relied on the long ball"

 

I think you answered this comment...

"It was a dreadful pitch, but I don't think that carries all the blame."

 

With this one ?

 

I think the pitch was entirely to blame...a great result considering IMO.

[saintlewis]

All the goals are on the newport website now ! good win lads keep it going. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/applaus.gif" alt="" />

[Nos]

Rob 2 said :

 

Quote:

I think the pitch was entirely to blame...a great result considering IMO.

 

 

Absolutely spot on, Rob 2.

 

This was indeed a great result. The Saints workrate was phenominal. The pitch was a disgrace. I spoke to three players after the game, who could only concur with that. It was more akin to a peat bog. I felt we were in control totally for the first 35 mins and for the remainder, did what was necessary, keeping them at arms length. Never a pretty match to watch but then sometimes, it has to be like that. Bastock had an awesome game and I thought the two central defenders, especially Burton came through well. Yes, they made a few openings but, by and large, they weren't allowed to capitalise on them.

 

Onwards and upwards. Roll on Tuesday! <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/top.gif" alt="" />

[Sensible]

I have just watched the goals again on the Newport website and hadn't appreciated how good Ram Marwa's goal was. An excellent passing move running the length of the pitch. To be honest, I couldn't remember either side stringing together more than 2 passes all afternoon on that terrible pitch.

[frankie]

BASTOCK WAS EXCELLENT . The pitch was a disgrace,like playing in a field. We didnt play well, pitch to blame. Yet we still scored 3.Roll on Tuesday.

[AFF]

'At the end of the day', we were 'full value for the three points', after 'a game of two halves' which is 'all about getting the ball in the onion bag' and the game would have left Peter Beadle 'as sick as a parrot' although 'he can take the positives' particularly '[in the] 'second half'.

 

[in the] first half, Bastock blocked, or parried, or saved on target goalbound attempts, in the 10th, and 31st minutes, they scored in the 38th and shots were just off target in the 40th and 42nd. [in the] second half, Bastock made saves on 63, 77 and 80 minutes.

 

Nos. They 'weren't allowed to capitalise on their openings' as you put it, apart from the goal because Bastock gave a shot-stopping, Man of the Match masterclass.

 

We had 3 goal-bound efforts on target in the whole 90 minutes, each of which found the back of the aforementioned onion bag.

 

Rob2. One question. Were you at the game? We didn't try to play our usual passing game from the start. At no point did any of our players trot over to Colin or Nick in the dug-out thing and say "Our normal passing game isn't working on this goat track, Gaffer, do you think we should implement Plan B and start hitting long balls into their half and see what happens".

 

Now. I will accept as a working hypothesis, that when the lads arrived at the ground, Colin and Nick carried out a pitch inspection and Nick said " Well boss, our normal passing game isn't going to work on this potato field, so we'll leave that one in the bag and play Plan B from the start. Do you want me to tell 'em to hit long balls all day into the opposition half, and see what happens, or will you?"

 

Whatever. For me, I'll take three points; I'll accept that it wasn't a champagne-fest of flowing football; that we were curiously out of sorts; that it isn't going to be like Histon or the first half against Sutton every week and move on to the next game. I won't kid myself, however. And I wont accept that my summary is some sort of seditious attempt to cost the club £12,000 a year by reducing next Tuesday's gate by 50. If I didn't think that it was pulsating, you can rest assured that I wont be saying that it was.

[Webbo MFI]

the 2nd goal was pretty much "on the deck" stuff!

[JKiF]

if you were there you'd know that AFF's sumarising is spot on

 

englands No. 1 was excellent (yet)again

 

and the doris in the lamb was worthy of a return visit

[AFF]

You Lap-dog, Webbo.

 

Were you at Fortress Clarence Park on Sunday morning for the Big Match between Stevenage Borough School of Excellence U16s and Mighty East Thurrock United U16s Webbo? Is the match report on the Official web-site yet? How was the pitch?

[Nos]

Quote:

We had 3 goal-bound efforts on target in the whole 90 minutes, each of which found the back of the aforementioned onion bag.

 

And that's what wins matches, AFF. Marwa's goal and the build up to it was outstanding. Whatever Newport may say, they were pretty much second best the majority of the game.

 

I'll agree about one thing though, it was never pulsating but I don't think anyone ever said it was, did they?

[AFF]

If my summary is compared to yours, there isn't very much between us. Nos, so I don't think that it's a case of solely agreeing that it wasn't pulsating.

 

You said that Bastock had an "awesome game" - he was my MotM. You said "That's ['we had three goal-bound efforts on target in the whole 90 minutes'each of which hit the back of the net'] what wins matches" - I said "[it's] all about getting the ball into the back of the onion bag".

 

A difference between us is that I thought we were 'curiously out of sorts' and that it wasn't all down to the state of the pitch. I want every player to come off the pitch with a personal score of at least seven out of ten. Several fell marginally below that mark for me on Saturday, and the overall performance was disappointing. I can accept that, of course, and look forward to Tuesday when it should be allright on the night.

 

If I had won the Supporters Club raffle where the first prize was to be Manager for tomorrow evening, I would let 'em know in the changing room before tomorrow evening's game, that it's got to be better than Saturday, whether on a goat track or [pause to throw tea-cup] billiard table-like carpet!!

 

Bring on the Thurrock.

 

[i'm bidding for a pair of rose-coloured spectacles on E-bay, Nos. 7 hours 23 minutes to go.]

[cityman]

Hmmm...I'm not sure I get this to be honest.

 

Yes I was at the game, we won in difficult conditions and I have been watching Football long enough to know that the performance won't be to my liking week in and week out.

 

As for what you would say to the team if you were Manager..again what is your point ?

 

I can't believe that this game deserves any more disection than any other...we won so move on to the next game IMO.

[AFF]

Only manager for one game in a temporary raffle-winning capacity, Rob2!! This chap seems to know what he's doing, so he'll do for me.

 

[You may have missed a post some couple of months ago when I suggested that the Supporters Club should organise a raffle where the first prize would be to be Manager for a Match. I did suggest that Colin should be present in the dug-out with a secret set of hand-signals to ensure that t'lads stuck to 4-4-2, even if the lucky winner wanted to 'go for it' and play an unconventional 1-1-8 formation.]

 

I agree. Let's move on to Thurrock. We have 'one that got away' to avenge and three more points to pick-up.

[AFF]

A final word from me on the Newport game. You may have realised that, whilst I entirely enjoyed the exchanges with Nos and Rob2, I felt obliged to defend my view of the game.

 

What would you have said had I written the following after the Newport game:

 

"We had to contend with another poor surface which didn't suit our passing game. We also came up against opponents with everything to play for at the bottom, and whose play belied their League status for much of the game.........but full credit to Newport who were right back in it when they equalised shortly before the break - and it no less than they deserved at a point in the game when they were probably the better side."

 

Answers on a postcard.

 

Oh, by the way. The person what wrote that was manager Colin Lippiatt in his notes for the match-day programme last night.

[cityman]

..had you said that I probably would have said `fair comment'. ;-)

[Nos]

AFF said:

Quote:

".........but full credit to Newport who were right back in it when they equalised shortly before the break - and it no less than they deserved at a point in the game when they were probably the better side."

 

That point being the 37th minute and maybe a few either side of it. Not the other 80 odd, though. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

 

Apart from that - <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/sleeping.gif" alt="" />

[cityman]

..yep I'm still `slightly' confused by the point of some of this AFF (sorry).

 

It's almost as though you are having a `bit' of a dig at Colin L..but not quite..if you know what I mean ;-)

 

Maybe I am reading this wrong....who knows.