A good performance

[Gate Watcher]

Im sure as the team gel Steve that he will get just that. Maybe CK thought that Sesay would have been kicked to bits and it would have been hard on the kid. Braintree's gamesmanship is awful to watch.

[seasidesteve]

that aint what i said i said we could have won if we hadnt sat back

[freefred]

I agree, a very well taken goal by Danny, has improved a lot and looks much more up for it i.m.o. since the Folkstone game. Not quite sure what happened when we conceded, did anyone see it clearly? other than that, didn't thinki the league leader4s troubled us all afternoon unduly, can't actually remember Darren being troubled by anything before that, he seemed to have a very comfortable afternoon.

[Gate Watcher]

I would have done exactly the same as CK other than bringing Ziepe on for Yiga. BUT CK knows better than us about the fitness of Ziepe. Not the right game for Sesay, that should be obvious with them kicking anyone up in the air. Kinnear was RIGHT and in truth we were unlucky to concede. Thats the way it goes but there was plenty of committment - great to see again.

[MargateFan]

A mischievous post, Coffin Ender, but very funny.

[Cookie]

The goal came directly from a corner.Ball to the far post(as I remember it)Trott heads back across goal & Hockton was on hand to nod into the net. A very good goal,made by Trotts towering header back across goal. He was my *star* man today. Won everything in the air(voices a little too much at times I feel)however its still good to have that voice there.Cleared off the line near the end too to keep us in the game. Keeper played very well. I cant see a problem with his kicking. Saved us on a couple of occasions with some brilliant saves. Deen came on & played a great game. Doubt Gradley would have done better.Allman shied out of a couple of tackles,obviously concerned about an early injury again, but nevertheless I am oh so thankful he is back covering that position again.Yiga was very off form today I thought.Oates not far behind him either.Hilaire did exceptionally well first half though ball control needs working on.He never got going second half & was rightly substituted I feel.Keister gave some bite back into defence/midfield when he came on and did well.All the others did well too without shining.

In fact overall I thought it was a very workmanlike performance. Defence looked sound.

Braintree only really put in a few shots all game.Their goal came from that little guy(no:10 I think it was(sub) who kept running to keep the ball in play by the goal-line before crossing. A goal really,out of the blue.That little no:10 did all their teams best work.Impressed with him & his workrate & trickery. Without him coming on we might well have gone on to win the game.

 

Top of the league..They most certainly arehaving a laugh if thats how they have played to get to the top. Not impressed much at all with them.I have seen much better teams come here this season. Still I am sure they have played better than that in other games.

Pity we DID sit back instead of continuing to push forward but the game was a game we should have held on to win but I said at the beginning that a point would be like a victory so I am more than happy. Just a shame,after being in a winning position we couldnt hang on. They(Braintre) really werent that impressive.

Nice to see Ross Smith visiting us on a day off. I had a word or two with him and he says he still looks at our results & has an in interest in us. I said in return that it was great him being there & that we all look to his form at the Fleet with interest too.

1-1,a point very well earned and deserved i.m.o.

If it were a boxing match I firmly believe we would have won at least 8 if not 9 rounds out of a possible 12 today.We were the better side all round today.Am well satisfied with both the performance and the result.Today was proof that we really are starting to emerge as a force to be reckoned with again.

[Boney Crisp]

Quote:

seasidesteve said:
that aint what i said i said we could have won if we hadnt sat back

In all fairness Steve when you are beating the league leaders you dont carry on attacking when they are going to chuck more players forward in which they did. If Margate did carry on attacking searching for a second goal then we would have lost. It would nice for you Steve to come out with some positives once in a while. We are 7 games unbeaten and you are still criticising the team, shame on you.

[Gate Watcher]

What a stupid thing to say I agree Alex. Sitting back at a time when our midfield looked knackered was the right thing to do. Spot on again by CK today and the players were well up to the task. Unlucky with the goal. Their sub made it with his good running - fresh legs made the difference. But Im pleased with the performance of the players and the tactics couldnt have been better.

[Cookie]

Alex if we had gone forward(not always easy to do I grant),& scored a second the game would have been well & truly over.They wouldnt have come back from that.They didnt play like league leaders today.They were not really giving us problems even when they did get forward.If we are in attack how can they score.Very hard to dont you think.I do think that sometimes we should kill off teams when we have the chance to.Today however,despite being pushed back the defence was playing well enough to withstand any onslaught.We never really got that onslaught and their goal really was out of the blue.One mans desire to keep the ball in play and they score.One day we WILL go on to get more goals but on todays performance,either in attack or in defense we withstood anything they had(not much really). I am, as are most others, well pleased with the lads today.This isnt a criticism as none is warranted from today but merely a reply to your logic above.

 

[Boney Crisp]

Maybe we could have gone 10 minutes of searching for a second. But if we attack and they were chucking loads of players forward and they caught on the counter attack then they would have gone on and scored.

[Cookie]

Sometimes it works like that sometimes it dosent.I know what you are saying and to a fair degree you are correct but it can work the other way too.I, like SSS, am for pushing forward whenever possible.Even if we are one goal up two goals up or even more, but again I am saying that with the way we played today for the entire game was right & that was because our defence were not under any pressure really in the 18 yd box and doing so much better than on some other occasions..Pressure was there just outside that area I grant but not really any further forward than that.The defence were solid today & that was a good sign.I really couldnt see them scoring until that sub came on and ran his heart out and made something out of a lost cause therefore defending today late on,though not intentional was not a problem with me on this occasion.

[MFC Forever]

Not at the game today (returned from break away now so back to posting on here I'm glad to say!), delighted to hear we played well though against a highly placed side. Also pleased to see the attendance was higher, bring on Wealdstone!

Up the Gate!

[Gringo]

No Alex, that is my only beef with our tactics you do keep pushing otherwise you get caught out as we did today. And why have wing backs if they dont show. We had nothing on the left today, Brayley was poor by his standards. Thought we got a point against(on the day a poor team) but we are geting there. And the support will only get better.

[Dave Dixon]

I prefer our new keeper to Charlie. More confident, never seems to drop or fumble a ball.

Charlie does. Also, Charlie flaps at crosses. He scares me sometimes.

Dave.

[Boney Crisp]

I think it is unfair to criticise Mitten as he has played a lot of the season injured and at the beginning of the season he was fantastic and kept us in games.

[Cookie]

Charlie is the BEST on high balls i.m.o. I cant see how he can be faulted on that score. Still,again, different people different opinions.

[Chris1]

I would just like to clarify my remark about the keeper at the top of this thread. He has made some great stops, especially at Wimbledon.

 

However a keeper's errors will get noticed as much as his inspirational saves. My comment about his kicking was based on watching him over the last few games.

 

A goal kick at Wimbledon went straight to the feet of the nearest attacker, who was pulled down by Bill to prevent an almost certain goal. Another similar error went unpunished. I am sure he was devastated at Bill's sending-off, just as I bet Bill said don't worry about it mate.

 

Most of us remember when Charlie's kicking was suspect, but he worked on it and is now one of the best keepers in the league, good on crosses, shots and distribution. No reason why Darren can't do the same.

 

If it wasn't for the quality of Charlie I don't think I would have said what I did, so apologies if I was too harsh.

 

I don't like criticising players unless it is for lack of workrate or commitment, and Darren can't be faulted in that regard.

[Boney Crisp]

One mis kick by Charlie which sticks in my mind was when Bill Edwards played the ball back to him and Charlie went to kick missed the ball and it nearly went in. That was in the Margate v Cardiff FA Cup game if anyone has forgotten.

[P.W.]

[color:"blue"]Yes Alex we remember the 'Mittens Kittens' stuff from years ago, but the point about this debate is that Behcet has the time to develop his game and iron out those glitches, whereas Charlie has ironed those glitches out of hs game. No-one is disputing Darren is a fine keeper, we're just saying that, given the choice, a match-fit Charlie gets the nod over him at the moment.

[Boney Crisp]

One guy i do feel sorry for is Paul Egan as Behcet is on loan and Paul is behind a player that has not even signed for us. It would not surprise me if he leaves in the summer.