Some thoughts from Leyton

[Chris1]

A well deserved victory for the 10 men, but you have to say the opposition were totally useless. They have all the trademarks of a team on the slide; arguing with each other and so on.

 

Leyton are a vanity club where the chairman is also the manager, son is team captain etc. They let their good players go, which is probably why they have now lost 7 of their last 9 games. On today’s showing they have no chance of staying up next season (so one less for the Rams to worry about!).

 

We started with Sesay in the Brayley position, and Protheroe on the right of midfield with Gradley/Keister central and Knight left.

 

The pitch was very poor, leading to stray passes caused by bobbles.

 

Sesay got roughed up at the start and from then on seemed to lose his rag. Of course the opponents were winding him up, but his inexperience really did show. Some will say the first half booking was harsh for the foot up to a little guy who was stooping at the time. However the ref did make it clear it was for an accumulation of offences. He looked so wild in the second half I thought the bench might take him off before the inevitable.

 

As it happened, after the sending-off we looked more penetrative, with Keister feeding Hockton where Sesay had been getting in the way.

 

We ran the midfield all game, not so much because we were great, just that Leyton had nothing to offer.

 

Hockton hit the bar in the first half, Trott heading in the rebound, adjudged to have fouled the keeper.

 

The perfectly weighted through ball by Keister for Hockton’s first was a delight, as was Protheroe’s good work and cross for the second. The keeper should have done better for that one though.

 

Leyton had a chance in the first when our defender (Donovan?) passed straight to their number 5 on six yards. Luckily he shot wide. They also came close during a 5-minute spell in the second half, when they hit the post, but any other result would have been an injustice.

 

Good support from our noisy boys. Overall we probably outnumbered the home crowd.

 

The ground is strange: a lovely modern front office by the road, but when you get inside it is all made of string and scaffolding.

 

A nice touch for the PA man to congratulate Danny at the end.

 

Player ratings:

 

Behcet 7. Competent, not much to do. Edit: just remembered he was lucky not to get sent off after that tackle outside the box. The ref must have judged there was a defender covering.

 

Oates 6. A good game at right back and some runs too.

 

Donovan 6. Some good blocking and headers. Knock a point off if that was him with the suicide pass.

 

Trott 8. Magnificent as ever. A lot of on-pitch coaching. You have to hope that won’t be necessary when players get used to the tactics.

 

Standen 6. Some stray passes in the first half, otherwise ok. Out of position at times, and Knight was not alert enough to cover, meaning we look weak on that side of the park. We will have to tighten up otherwise teams with good right wingers will be able to do us down that channel.

 

Protheroe 7. Great control. Wasted on the right of midfield. He should be in the centre with Keister. We looked better when Yiga came on for Gradley and took the right with Protheroe going more central.

 

Keister 9. Majestic, especially in the second half. Winning headers over 6ft tall opponents, some brilliant through balls, including the best weighted pass you will ever see for the first goal. Just beats Trotty and Hocky for my MOM, partly for providing the comedy moment when his shot from 10 yards cleared the houses in the next street.

 

Gradley 5. People are expecting him to do wonders. I don’t get that. He was pretty competent today; a lot better than some we have seen this season. However not a patch on Protheroe, or in my opinion Deen. He limped off with what may be a recurrence, which would mean we don’t see him next week anyway.

 

Knight 4. Gives the ball away too much. Lack of positional awareness. Sorry but he will need look good against Hendon for me to be convinced. Is he on contract? I would be inclined to look for a replacment.

 

Sesay 3. Silly boy. Shame for all of us who have been calling for him to be given a start.

 

Hockton 8. Hard work, killer finishing, what can you say? If he stays fit next season I predict he will be league top scorer and we will win it.

 

Final words: these are just the opinions of one fan. I don’t want to upset anybody, especially with my comments about Sesay. I know he is a young lad, but I just felt he let himself down today. No doubt other fans will have different opinions.

 

A mid-table finish now?

[michael]

Brilliant report.

Many thanks

 

Pleased for JK after his difficult time in mid season.

 

Must admit i thought he was past his 'sell by date'.

Delighted i may be wrong.

 

Will he be signed for next season and can we get one more great season from the Lion of Leonne

 

 

Thanks

[Cookie]

I,as a staunch fan of Sesay can only agree with you Chris.He shouldnt be coming on in his first full game and getting sucked in like that. This should have been his chance to shine football wise today & thats what he should have been concentrating on. I wasnt at the game so I can only go by comments such as yours but in doing so I have to agree that this is not what I was looking for from him today.

[hangthedj]

In all fairness to Sesay, the smaller strikers in this league seem to get a real kicking upfront and get pushed out of the game. I spoke to Bertie today and he said he hates playing upfront, because he always gets kicked about. More than likely the same with Sesay.

[MargateFan]

Well, never mind, Cookie, the lad was trying very hard, and to be fair, the Leyton boys somewhat engineered the sending off with strategic falls in the right places.

It will be a big consolation to you to know, however, that Dean played very well, feeding some accurate passes up the line, and making his tackles tell. Also that Pat Gradley had a very impressive game, was muscular and strong in midfield, winning the ball quite often, and working well with Lee and Spencer and Danny.

[Cookie]

Two differences of opinions eh from two supporters at the game.Like I say I am going by what has been mentioned thats all.Now I have another version of events or should I say two sides to the story.Oh well,we got a good result and thats what counts.Sesay has always tried I have no worries on that score so in that I can imagine that your comments would be fair.Good on Dean if indeed he did play well.Shame I couldnt be there to witness it.

[Gate Watcher]

Thought although Behcet has very little to do his distribution was top drawer. Quick throws got us moving and playing football from the back. Oates and Standen looked composed and got forward, particularly Oates in the first half who looks a lot fitter now under the new regime, as do all the players. Makes you wonder how bad training was before. Donovan & Trott were solid and RT hard done by with the disallowed goal. I didnt see a problem with it. Keister man of the match, superb. Pinpoint passing, winning headers, tackles and controlled aggression. Protheroe with some wonderful touches and great cross for 2nd goal. Knight seems to be settling down and getting sharper. Gave us width but final ball didnt come off. Sesay was shut out of the game by their bruising defenders so never shone. Unlucky to be sent off. Hockton ran all day, really put the hammer down when he was given the ball through and could have had 3. Put one over then took his two goals very well. Yiga came on to waste a bit of time at the end. Good, solid team performance against a poor side.

[michael]

You can do no more than beat the opposition put in front of you and not concede a goal.

Professional job,well done

 

Just the same, not long ago we were losing to these'very poor sides'

[P.W.]

[color:"blue"]Have to say that I was impressed with Bertie today, he wasn't eligible to play, but was out there working out in the pre-match warm up, then he volunteered to tidy up the training gear to release Mike Flanagan to the changing room for the pre-match briefing.

I also noticed that when Sesay was dismissed he left the dug-out to follow him around to the changing room.

He had a brief chat saying how he was looking forward to next season when he hoped to be back on the left wing and said he didn't enjoy playing in the front line - admitting that his form had suffered recently, but he was helping out the team.

To think when we signed him a few fans from Grays, Braintree & Billericay came on to say he was just with us for the money ... not from what I saw today - great bloke.

[geoff pay]

sesay's dismissal was a disgrace. the boy never made one dirty challenge and it was poor refereeing.

[MargateFan]

Geoff, I would give the referee the first yellow card, as he used his elbow. But after that, the Leyton boys were at him, and you could see that they were trying to wind him up, plus go down easily to see if they could get anything. Trotty and the other lads were doing their best to get him to move away, and keep out of it, but he is relatively young and inexperienced, and has not learnt that art yet. He really was up for making that position work for him, which is one of the things that make him such a good player to watch. Hopefully he will learn from this, and it will make him a more canny player. I do not think he can be blamed too much for it, it was just unfortunate, and he was getting knocked about a bit.

We know that referee, he has upset us before, and a bit later on we were fortunate with the yellow on Behcet.

But what on earth was the goal disallowed for? I could not see anything wrong with it, neither could anyone else I talked to.

[Gate Watcher]

Agree with you Peter about Bertie. Saw him chatting to the fans and having a laugh and a joke with them. Seems a top bloke.

[Chris1]

Quote:

cookie said:
Two differences of opinions eh from two supporters at the game.

True Cookie. I thought Gradley was medium to ok. But then I don't sponsor him.

[BlueGate Alan]

Well I am sponsoring his away shirt, and proud too at that! I think he gives us some extra steel in midfield

[MargateFan]

So who do you sponsor, Chris1?

Why not just accept a difference of opinion, without the cheap shot?

I'm pretty disappointed at that comment.

[BlueGate Alan]

Take no notice June, there are more who think a lot of Pat then there is who dont.

[seasidesteve]

gradley is ok but he is always injured which is a drain on the squad so i recon he will be released

[michael]

Personaly i hope he is given a contract for next year, but obviously like all players, opinions differ

[TonyM]

I would like to see Pat stay,I dont think we have seen the best of him by a long way,ie,injured alot,but if he can get himself sorted he imo would be a asset to the club.

[Chris1]

I don't sponsor, nor am I friendly with any Margate players. My opinions on the forum are purely objective.

 

Gradley had a reasonable game on Saturday, better than the couple of times I have seen him since his long-term injury. I don't rate him as highly as Keister Protheroe or Deen in midfield, and I think it was a mistake to push Protheroe out to the right to make space for Gradley in the centre.

 

He appeared to go off injured without (as far as I saw) taking a knock, suggesting a possible recurrence of his earlier problem.

 

Trotty won't be wanting to carry passengers, so if PG appears again it would suggest the manager has faith in him.

 

I hope he recovers quickly and I wish him well.