Dover match

[JFW]

Any news of team or score?

[JimGNFC]

Try here:

 

http://www.doverathletic.com/index.php

 

Click on "live text" in the pop-up window to read the action as it happens!

[BustaGut]

Lost again 3-2

By there report fleet played very badly <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

[Hempstead Gaz]

Difficult to comment without seeing the Fleet team, but I hope it was again largely triallists.

It that is the case then clearly many of them are not up to scratch and LD is back to square 1.

If a few more first teamers played, then we should have got a result --- or at least played some better football, which it seems from the Dover text service we did not.

[BustaGut]

There report

 

90:00 - Full Time

All over. The scoreline flattered Gravesend! Whites were comfortable winners - but an own goal and a goalkeeping howler got Gravesend back into the game after Chris Chase's double and a Bradley Spice goal puts Dover in charge. Fleet fans will be a bit concerned I am sure, especially after losing to Folkestone at the weekend. Whites, on the other hand, put in a good shift and throughly deserved to win. We lost count of the subs at the end as Steve Nolan gave many younger players from the reserves a little runout.

[Drummer Scott]

Team was:

Matt Reid, (Trialist from West Ham)

Peter Hawkins,

Sacha Opinel,

Stacey Long,

Daniel Brown,

Paul McCarthy,

Shane Garrick,

Rob Quinn,

Jefferson Louis,

Luke Moore,

John Keeling.

 

We had a few first teamers out there last night. Opinel looked good. Jefferson Louis once again looked very poor.

 

Shane Garrick was quite impressive.

 

Attendance was just over 300,

with a dissapointing 7 fleet fans!

[Gally221263]

Did the shirts worn by the team last evening have a sponsors name on?

[Hempstead Gaz]

4 pre-season games to go, none of which look easy, and all look likely to be "competitive".

Eastbourne looks like it it the last chance to trial new players, I think we need the final 3 games to bond our best side.

Any news on Holloway and MacDonald?

If Holloway is still recovering from injury, and his contract is due for renewal in August, I hope, a) that he signs and young Mott is up to being a Conference keeper.

Just out of interest, why does it appear that so many players are on holiday at the same time as when pre-season training and friendlies are happening?

Is it not possible to book a summer vacation to suit the needs of the job, ie holiday in May, June or early July??

I have to, and I guess most supporters have limited scope at work to book holidays.

[Hempstead Gaz]

Quote:

Drummer Scott said:
Team was:

We had a few first teamers out there last night. Jefferson Louis once again looked very poor.

One of the few players to get 2 trial games.
If he plays against Eastbourne, I reckon he will be offered a contract.

[Jimmy]

The team are wearing old kits for the friendlies.

 

Against Folkestone it was the "Gravesend Reporter" endorsed red kit.

[Dovorian]

An unbiased view from a Whites fan...

 

Disappointed by the lack of Gravesend fans there last night.

 

Matt Reid - Very young and inexperienced. Was at fault for the third certainly and perhaps the 2nd. Made a good stop near the end to deny a fourth.

 

Peter Hawkins - Slow start, beaten by our left sided players on numerous occasions, losing Chase for the first goal. Grew in stature. Excellent 2nd half. Looks comfortable on the ball.

 

Sacha Opinel - Started slowly, giving away possession almost every time he got the ball in the first 20 mins. Was decent from then on, with several excellent diagonal balls. However, made a huge blunder to lose possession twice by the corner flag to gift Dover a chance to attack the Fleet goal.

 

Stacey Long - Fairly anonymous. Keister and Spiller dominated the midfield in the 1st half.

 

Daniel Brown - Good start to the game with several commanding headers. Not so certain with his feet but looks a good prospect. Had to cover for McCarthy 1st half.

 

Paul McCarthy - Woeful 1st half. Out-sprinted by Wilkins every time and lost his man constantly at corners. Different player in the 2nd half - Wilkins had gone off though. Cool under pressure, commanding in the tackle and confident on the ball.

 

Shane Garrick - Only good Fleet player in the 1st half. Worried Dover's left back several times. Had a shot well saved by Smith.

 

Rob Quinn - Looked comfortable in possession but had little effect in the middle, where Dover dominated for much of the evening.

 

Jefferson Louis - Terrible in the 1st half. Woeful touch and passing. Improved slightly in the 2nd half, producing one magical turn but wasted the chance with a sliced shot.

 

Luke Moore - Lively and committed. Ran more than any other Fleet player. Always a danger. Had a good strike tipped over in the first half and pressured our keeper to score your 2nd goal.

 

John Keeling - One nice turn and bit of trickery in the first half but very small and easy to push off the ball. Was a slight threat in the 2nd half but was a peripheral figure.

 

Petrovic and Ross Smith looked accomplished when they came on.

 

From what I saw last night you will need to bring in some better triallists to complete your squad ahead of the season. Only Garrick and Brown looked good enough.

 

A lack of concentration, effort and commitment seemed the downfall in the 1st half. The performances of Louis and McCarthy were particularly surprising.

 

It will be interesting to view from afar how Daish's squad takes shape and performs this season.

 

Good luck.

 

 

P.S. Don't ever get complacent about being in the top tier of non-league football.

[Hempstead Gaz]

Many thanks for your honest appraisal Dovorian. As you said, we need a fair number of quality players to complete our squad, which many of do not expect until well into the league campaign.

The performance of Louis comes as no surprise. He was lacklustre at best last time he was with us on loan.

I said (and got blasted) last year that MacCarthy was too slow; nothing you have said fills me with the confidence that he has or ever will gain the extra yard of pace needed to compete at Conference level.

Glad to see Dover, like Margit, are staging something of a revival having been too long in the doldrums.

 

Good luck to the Lilywhites as well for the forthcoming season.

[Stu M]

According to the Dover site, we had the Jackson Five on the subs bench and some bloke called Phil!

 

http://www.doverathletic.com/05/showmatchreport.php?date=2006-07-18

[Andy Y. (G&NFC)]

Nice to see a view of our team "from the other side." Much appreciated Dovorian, and good luck for the new season.

 

As its our second pre-season game, and very much a trial, I wouldn't be particularly worried about the results of these, and maybe the next two games. Our lack of depth is a bit of a concern but as we are pretty short of cash, I would expect us to be looking at players currently on trial elsewhere right up to the start of the season.

 

C.G you were never "blasted" about pointing out McCarthy's lack of pace, it would take a blind man to see otherwise! What you seem to fail to appreciate is his overall contribution to the team in terms of experience and positional sense, as he will adapt to the players he is alongside when he is used to them. If you seriously expect a man of his age to be running around like a nutter....... think again!

 

As for Jefferson Louis? Well we know he can do a job, BUT there has always been a question mark over his commitment. Maybe L.D thinks he can be the one to change him? Good luck to him if thats the case as I think he will need it!

 

Personally, I wouldn't mind shedloads of trialists at the next game, because for every 10-20 we discard, we might just unearth another another Jimmy Bullard. (As long as Dartford don't mind us nicking another good player!)

[seaviewred]

Please do not offer him a contract,have witnessed his toal ineptitude at both folkestone and dover and feel it would be a massive mistake if LD brings him back. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/angry.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/angry.gif" alt="" />

[Drummer Scott]

Quote:

Gally221263 said:
Did the shirts worn by the team last evening have a sponsors name on?

We appeared lastnight to be waering shirts with no sponsor on them at all. Whether they were the new shirts on or not I don't know.

[FleetFanatic]

Quote:

BustaGut said:
Fleet fans will be a bit concerned I am sure, especially after losing to Folkestone at the weekend.

Not at all, friendlies mean absolutely nothing, results-wise.

[JimGNFC]

Agreed. Friendly results count for nothing.

 

As money seems to be tight, Liam's got it spot-on in my opinion at present. His giving trialists a game in the hope of un-earthing a couple of gems, hopefully as good and committed as Ross Smith that won't be costing a fortune in wages.

 

Hopefully, we will see the "real" Fleet side for the coming season with a couple of friendlies to go and hopefully with a sponsor on their shirts.

[Hempstead Gaz]

Quote:

Andy Y. (G&NFC) said:
Nice to see a view of our team "from the other side." Much appreciated Dovorian, and good luck for the new season.

As its our second pre-season game, and very much a trial, I wouldn't be particularly worried about the results of these, and maybe the next two games. Our lack of depth is a bit of a concern but as we are pretty short of cash, I would expect us to be looking at players currently on trial elsewhere right up to the start of the season.

C.G you were never "blasted" about pointing out McCarthy's lack of pace, it would take a blind man to see otherwise! What you seem to fail to appreciate is his overall contribution to the team in terms of experience and positional sense, as he will adapt to the players he is alongside when he is used to them. If you seriously expect a man of his age to be running around like a nutter....... think again!

As for Jefferson Louis? Well we know he can do a job, BUT there has always been a question mark over his commitment. Maybe L.D thinks he can be the one to change him? Good luck to him if thats the case as I think he will need it!

Personally, I wouldn't mind shedloads of trialists at the next game, because for every 10-20 we discard, we might just unearth another another Jimmy Bullard. (As long as Dartford don't mind us nicking another good player!)

The problem with Jefferson is that he starts well at a new club, but then his performance and application tails off very quickly.
This is perhaps why he is becoming a "journeyman" that nobody wants to keep.
Can't see that he poses much competition to the forwards that we already have on our books, so perhaps money would be better spent on a quality right back and another midfielder.
As for my thoughts on MacCarthy, I still stand by my opinion that his lack of pace will cost us more dearly than his positional skill will save us.
Craig Wilkins is no spring chicken, yet, according to reports, he outpaced Mac the whole first half.

[JustinAllen]

You current situation reminds me of our last season in the Conference.

 

We had plans to go full-time (I know you've turned full-time) and completely ripped up our side, which was never going to get relegated.

 

We got stuffed in most of the pre-season games as we brought loads of new lads in and made a terrible start to the season, which we never recovered from.

 

Gary Bellamy had all these great ideas of playing attacking football and brought in stacks of new players - and it didn't work.

 

I always believe a team should never just be ripped up. So many new faces joining your club this summer may not be a great idea. It takes time for people to gel. Our misfortunes have always coincided with chopping and changing - and having a huge player turnover.

 

I think you should have built it up gradually - and slowly but surely go full-time, easing players in to replace those part-timers who ease out.

 

Might be talking nonsense. But, as I say, we were in an almost identical position to you the season we went down! If only .... if only ...

 

Anyway, with a bit of luck, we'll be back up with you guys in the not too distant future. It's hell in the lower reaches of non-league football for clubs like ours. I hope you never drop down to our level, rather we'll rise again.

 

Good luck guys! Hope all goes well.

 

As Dovorian states earlier on, never take your Conference status for granted.