Stevenage Game

[Richard C]

How we havent won that I will never know.

 

But there wre so many positives it almost doesnt matter.

 

Thought Hawkins was my MOTM although Ross, Macca, Long, Charlie all had blinders. And Purcell was good.

 

Just a shame we couldnt get the 'deserved' 3 points. Good atmosphere and plenty of new faces including about 15 footballers i know from the Swanscombe area - can only help boost the crowd and spread the word!

[hopeful]

who ever you support, THEIR keeper was the man of the match,helped of course by luke moores poor finishing.

[Slartibartfast]

Purcell did very well particularly in the first half, the only complaint I would have is that both he and Slatts get sucked in past the middle of the pitch when the play is on their far side. This makes us very narrow and compresses the play which makes it harder for everyone to find space also when we lose possession we are vulnerable down the flanks to a crossfield pass.

Hard to argue against Hawkins, Macca, Charlie or Purcell for man of the match but one thing is for sure the whole defence play a lot better with Macca than without him....actually that should probably be the whole team.

Taking the biased hat off the man of the match was obviously Stevenages keeper, made us look silly at corners, cracking save from Ross in the first half and three or four excellent saves in the second half. Top performance.

[Santa]

Great team performance today, I thought we played some really good football and if it wasnt for their keeper who made several excellent saves and with a bit more composure in front of goal we could (and should) have won easily.

 

Good to see Purcell get a start and play well running hard at their defence and I though Ledgister showed some nice touches when he came on.

 

Crowd on the up (although Stevenage claim to have broght 300-400 ??), good atmosphere and comprehensively out-played one of the form teams in the league (until Tuesday anyway).

 

Well done lads.

 

Yes we were a bit leaky down our right.

[DA11]

toally agree with Slarti. What a team performance. Hawkins was def my MOM. Total passion and committment. I still wonder what we would be like with Charlie Mac feeding off a big front man. Corners do prove a problem as we haven't got the height. Their keeper what a nutter. Best goalkeeping display I've seen for a long time. All in all congrats lads you done us proud and hopefully attracted some new faces after a performance like that.

[Santa]

"yea he was excellent 2 day!best keeper in the league by far! the amount of saves he made in the first half n second half was unbelieve, the fleet cuf of easily won the game 2 day. we didnt reli create many chances either. a draw was fair i think"

 

An enlightening and well rounded analysis of his keeper's and his teams performance today taken from the Stevenage forum...glad to see we were worth a draw. He was right about his keeper though, today he was probably the best keeper in the conference.

 

 

[Alan W (GNFC)]

Originally Posted By: hopeful

who ever you support, THEIR keeper was the man of the match,helped of course by luke moores poor finishing.

To blame Luke is a little OTT, I feel - yes he did miss 1 gilt edged chance , one on one, in the second half, but I dont recall any other clear cut chances for him.

Thought like others that it was an excellent team effort today, just lacking that winning goal - but if we play like that every week, we'll win far more than we lose, and would stand every chance of making the play offs.

Only thing I couldnt believe today was comments being made by a few near the good old tea hut, in the 1st half regarding Purcell. One, in particular was "hes not Conference standard"!! Thought he did really well today & was unlucky not to score with the effort that hit the post. Lets face it - he's still young and it was his first start for the team - he certainly had the right back, backing off and panicking more often than not when he ran at him. Yes, he's got things to learn, but given a chance, I'm sure, based on today, that he will do so. We should also remember that he was probably playing a slightly unfamiliar role today as wing back rather than pure midfield.

The biggest problem today was Slatts seemingly struggling to cope with covering defensively on the right. Luckily Stevenage didnt really take full advantage, other than the 1 occasion when they scored.

[DA11]

I agree. I thought Moore had a good game and can't be blamed at all. How many one on ones do you see missed in the Premiership. Plus he was under a bit of pressure from their defender.

[Harry J Allstars]

Luke Moore made the goal for Charlie and for anyone that hasn't seen his goal, along with the two he made for Charlie against Exeter register to Conference football.tv now. People forgot he is still young and still has a lot to learn. I noticed, although it's little consolation, that he was running at pace and managed to get it in the centre of the goal. As I said little consolation, but he didn't miss, it was saved. Running at pace and under pressure with the hopes of 1,200 people backing you and your own adrenaline pumping and ego at a high with his family in the stand, the guy deserves our applause.

 

We won last week against Exeter because of Luke Moore. Others played their part, Cronin had a fine performance and got my man of the match, but we got the goals because of Lukes closing down.

 

 

As for today unfortunate we didn't win, we definitely deserved to but positives to take are when we get a large crowd we always manage to spoil it by playing poorly, today we didn't so well done lads. We've also equalled our points total for last season. If anyone conected with the team is reading this tell the lads that we are all fully behind you and think you have it in you to make the play offs. Personnally I'm am chuffed that I gave up the Premeirship for you lot so thank you.

 

Didn't hear the booing of George Purcell but you should come and stand down the other end of the stand Alan. Half way through the second half we gave George a round of applause for some fantastic play.

[Alan W (GNFC)]

Wasnt booing Harry - just a couple of idiots making stupid comments half an hour into the game, just because he overdid it a bit on a couple of occasions. I think the applause he got when he went off, and the praise he got from Stacey in his interview n RK was far more reflective of supporters and players thoughts on him.

[kmj]

I am disappointed that we didn't collect all 3 points in a game in which we had the majority of the possession and chances. However, this was a thoroughly entertaining game and at least we gained one point against a good side that we seldom take any points off. Despite this game hanging in the balance until the final whistle, we still had home supporters leave before the end!Weird behaviour!

 

I thought the team as a whole played very well. I agree with all the candidates mentioned for MOTM. Personally, for his skill, commitment and willingness to get stuck in, I would have awarded it to Charlie.He never stopped running. I thought George did well enough to earn another starting place next Saturday. He put in some good balls and was unlucky not to score.

 

My one concern was the cavalier way as a team, no one could be bothered to mark Jon Nutter (No.3). On countless occasions in the second half he received a pass and didn't have a Fleet player within 10 or 15 yards of him. His wing play was very worrying for us. Given Liam's poor tactics in failing to combat Borough's wingers in the away fixture, I would have thought that he would at least have learnt his lesson. We are often vulnerable to fast and accurate wingers (see Stevenage's goal today for an example) and this problem just hasn't been addressed. Any suggestions out there?

[Slartibartfast]

It does seem surprising that since we are, in theory anyway, playing five across the middle we often seem to lack width both in attack and defense.

Personally I prefer to see an attacking player in the wide positions like Keeling or Purcell rather than the more defensive option like Opinel. Obviously that leaves us more vulnerable in defense but I go to the match to be entertained and I would far rather watch an exciting game than a dour defensive one.

The good news today was that we played some very good football and rarely resorted to the big hoof.

Hopefully Ricketts and Keeling will be back soon and I don't know if Coleman was injured or just not picked but it speaks volumes for the squad that Liam has put together that we can play like that with three quality players missing.

 

[Stu M]

Originally Posted By: Alan W (GNFC)

Only thing I couldnt believe today was comments being made by a few near the good old tea hut, in the 1st half regarding Purcell. One, in particular was "hes not Conference standard"!!

They really are tossers who clearly have no understanding of the game. Thought Purcell had a great game, especially considering he hadn't started once this season and is young and was up against a decent side. One or two of his runs at the defender failed, but plenty worked, and to have the confidence to do that is to his credit. These moaners really do need to wake up to what's going on at the club and think back to the days they had no-one better than Clint Gooding or Glenn Billeness as regular first-teamers.

[Graham S]

Wonder if our tea hut friends went home talking about what a great game it was? Silly me. Let me guess: "Same old Northfleet. Can't score."

 

Best game for entertainment & quality I have seen in ages. We played most of the passing football and must have won the stats game hands down on shots on target & corners. However, Stevenage always had the pace & penetration, especially down the left flank, to have won it, so despite our 2nd half dominance, my heart was always in my mouth when they gained possession. Their keeper was superb of course, as everyone has said.

 

I will post my usual amateurish video clips later. Taking me ages to sort out which to upload, there are so many of the Fleet in attack - at least 4 times as many as I normally have to choose from.

 

Graham S

[mikefleet]

saw george purcell last night in amadeus and normally speak to him when i see him there. Along with sam groombridge who is now at thamesmead.

 

You couldnt wipe the smile off george's face he was so happy to start and nearly scoring when he hit the post.

 

talking about there keeper and in the changing room after they couldnt belive how he had saved all them shots, ross, bolla, charlies, lukes, stacy the list is endless.

 

great interview with stacy just listened to it.

 

bring on rushden next week

 

 

[Bill Kent]

I agree with you Harry obout Purcell. I thought he played extremely well and well deserved his place in the side on Saturdays showing. As for any anti Purcell remarks, I heard none at all, other than encouragement and applause for his display. Well done him.

 

[jc]

Originally Posted By: Slartibartfast

Taking the biased hat off the man of the match was obviously Stevenages keeper, made us look silly at corners, cracking save from Ross in the first half and three or four excellent saves in the second half. Top performance.

Indeed - and how pleasant to hear certain individuals behind the Northfleet end goal rewarding Julian for his fine display with some homophobic abuse. Technically this could (and should) be considered an offence, just like racial abuse, worthy of ejection from the ground, but safety in numbers would unfortunately make the stewards reluctant to attempt this even if they wanted to.

An exhilarating game yesterday. All above suggestions for man of the match are good ones, but Charlie just shaded it for me. Fantastic levels of commitment, shown best in his tackling back, and unlucky not to add to his goal tally in the second half. His ability to create half a yard of space for a shot when with his back to goal, so wonderfully evident in the equalizer, is a vital attribute to our side.

[mikefleet]

another player that doesnt always get the credit that is due, and just turns up and plays his best PETER HAWKINS, bloody superb yesterday. calm, colective on the ball was really good. Wasnt too sure of him when he 1st came to the club but this season when he has played he has put 110% into it and i like to say well done and keep it going

[DA11]

I thought their keeper took the abuse really well. You can't start throwing people out for giving a bit of banter. Think back to Bedford away 2002. Its all part of the game. You can't encourage new people to come to the fleet and then threaten to chuck them out if they are suspected of enjoying themselves. Thought the funniest shout came from the half way line to their no.4 "Are you Peter Crouchs love child" Even he laughed.

 

Lets keep the banter going. Its good to smile.

[DA11]

Totally agree with Hawkins. Turning out to be my favourite. He's got that steel in his eyes and I like the way he always questions the lino decisions. Top drawer.