Oxford.

[Harry J Allstars]

The time wasting started on 40 minutes.

 

For other half an hour we had ten men and we still looked the better team.

 

This thread is sponsored by parrots because I'm as sick as one and they're going cheap.

[Gordon T]

good day out bar the officials, and result. Nice ground and met some friendly fans on the train, and on the bus to/from the station. Ledgister was my mom out there, some excellent runs, shame he couldn't squeeze in that chance where turley palmed it away.

[Hirsty]

My post is sponsored by Jiffy......as it seems that the officials may have received their fees via the old brown envelope !!

 

...also......how long is allowed for a player to leave the pitch when substituted ? I was expecting speeches, thanking mum & dad, my agent, my family...etc. etc. ( yawn !) from a couple of the Oxford guys as they took that long to leave the pitch....

 

...we wuz robbed Brian !!

 

One good point...a pub in Wheatley called The Railway...nice beer and good food....should have got there earlier as there was a bit of a wait for food......but would recommend it next time we are there....whenever that may be !

 

Cheers

[mikefleet]

mikefleet's post sponsered by his mum and dad haha. what was that all about, for people that didnt go, everytime there was a sub, goal or when the board went up to say how many minutes added on. They were sponsered by some company.

 

lovely lovely stadium, one of the best i have ever been. Could easily be league 1 or maybe championship ground. But does need a stand behind the goal.

 

we played well and hit them corner after corner in the 1st half but the ref and his linesmen were crap and thats being nice.

 

Sodje should of came on earlier and yet again Moore who doesnt jump and moans all the time to the ref when he doesnt get his own way. Hope Bollas is alright for next week maybe Tuesday depending on the injury.

 

Good day out and bring on Northwich next week, nice early start

[eufckev]

A good day out, loved the stadium, friendly staff and stewards, the fans seemed to like a laugh, shame about the f****** officials.

 

We were f****** robbed today, the officials wee f****** useless for us today, do not even know what offside is, especially the bald dick on our side of the pitch. I have never felt to frustrated over officials' decisions. I can take the odd bad decision, but at the end of the game today, I was at the end of my teather.

(I'm sure Jessica and a few others noticed this when I got back on the coach, sorry about the swearing, but it just got to me.)

 

This post is not sponsored by anyone, hence we aren't that sad to have additional time sponsored by whoever.

 

Away from the officials, Oxford played well, we feel hard done by, but it happens. We didn't deserve the loss, maybe a draw would have been more suitable. I feel sorry for Hawkins, should not have been sent off in my opinion. Hope Mark DeBolla recovers, DeBolla looked to have a hamstring injury when he went down. Keep up the good work Gravesend, we played well today, the result does not reflect the performance.

 

Also like to add thanks to those who organised the coach, and to the coach driver, a smooth journey there and back, many thanks.

 

Up the Fleet!

[mikefleet]

Originally Posted By: kevthegnfcfan

Also like to add thanks to those who organised the coach, and to the coach driver, a smooth journey there and back, many thanks.

Up the Fleet!

apart from when we got lost going there, and ended up going round peoples house

[eufckev]

Originally Posted By: mikefleet

Originally Posted By: kevthegnfcfan

Also like to add thanks to those who organised the coach, and to the coach driver, a smooth journey there and back, many thanks.

Up the Fleet!

apart from when we got lost going there, and ended up going round peoples house

Ha! Forgot about that, was good going through the world of "Shameless".
Think the driver saw the stadium but took the wrong short cut through a rough estate.

[eufckev]

http://www.oufc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/MatchReport/0,,10342~35693,00.html

 

Here's a detailed match report, seems not too biased, for once.

[Harry J Allstars]

The wrong turning was taken as we saw a sign saying "Oxford Stadium". This unfortunatly was the sign to the Grayhound Stadium. I did see some "dogs" as we travelled around the chav estate.

[kmj]

To be fair Mike, if you had been driving the coach and saw a sign saying Oxford Stadium, wouldn't you have turned right as the driver did? And even so we still arrived with 1 hour to spare. So I don't think your criticism is justified.

 

As for the game, we were certainly on top in the first 20 minutes, forcing numerous corners. The goal (with the exception of the shot which hit our bar with Lance rooted to the ground) represented Oxfords only real chance of the first half. The header was well taken.

 

We had a few shots on target or go wide but were unsettled by the sending off. I thought that Peter was unlucky to get the first yellow, perhaps fortunate not to be booked a second time when they had the penalty shout, and I wasn't close enough to say regarding the second yellow that was shown.

 

Despite the loss of one player, it didn't show and we took the game to them with some good approach work. Ledgister worked his socks off being required to defend and be an attacking winger. He has the skills, but his shooting didn't match his other areas of ability today.

 

Charlie ran and ran and just found their defence too good without any real support to help him out.

 

Sodje was brought on much too late. It was obvious to most supporters that Luke was not having one of his better days and should have been sustituted on 60 minutes at the latest.

 

McCarthy and Opinel had good games too. I can't understand why Ricketts, the scourge of Oxford at home in November, didn't get a look in.

 

Although the ref and one assistant made some poor mistakes, I couldn't hand on heart say that they were the worst we have encountered this season.

 

We were fortunate that their forwards weren't that good today. They are most effective in defence. Oxford got lucky but were more than matched by the Fleet for most of the game. It was no disgrace to lose 1-0 but a draw would have been a fairer result.

 

Impressive ground in a modern look-alike way. Stewards very helpful. An enjoyable, well organised trip (despite of the result).

 

 

 

[ianjs]

It must have felt like home then, good old Blackbird Leyes.

[FleetFanatic]

Nice ground but a rip-off!

£18 we all knew at the start of the season, with a discout in advance.

£2.90 for a 330ml beer??? 80p for a packet of crips???

 

Anyway.....Lance was badly positioned for Oxford's goal.

What was he doing off his line? In the goal properly and I'm sure he would have turned the ball over.

That one mistake has cost defeat.

 

Legister was a threat whenever he got the ball - why wasn't he given the ball MORE???

 

Talking of 'more', Luke Moore was absent for most of the match, I think Sodje needs to start with Charlie Mac for a few games.

[jc]

Originally Posted By: kevthegnfcfan

We were f****** robbed today

Some errors were made by the referee and linesmen, but they weren't always in Oxford's favour - Hawkins' second half challenge on Odubade looked a penalty to me, and, given the position it was in, Hawkins may well have been shown a straight red, making his two debatable yellows academic. A feature I've noticed at certain Fleet away games this season (Stevenage away being another example) is the travelling support's tendency to get on the officials' back when they make a few early errors, meaning that they start haranguing them even for decisions they get correct.

Hand on heart, although mistakes were made, it's hard to say that they really cost us any points. Ultimately, we didn't really create enough - aside from Long's freak cross that hit the bar, Turley was only stretched a couple of times (i.e. Ledgister's tight-angled shot at the start of the second half, and MacDonald's effort from the other side of the goal later on, when Ledgister put the rebound wide).

The danger when playing Ledgister at right-wing-back in a 3-5-2 is that we can be left exposed down our right side, only too evident in the winning goal. With Hawkins absent on Tuesday, it'll be interesting to see whether Daish sticks with 3-5-2, bringing in James Smith, or goes for a 4-4-2, bringing in Ricketts. I'd certainly favour the latter. Indeed, if De Bolla's missing, a 4-4-2 could allow the return to the starting line-up of Keeling (a promising sub appearance from him yesterday) on the left. Then again, if Ledgister's loan spell has expired, Keeling could even be brought in on the right of either a 3-5-2 or 4-4-2, where he has played before. There are certainly plenty of question marks over Tuesday's line-up - it'll be fascinating to see what it is.

A tad disappointing to lose yesterday, but it shouldn't matter too much in terms of play-off aspirations provided we get back on track on Tuesday.

[Stu M]

Not sure that Ledgister is even on the fringes of a Southend senior place, so I imagine thewre's not much to stop his loan being extended if Liam wants to...?

[Bernard]

Ledgister is certainly a big talent, but he is wasted when Daish plays him at right wing-back. Their goal and their other best chance in the first half were both created by their winger skinning Ledgister. It seemed an odd decision to bring on Coleman for Debolla, rather than bringing on Ricketts and pushing Ledgister into midfield. When Hawkins was sent off, it seemed even more obvious that the defence was totally uneven, but Ricketts still wasn't introduced. Had Daish brought him on earlier, or started with him in a 4-4-2, Moore would surely have been substituted earlier, allowing a strong 2- or 3-pronged attack of Charlie, Sodje and Ledgister. Taking Long off also seemed an odd decision, since he is often the source of our creative attacking play, but, having said that, Keeling put in a solid display when he came on.

 

As it was though, despite the shocking officials, who made awful decisions for both teams, the worst of which was turning down their strong penalty appeal and failing to send Hawkins off as a result, we did not deserve to win and probably didn't deserve a draw either. We had large amounts of possession in the final third at the start of the game and in the second half,but failed to create much in the way of clear-cut chances.

 

This game was always going to be hard and if offered 3 points from two games against Oxford at the start of the season I would have taken them. We are still in a strong place in the league and have many winnable games left this season, starting with Woking on Tuesday.

[Bloodnock]

LD intimated that he would like to extend Ledgisters' loan when interviewed after the Morecambe game.

[Riverview Supporter]

I disagree with some aboutthe penalty decision.

 

To me , it looked a Bobby moore style tackle (remember Brazil 70). Cleanly taking the ball.

 

The officials were poor , but again , nothing too one sided. Decisoins went in favour of both sides.

 

It was obvious though from the start of the second half that their number 12 was going to skin Hawkins time and time again , and with him on a yellow , a change was needed immediatley. Maybe Rickets for him with sacha dropping to right back and ricketts going left.

 

As for the stadium. Looks nice , but too much B*****X. £1.40 for a cuppa. £18 to get in. programme was one of best I had seen though at £2.50. Didnt like the fact they advertise substitutions. But I guess like any club , they need revenue so maybe I have old age setting in.

 

Overall a cracking atmosphere and nothing we couldnt overcome IF we get a play off place.

[Slartibartfast]

Originally Posted By: Riverview Supportter

a change was needed immediatley. Maybe Rickets for him with sacha dropping to right back and ricketts going left.

Why would you play left back/left footed Sasha at right back and right back/right footed Ricketts at left back?

[Riverview Supporter]

sorry meant to drop to left back and ricketts to right back.

 

[Hirsty]

Originally Posted By: FleetFanatic

£2.90 for a 330ml beer??? 80p for a packet of crips???

You should have stopped off en route to "fuel up" FF. There are plenty of villages within a few miles of the ground. As I mentioned in an earlier post we found one, courtesy of the good beer guide, that was excellent. Good grub and freezing cold pints of Stella ( others had the London Pride !) & the nice lady behind the bar even let me keep my Stella glass as a souvenir of my visit to Oxfordshire !! ( nearest I will probably get to Belgium !).

Cheers,