Eastleigh FC (THTS) The Return Flight to Sunderland Thread

[jdmckbee]

Both the double-barrellers had equally poor/ineffective games last night. Not sure how RHJ managed to last the game without being hooked.

[erichitchmo]

Here’s the DSH view…

http://www.downhillsecondhalf.co.uk/Art ... icleID=323

[Bee_Forever]

Yesterday was exactly the kind of win which makes good seasons.

We had played really badly in the last two games and with only 14 available senior pros Brennan had no choice but to give his returning players 90 minutes in treacherous conditions which he would not have done otherwise.

O'Donkor - subbed because he plays a high impact game for 70 minutes max then has to be replaced.
Coker - Ageing diabetic who struggles to complete two games a week
Collinge - Out for 3 months and could barely move from minute 80 on.

They had to be subbed. We had no choice unless we agreed with Eastleigh to make the second half a walking football match. Add to this:-

Kabamba - Went down with cramp and struggled to get through the 90
Brunt - Should really be a cricketer as he disappeared from the pitch as soon as it started raining
Hall-Johnson - fitness is iffy and he was struggling towards the end. He would have been hoicked if Collinge was not virtually immobile
Maguire Drew - Not the sub you want coming on when defending a 2-1 in atrocious conditions but when he is the only available senior pro it is hobson's choice. He was anonymous and wasteful. Again.

And yet, and yet, we were absolutely brilliant for 40 minutes we crowded the box made it impossible for them to get out and should really have been 3 or 4 up. The defensive naivety of their goal was shockingly poor and you could see the players lose some confidence after that. Then the conditions and fitness issues kicked in to make it harder still and we were in a proper old scrap with a team battling for survival. But do you know what. We won it.

Yes you can be negative and say "we were terrible in the second half", but the truth is we had a top quality keeper keeping a dangerous side at bay and the players kept going as best they could under the circumstances. Special praise to Gorman who is absolutely born for these kind of fights.

Hopefully when we get Keeley, Oluwu, Wynter, Stevens, Pritchard, Stead, Hooper back we will be stronger but for now I am to use a Brennanism "Proud" of the fight the boys showed last night.

[EastBarnetFan]

Great first half (lovely goals) and forgettable second.

Pleased for Walker and all the returning players, seems like the squad is coming back together at the right time. A couple more wins will do it.

Feels odd at the lack of excitement despite being second. Maybe it's the inconsistent run since November which has dampened the spirits and/or the poor home crowd and atmosphere that doesn't quite give it the feel of a team so high up. Would there be more good vibes if this was all happening at South Underhill? Potentially.

Do in Dorking on Saturday and we can start to beelieve.

[ETBee]

Yet again we only used one ineffective tactic - get the ball to the left wing every time and try to cross into the box. Just like at Woking. We must have tried this 25+ times and always without success. I don't think either of our goals came as a result of a cross from the left wing. So often Coker received the ball and was joined by Brunt plus AN Other and they just got bogged down in the corner. Even when a player had the ball in a central position just outside the box with a great chance to shoot they passed out to the wing. RHJ was completely ignored by the mid-field when he had bags of room. In the end we were lucky to win the game.

As for JMD, he was a disaster.

Great to see the classy players returning which is terrific as long as DB uses them effectively.

[hoofer2]

JMD with the worst substitute performance I’ve seen in my life.

This.Unbelievably bad! Hopefully Freeman & more importantly Pritch will be back on Saturday.

You never witnessed James Elmes cameo then?

[pgbee]

JMD with the worst substitute performance I’ve seen in my life.

This.Unbelievably bad! Hopefully Freeman & more importantly Pritch will be back on Saturday.

You never witnessed James Elmes cameo then?

Or Steve Barnes..

[Bee_Forever]

Funnily enough I thought that with our second half enforced changes a a full on Mike Bassett-4-4-2 may have helped with JMD and Brunt wide and Gorman and Hartigan sitting in. We kind of saw this at the end but if you have basically Gorman and Hartigan as the only effective midfield players then finding a way to get more solid elsewhere sees practical.

Sent from my SM-S916B using Tapatalk

[jerroll]

JMD with the worst substitute performance I’ve seen in my life.

This.Unbelievably bad! Hopefully Freeman & more importantly Pritch will be back on Saturday.

You never witnessed James Elmes cameo then?

Or Steve Barnes..

The Firestarter!! christened because John Still said he was going to set us alight!! Did didly squat for us!

[WillesdenBee]

Yet again we only used one ineffective tactic - get the ball to the left wing every time and try to cross into the box. Just like at Woking. We must have tried this 25+ times and always without success. I don't think either of our goals came as a result of a cross from the left wing.

Our first goal quite literally came from what you’re talking about.

[Tuesds]

JMD with the worst substitute performance I’ve seen in my life.

This.Unbelievably bad! Hopefully Freeman & more importantly Pritch will be back on Saturday.

You never witnessed James Elmes cameo then?

Or Steve Barnes..

The Firestarter!! christened because John Still said he was going to set us alight!! Did didly squat for us!

I thought Steve Barnes was underused! The worst substitute appearance for Barnet ever was Matt Briggs’s vs Port Vale (h) in 2018. Summed up Graham Westley’s tenure.

Chuffed with the win last night. Didn’t create many goalscoring chances even when we were dominating territory and possession in the first half. But we got it done! Two really good goals and some good individual performances including those by Gorman, Collinge and Walker.

[Berlinbee]

I thought the general impression of JMD was he’s a good player who has a dangerous delivery on him? It seemed everyone was waxing lyrical about him a few weeks ago, Brennan included.

[John Hunt]

Coker - Ageing diabetic who struggles to complete two games a week

Good man playing professional sport with this condition. It must take a lot of dedication and self control.
A modern day Gary MAbbutt. I hope his efforts inspire any younger supporters we have who are diabetic to enjoy sport.

[11bee717]

I thought the general impression of JMD was he’s a good player who has a dangerous delivery on him? It seemed everyone was waxing lyrical about him a few weeks ago, Brennan included.

Has those attributes but not someone to bring on when you need to close out a game!

[jerroll]

I thought the general impression of JMD was he’s a good player who has a dangerous delivery on him? It seemed everyone was waxing lyrical about him a few weeks ago, Brennan included.

He is good footballer but doesn't suit our formation, he is a old fashioned winger not a mythical no10 as is Luke Freeman would be much better suited to a 433 or 442 not the current wing back formation.