We got off to the worst possible start. A ball into the box was poorly defended and was not cleared, resulting in a tussle between McNulty and Holt and the award of a harsh penalty. It was an incident typical of our sloppiness away from home this season and immediately put us under pressure on a crap, bobbly pitch against a team that simply wanted to stop us playing football. In fairness, the players responded well and we dominated possession for the remainder of the half, creating several good chances: two one-on-ones for Norwood which he predictably missed and another for Cole, which he surprisingly ballooned over. While we were the better side, we did not play with the same conviction and confidence as in the recent home matches.
In the second half, the performance went downhill. We seemed to lose confidence, our play became scrappy and disjointed and possession was far more even. We had not seriously tested their keeper prior to the equaliser, but the draw was deserved and, on chances created, we should have won the game.
Individually, I thought Cole was very good, lively and creative, albeit always drifting inside rather than staying out wide. I would offer him a deal to the end of the season as he has something about him and will be a useful squad player. Clarke was excellent again at left back, and Norwood worked really hard, but everybody else was below par. McNulty had his hands full with Holt, Harris looked rusty and was poor and Cook had one of those games where he did not look interested at all and barely contributed. Man of the match was Eddie Clarke by a mile; he again showed a maturity beyond his years.
We missed DMH and Banks today, particularly the latter. In the second half I think he would have got a grip of things in midfield and shown the composure that was lacking. However, even without those two, with more conviction we would have won the game against such poor opposition.
After seeing the league table I still feel quite positive, but an improvement and three points are essential at Woking next week.