League Two Col U v Rovers

[Ian]

How did he misssssssssssssssssssssssssssss~??????????????????

 

[bigmart]

What a miss, just got to score that

 

[FridayNightMemories]

Looking on the bright side, beat Mansfield and it is still 2 points per game plus FGR didn't win , Exeter and Carlisle lost. Saturday has FGR v Bolton, Morecambe v Cheltenham Exeter v Salford and Carlisle v Cambridge. Everything to play for.

 

[Rockfords Love Child]

A crazy game and a Jeckyll and Hyde performance but you have to give the players credit for battling back from two down. We will only know at the end of the season whether that is a point gained, or two lost.

I thought we paid for a ragged fifteen minutes either side of half time, although defensively we did not look secure all night, probably because of the changes at the back. However, if Lewis had scored his free header in the first half we would probably have won the game comfortably. In the first thirty minutes we looked fresher and played better football than we have for a while.

The positives tonight are that we showed the character to take something from the game when we were missing numerous key players, and the performances of Kirby and Crawford, who both looked quite sharp when they came off the bench. We also scored a goal from open play for the first time in a while. I thought Ridehalgh and Monthe did OK individually, but the organisation at the back was sorely lacking at times.

Man of the match, Liam Feeney.

If we win on Saturday we will almost certainly move into the top three.

 

[aldoes mustache]

wow what a crazy game could have been 5-5, glad Jay has got off the mark he needs to get a few more, Kirby should have bagged that chance, get some of the lads back on sat and move on

 

[frenchrover]

Great fight back, great effort ...a game in which we would have been worthy winners, but boy oh boy do we need a competent striker while Vaughan is out.

 

[Sparky]

Defensively shocking tonight. They scored two but had a number of other good chances. Is age catching up with Clarke who has been excellent all season? On the flip side so did we and as RLC says if Lewis scored first half I think we would have won the game.

Work to be done on the training ground on the defensive basics. Full backs stop crosses coming in and centre halves marking their men and getting goal side. It’s not rocket science

 

[bigmart]

Why on earth did KH switch the full backs second half, we were literally all over the place couldn't stop the crosses and they were finding unmarked players, lack of communication.

 

[Rockfords Love Child]

Why on earth did KH switch the full backs second half, we were literally all over the place couldn't stop the crosses and they were finding unmarked players, lack of communication.

Yes, did not make any sense. Can only imagine he wanted the full backs delivering in swinging crosses to Nugent and Lewis.

 

[Sparky]

What do we think of Nugent tonight? Only 45 mins but still offered very little in my opinion.

 

[Rockfords Love Child]

What do we think of Nugent tonight? Only 45 mins but still offered very little in my opinion.

A few nice touches around the box, but still not convincing.

 

[Rockfords Love Child]

Defensively shocking tonight. They scored two but had a number of other good chances. Is age catching up with Clarke who has been excellent all season? On the flip side so did we and as RLC says if Lewis scored first half I think we would have won the game.

Work to be done on the training ground on the defensive basics. Full backs stop crosses coming in and centre halves marking their men and getting goal side. It’s not rocket science

In fairness to Clarke, I think he was out on his feet tonight. He is by no means past it, but he is 39 and they had a few pacey youngsters that ran him on occasions. I think he just needs a rest like a number of other players.

The defensive problems for me were more to do with the changes in the back four, and the issue with the full backs Mart mentions.

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

My usual positive spin. It was not a rival. No apparent injuries. Just one booking. And a battling performance, finishing on a high. Shame Kirby missed near the end, as they would have all been on cloud nine.

 

[Boz]

I suffered from patchy service from Ifollow so missed the Spearing goal . Despite hitting the post twice, plus the Lewis effort straight at their keeper, Colchester had the greater number of decent chances than us and against a more clinical opponent, we won't get away so lightly. Defensively we were at 6s and 7s, while it's a rare day when Monthe's distribution is better than Clarke's and Khan seemed off the pace again, unsure he's fully fit. I was a bit puzzled by the second set of subs, taking Danny Lloyd off after he'd just scored didn't make much sense, while I'd rather Burton had come on than Kirby, who again didn't make much impact and having done all the hard work with the injury time attempt, failed to convert it. Crawford did contribute positively in his best outing for Rovers since joining on loan. Agree that Nugent still hasn't settled yet and it's unlikely that he'll contribute more than the odd goal or assist in the run-in.

 

[Rockfords Love Child]

Kirby did fine when he came on. His first touch which led to the chance at the end was great and if he had scored the script from a lot of our supporters would be very different. Fine margins.

People should get off a young player's back.

 

[Boz]

Kirby did fine when he came on. His first touch which led to the chance at the end was great and if he had scored the script from a lot of our supporters would be very different. Fine margins.

People should get off a young player's back.

So apart from creating but missing the chance at the end, what did he actually do? There were one or two nice touches, which didn't come to anything and an impetuous challenge in their penalty area, which gave away a free-kick, when we were pressing. If he'd scored, then yes, he'd have been a hero for the night, but sadly he didn't. Danny Lloyd would have his tail up after scoring the penalty, so couldn't see the sense of hooking him at that point?

 

[Rockfords Love Child]

So apart from creating but missing the chance at the end, what did he actually do? There were one or two nice touches, which didn't come to anything and an impetuous challenge in their penalty area, which gave away a free-kick, when we were pressing. If he'd scored, then yes, he'd have been a hero for the night, but sadly he didn't. Danny Lloyd would have his tail up after scoring the penalty, so couldn't see the sense of hooking him at that point?

He did pretty much exactly the same as Crawford. Gave us more control in the middle of the pitch, showed some nice touches, moved well and was happy to receive the ball in tight areas.

Oh, and also managed to get into the six yard box when it mattered at the end, something our other midfielders have not been doing for weeks in the absence of Vaughan.

I did not say anything about Lloyd.

 

[Boz]

I did not say anything about Lloyd.

It was Kirby who replaced Lloyd though

 

[Rockfords Love Child]

It was Kirby who replaced Lloyd though

That is Hill's decision, I can only judge Kirby by what he contributes.

 

[Sparky]

Both Kirby and Crawford did nothing special but neither did anything wrong and they did show some decent touches. Can’t be easy getting 20 minutes here and there. I would have kept Lloyd on but we can’t complain getting a point after being 0-2 down.

It was the defence that concerned me but hopefully a one off. As RLC says Clarke must be exhausted. I was just watching it!