Will await reports but sounded a bit like recent performances I.e plenty of decent football but a real lack of cutting edge along with poor defending including an apparent howler from fonners has cost us.
Just about spot on. For endeavour alone, we deserved something from the game today: unfortunately we did not have the quality in the final third to go with our effort and can't complain at the result. We had long periods of decent approach play which broke down on the edge of the 18 yard box, whereas Orient created several presentable chances from very little of the ball.
I think the absence of / injuries to Koumas and Wallace have killed us in recent games. Although some of our expert fans have been saying how much better Power is than Wallace in recent weeks, Max just does not have the same impact in the final third. They are our two most talented players and without them we have been found wanting creatively.
The tactics in the first half today were spot on in my view: we played 4-5-1 for the majority of the half and basically tried to frustrate Orient, which we succeeded in doing. However, typical of the season so far, we then conceded a sloppy goal from a corner just before half time and undid all our good work.
In the second half McMahon brought on Kirby and Rowe and as a result we saw a lot more of the ball in midfield. However, we had absolutely no cutting edge, with Kirby in particular given the ball in good positions on a number of occasions, but rather than playing an imaginative pass or attacking the full back, he simply cut inside and into traffic. In all honesty, I could not really see us scoring despite our considerable efforts, but Fonners' awful clearance which gifted them the second just about summed the season up: a fitting nail in the coffin.
I agree with Sparky's comments regarding Stockton. By putting two up front for the last twenty minutes we could have at least put balls in the box and fought for scraps. As it was, we created next to nothing. What is so frustrating is that had we even got one point from the last three away games, our fate would still be in our own hands. The away form under John Mac has been unacceptable.
My gut feeling is that Crewe and Notts will get the results they need next week and we are heading down. Death by a thousand cuts in a truly disastrous season.