Rovers v Chester

[Boz]

A little surprised that Kirby who only resumed training this week straight back in. Bench looks a bit unbalanced, keeper, defender and essentially 3 wide players.

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

Ouch. Seems like we didn't show up in the second half but the sending off must have been a turning point. I await the reports.
Fortunately our nearest rivals all had a worse day - except for FGR.

 

[Mal]

and Lincoln who "did a Chester"

 

[Boz]

Briefly.
We took the lead after a good Chester spell and they hit the bar before h/t. Deserved to be ahead but the 2 goal margin flattering.
Tollit dive incident in front of JK. From a distance it looked harsh but those closer to the action thought it was a dive and very stupid if true.
The lack of midfield options meant we were conceding ground even before the sending off.
Other iffy decisions from the referee may have gone in our favour, though need to see again.
More when I get home

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

A very disappointing end to the game, but over the ninety minutes you would have to say a draw was a fair result. Last season's matches against Chester did not feel like derby games, but today's certainly did, a feisty, end to end affair with both teams going for the victory. It was actually a very entertaining game until the red card. Going forward, I thought we played good football and had a bit more quality than the opposition. However, defensively I thought we looked uncomfortable for large periods of the game, and struggled to deal with the pace and directness of Alabi and Richards. I thought the problem was more a lack of protection from midfield than the centre backs, but all that said, with eleven men on the pitch I think we still would have edged the match. I think you have to give a lot of credit to a much improved Chester side for coming here with two strikers and having a real go at us.

In the first half the game ebbed and flowed, with both teams having spells on top, but Rovers generally creating the better chances. Cook and Mangan had missed decent opportunities before our first goal, which resulted from a decent move, as did Tollitt's second. By contrast Chester troubled us with their pace up front, but had only one genuine chance, the effort against the crossbar after a poor pass from Mangan. As much as the red card, I thought the first ten minutes of the second half were a turning point in the game. Rovers started incredibly sloppily, inviting pressure, and the Chester goal was no surprise when it came. Rovers did respond, with Mangan missing a great chance to get a third, before the referee's intervention. My view of the sending off was that both bookings were harsh. Tollitt's change in the first half seemed to win the ball and was no worse than several from Chester players which went unpunished; for the second booking for diving, I was only ten yards away and it seemed Ben was caught by the defender but went down theatrically.

After the red card it was basically a rearguard action for Rovers, and Mellon will no doubt be criticised by some for bringing on another defender and trying to hold on to a lead. However, I think two up front would have been risky given the pace in the Chester attack, and we actually did a good job of stifling the game for twenty five minutes, with Chester's equaliser a worldy from a centre half.

Individually, I thought there were some excellent displays, certainly in the first half. Cook and Tollitt were very good, but I thought Harris and Kirby really stepped up to the mark and had excellent games, the latter looking full of confidence under the new manager.

A disappointing performance in some respects, but we can't win every game under Mellon and this always looked a tricky fixture. A good crowd and a great atmosphere and we actually move up a place to third.

 

[drwhoman]

Thanks RLC. Would Ihweike have coped better with the Chester pace? I think he compliments Mac' s lack thereof? Agree with your general sentiment. A draw is not a loss. Clearly they need to be tighter defensively and no doubt Jackson will have his views. On a positive note I see the crowd was just under 8k. Brilliant for a fifth tier game. There is such a disparity in this league regarding the size of clubs and crowds.

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

Ditto. A little bit of realism now and again does you no harm. I'm sure Micky will be as disappointed as the rest of us, but I'm sure he'll keep any criticism of his players on Monday morning in perspective.

 

[Ian]

Agree largely with RLC. I think defensively we looked a little shaky but I think that was down to Chester's pace and willingness to get forward. Think it took us by surprise at times and they look a decent side.

I do think we would have gone on to win that game with 11 men. I think although we started sluggishly in the second half we recovered well and we looked dangerous on the break. That all stopped when Tollitt foolishly went down in the area after a decent run into the Chester box. I couldn't see a foot near him. Probably showed a bit of inexperience there to try it on a yellow card. He was having a great game too.

Completely changed the game and it was simply a case of defending for the rest of the game which we did pretty well. Like RLC says, their second was a worldy. Disappointed to go home with a point but a draw was a fair result.

Crowd and atmosphere was excellent and reminded me of the good old days with a bit of spice to the game. Not a disaster by any means. Plenty of twists and turns to come and other results weren't too bad either.

 

[Stickman]

I thought it was a really entertaining game and agree with most of the comments already made. I was also very close to the sending off incident and it definitely looked like a dive to me. Even if there was contact, there was no need to go down so theatrically. Made the decision easy for the referee. Also, best atmosphere at PP for a long time.

 

[drwhoman]

Agree re Tollit's obvious lack of experience. You do not see a guy sent off in that fashion very often. I am sure MM will have had a word in his shell like! As was said earlier in the blog we would have benefited in midfield if SJ and Maynard had been available to provide more of a screen. Ironic that it has been said in the past that we have had too much of a screen in that area! Still there we are. A win at Braintree next week and something from FGR the Tuesday after will both help the cause.

 

[Cowshed Kid]

You try and get over the disappointment by saying four wins and a draw out of last five is decent form.
Agree that the atmosphere was great but made it all the more nerve shredding as we tried to hang on.
On a yellow which itself was harsh, Tollitt was very naive. Gave the ref no choice, probably only decision he got right.
Shortly after their first, Mangs missed a great chance. If that goes in it knocks the stuffing out of them and we win comfortably. It doesn't, we go a man down and Chester eventually look a better team than they are.
I think I'm ploughing a lonely furrow with Kirby. There was a good three or four occasions in first half when he shyed away from challenges. I'd be surprised it doesn't gall some of his team mates. Harris may not be as technically gifted but he'd be first on my sheet before Kirby. Gave his all as usual, and was on the receiving end of some harsh treatment, never going missing.
Police presence today was extraordinary. Not just outside the ground but around the streets, Central station etc.

 

[Ian]

Mangan should have buried that chance in the second half, it was harder to miss. Kirby is never going to be at the level we need, he does shy away from tackles and doesn't do enough for me. Disappointed to see him start the game.

Police presence ridiculous. Helicopter, horses, dogs. You'd think we were getting 50k attendances!

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

One positive from Micky's post match interview: Connor Jennings is back in training and should be available in 2-3 weeks.

I still maintain Jake was one of our best players in the first half. It was between Cook and Harris for man of the match, however. The former is in superb form at the moment.

 

[Boz]

The starting xi was essentially a 442 and I'd have thought Stephenson/Mekki (assuming Dawson wasn't match-fit) would have been a better option than Kirby for the wide position. Lack of midfielder on the bench explained by the puzzling fact that Mitch Duggan's been loaned to Warrington Town. Micky doesn't seem to rate him and despite inexperience, he would have been worth a go the way the game panned out.

First half started end to end, but from around the 20 minute mark Chester seemed in the ascendant. Cook's goal from a Ridehalgh ball into the box was against the run of play at that point. When Tollit converted after a bout of penalty-box ping-pong, the 2 goal margin was a bit flattering. Chester claimed there were handballs in both. Richards failed to reduce the arrears on a break, Scott Davies apparently getting a hand to push the ball onto the post.
Second half was different. An ill-advised attempt by McNulty to be clever with a back-flick resulted in Rovers losing possession near the half-way line. Various chances to clear the ball were then squandered and Shaw headed home. As Cowshed Kid highlights, the pivotal point of the game was Mangan's tame shot at the keeper in a good position. Soon after Tollit's dismissal and from then on Rovers were hanging on, aided by some woeful Chester finishing until deep in injury time, from a player who might not have been on the pitch if the ref had shown him red rather than yellow for an elbow on Harris.

I felt Chester were a decent side, who deserved their draw and credit for the attacking way they set up. Throwing away a 2 goal lead, even if it was backs to the wall job after the sending-off feels like a loss.

I do feel that there were some on and off field issues, which contributed to our downfall. Defensively, McNulty was below par, the full-backs tended to back track rather than put in a tackle and the central midfield pair were sitting deeper as the game went on. Mangan, understandably lacking match-fitness and could follow the logic of replacing with a defender. When Ihiekwe first came on,thought we were playing 3 at the back with wing-backs, but if Micky doesn't know, Shaun or any Rovers fan could tell him that Ihiekwe cannot play right-back with any credibilty. Better put Ikhy along McNulty and move Sutton out right. No real issue with Mekki for Kirby and Adam M offers more defensively the other wide players on the bench. However, by then Cook was getting very little due to some unusually poor goal-kicking from Davies; if you're going to kick it that long Scott, aim for the corner like rugby, so that Chester get the ball back in a situation where they've got to work the ball back into our half, rather than straight out of play for a goal-kick. I did wonder if Stephenson might have given them more to think about at that point in the game.

 

[Cowshed Kid]

"if you're going to kick it that long Scott, aim for the corner like rugby, so that Chester get the ball back in a situation where they've got to work the ball back into our half, rather than straight out of play for a goal-kick."
Saw Cook indicating to Davies exactly that late on. There must have been a dozen kicks straight down the middle going either straight to their keeper or a goal-kick. But Cookie needed to take up a wide position as a target for those kicks?
He was tremendous today though, won most of the headers against Astles whose a big lad.
Astles in same class as my lad at Mosslands!
If we could have taken Mangs off and brought on a central midfielder to shore things up we might have weathered the storm. Unfortunately we didn't have that luxury on bench.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

If we could have taken Mangs off and brought on a central midfielder to shore things up we might have weathered the storm. Unfortunately we didn't have that luxury on bench.

Yes, I agree with that. You could argue we should have kept duggan back for this game, but my guess is that Mellon did not envisage the scenario that unfolded in the second half. He probably thought that if anything we would be chasing a late winner, hence the number of attacking options on the bench.

 

[Boz]

"if you're going to kick it that long Scott, aim for the corner like rugby, so that Chester get the ball back in a situation where they've got to work the ball back into our half, rather than straight out of play for a goal-kick."
Saw Cook indicating to Davies exactly that late on. There must have been a dozen kicks straight down the middle going either straight to their keeper or a goal-kick. But Cookie needed to take up a wide position as a target for those kicks?
He was tremendous today though, won most of the headers against Astles whose a big lad.
Astles in same class as my lad at Mosslands!
If we could have taken Mangs off and brought on a central midfielder to shore things up we might have weathered the storm. Unfortunately we didn't have that luxury on bench.

Yes, I felt for Cook in that final period effectively chasing shadows. Moving to one side would have prolonged the time the ball was in the Chester half at least.

Astles apparently on our books at some point. While he played well, at first glance he seemed lucky to escape with just a yellow for the elbow on Harris.

Arguably it's a more of a luxury having 3 wide players on the bench!

 

[Boz]

[QUOTE="Cowshed Kid, post: 38269, member: 607
If we could have taken Mangs off and brought on a central midfielder to shore things up we might have weathered the storm. Unfortunately we didn't have that luxury on bench.

Yes, I agree with that. You could argue we should have kept duggan back for this game, but my guess is that Mellon did not envisage the scenario that unfolded in the second half. He probably thought that if anything we would be chasing a late winner, hence the number of attacking options on the bench.

While a manager can't anticipate everything, you have to select a bench to cater for all eventualities, with the players available. It's quite possible that one of Harris/Hughes gets injured or sent off for example. As I said when the lineup was announced, the bench looked unbalanced. Mekki has played in central midfield for us under Brabin and looked ill-suited, while Kirby might have had the odd game there. However I don't understand why MM doesn't rate Mitch Duggan, as from the evidence of his few appearances he would be a decent option to have. Hope Maynard doesn't pick up any knocks on international duty or we will need to bring someone else in.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Mellon had obviously decided weeks ago that duggan was going out on loan and then once that decision is made we have what we have. We are well covered in midfield and the current injury situation is a bit of a freak. As I said previously, the more likely scenario yesterday was that we would need attacking options from the bench. I see Mellon's honeymoon did not survive past his first draw.......

More generally, I don't think bringing Mekki on when we were a man short worked and we could have done with Stephenson's pace to give us an 'out' ball and prevent Cook from becoming so isolated. All hindsight though, and the manager has to make a quick decision under pressure in these circumstances, which is not easy. We were in a similar situation at Dagenham with only two midfielders on the pitch, but the players adapted much better in that game and were more savvy, keeping the ball for longer periods and relieving pressure on the defence. We should have done the same yesterday.

 

[Boz]

Mellon had obviously decided weeks ago that duggan was going out on loan and then once that decision is made we have what we have. We are well covered in midfield and the current injury situation is a bit of a freak. As I said previously, the more likely scenario yesterday was that we would need attacking options from the bench. I see Mellon's honeymoon did not survive past his first draw.......

If what you say is correct, then why the rush to judgement? MM had only seen him play twice, at home to Wrexham, when he did reasonably and the Barrow defeat, when in your words he did ok (a few others didn't). Duggan's only actually gone out on loan this week, something that could have been held back, as you suggested earlier, and a bench with two from Dawson/Stephenson/Mekki, plus Duggan would have given the manager more options.

Supporting Rovers is not like living in North Korea, where we have to praise every decision of the great leader. It's my preference that we go back to the approach of the King era, developing and utilising our own young talent, so I find it incredibly frustrating when we find a player who's shown he can cope at this level, he's not given a chance, when the need is clearly there. Football management is not black and white, many good managers make mistakes. My disagreement with Micky's handling of Duggan does not mean that he's not the best manager to get us promoted out of here.