Eastleigh away

[Wartman]

Hi folks

Not posted for a while as been away in Spain for a few months so not even been to any games but have kept a Close watch on results and have been encouraged.

What can I say about tonight we are still lucky to be in the hat ! with that performance league2 must be pretty ropey if we are doing so well or was this just a blip ? Here is my opinion

Jaaskelainen 7
Pickering 5
Nolan 6
Mbulu 6
NG 3
Green 4
Lowery 7
Wintle 7
Kirk 6
Dale 5
Porter 4

Jones 5
Powell 5

This is just my opinion. What an earth was Artell watching ? How did Porter stay on the pitch for 90 mind he was awful,NG the worst I have ever seen him play. And why would you bring an attack minded player on when the ball has spent 35 of the 45 mins on the edge of your box bizarre. Artell cost us tonight by not reacting quickly enough and when reacting making the wrong choice another game we did not need so for that reason Artell 2

[Teammoo]

Thought we bossed the first half, didn't feel as if Eastleigh would threaten. Charlie on the left and the combination of Perry and Tommy on the right had things under control. The goal when it came was a bit of a surprise (from a corner). Then in the 2nd half it all changed. We played suicidal football. Playing out from the back is OK if the defender is free, not when he is marked. Then we decided to stop attacking and started holding the ball up and playing backwards. The result was Eastleigh had a way back into the game and it was only a matter of time before they scored. In the end we were clinging on.
In summary we looked a good team in the first half and lousy in the 2nd. I don't know what it looked like on telly but it was definitely a chance missed.

[out0lunch]

I wouldn't disagree with your scores Wartman. The number of times NG was nowhere near his player was far too much, he has been doing that all season. I think he needs to be given a 'rest'
Lowery looked tired, Green gave the ball away too much. We needed to play keep ball but kept giving it away

[AstonAlex]

I wouldn’t disagree with your scores if you only watched the second half. As Teammoo (and the manager) said, the first half was a different story and we should have had the match wrapped up by half time.

Perry was good in the first half, awful in the second, Green looked tired throughout and couldn’t track back and Lowery was a constant threat. Will could have got an easy chair out and the Back 4 were so untroubled that Perry and a Pixie were auxiliary wingers. After 10 minutes of the second half I’d have hooked Green and Dale for Finney and Ainley, gone 4-4-2 with players who know how to keep the ball and play with a bit less risk.

Having said that, all credit to Eastleigh for upping their game, even if it was rather basic at times. I don’t really see how Wartman can assess us (or the rest of L2) on 45 minutes of football when by his own admission he’s been in Spain for months. It’s rather similar to MikeSB judging us on the only match he’s been to. We have been good this season, for the most part, creating plenty of chances with attractive passing football (as the Eastleigh manager said after the match) and have taken a fair few of them. Yes, we’ve not been too clever on occasions, but most would agree that we have stood up to more robust tactics better than usual. Let’s face it, we wouldn’t be third if we hadn’t been decent - the League table doesn’t lie when you’re a third of the way through the season.

[Teammoo]

Does anybody have a recording of BT Sports coverage of the game that I could have a copy of, or is there a website that I could use.
Ta

[Topkeeper]

Contrast our style of play, notably first half with that of Newport County against Malden and Tiptree on Friday. I know which I think was a better advert for League 2 football and it didn't come from Wales!