⚽ Match Thread vs. Harrogate Town [EFL L2] 06.04.24

[BJPIE]

And that absolutely fantastic block at the end.

Yes, you are correct there, but other than that! What have the Romans ever done for us??😁

[the_anticlough]

His kicking could improve but he was man of the match by far. First half he faced two one on ones and saved one with his leg and blocked another. Second half he blocked another from close range, saved a penalty when they were on top then tipped a point blank header over the bar. He also made some good punches from dangerous corners. No contest for mom in my eyes.

Well, the sponsors gave it to Maca...
I gave Crowley the edge over LAH because keepers kicking straight into touch or to the opposition is a real pet hate of mine and there must've been 6 or 7 of those. I'll probably be discounting those more than the average fan. Crowley was buzzing around to great effect all match. Playing deeper, but also with more positional freedom than earlier in the season, when he seemed tied to that inside-right, playing-in-Nemane furrow

[OP67]

Well, the sponsors gave it to Maca...
I gave Crowley the edge over LAH because keepers kicking straight into touch or to the opposition is a real pet hate of mine and there must've been 6 or 7 of those

Did you feel how windy it was yesterday?? Not a day for accurate long kicks by any keeper on the planet.

[the_anticlough]

Absolutely. So why take them?

[drillerpie]

Well, the sponsors gave it to Maca...
I gave Crowley the edge over LAH because keepers kicking straight into touch or to the opposition is a real pet hate of mine and there must've been 6 or 7 of those. I'll probably be discounting those more than the average fan. Crowley was buzzing around to great effect all match. Playing deeper, but also with more positional freedom than earlier in the season, when he seemed tied to that inside-right, playing-in-Nemane furrow

I'd probably just give it to LAH, but Crowley is just ridiculously good pretty much every game. I shudder to think what would happen if he got injured long term.

[jackal2]

We were lucky yesterday. LAH made a great stop in the first half with his feet and 2 more super saves in the 2nd half plus the penalty save. He was defo MOM. Amazingly I find myself having to applaud Cameron for the 3rd successive game. He's stoped falling down embarrassing himself and has done what he's paid to do. Long may it continue as at last he does look like a L2 player.

Great result yesterday, but I thought the scoreline flattered us and has perhaps led to some over-inflated assessments of the performances of some players, for example Bostock and Cameron. I thought both did OK, but not as impressively as some other threads are suggesting. There were still several moments in the game where passive or high risk 'defending', and trying to overplay in the wrong areas, led to really good chances for Harrogate which might have seen them score two or three on another day.

I recall an incident where Cameron dramatically threw himself to the floor grabbing his his head, trying to claim an elbow from an opponent, only to spring back to his feet instantly in anger when it wasn't given, and some of Harrogate's best chances to my mind involved lax defending by Cameron and Baldwin, so I'm not yet ready to declare a massive improvement on their behalf, but if the clean sheets keep coming I'll be happy to revise my view.

For me, we looked generally good going forward and the second and third goals were high quality, but I'd class it as a fortunate clean sheet rather an solid one, which owed much to the shot-stopping talents of Luca Ashby-Hammond. As a team we're still far too powder-puff for my liking when we're out of possession, running alongside opponents rather than pressing and tackling them, and we gave away far too many good chances to be comfortable.

But we won, and ultimately results are all that matters.

[kill_the_drum]

I'd probably just give it to LAH, but Crowley is just ridiculously good pretty much every game. I shudder to think what would happen if he got injured long term.

There’s a bloke that sits near me who hates Crowley and criticises everything he does.
Why is it the most moronic fans are the most vocal?

[HeroPie1862]

There’s a bloke that sits near me who hates Crowley and criticises everything he does.
Why is it the most moronic fans are the most vocal?

Because they think they know football.

I sit around a group of people who think they know what the players are doing, but were confused about why we tried to overload one side of the pitch with Jones, Nemane and Crowley yesterday.

"It tactically makes no sense, why would you do that!?"

... Because overloads are key to winning matches mate, and they're three of our better players so why not heavily overload one side when they all can do it and play in different positions competently.

It's crazy, some folks just like moaning and they don't know better - it's one of the reasons this forum does my nut in at times.

[drillerpie]

There’s a bloke that sits near me who hates Crowley and criticises everything he does.
Why is it the most moronic fans are the most vocal?

Yeah I don't understand that at all. Player of the season for me.

[meltonpye]

when Thommo said he was pleased to see Bostock back in the team that did it for me. how can a team be improved by someone so negative, he is the expert in passing the ball backwards and sideways, i have lost count of how many goals have come from his negative play and would be the first out the door at the end of the season