well the lister who did a match report in 4 words "we were absolute gash" has
pretty much hit the mark and summed up the night.
Sorry to say "told you so \ I was right" when I predicted beforehand that we
may not win.
It was a pretty abject performance really and one in which we looked very
jaded. The early withdrawal of Bromby (not for the first time) meant a total
reshuffle that ended with us totally lacking any real shape or width, as Hughes
went to right back and BJ to left back. It meant we lost the easy ball out to
the left to Johnsons head. Kilkenny came on and was totally anonymous and
Howson and Doyle never got to grips with the game meaning that B&B were never
really involved. Becchio looked a shadow of the player he was last season and
desperately needs a goal. Grayson did try and change things towards the end and
his two subs Prutton and Enoch did look lively - a great flick on by Enoch to
Beckford nearly snatched an (undeserved) late winner but Beckford could not get
any power or direction on the ball. Snoddy also had 2 chances to wrap up the
game the first when he hit the post not long after our goal.
As for the goal, like many in the ground I did not see the foul or realise that
a pen had been given at first, but it was no real surprise when we (Becks this
time -again) missed the penalty with a tame effort but luckily for us the ball
rebounded kindly to Becks and he slotted home.
They never particularly looked like scoring but they did begin to dominate
proceedings and with Casper back in goal it was no real surprise that they
equalised from a corner which was headed in from around the penalty spot (I
don't actually think Casper was to blame but it was a co-incidence)
So our home winning record run comes to and end and with Charlton on Saturday
there are a few worrying signs especially since we may go into the game with no
recognised full backs - the first choice keeper and one of our better players
out injured (Snoddy went off on a stretcher and a centre back pairing Kisnorbo
\ Naylor playing only their second game together. I thought it was a harsh
decision on Lubo bringing Naylor in, and although Naylor did well enough I do
worry that any re-action after his delay may rule him out for Saturday too, in
which case Grayson will need to hope he has not rocked his confidence.
Only 19k were there to watch the game and unfortunately the stay aways got it
right.
BUT I am not going to end on a gloomy note - we still picked up a point, we
extended our lead at the top, we are unbeaten, we have 26 points from 10 games
-a ratio that would bring in a record points total if continued over the
season, we picked up a point in a game where we got nothing last season (same
as Southend away the only other game in which we have dropped points this
season)
I did say that last nights game may have slipped under the radar a bit so
here's hoping for a return to form on Saturday
Dave
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