Just back

I thought Monkhouse played decently today. Did a lot of work covering back defensively and helped clear up things in the box on a number of occasions in the first half especially. One thing that frustrated me today was that the forwards weren't make the runs on the assumption that Monkhouse would win some of the flicks (and he did win a number of them) so tended to be stationary and second to the ball too often. If you're going to play long balls for a flick on, you have to have the strikers/runners getting into the right position to benefit from the flicks and we rarely did.

Hagrid i meant its always one step forward and one step back basically hence why i said its always the same old line " we need 3 points next week" rolled out.

We never just lay down a statement.

Quoted from jonnyboy82

Hagrid i meant its always one step forward and one step back basically hence why i said its always the same old line " we need 3 points next week" rolled out.

We never just lay down a statement.

i do see your point, but honestly i dont see an answer, Fenty will not sack Hurst, and whilst we are not losing games,he's in his right too, Im Pro hurst, but i can assure you im not happy about being 10th in the league at this stage

Monkhouse made some vital defensive clearances and Pearson and Gowling had their hands full with their mauling front men. Also they always seemed to have that extra player in midfield not the first team to do this.

Quoted from Lordgibil

Yes Tomlinson always "battles" but has never looked like scoring for us!  Remember when Hurst slagged Amond off for missing one header and then dropped him?  Tomlinson missed more chances today than Amond has missed all season so it seems to me Hurst has something against strikers who have a bit of nouse and can score goals.

This!

I don't think we can argue that a draw was the right result today based on the balance of the game. In fact it was quite a stalemate for the most part with very few chances.

Thought we showed good intent initially with Tomlinson winning the ball about 3 seconds after FGR kicked off, but we didn't follow this up with aggressive pressing. The few times we did press as a group we forced them into going long or kicking out of play.

We lacked movement today. Missed Arnold making angles to relieve the ball, missed Podge or Bogle dropping off to receive to feet. As a result we ended up going long too much. Clay was sloppy with some of his passing and East's use of the ball 1st half was below par. Monkhouse wasn't much use with the ball at his feet today - I think he's better with an overlapping full back who can draw the attention of his marker away.

Tomlinson did very well to turn and shoot when it just rolled wide and Pittman's turn and shot for his goal was very good. Could've had a penalty for the constant holding of Monkhouse and also on Gowling in the 2nd half.

I would've thrown Bogle & Amond on after 55/60 minutes. Give them plenty of time and take the game to a very average FGR team. I'd have left Mackreth on and took Monkhouse off for Arnold, but Marshall looked threatening when he came on and offered us pace running at their defence.

The ref was very poor and should've given us a pen at least once. But a draw was a fair result as neither side did enough to win - demonstrated by the quiet games both goalkeepers had.

Is 7 points off the top with 2/3rds of the season left really that far "off the pace"?

Given last weeks result the decision not to change the team wasn't altogether surprising although I was hoping that one of Bogle or Amond would have got the nod to partner JPP. Anyone screaming for both to be a shoe-in to play does JPP a very great disservice. The service to the front two particularly in the first half was poorer than of late so we were relying on a touch of magic. In my opinion only Bogle can hold a candle to JPP in the "create a goal chance out of nothing" stakes and Pittman's goal was absolutely sublime. Tomlinson does offer something very different but he has almost the right to expect better service than he received. Mackreth was his usual ball of utter frustration in the first half often taking the option of a back pass rather than going for a decent crossing position. Unfortunately when he did take on his full back the final delivery really wasn't up to scratch. Defensively the centre back pairing were very good throughout. Neither put a foot wrong (other than Pearson's second of aberration in the lead up to their goal) Both full backs could have done better though especially going forward-East in particular who chose today to rebut comments on here (including mine) that he has the attributes to play in midfield. His wild wide shot midway through the second half when half the team were in better positions summed him up today.
I was actually surprised at how much hoofing FGR did. When they played it on the floor they looked a decent side. Perhaps that is the result of the bad run on which they find themselves at the moment. In Parkin though they have a class act. It's a shame when money dictates entirely the level at which you want to play your football. I suspect he would walk into most teams in the lower two football leagues. He only needed the seconds given to him by first Robertson and then Pearson to create the space. Once he'd a sight of goal there was only one outcome-brilliant finish. Yeah he does all the niggly stuff but I wouldn't have been disappointed to have heard that we'd signed him.
The second half didn't really get going until the substitutions. When they came the player who easily made the most difference for me was Marshall. Trickery, the ability to beat men regularly and a far better final product would persuade me as manager to have him in from the off on Tuesday. Neither Amond or particularly Bogle looked the part but that may well be because 20 minutes isn't long enough to get into their stride.
Dis and Clay acquitted themselves well generally and Monkhouse showed glimpses that suggest there is more to his game than flicking on headers from McKeown's kicks. Tomlinson ran himself into the ground. He should've done better with his header but he gave 100% effort for the time he was on the pitch. Unfortunately he appears to be the scapegoat for Hurst's alleged mis-selection issues which is more than a tad unfair.

What should have been a thoroughly entertaining game was spoilt by the officials. The ref. appeared not to understand the advantage rule firstly when the ball had gone out for a Town throw and he pulled play back 25 yards or so and the second more telling time when due to good work by Clay Town looked to be making their advantage tell and he still pulled play back. Perhaps one of the referees on here can clear up that point. The lino on the Main Stand side in the 2nd half doesn't escape either. His offside decision against Tomlinson(?) when the guy must have run forty yards to close down the keeper was laughable.

Quoted from lee65

Is 7 points off the top with 2/3rds of the season left really that far "off the pace"?

It is when we are seeing no real improvement and only one win in 4

Disappointed with just the one point at home, defence played well but the game was crying out for our best goal scorers languishing on the bench wasted IMO, bringing subs on too late means that they can`t adjust to the game to make any impact, Town 1  Hurst 1 simple as