Matty D
29th August 2004, 14:57
Just what the doctor ordered!
We’ll have to play a lot of teams better than Stockport, but that second half was the best I’ve seen us play for an awful long time, and it should have demonstrated to Martin Allen what this squad can do when they keep the ball on the deck.
Until we scored the second Stockport had looked capable of grabbing a goal themselves, and the free header which shook the crossbar was a bit worrying. Add Luke Beckett to the equation and you can see them scoring goals, but defending like they did in the first half they’ll concede a lot more. Cutler was rooted to his line all game, contributing to Dobbo being allowed to head home a Hargreaves near-post flick for the first, and Burton being able to scramble home the third from another unclaimed corner.
In between a lovely flowing move had seen the left-back wrongly assume he’d forced Rankin to run the ball out; and having skipped past him into the area Isiah picked out Salako with the pull-back and he finished coolly. 3-0 with barely half an hour gone and there was no way back for Stockport. Some good creative play and cool finishing had helped win us the game in the first half, but Talbot also looked much more commanding than before, Frampton was impressive again at full-back, and Turner had probably his best game for us.
We piled on the pressure in the second half, but nothing quite seemed to fall for Burton and the tireless Rankin. Hargreaves, who had looked much more sprightly and incisive than before, was replaced by O’Connor, for once allowed a run-out in central midfield, and Rhodes replaced Salako on the left. It didn’t seem to interrupt the flow of our passing, and with Tabb and O’Connor pulling the strings we forced a succession of corners, and Cutler was tested with a couple of fierce 25-yarders. Rankin probably went for a twist too many when put through (following an almost ‘Hermanesque’ run out of defence by Turner), and Cutler was also forced into a number of ‘unorthodox’ clearances by his shaky defence.
Jay Smith replaced Talbot near the end, and had a comfortable task against a County side that were just longing for the whistle. For the first time in god knows how long we genuinely didn’t want that whistle to come – we had a comfortable lead, were totally dominant, and were playing some lovely football. For once my fingernails were never in any danger as injury time came round!
We tackled well, passed well, Rankin dropped deep to pick the ball up off the midfield intelligently, the defence seemed more aware of each other, in essence we got the basics right. We’re still allowing both Tabb and Salako to play very free roles, which can leave the full-backs exposed, but we certainly got away with it yesterday. All we need to do now is transfer that confident, controlled game to our away performances…….
Nelson 6 – little to do, kicking started well, but went awry in the second half
Dobbo 7 – decent game, took goal well
Frampton 8 – pick of the defenders, won lots in the air without deserting his full-back slot
Fitz 7 – solid and controlled
Turner 7 – still troubled by some bouncing balls, but best game so far
Talbot 8 – best game this season, ran the midfield
Hargreaves 8 – best game for us, very creative
Tabb 7 – did the right things, but others’ turn to shine yesterday
Salako 7 – conserved his energy for telling contributions
Rankin 9 – everywhere, linked play and unlucky not to score a couple
Burton 8 – constant nuisance, real handful for the County defence
O’Connor 8 - kept the ball and created for others
Rhodes 7 – kept the pressure on down the flank
Smith 7 – filled in fine for last ten minutes
We’ll have to play a lot of teams better than Stockport, but that second half was the best I’ve seen us play for an awful long time, and it should have demonstrated to Martin Allen what this squad can do when they keep the ball on the deck.
Until we scored the second Stockport had looked capable of grabbing a goal themselves, and the free header which shook the crossbar was a bit worrying. Add Luke Beckett to the equation and you can see them scoring goals, but defending like they did in the first half they’ll concede a lot more. Cutler was rooted to his line all game, contributing to Dobbo being allowed to head home a Hargreaves near-post flick for the first, and Burton being able to scramble home the third from another unclaimed corner.
In between a lovely flowing move had seen the left-back wrongly assume he’d forced Rankin to run the ball out; and having skipped past him into the area Isiah picked out Salako with the pull-back and he finished coolly. 3-0 with barely half an hour gone and there was no way back for Stockport. Some good creative play and cool finishing had helped win us the game in the first half, but Talbot also looked much more commanding than before, Frampton was impressive again at full-back, and Turner had probably his best game for us.
We piled on the pressure in the second half, but nothing quite seemed to fall for Burton and the tireless Rankin. Hargreaves, who had looked much more sprightly and incisive than before, was replaced by O’Connor, for once allowed a run-out in central midfield, and Rhodes replaced Salako on the left. It didn’t seem to interrupt the flow of our passing, and with Tabb and O’Connor pulling the strings we forced a succession of corners, and Cutler was tested with a couple of fierce 25-yarders. Rankin probably went for a twist too many when put through (following an almost ‘Hermanesque’ run out of defence by Turner), and Cutler was also forced into a number of ‘unorthodox’ clearances by his shaky defence.
Jay Smith replaced Talbot near the end, and had a comfortable task against a County side that were just longing for the whistle. For the first time in god knows how long we genuinely didn’t want that whistle to come – we had a comfortable lead, were totally dominant, and were playing some lovely football. For once my fingernails were never in any danger as injury time came round!
We tackled well, passed well, Rankin dropped deep to pick the ball up off the midfield intelligently, the defence seemed more aware of each other, in essence we got the basics right. We’re still allowing both Tabb and Salako to play very free roles, which can leave the full-backs exposed, but we certainly got away with it yesterday. All we need to do now is transfer that confident, controlled game to our away performances…….
Nelson 6 – little to do, kicking started well, but went awry in the second half
Dobbo 7 – decent game, took goal well
Frampton 8 – pick of the defenders, won lots in the air without deserting his full-back slot
Fitz 7 – solid and controlled
Turner 7 – still troubled by some bouncing balls, but best game so far
Talbot 8 – best game this season, ran the midfield
Hargreaves 8 – best game for us, very creative
Tabb 7 – did the right things, but others’ turn to shine yesterday
Salako 7 – conserved his energy for telling contributions
Rankin 9 – everywhere, linked play and unlucky not to score a couple
Burton 8 – constant nuisance, real handful for the County defence
O’Connor 8 - kept the ball and created for others
Rhodes 7 – kept the pressure on down the flank
Smith 7 – filled in fine for last ten minutes