[choirboy]

Originally Posted by choirboy

Great result to get THREE POINTS today against one of the divisions fancied teams.
Early on in the match I thought that Exeter looked like a good footballing team and that they could be dangerous on the break. It took us a while to get into the match but once we scored there was no looking back. first goal was super and slick...a fine diagonal ball to Pierro who swept the ball into the near post for windass to pass it superbly into the net. The second goal was an early Christmas present from Exeter! Hee hee! ......Or should it be Ho ho ho!!!
Third and fourth goals were slick and based on incisive forward play. Billy held the ball from Pierros superbly and timed his layoff back to Pierro equally superbly for Pieroo to drill the ball in. Billy had little to shoot at for the fourth goal but found the inside of the post for it to beat the keeper!
I agree with other early posters that the subs were a tactical error but i hope that coley and jimmy learn from it! for me this season seamus has been our 'central hub' player with everything going through him.He has been the player that we have missed for a couple of years who has the composure to put his foot on the ball and look around. He rarely wastes the ball. His play is complemented by Crooksy's industry and ability to hastle opponents. They are making a supeer central pairing. When they were subbed we broke the 'spine' of our team and we retreated to defending on the edge of our penalty box just like last season. Procky tried to get the tacklse in but his timing was out and he gave anumber of free kicks away. Barry just did not get into the game at all and seemed to be chasing shadows.
Anyway a great result which has moved us up to the heady heights of SIXTH in the division.
ON STANLEY ON

Sorry for the 'Typo' errors earlier as I was dashing out to have a beer with friends at 6pm in The Forts down Clayton...great beer.......hic!
On reflection, we did play well for an hour but Coley's subs did for us and we let Exeter back into the match by conceding midfield. I believe in having a strong 'spine' in your first eleven and subbing both central midfield players at the same time seemed to 'break our spine' which left us defending on the edge of our penalty box like we did for most of last season! I could see the sense in subbing Crooksy to protect him from getting another booking but we should have kept Seamus on the pitch IMHO. For me he has been a major player in our solid start to this season. He is the unglamourous but efficient central hub that we have lacked for the last couple of seasons! Everything seems to go through him and he is just so cool on the ball. He can put his foot on the ball and then show composure before he releases the ball. He never seems to waste a pass....... very efficient and his efforts for me seem to go under the radar somewhat. If I was picking the team from the current squad his would be the first name on the teamsheet! He has been subbed a few times mid second half but has never seemed to need to have been replaced for tiredness! Josh Windass for me had a great first 60 minutes but played the last 35 knackered! I would have protected Josh's clear potential and subbed him with Shay McCarten who would have brought new energy to our attacking line and kept us on the front foot. Procky tried hard when he came on but was mistiming his tackles and gave away a number of free kicks. Anthony Barry didn't get with the pace of the game at all and sat in too deep. I think he may have only touched the ball three times. So we conceded midfield completely and for the last thirty minutes or so, as I said earlier, we defended on the edge of our penalty box just like last season, and it was only a matter of time before we conceded a goal or two! Billy did well and got better the longer the game went on and desreved his well taken goal. The defence was strong again and Tom Davies is looking as good as Tom Aldred did last season. Deano has paired up with him really well. Full backs were awesome!!!...Bucko MOM for me and Matt Pearson great...one super left wing run beating two defenders at ease and shooting for goal! What a lot of potential we have in our squad at the moment.
I just hope that we can keep this team together for the rest of the season because I really do believe that we can go places!!!!
ON STANLEY ON