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It's absolutely drenching down in St.Annes right now and, according to the forecast, heading for Accy. No way a game could be played in this. Just hope it dumps most of its load on the Fylde in the next hour, otherwise Somerset is going to be mightily disgusted before the season's even started.

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Hope it clears up for the game.

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We've had no rain as yet in Accrington - had times when it felt like it was closing in then it's cleared over, fingers crossed we might miss the worst of it

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Not hit Burnley yet - what's the situation in Acc ?

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still fine.

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Game being played no rain part blue sky's and a bit of sun to boot :)

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Looks like Billy & Johnny Edwards up top?

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0-2 :(

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That's 225 minutes without scoring from open play concerning.

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Maybe if these were league games I might be a tad moithered but not after a couple of pre season matches

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You can bet Coleman,s mothered.

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He won't be a happy bunny that's for sure

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2-1

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Johnny Edwards fires home at last.

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1-3

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3-2

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2-3 Pearson

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overall i thought Preston played the best of the 3 weve played? also thought we did, People should remember these bigger/better off clubs than us, certainly aren't playing a few trialists, they have bigger more settled squads, reckon moaning minnie J.C. should take that on board.;)

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Really efficient display from the Championship squad, controlled the possession, and used the full width of the pitch, without doing anything flashy. Thought Stanley were a bit disjointed in the first half but was impressed with Ogle (has a terrific throw) and Sykes. Nolan looked like he had potential too. Two wingers struggled a bit though to get behind their defence. Their two goals seemed too easy, but were well taken.
Thought Preston's second half XI were even better, but so were Stanley's. Chapman made up for the goals (both low) with two terrific second half saves (both high shots).
Great header from Beccles to create the first goal for Stanley and it was worth the gate money to see 'Man Mountain' Matty Pearson storming through for the second.
Disappointing result for the manager, I'm sure, but, as Cashy said, they were up against what looked like a well-drilled outfit who knew each other's game and roles. Can't imagine there'll be many League 2 teams that could display such consistency over 90 minutes.

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Good summary and hit the nail on the head there, Exile. These last three matches have filled me with quiet confidence for the season to come!

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After our performance against Everton, I felt a little disappointed tonight.
Agree with Cashy that PNE played some slick impressive football & dominated the match.
Their overall ball possession must have reached about 75-80% & the scoreline could easily have been much greater had it not been for some fine saves from Chapman.
Must have been watching a different game, as I can't agree with Mr Coleman that 'we matched them & all our players played well in the first half'.
We became far more effective in the second with the addition of Pearson, Beckles, Clark & the 'trialist'.
For all their speed, Sousa & Mcleod flatter to deceive & invariably lost the ball when their opportunities arose. Perhaps they'll be more effective against league 2 opposition?
Despite their domination, we almost grabbed a last gasp equaliser in the dying seconds but overall PNE showed why they're in the Championship.
Thought tonight would see an improved attendance against our near neighbour but if anything, it felt like the lowest of the friendlies so far???
Sad! :(

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I thought that we edged Preston for the first 36 minutes tonight. They committed a lot of fouls during this period which was an indication of how well our boys were doing. Donacien continues to look like a really 'classy' player to me. Sykes was doing well at centre back and Hughes was using his experience effectively. Early on both our wingers were on the attack constantly and both were were working very hard when back tracking too. The first Preston goal was a soft one to give away and I thought that our keeper should have saved it. I was right behind it in the Clayton End and it came form the first real threat by Preston down their right wing, a cut back from the goal line towards the penalty spot, (my favourite move), but their lad didn't hit it all that cleanly, about five feet to Chapman's right. He got a hand to it but it dribbled in! Their second goal finished the match as a contest and was just down to bad marking. When Preston subbed nine players after about an hour they upped the pace and produced some really good quality football! Matty Pearson was outstanding for us in the second half and fully deserved his late goal.
I think that the experience of playing Huddrsfield, PNE and also the young Everton team was great for our boys and their were a number of times tonight when we matched the quality of passing that these higher league teams produce consistently. We need to replicate that consistency in our play and I do believe that our squad is getting very close to where we need it to be in order to make a challenge for a high League Two placing again this season.
IMHO we still need another Goal Keeper to be our No1. Of even more importance though is our need for a clinical striker up front who can give us 20+ goals next season. The sort of forward who can be anonymous for 88 minutes but score a couple of 'Tap Ins' to win a match!
I am certain that Coley and the backroom staff are working on this and will come up with the goods!
ON STANLEY ON:theband:

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Thought 989 was quite a reasonable attendance, considering there only seemed to be a couple of hundred from Preston at the most.

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:) Thought up to when Preston scored we had matched them well, young Sykes (5) and Ogle(3) had good games as did Nolan(8). second half changes by both sides opened the game up, could have equalised right at the death but overall a good run out.

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Better than I expected, if we had not been Drawn against North End in the cup there would have been over 2000 on imho.

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Don't know how tonight's attendance compared against those for Huddersfield & Everton?
Simply going off what felt like a rather sparsely populated Clayton End at tonight's match.

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Attendance's 1663......1032.....989 respectfuly

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To be fair, there were hundreds more Huddersfield fans there last week - perhaps up to 1,000? - so tonight's home attendance was probably higher.

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Average attendance from all three friendlies is 1,200. That's about 70% of average league games? Seems mighty impressive to me.

Coleman on new signings; "hoping to get one over the line tomorrow".

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Oops! 'Wolves loanee Jonny Edwards' in the fishy match report! The Tigers won't be too pleased...

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Why do people on here get so bl***y defensive about attendances!!!!!
All I said was I was disappointed at what seemed to be the lowest attendance so far against a near neighbour, when I thought it would be the highest.
It would seem my feelings were justified, as Mab has confirmed it to be a FACT!
The Coppice end was empty against Everton, so you can't blame it all on the away fans.

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loosing by the odd goal against a side two divisions higher than us in a friendly game with as cashy says a bigger and better off club is for me not a bad result. like to see another who can play upfront joining us before the season starts.

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I would, but to be honest playing 1 up front, particularly at home,dont really do us any favours imho. and that seems to be the norm. Think the friendly gates are far better (double even) than the gates we normally get against non-league clubs?

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[QUOTE=cashman;1197725]I would, but to be honest playing 1 up front, particularly at home,dont really do us any favours imho.

don,t like it either. at times we looked like the away side even at home. how many times did a free kick get us out of jail i wonder.

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Think you've hit the nail on the head there Cashy!
Everyone keeps going on about how we need a new goalkeeper & criticising Chapman, but to be fair to the lad, I think he's played OK in the last 3 friendlies.
Yes, his Achilles heel are low shots, mainly due to his enormous size.
But last night, for every low shot he struggled with, he made twice as many superb high saves to prevent what looked certain goals.
Our big problem for the past few seasons has been lack of goals.
From what I've seen so far, I think that problem will continue.

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:) I noticed no Seamus Conneely on the team sheet last night ,wonder if he's picked up a knock or is JC just resting him :)

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Mab, not only Seamus missing from our starting 11.
Where was 'Big Ben' Richards-Everton?
Agree with you that Sykes, Ogle, Nolan & the Don all played well.
However, I still feel Mr Coleman made too many changes from the team we put out against the Everton XI.
When you consider we started without Pearson, Beckles, Richards-Everton, Clark, Conneely & McConville (?), it's not surprising Everton made it look easy in the first half.

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BR-E was on the bench as was McConville, Rommy, Beckel's, Mohammed, no Seamus thou!We seem to have the making of a vgood team with a bit of depth

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[QUOTE=Lord Stiffupperlip;
Our big problem for the past few seasons has been lack of goals.
From what I've seen so far, I think that problem will continue.[/QUOTE]

haven,t seen any friendly games but looking at the players available at the moment it looks like we,ll be hard to beat but equally going to be hard to win especially at home where the opposition will quickly get players behind the ball and get away with murder giving our players a rough time with minimal protection. lets hope coley has got an ace up his sleve but the clock is ticking now.

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Everton made it look easy ? Think you mean PNE ?
Coley has to experiment pre season.
Think he knows his starting 11 but he's already said he's going to be running with a smaller squad so with injuries and suspensions everybody's got to be ready.

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Coley has to experiment pre season.
Think he knows his starting 11 but he's already said he's going to be running with a smaller squad so with injuries and suspensions everybody's got to be ready.[/QUOTE]

thought we,d too many last season. some never got a look in maybe due to this. better with a smaller squad for me.

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Agreed Monkey - but fitness and discipline now ultra important. Hughesy needs to reign it in - as does Matty.

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"When you consider we started without Pearson, Beckles, Richards-Everton, Clark, Conneely & McConville (?), it's not surprising Everton made it look easy in the first half."

I Thought I saw them all start in the Everton game !!!

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Oooops!!! One too many Everton references in my earlier post!
Of course I meant the PNE game.
Must have been having a senior moment, or is it early-onset dementia????
:confused::confused::confused:

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I am impressed with manyf the players we have so far. It was good to see Matty score again as he seemed to be strolling in the friendlies as if there was no motivation. Then he pops into life and does the business. I hope that was the kick start he needed. We nearly have the complete squad and it is looking good. I wish Rommy well at Orient he is everybodies favourite. Billy is a bit of a worry at the moment. I hope it comes together for him quickly. We do need a keeper as Arron seems to be a little short on confidence at the moment. some of the goals he has let in were soft and should have been saved, but on the plus side he does pull off some top class saves. I think all in all Stanley are in a better place now than they have been for some time.

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Seamus Conneely , Sean McConville, Ben Richard Everton, jordan Clark & Rommy Boco all played against Darwen on the tuesday chaps