Concord 3 City 1

The positives are that City are in no worse league position than at the start of the game, there is 1 game less to play, and for 85 mins the performance was solid if unspectacular.

Unfortunately the game lasts 90 mins plus, and to concede 2 identical goals from a player cutting in on his right and curling into the goal is unacceptable at this level. Kyei has done it before in previous games for Concord, is bang in form, and even the most rudimentary homework on Concord would show that as a threat to be stopped and to force him on to his left foot ffs.

First half passed both teams by in the Thames sunshine with a predictably hard and bobbly surface negating any concept of free flowing play, not that either team threatened to display that to the hardy Concord support and travelling City fans. 2nd half was barely a few minutes old when Kyei got his first. City weathered the Concord momentum and equalised with a nailed on pen after Omar turned in the box and had his leg dragged away. Fletcher confidently put it away. And from then on the serenity returned, City looked the side more likely to score but didnt really create any clear cut chances.

And then Kyei's carbon copy 2nd, and to rub salt in, his hat trick added in the last minute conceding yet again from a bye line cross and tap in.

Oh City, work to be done yet before we can breathe and put this season down as unwanted history. More nerve shredding awaits, and while the defence was largely untroubled, we  can only hope the watching Batten and Raynes return to help bolster City to a 90 min performance with a positive result.

I’ll add more tomorrow when I’m not knackered but if Ryan Jones hadn’t been so damn quick getting back we wouldn’t have gone 1-0 down. Shot was 100% going wide but no way would he have known.

Felt like it was drifting to a 1-1 which would have suited both but there we go. Kyei was anonymous first half. Dangerous player - won three pens in their last three matches - and he showed it after the break.

Some players deliberately do nothing for long periods to lull defenders into complacency.
As you said in your commentary we have conceded a huge number of goals this season so that needs to be addressed. Our lack of goals puts the defence under pressure mind.

How many goals have we conceded away from home this season similar to the first? Lose possession carelessly in midfield, opponents attack in numbers and bang.

While it looked like a draw for much of the second half the late goals didn’t surprise me.

Hopefully the large following we’ll hopefully get at Hungerford will be rewarded like it was at Chippenham but I feel that the remaining home fixtures will determine where we play next season.

Interesting what Comrade Powell says about the home games. After a pretty poor season by their standards Havant seem to have got their act together and only goal difference is keeping them out of the hotly contested final play off spot, while Oxford might be jockeying for position just above that.

As it gets closer can't help feeling that the game at Billericay is going to be a 'six pointer' but if we match Welling result for result they can't finish above us even with their game in hand and they have a worse goal difference than us as well.

Seems pretty straightforward

After the first 2 games this season we were thinking about being champions. We now face those same two teams looking to avoid relegation!

And I remember thinking on the way back from Tonbridge how excellent our defence had looked in those two matches.

Peter Newman wrote:After the first 2 games this season we were thinking about being champions. We now face those same two teams looking to avoid relegation!

I remember looking at the fixtures before the season started and thinking that we didn't have a bad promotion/playoffs run in!

comrade powell wrote:And I remember thinking on the way back from Tonbridge how excellent our defence had looked in those two matches.

Possibly something to do with that new centre half we signed - I wonder what happened to him...?

comrade powell wrote:And I remember thinking on the way back from Tonbridge how excellent our defence had looked in those two matches.

Tonbridge was a little alarming how we became v defensive in the 2nd half and barely mustered an attack.

LB wrote:

comrade powell wrote:And I remember thinking on the way back from Tonbridge how excellent our defence had looked in those two matches.

Possibly something to do with that new centre half we signed - I wonder what happened to him...?

Callum Wood was recalled in January.

You know perfectly well who I was referring to…!

League games with Gerring: Pld 8 conceded 18. Average 2.25PG.
Without: Pld 27 conceded 46. Average 1.70PG.

League games with Wood: Pld 14 conceded 19. Average 1.36PG
Without: Pld 21 conceded 45. Average 2.14PG

Granted that four of Gerring's eight games were against teams certain to finish in the play-offs. I'm not holding him fully responsible for those early season collapses, I believe the loss of Wood has had a much greater impact. Gerry mentioned on here about Kyei running at people - Gerring wouldn't have lived with that. He was in his element against teams like Braintree who peppered us with long balls and set-pieces.

One irritation has been that Mo Touray didn't work out. I predicted pre-season that he, Cooke and Fletcher could score 50 between them. In all comps the latter two have 34 combined so if Touray had stayed fit and lived up to his pre-season promise we would have had a superb front three. He's struggled to get into the Hereford side recently so it's not just us.

Touray lost about 2 yards of pace and was ineffective after that. He needs to work hard to get it back.

Junior, I’m surprised you made that prediction based on some preseason games as we all know what a false impression they can give. Nat Pepperall was probably the most extreme example of a friendlies sensation who flopped but there have been many others.

Certainly agree with your assessment of Gerring. I’m sure you have the relevant stats of his time at Woking, but I did wonder in several games how he’d coped at that level.

Touray did well at Marine and elsewhere on loan, he also looked excellent in the opener against Billericay and had he not got injured against Tonbridge who knows how he might have got on? Cooke and Fletcher both had decent pre-seasons and carried it into this, both have been basically injury free too.

Gerring was loaned to Oxford City last season too, not got any numbers in front of me of how he got on. Ditto Gloucester but I know he’s been injured for a few weeks. As I said before I’m sure he would have been great if teams started pumping long balls in but he wouldn’t have lived with the pace of Kyei and the like. This isn’t some sort of character assassination because he’s played in and around this level for most of his career so is hardly a liability, I was just more disappointed when we lost Callum Wood who I think will play at a very high level.

Gerring has had more clubs than Jack Nicklaus so there's obviously something wrong with him. With Wood I was most impressed with his steep learning curve. 2nd game of the season away to Tonbridge he was up against an on fire Ricky Modeste and Modeste showed him a clean pair of heels to start with. As the game drew on Wood then kept up with him, then was tackling him, then had him in his pocket, then the Tonbridge players stopped passing the ball to him. Wood will have a career in the football league for sure.

Just seen highlights on Concord site. 1st goal does look as though its going in before Ryan's touch, and for the 2nd Fletcher going down allowed progression down left hand side, but Omar should have got in a tackle to block the shot.

It 100% was not going in but I agree the camera doesn’t help. One of those rare occasions I had a perfect view but there’s nothing to back me up other than Michael also saying the same on comms. It would have missed the post by inches. If I was in any doubt I’d give it to Kyei because he wants a hat-trick, and records will say he has one, whereas Ryan Jones doesn’t want an own goal.

Works both ways I guess. Dan Ball’s first goal for us against Eastbourne years back was the same - 100% curling wide but I was instructed to give it to him.