Cup Final 3 v. Whitehawk

Amazing how just a few short weeks ago they were potential relegation candidates.....

Taking my cue from the reporter who writes those excellent post match articles in the Chronicle...

What I learned (or had confirmed) from last night:

1. unwise to assume we had our problems in central defence sorted after a couple of promising displays - they looked out of their depth on several occasions against a useful attack

2. assuming we survive by the skin of our teeth, we need to accept that 16/17 will be another season of struggle unless this squad is strengthened in several areas

3. a promising Saturday performance is rarely followed by the same in midweek

4. it's embarrassing standing for a minute's silence when you don't know who it is for, as was the case for everyone sitting in the centre of the stand. Please get the speaker system sorted for the Margate match (or at least looked at) - it makes our club look really amateurish and is unfair on Junior.

5. management needs to ensure that we start games in a high gear - last night's slow, sloppy start has been a feature of far too many matches this season and we are regularly conceding the first goal.

comrade powell wrote:5. management needs to ensure that we start games in a high gear - last night's slow, sloppy start has been a feature of far too many matches this season and we are regularly conceding the first goal.

This has been such a feature of my time watching Bath City that I assume the Bath changing room is too hot and the players get sluggish.

and it's not so much something learned Martin as re-iterated

Edit: As you were I see you have already acknowledged that!!!

I should have asked above - who was the minute's silence for?

The minute's silence was for former player Ted Doughty. I announced it probably 6/7 minutes before KO (before I had to dash into Randall's and tell the psychic medium to stop using her microphone as her voice was coming through our speakers). Embarrassingly the referee didn't lead the teams out until gone 7.45 which meant he rushed away with the minute's silence which caught me out. Usually there's an understanding that they'd wait for me to announce what it's for. As I was about to speak he blew his whistle, so I quickly read through it after.

I meant, but forgot, to ask about comrade's point 4 in my mini observations last night.  Agree with the other points too.  Lots to work on over the summer so long as we remain in Conference South otherwise most of the players we have now will be among the best in the Southern League.

Thank you turnstyle13 for explaining the contradictions in referee decisions. 

turnstyle13 wrote:Just to clarify - if it were ever needed given the above comments - Beau Nash's query on offside.
I believe its down to the intent involved in playing the ball forward.
McCootie shot and the defender got a touch on the ball but there was no intent in the defender in playing the ball towards his own goal. If the defender had intercepted and passed the ball goal-ward and Pratt intercepts it would be different.

Pratt was stood in an offside position when McCootie played the ball, but he was not interfering with play and  so was 'inactive'. That was until he inexplicably decided to help a ball that was already going in, into the goal. At that point he became active and so was flagged as offside.

So last night the officials got that one right. Against Dagenham they were wrong.

Spot on. It's a nightmare of a law but has been explained well above.

stillmanjunior wrote:The minute's silence was for former player Ted Doughty. I announced it probably 6/7 minutes before KO (before I had to dash into Randall's and tell the psychic medium to stop using her microphone as her voice was coming through our speakers). Embarrassingly the referee didn't lead the teams out until gone 7.45 which meant he rushed away with the minute's silence which caught me out. Usually there's an understanding that they'd wait for me to announce what it's for. As I was about to speak he blew his whistle, so I quickly read through it after.

RIP Ted Doughty. From the website archive...

Striker Ted made his debut for City as a teenager in April 1948. After three seasons with the club he joined Radstock Town. He would go on to have a trial with Arsenal.

If you have the good book, page 111 has 2 team photos - Ted is bottom left in the lower one and it looks like he is in the same place on the upper.

Junior, as I hope I made clear above, there is certainly no criticism of you here. It wouldn't have mattered how many times you had read it out, we wouldn't have heard.

Must admit the psychic medium's voice was heard - perhaps our players had also listened and were in a trance in the opening minutes.

Was any reason given for the late arrival of the teams?

comrade powell wrote:I should have asked above - who was the minute's silence for?

I could find no-one on the Poplar side who knew, excapt it being an ex-player.

Are we sure it was the voice of the medium and not someone from the other side (Not Whiehawk)!

McCootie has been running around like a blue-arsed fly to little effect the last two games. I sense the end of contract. Similar with Watkins. Neither player has had particularly great seasons. I like them both but McCootie is out of his depth and Watkins should have been scoring more this season and last. The first should be off in the close season and the latter, if he stays, needs to be producing much more next season.

As I was saying after Saturday, we need to get a proper centre half in, if not two, as Chas is only good as cover. He is better playing in front of two good centre-backs.

Major Icewater wrote:Are we sure it was the voice of the medium and not someone from the other side (Not Whiehawk)!

Had I known I could have asked her to tell us the score before the match and then I could have gone home and not wasted another evening at Twerton. I don't suppose anybody thought to ask her if we are staying up. Now I've got to got to HandY (i.e. Maidenhead) again to find out.