Christmas Turkey

Thought I'd get that in early. But it wasn't much of a game. It started badly and steadily got worse. By the end I had a crick in my neck from looking skywards.

Well done to Nick for the goal but overall you can hardly say anyone had a good game. Rigg and Batten and Axel did themselves justice but otherwise there was no oomph.

Do they eat a big bowl of porridge before the game?

Haven't been to a Boxing day game for years and I don't feel I've missed much. Seems the same old shite served up every year in front of a bumper crowd and we wonder why the public don't get behind the club.

Have to disagree, Benny. I thought the game finally started to entertain once Hungerford scored. I feared they would bolt the door shut but in fact they seemed keen to score more and maybe that provided openings for us. McCootie never looks like he can be a reliable goal scorer at this level, but he regularly assists from that wide position. Play him wide, Gary!

I think it was what must be expected. The games have been like this for a number of seasons now.

Pity we couldn't beat a team which obviously had a few players who had too much pudding yesterday.

comrade - yes it did improve towards the end but it didn't make up for what had gone before and we still couldn't put more than two passes together.

It's not the worst game I have seen but that is no recommendation.

First half was terrible. We gave away yet another scrappy goal from a long throw but did improve second half. I felt we could have won it in the end as we did play with a lot more attacking intent but always looked vulnerable to conceding another soft goal.
Despite their league position Hungerford looked limited to say the least, but we failed to beat them and that says a lot about us.

falling over at the slightest touch and cynically hacking down anyone who makes a break goes a long way in this league.

Herring's tackle on Watkins looked like a shocker

Haven't seen him play since his Chippenham days. Was amazed at how 'young' he is, seems to have been around forever. And he now has hair.

Same old player. His antics afterwards were even more embarrassing.

I thought Hungerford pressed really well and forced us into mistakes, but didn't take advantage of them. Quite surprised that they made a triple substitution so early but indicates that they have a number of attacking options. It'll be a tricky game at their place, wouldn't be surprised if it's another draw.

2weirdtown wrote:Haven't been to a Boxing day game for years and I don't feel I've missed much.

Only two defeats in the last 10 games we've played on Boxing Day, so not all bad.

Mind you, one of them was last year's, which was pretty horrific. Bar that, the worst one I can remember was at Havant in 2001, a 3-0 surrender. Still, I must have thought it was acceptable, as I attended the next 424 matches, the run ending after a Boxing Day win over Weston in '09. Shudder.

As far as Christmas home games are concerned, there is no pattern at all really

Sat 26 Dec 2015 TRURO CITY H L0-3 801
Sun 28 Dec 2014 BOREHAM WOOD H W2-0 604
Thu 26 Dec 2013 WESTON SUPER MARE H W1-0 852
Wed 26 Dec 2012 WESTON SUPER MARE H L1-2 683
Sat 26 Nov 2011 MANSFIELD TOWN H D1-1 816
Tue 28 Dec 2010 FOREST GREEN ROVERS H L2-4 1222
Fri 26 Dec 2008 DORCHESTER TOWN H W2-0 695
Sat 22 Dec 2007 BOGNOR REGIS TOWN H D0-0 677
Tue 26 Dec 2006 TEAM BATH H W5-0 850

Today was alright. We, by far, played the best football but, as per usual, couldn't score a goal and more and more it looked like Hungerford would nick a 1-0 draw. Of course, they did get a goal from the scrappy aftermath of a long throw-in. After that, as is often the case, we woke up and started running at them. Pressure paid off and we got the equaliser and looked like we could quite easily get a winner. A stronger ref could have quite easily have sent off at least one Hungerford Town player but it wasn't to be and neither was the winner from either side. Still, a 1-1 draw seemed something to celebrate in the end and we have a fair chance of beating them at their place on New Years Day. Indeed, I might even go. Nearly 800 there and a good atmosphere.

Yes, the only real lasting memory of the game is that Herring appears to still be a nasty piece of work. Not sure how he (and, to be fair, Frankie) stayed on the pitch after the nonsense near the end.

That aside, it looked like a game between two sides destined for mid-table (which will, no doubt, given them greater satisfaction). They had 2 or 3 players whose shirts were either a size or two too small or had a couple of extra helping of turkey yesterday, but were clearly set up to be hard to break down. I thought Axel and Batten (80's US detective show?) did well to deal with their direct approach and Chas in front of them had a decent game. Other than that nobody really played that well and when they got their goal I thought that was that. Fair play to Nick for his run and cross though, and Andy's neat finish, and after that we could have nicked a winner that we probably wouldn't have deserved.

Walking out it was interesting to hear their manager tearing into the players (or going for a world record attempt at using the f-word in a post-match talk). I'm not sure if it was because he thought they'd played crap and were lucky to get a point or played well and didn't win.

I was surprised that McCootie was such a controversial choice for MOTM today. I am the first to say that he isn't really a player for this level but his effort can't be faulted and often pays dividends. Today, his direct running was what really put the wind up Hungerford and, even though I think he is a slightly bizarre pairing with Morgan, there was some good interplay between them and, indeed, Watkins today. The back four all played well (who put in the excellent tackle that started the move towards our game?) and Hemmings did well as well but I think that McCootie was the stand-out player in what was not the greatest game.

I desperately want to promote the Club but I spent 5 hours in the car and 300 miles for an awful game. Last 20 minutes were better but by that point I realised that we have too many players who are not good enough. And the referee didn't help.

Won't be at Hungerford - they looked like a good SL side.

Sorry to be so down on it but hard to find positives.

Atmosphere was very flat despite good numbers

Good points, Marc, but disagree when you praise McCootie's and Morgan's partnership. Considering they have now played together for so many games, I'm amazed they find it so difficult to link.

Question, what was the fuss about in the first half when Hungerford handed possession back to us from a throw in following an injury? The ball was thrown towards the corner and o'Leary almost gifted them a goal when collecting it. Jim was livid, their boss was embarrassed and the player concerned apologised. For what?

yuffie wrote: Chas in front of them had a decent game.

can't agree with that. there were periods when I forgot he was even playing.

There were long periods when nobody was playing. Got some great views of the Twerton skyline.

When is the team going to deliver a performance for home fans?

pete mac wrote:
Atmosphere was very flat despite good numbers

Very much because of the festive walk-up, I think. At the end of the day, we will get our numbers boosted for this sort of match but, very often, it is as much a social occasion as a dedicated viewing experience. Nothing wrong with that but, yes, it doesn't add much to the atmosphere.

comrade powell wrote:Good points, Marc, but disagree when you praise McCootie's and Morgan's partnership. Considering they have now played together for so many games, I'm amazed they find it so difficult to link.

I am not quite praising M&M's partnership. It is more that McCootie did well yesterday despite it being an odd pairing. Indeed, I think that both individually link up with Watkins better than each other.

comrade powell wrote:Question, what was the fuss about in the first half when Hungerford handed possession back to us from a throw in following an injury? The ball was thrown towards the corner and o'Leary almost gifted them a goal when collecting it. Jim was livid, their boss was embarrassed and the player concerned apologised. For what?

I assumed everyone thought that the ball shouldn't have been contested until it had gone back to Max from the throw.

BenE wrote:yuffie wrote:
Chas in front of them had a decent game.


can't agree with that. there were periods when I forgot he was even playing.

No, I agree with yuffie. He had a decent enough game, didn't make many if any mistakes and certainly was able to pass to a black and white rather than red shirt which some of our team couldn't

Well, with 798 people there, there must have been some new ones and some who don't come regularly. Actually, at the end of the game, the atmosphere was pretty good, as people obviously remembered the last 30 minutes, rather than the first hour. There was quite a decent applause for the City players.

I though the atmosphere was convivial rather than buoyant but, as we have discussed, us regular supporters can often not comprehend or lose sight of why people first come to football.

Certainly, my dad enjoyed his first visit to Twerton Park and many others would certainly be back for landmark or marquee matches such as the Christmas and Easter fixtures as well as FA Cup/Trophy games.

pete mac wrote:I desperately want to promote the Club but I spent 5 hours in the car and 300 miles for an awful game. Last 20 minutes were better but by that point I realised that we have too many players who are not good enough. And the referee didn't help.

Something to cheer you up, Pete...

https://bathcityfc.forumotion.co.uk/t1519-supporters-club-christmas-draw-2016-list-of-winners

I was one of those people that was surprised that Nick McCootie was chosen as MoM - apart from his run to set up the goal I thought he had a pretty poor game.

Agree with Steve White's Missus' comment - this was reminiscent of so many games we have seen over the last few seasons and sometimes it is difficult to see how things have really changed. I have seen most of the home games this season and they generally seem to be between two average sides and it is frustrating that we can't beat the likes of Hungerford, Concord etc to name but two.

Interested in Mark's comments about Herring as we were discussing him before the game. I assumed he must be late thirties as I didn't think he was that young when with Chippenham but Wikipedia reckons he is 32! Not surprised he wasn't sent off in view of who the referee was, who was as poor as he always is.

Hopefully we can start the New Year with a win and push on from there, but little evidence to suggest we will.

Very cheering thanks Martin.

I was surprised that so many of our recent Boxing Day crowds have been so modest. It would be great to have some decent local opposition. C'mon Chipp'nam.

the demon headmaster wrote:I was surprised that so many of our recent Boxing Day crowds have been so modest. It would be great to have some decent local opposition. C'mon Chipp'nam.

I'm not sure how much difference Chippenham would make. When the wonderful Tommy was their manager, they had crowds of 800 or more, but now it is around 300, so we wouldn't be getting large numbers of visitors. The 'conversations' between our Alan Pridham and Tommy helped to spice things up a bit. I don't even know who the current Chippenham manager is.