Braintree Town

Very entertaining game today. Some good performances all over the pitch. But we do need to start having a few shots. It is very difficult to score otherwise (and I no longer count a pen as an opportunity).

Marvin made a big difference as did being able to play Frankie further forward. We just switched off in midfield for their goal otherwise we would have got the win our second half enterprise deserved.

Agree with that. Braintree are a strong team but we matched them in most areas and played some good football. Hopefully we can get Amankwaah fit very soon as we could be struggling with Rigg's impending suspension. Recall for Miles?

Real solid performance today. Were the better side overall and just switched off for their goal. Marv had a good game on his return but at times was totally isolated. Do agree with Ben E we need to have more shots on goal instead of trying to walk the ball in the net. Thought Frankie was immense today and cant see how Tom Smith got MOM. Defensively we were also strong with Ryan Case and Bally outstanding. Just don't mention penalties!!!

1st half a non event but impressive 2nd half and deserved to be in front. Only then did Braintree start to play and momentum shifted where in the end a point was ok. Indeed not sure how Smith got mom, Marvin showed why we missed him, Frankie was prompting all over, Straker getting forward and supporting more, and shout to Jarvis who put in gd shift in unfamiliar role.
Promising but incisiveness and cleverness in final third missing. Oh for that fox...

Great to hear that MM hasn't lost his early season form, but very frustrating that for the second week running we couldn't register the win we deserved.

Junior, please can we have a breakdown on penalties missed and points dropped over past two seasons. Thanks...

This won't be particularly easy to read (in terms of layout and annoyance) but here goes:
Date Opponents Taker Method of miss Penalty location Score at time Final score Points lost
11/08/2015 Basingstoke Town Ash Kington Saved (rebound scored) Low and soft, straight down middle 1-1 2-1
11/08/2015 Basingstoke Town Ash Kington Saved (held) Low, keeper's left 2-1 2-1 0
05/12/2015 Hayes & Yeading Frankie Artus Saved Low, just to keeper's left 0-2 2-3
05/12/2015 Hayes & Yeading Frankie Artus Saved Low, close to left corner 0-2 2-3 1
20/02/2016 St Albans Eliot Richards Over bar High and wide 1-0 1-0
20/02/2016 St Albans Nick McCootie Saved Fairly low, close to keeper's right 1-0 1-0 0
16/04/2016 Eastbourne Liam Kelly Hit bar Underside of bar and out 0-0 1-0 0
10/09/2016 Hampton & R. Billy Murphy Saved Low and hard, close to keeper's left 1-1 1-2 1
29/10/2016 Ebbsfleet Marvin Morgan Saved Soft, low to keeper's left 0-1 0-1 1
12/11/2016 Maidenhead Shaquille Hunter Saved Soft, low to keeper's right 0-0 1-2 1
07/01/2017 Hampton & R. Frankie Artus Saved Low and hard, straight down middle 1-1 1-1 2
21/03/2017 Gosport Shawn McCoulsky Saved Low and hard, straight down middle 0-1 0-1 1
11/09/2017 Hungerford Jack Compton Saved Central, about two feet from ground 1-0 2-1 0
14/10/2017 Chelmsford Jack Compton Hit post Keeper's right, clipped outside of post 0-0 0-0
21/10/2017 Braintree Nat Jarvis Saved onto crossbar Central, hit keeper's legs onto bar 0-0 1-1 2

I think Nat Jarvis missed one against us for Hungerford on NYD as well.

Tom Smith got MOTM because he was the stand-out player throughout the game. He is a thoughtful player who can also track back and defend. The only issue with him, I think, is that he somewhat over-dramatised fouls on him. There was a stonewall foul on him in the second half where he jumped out of the way of a trailing foot but a touch acrobatically and the ref was fooled. The penalty call on him after that was a bit soft but could have been given. However, he is a very considered player who takes a half a second longer then a lot to see what is going on around him. He also probably should have taken the penalty as our loan players seem to be the only ones that can score them.

Marvin was good but still did a bit of that irritating holding on, that he does looking for a foul, today. I thought Nick may have been the answer today the sort of player who would have a crack from the edge of the box with the wind behind him but that part of his game seems to have diminished with him wide. Riggs was unfortunate as, even without the goal, he did very well coming on early in the first half.

I though Braintree were very impressive this afternoon. Probably the first team this season to outdo us playing skilfully but we still could have taken them. Before the match, I would have taken 0-0 against them - especially with the weather conditions - and 1-1 isn't bad but we could have have got all three points.

Marvin and Straker were standouts but Smith had a poor game. Amazed at motm call.

Second half effort deserved swim but first half was disjointed and rushed.

Must win Tuesday or new gaffer will have had a5 match blank start.

Loss of Owers really has stalled our season.

Still time to get the blend right though.

Season stalled a bit, but I feel more hopeful with what I have seen so far under JG.

Pre-match looks more thought out and addressing our weaknesses..... although if you watched the shooting practice I can't remember seeing the ball going in the net!

The actual play seems to have more about it rather than the get it wide then pump it long. Although it creeps back in I reckon this'll diminish over time. Only problem is the already mentioned want to walk the ball into the net.

I like what I see so far and player in/outs look good judgement...... as Marc said we would have thought a draw good before the game as couldn't beat top sides last season.

Some really nice passing from us yesterday. Thought Straker deserved MOTM - by far the best performance i've seen from him.

Thought Rigg's sending off was harsh, and hoping that Amankwaah's injury isn't too bad!

Great game back at TP after having missed a few.

Steve Whites Missus wrote:Season stalled a bit, but I feel more hopeful with what I have seen so far under JG.

Great game to watch yesterday with 2 good sides battling it out and yes I am also quite optimistic for the future as well.

I think Jerry Gill's admirable philosophy of getting the ball down on the grass and trying to play good football will pay dividends eventually, but looking at the table and from what I have seen this season, unless he sort outs out the goal scoring issue up top very soon, we will achieve very little and be no more than mid-table come April.

Morgan's return is a huge boost and he led the line very well yesterday, but he cannot carry the burden on his own and in any case he is not a prolific scorer anyway. To me Jarvis or Lucas are not the answer, neither are very quick or tricky, although Lucas - who hasn't featured at all recently under JG - has a good shot on him and poor McCootie seems to have forgotten where the goal is altogether. I would give Watkins a go up next to Morgan - his record at Truro was prolific playing as a central striker - but JG needs to find a poacher to play alongside Morgan very soon, otherwise it wont matter what system you play, we will not win many games. We have not scored more than 2 goals in a League match all season......

Thought Ryan Case was MoM yesterday with Frankie, Marvin and Straker very close behind and fair play to Dan Ball - who hasn't had the best of seasons so far - he was excellent and made some brilliant tackles and interceptions. Cant understand how Tom Smith got the nod - he was a deserved MoM last week against Chelmsford but yesterday was not so prominent.

A point at home against the League leaders is not to be sniffed at - it could so easily have been a win - but it really does make Tuesday's game with Dartford a MUST WIN fixture, otherwise we really will be stalling and losing ground......momentum is so important and we are in danger of losing it.

Sincerely hope Jack Compton is fit to balance the left side up in place of the ineffectual Jarvis, who tried hard but looked completely out of place in that withdrawn role. I was really surprised that he wasn't replaced by Kaid Mohamed for the last 15-20 minutes as we all know what Kaid is capable of in that left side attacking position and for me it would have been worth trying.  

Have to agree with most of the previous comments, including surprise that Smith got mom - not an easy choice, but I think I would have gone for Ryan Case who I thought had a great game in the centre of defence. I think playing Andy Watkins more in the middle alongside Marvin would be worth a try as I am not sure that either Jarvis or Lucas is the answer to our scoring problems.

Smith being there though did mean that Frankie could get further forward which I think has always been his best position and we suffered earlier this season from him having to play deeper.

It was interesting to see us being prepared to play the ball around, and even back to Southwood on occasions, when there aren't any obvious openings rather than hoofing it aimlessly forward.  

Overall things look promising and my only concern really is that JG seems a bit reluctant to use subs - both yesterday's were forced with Amankwah being injured and Billy Murphy clearly out on his feet - as somebody else has said, would have liked to have seen Kaid given 20 minutes in place of Jarvis.

Agree about the subs. Several players were looking leggy at about the time Braintree equalised.
Overall, we seem to have improved. Not conceding easily and playing it on the deck more.

Just want to say how impressive Stillman's ability to produce stats is. Incredible.

BenE wrote:Just want to say how impressive Stillman's ability to produce stats is. Incredible.

Yes, we are very lucky....he's usually very busy

I wonder if the lack of - what seem to us - obvious substitutions are because Jerry is still getting used to the squad. Let's face it, the real testing ground are matches so, whatever he has seen in training or from stats, I expect he is working on the basis of the 11 that are starting regularly and tweaking that. Anyone would have more of an idea of what Nick would bring to the team at the end of the day than Kaid.

Just to note, I'd been asked to collaborate the spreadsheet at the start of the year. Unfortunately had to update it a few times since then.

I didn't spend my Saturday night sorting it. I was too busy working out how many points Dartford have won from losing positions etc.

Those saying the red was harsh, don't forget it was a second yellow. I can't remember what his first booking was for but the second was certainly worthy of another.

Watching the video as soon as he commits the foul he knows he's off. The referee is even apologetic at having to show him a second yellow. It was one of the few decisions he got right all afternoon.

stillmanjunior wrote:Just to note, I'd been asked to collaborate the spreadsheet at the start of the year. Unfortunately had to update it a few times since then.

I didn't spend my Saturday night sorting it. I was too busy working out how many points Dartford have won from losing positions etc.

I certainly appreciate your efforts. And I'm sure you don't mind me failing to acknowledge it when I quote your stats to impressed listeners!