City v. Wealdstone

Artus, Brunt and Stearn start. Rigg, Mann and Pryce on 5 man bench.

Bitterly disappointed.

We started slow and they had a wonder shot after 10 minutes. There only chance in the first half. They had 2 midfield players who won everything.

We had chances and it didn’t go for us.

Brunt seemed to leave his foot in to earn the sending off but that sparked us and at 1-2 with 10 to go had our best spell. Odds on for a Late equaliser when we gifted them.

Amazing how the best defence in the Leah’s hue fails in the do or die game.

Good season but a bullish midfielder, goal scorer key for next season.

Everyone will be down but we!ll bounce back for next season.

Wealdstone looked shattered at the end so I would put money in Woking but I was sure we would triumph tonight so what the f do I know.

Over and out TIL August

Gave it a good go but looked like it was not going to be our night when they managed to throw bodies in the way of our early attempts. Great support tonight from the terraces.

Saddened at the result which doesn't do testament to the effort City put in during the game. The Stones had a plan, caught us on the hop, but even with ten men we kept on battling and for moments looked like we may even turn it around. Incredibly unlucky in front of goal, if only one of those scrambled chances had gone in! But hey that's football. A great game. A great crowd. Thanks for a fantastic season, gents. Proud of you.

No doubting the endeavour of the team whatsoever. I thought we were unlucky to lose over the 90 mins but if truth to be told we didn't do enough going forward to warrant the win either; I.e not creating chances to score goals. I can't recall a half of football quite as frenetic as the first half, it was mental.

Chatting to some fans during and after the game, the consensus was that there was an air of inevitability about the way in which we would bow out which is disappointing but Gill's approach has resulted in a decent season so fair play.

We were unrecognisable to the team that played at WSM in the cup in at the beginning of the season which can only be a good thing.

UTC

We went into the match with no goals scored by our forwards in the previous four games and, unfortunately, we couldn't reverse that trend - we worked hard but simply couldn't create genuine openings. As against St. Albans we were then punished by the opposition who scored with more or less every shot on goal. However I think we should look on the positive side - the team has improved markedly, has produced some decent football overall and there is a definite buzz about the place which was not always present previously. The best indicator of our progress was the crowd - I distinctly remember that the last time we were in the play-offs, in 2010 against Chelmsford, the attendance was less than 1500 so encouraging to see that 50% more turned out this time.

A really tough game, but there is part of me that thinks that not getting promoted was probably the best result for the club in the long run.

If City have another season or two of 1000+ attendance averages, and playoff place finishes, the club will be in peak position to handle the promotion to the Conference. It is a BIG step, and although I'm confident the club is in a much better position than it was in 2010, it's still a lot to digest when the ground redevelopment is still in the pipeline.

I really enjoyed this season, and this year's team is one of my favourites in the 12 years I've been following City. If we can build on this season we could soon enter the Conference as a powerhouse club with a great following. That would be great!

As I said in the interview - when we went up in 2010 it felt like our one chance. I thought if we failed we'd stagnate, have a few more boring seasons, interest would drop off etc. I went into this game not particularly nervous, just hoped we wouldn't end on a whimper and cloud the superb season.

By the end, the raised hope quashed by Pratt's goal made defeat a bit sickening, but wasn't to be. Best of luck to Wealdstone and I hope Jonathan North makes it back for Sunday. It wasn't a moment of controversy (I thought the red card was justified) or a mistake whilst we were drawing which eliminated us. Just on the night Wealdstone worked insanely hard, soaked up pressure and hit us back. Interestingly, we only had one change from the league game, Smith for Romanski, and changed formation. I'd say, from memory, both performances from us were pretty similar - bit of a press before half-time without scoring, whereas they made their only clear opening count. Obviously in that case we clinched a deserved draw.

If anything the sending off galvanised us a bit. Funny that two of the times we've gone down to 10 men have resulted in us scoring soon afterwards, and at Chelmsford we arguably performed better a man down. It's sadly obvious that we've not had that fox in the box player. Brunt scored a lot early season but teams smartened up. The other attacking players we've got are strong as wide players as opposed to through the middle, and some of their goal tallies haven't set the world on fire. Injuries haven't helped.

A whole load of 'what might have been' I guess. What if Mills had been a success? What if Rigg stayed fit all season? What if we sneaked into that bye for the semi-final? Every club has similar questions. We've been fortunate that Straker, Batten, Cundy and Clarke missed two matches between them, only one through injury, and that Raynes, signed as a midfielder, proved to be a terrific full-back when needed.

But overall you can't deny it's been a tremendous season, on and off the pitch. The Torquay and Chippenham home games won't be forgotten in a hurry. Only two clubs out of 22 will earn the right to go up and it's a very tough league. We got ourselves in the mix but wasn't our time yet. Unlike 2010, I feel like the foundations are in place to have a good go again.

And hey, last time we lost a play-off game at Twerton Park, we won the league the following season...

Watching the clips that Chris Stone posted on twitter earlier I hadn't realised just how close Ryan Brunt had come to scoring. I think the failure to score from the various goalmouth incidents deflated the crowd a bit and at half time there was a bit of a feeling of the inevitable.

I did think in the second half that as the clock ticked down with us still trailing 1-0 we might have gambled by taking off a midfielder (probably Morton) and put on Pryce (who seemed to spend most of it warming up) to give us another striker. I know Jerry likes to keep to the pattern, but with the game slipping away I didn't see that we had anything to lose. It seemed to make even more sense when Ryan was sent off even though it lead to our best spell of the game. However, a disappointing night shouldn't detract from the successes of the season as a whole, not least the increased attendances.

Have to say something about the referee. The league obviously treated it as an important game by virtue of having a fourth official, so I would have thought that they might have gone for a more experienced referee, as he looked out of his depth and seemed to have lost control before half time. Still not sure how the Wealdstone number 3 stayed on after the foul on Ross.

Next season will possibly be more difficult with 4 teams coming down all presumably looking to go back up, so making the playoffs even more of challenge bearing mind that this seasons unsuccessful teams will no doubt be looking to go one better as well. As has been said, we have the base so hopefully we can build on it and put in another challenge next time round.

Disappointing result to end what has been one of the most successful and enjoyable seasons for many years and all credit goes to everyone at the club. We have some great memories of the season in particular the stunning finish to the TUFC match and the first half performance against Chippenham. We didn't quite get there on Wednesday and perhaps Mark should have played the song that preceded KO in the sixties when I started watching, Charlie and all, which was 'Just a little bit of Luck' that certainly didn't come our way on the night.

On occasions like this, I said before the game, that one of the most important players on the pitch is going to be the man in the middle.......unfortunately whilst not the worst we've seen this season at Twerton Park, the young referee never seemed in be in control, was being led by the players and never stood up against the so called 'professional' tactics employed by Wealdstone during the match. He only produced a card late in the first half to impose some order but then it was only yellow, having not previously shown a card to their full back who had already committed two late challenges earlier in the half which went unpunished. For games like this the league should surely appoint a strong and experienced official, not someone who looked lost and like it was his first time to manage such a 'big' game where he looked well out of his depth.

It was no surprise that he eventually brandished a red to Ryan Brunt only after checking the extent of the keepers injury and then being surrounded by virtually the entire Wealdstone team. PS I hope the keeper was not too seriously injured and is recovering well. Nonetheless the City team were a credit to the club as they fought right to the end showing the character and spirit that has epitomised the team this season. The crowd was fantastic and the atmosphere created in those last 20 minutes almost carried the team over the line and the players clearly believed they could still turn the match around right up to the late goal which sealed the result.

Big congratulations to everyone at the club for a memorable season and thanks to Jerry, Jim, Jason and all the players for their hard work and talent over such a successful season which hopefully we can build on next year and we can go that one step further. Up the City ! ....and hopefully the upcoming Presentation Night on Friday 10th May is well attended when we can show our appreciation all round.

westonpundit wrote:It was no surprise that he eventually brandished a red to Ryan Brunt only after checking the extent of the keepers injury and then being surrounded by virtually the entire Wealdstone team.

I'd fully expect our team to react similarly if Pratt had gone in similarly to Brunt on Ryan Clarke. I don't think there was any malice at all, Brunt's spent enough time out injured to know the pain, and from what I can research, it's his first career red card. Heat of the moment he obviously thought he could connect with the ball. From reading a tweet from Jonathan North, he's confirmed someone from our club visited him in hospital. Wouldn't surprise me if it was Brunt. Ok, doesn't take back the challenge, but if it was him I think it's a great gesture.

Thought Grant and Poku got away with quite a few challenges but I don't think the referee is the cause of our defeat. He wasn't even mentioned in Jerry's post-match. I guess he was appointed on the back of the highest marks, and didn't have too many more games for us/Wealdstone. He'd reffed our 1-0 win v Hampton the other week and 3-0 v Gloucester in August. Can't remember anything stand-out in either match. Also took charge of Wealdstone once. The fourth official has done a few of our games, including the Oxford one the other week. Also sent off Straker at Chippenham.

[quote="stillmanjunior"]

westonpundit wrote:Thought Grant and Poku got away with quite a few challenges but I don't think the referee is the cause of our defeat. He wasn't even mentioned in Jerry's post-match. I guess he was appointed on the back of the highest marks, and didn't have too many more games for us/Wealdstone. He'd reffed our 1-0 win v Hampton the other week and 3-0 v Gloucester in August. Can't remember anything stand-out in either match. Also took charge of Wealdstone once. The fourth official has done a few of our games, including the Oxford one the other week. Also sent off Straker at Chippenham.

I felt Poku could have had a straight red, for a tackle close to the main stand.

Can’t remember, when was it and on whom? So much went on.

stillmanjunior wrote:Can’t remember, when was it and on whom? So much went on.

Sorry. I cannot truly remember. Frankie?

Yes Wealdstone were a physical team but I think we lost because the younger players were overawed by the occasion. I thought Batten was MOM by a country mile and masked deficiencies elsewhere.
But they gave it a right good go overall, I don't think you could question the commitment or effort.
And as said by others they have given us a great season with football to be proud of.

And Grant scores after 3' at Woking!

comrade powell wrote:And Grant scores after 3' at Woking!

Now 2 - 0 Stevens (19'minutes)

Flew out of the blocks against us so I'm not too surprised.

Still, the Woking home faithful are a patient lot. I'm sure they'll get behind their players and help urge a comeback

And Chelmsford pull one back at Welling (2-1) where the home manager is given a very severe talking to by the officials. The ref is the Somerset one who did our game there and who stood no nonsense from the angry one.

stillmanjunior wrote:Flew out of the blocks against us so I'm not too surprised.

Still, the Woking home faithful are a patient lot. I'm sure they'll get behind their players and help urge a comeback

After the disgusting comments posted on their forum about the injury to North (since deleted) I hope that they are staring at another season at this level.

Amazing turnarounds in both games. Woking score three in second half to reach final against Welling who gave away a two goal lead but won it with a penalty in injury time.

comrade powell wrote:

stillmanjunior wrote:Flew out of the blocks against us so I'm not too surprised.

Still, the Woking home faithful are a patient lot. I'm sure they'll get behind their players and help urge a comeback

After the disgusting comments posted on their forum about the injury to North (since deleted) I hope that they are staring at another season at this level.

I was forwarded those. Absolutely disgusting.

Got to feel for Wealdstone. What a dramatic day.

Not sure who I want to win the final. I guess Welling as it's further for us to travel. Also it doesn't look good if two relegated teams go straight back up.

Based on the four games against us it would be no contest next Sunday...

Colin Voutt wrote:

stillmanjunior wrote:Can’t remember, when was it and on whom? So much went on.

Sorry. I cannot truly remember. Frankie?

It was on Ross who, to be fair, can make the most of a foul but it certainly could have been a straight red. Have to agree with Mark all the way, he wasn't the greatest ref but didn't lose us the game. Wealdstone are one of the teams that I love to see down here - aside from their excellent away support - and deserved the win even though we played one of our matches of the season. Selfishly, I am glad to see them stay down as they will add to our next season.

Marc Monitor wrote:

Colin Voutt wrote:

stillmanjunior wrote:Can’t remember, when was it and on whom? So much went on.

Sorry. I cannot truly remember. Frankie?

It was on Ross who, to be fair, can make the most of a foul but it certainly could have been a straight red. Have to agree with Mark all the way, he wasn't the greatest ref but didn't lose us the game. Wealdstone are one of the teams that I love to see down here - aside from their excellent away support - and deserved the win even though we played one of our matches of the season. Selfishly, I am glad to see them stay down as they will add to our next season.

Thank for correcting me.

You are right about the ref. and result.