City 2 (Stearn, Hamblin) Eastbourne 2

What a load of rubbish. A considered view as well. Rarely have I seen such a limp, ineffectual, lethargic display. No energy, no tempo, no pace, no appetite. Embarrassed to draw. Feel free to disagree.

Massive game of two halfs

Once we lost Matt Bower at the break it went downhill.You could see in the second half how we lot three games in a row.Not enough experience at the back.Was Bower injured ?

Another example of paying the price for not consolidating our first half superiority. If Ross Stearn had scored the open goal he missed to make it 2-0 at half time it would have been a different game in the second half, and we failed similarly in the past against Tonbridge and Oxford. The problem we then create for ourselves is that the opposition gain in confidence and when they equalise we find it hard to break them down.

It has been said before, but our passing game needs to be done at speed because five passes to get the ball out of our own half just gives the opposition time to regroup.

Edwards was unplayable for the first 15 minutes or so but drifted in and out after that and we didn't seem to play to his strengths. I was also surprised to see Connor Riley-Lowe play much deeper than usual as he is normally a good outlet on the left which we seemed to lack especially in the second half.

Hopefully Frankie will be back next week or I can see us coming unstuck.

We had a nightmare today. Im begining to wonder if while trying to give youth a chance (which is to be commended) gerry might have gone a bit too far. We miss a roy keane type player to grab a game by the scruff of the neck, organise and put the fear of god into some of the 'nicer' players. Eastbourne were a limited team that we should have beaten but we dont seem to have a plan B. I have a lot of time for Gerry i really do but something is missing and doesnt seem quite right. I hope him and Jim sort it out soon.

Along with a poster here, there was a commonality of thought after the game centring around why Matt was substituted at HT - was he injured, or was it obligatory to give a loanee some game time perhaps. I seized the opportunity to speak to Matt as he was going home, and he confirmed that he was not injured, and that he was not happy at being replaced! He thanked me for asking him about it, and said that it was comforting to know when I told him that he seems to strengthen the team whenever he plays.
I too have a lot of time for Jerry - love the passing game skill that he has brought into the team generally - but I am mystified by instances like this - and, by Matt's words to me, I am disappointed for him that he appeared to not be given the reason for his withdrawal from the game.
To add to the proceedings today, it was a common agreement that perhaps Andy and Adam could have been used with sufficient time left to give the team fresh legs and a greater attacking force - Edwards was down to walking pace before the end!

I agree totally with the statement above.Matt adds something to the team and as I said it went downhill after he came off.Feel extremely sorry if it wasn’t explained to him.A couple of weeks ago he was in the stand and wasn’t even on the bench.He was upset at this decision , especially as we had numerous corners which I’m sure his presence may have resulted in a goal.This to me is an extremely strange situation..I have confidence in Jerry Gill and love the game he brings but the second half yesterday was not good to watch and I always felt as though Eastbourne would get back into the game.I would have brought on Mann and Watkins and replaced Edwards .I would have left Stearn on and gone with the experience.Quite often when a player comes on as a substitute they up their game .If we had scored the second crucial goal before half time things may have been very different .

Unfortunately I missed the game yesterday but I have to say Jerry can do nothing about players not putting chances away. It has been the story of our season at home. We outclass the opposition in the first half but don't convert enough chances. Second half the opposition up their game and we struggle to make an impression, if we are lucky we hold out, if not we concede at least once. Ironically we have often ended games in the ascendancy so fitness is not the problem.
You will often get mistakes from young defenders, or lapses in concentration. We could probably do with an older head at the back and we have always miss Frankie when he doesn't play.
But we haven't really sorted our goalscoring threat yet.