City 0 Havant 0

Cmon guys, over 1200 there yesterday, somebody must have a view of that point, good, bad or indifferent?

Twerton would have gone wild had we scored in those last few minutes.

It went wild with the penalty miss!

Looked a 0-0 draw for nearly all of the game and neither side deserved the three points but the one gained probably helps us more than them. The real sickener was seeing afterwards that Welling had clawed back a three goal deficit. Hopefully that won't inspire them.

Based on his interview, Jerry Gill clearly thinks otherwise but I thought Havant were one of the worst teams we've faced at TP this season.

comrade powell wrote:Based on his interview, Jerry Gill clearly thinks otherwise but I thought Havant were one of the worst teams we've faced at TP this season.

The "star" of their team was the No. 14, Newton, who was very, very proficient at falling over when he lost the ball. However, he did have a turn of speed.

Am I the only one who laments this modern policy of refs giving free kicks every time a player falls over? I just want to shout - get up man, you're embarrassing yourself.

I was surprised by the gate, it didn't look like 1200 but it is always difficult to judge when the opposition bring more than a car full.
As Powell says we certainly didn't deserve a win as we were particularly toothless.
I'd be interested to know if Ben Seymour has actually had a shot yet.
But defensively we have looked much more resilient.

Sounds as though I made the right call to not travel to TP for this one.

I am enjoying these 0-0's because we look more like a team that is playing for each other. The midfield doesn't have a big hole in it that the opposition waltz through.
But we do not look confident on the ball and that is to be expected given the position we are in.
If Raynes had been in midfield we might have had a bit more purpose going forward but he is an excellent defender.

tovid wrote:Am I the only one who laments this modern policy of refs giving free kicks every time a player falls over? I just want to shout - get up man, you're embarrassing yourself.

No, you’re not the only one. I feel for the officials trying to judge what is and what is not a foul. At the highest level the game is played at such a speed that only slow motion replays can detect what happened. And of course most players seem to set out to con the ref and get opponents into trouble. Then you have pundits pronouncing after watching endless replays “there was a slight contact so it was a foul.”

Unfortunately it’s all copied right down through the levels.

Colin Voutt wrote:

comrade powell wrote:Based on his interview, Jerry Gill clearly thinks otherwise but I thought Havant were one of the worst teams we've faced at TP this season.

The "star" of their team was the No. 14, Newton, who was very, very proficient at falling over when he lost the ball. However, he did have a turn of speed.

Yes, Newton was a 'thrush'....an irritating tw*t, but the "star" for me was the Dutch striker number 27, Manny Duku, a recent signing from Caledonian Inverness Thistles. He had already missed 2 sitters before he showed the Irish guests how to win the crossbar challenge! I was hoping we could have a rendition of "What a waste of Manny" but the moment was lost in all the excitement of the last few minutes.

Worrying that we now regard a home draw as a good result. And we were lucky to draw on Friday. If we draw our last 2 games at home and lose our 2 away games we'll be relegated.

Micawber wrote:Worrying that we now regard a home draw as a good result. And we were lucky to draw on Friday. If we draw our last 2 games at home and lose our 2 away games we'll be relegated.

Hmm, might take that cos it would mean Welling and Billericay winning probably 3 of their last 5 games to overtake us.

Micawber wrote:Worrying that we now regard a home draw as a good result.

A draw against a team 14 points above us with a much larger squad and one defeat in nine heading into the game is a poor result? The only team that had stopped Havant from scoring in their previous 10 matches were the current league leaders. I think they had one shot on target from open play, which was in the first minute. I class the crossbar as off target before anyone brings it up!

I'd take four points from Havant this season as being a decent return. From the start of April I thought our hardest remaining games were Friday and tomorrow.

Based on gaining just 1 point from our last 9 away matches, I think any away from TP may prove a tad difficult.

comrade powell wrote:Based on gaining just 1 point from our last 9 away matches, I think any away from TP may prove a tad difficult.

Nothing like being positive

comrade powell wrote:
No, you’re not the only one. I feel for the officials trying to judge what is and what is not a foul. At the highest level the game is played at such a speed that only slow motion replays can detect what happened. And of course most players seem to set out to con the ref and get opponents into trouble. Then you have pundits pronouncing after watching endless replays “there was a slight contact so it was a foul.”

Unfortunately it’s all copied right down through the levels.

As a slight aside, it was interesting at Wembley on Saturday*, watching from the top tier, how much closer the referee (Michael Oliver, I think) appeared to be to be ball when he gave decisions. It wasn't something I've noticed while watching top flight football on TV (or at our level) but I think it must help them get more decision correct.

*little else of interest happened in the game