I agree with almost all of Jeffrey's fine analysis. The surface made it impossible to get the ball down and play on the deck. Arsenal would have struggled to put a string of passes together on that mudbath. The ball rarely bounced, instead sticking to the surface like a bowling ball. But we scrapped well and were the better team in the first half, certainly creating the clearer chances. Potter had nothing to do, the defence were untroubled, the midfield battled well and Robinson was looking lively. Their keeper made a stunning save to keep out a Ellis header, while he also denied Robinson after a short headed backpass by Accy's right-back.
Then just as I thought it was safe to queue up for my Mars bar and hot chocolate, the referee waves a red card
. I was 70 yards away, but didn't have any complaints. Naughty Ellis, whose batteries evidently still need recharging, gets the wrong side and pulls the chap down by the shoulder. It looked last man, but he was still a distance away from our goal. That's what they call a game-changer.One man down for a half was tough enough, but we were also playing against a strong wind blowing towards the Yellow Army (minus the Army). Accy went on to dominate, exploiting the space in the middle vacated by Mansell who was now being targeted at right-back. Potter was called into action a few times, while we survived a few games of pinball inside our box and were let off by some wild finishing. We couldn't get the ball down and our only chance came out of nothing when Zebs raced clear, but shot at the keeper from the angle.
Then the only moment of genuine quality produced the winning goal. Mansell played the ball out for a throw midway in our half after Accy quickly cleared a free-kick. As we were light in numbers, Manse proceeded to kick the ball into the stands, therefore wasting time and letting us reshape. Very shrewd I thought, especially as our skipper only escaped with a warning. But despite everyone being back in position, we still ended up conceding from the bloody throw! Craney turned a yellow body and then spanked in super shot from 25 yards. One heck of a hit - blink-and-you-miss-it
. I'm not sure if the giant Bevan would have got his fingers to it, so harsh to attach any blame to Potter, although I'll watch the FLS show tonight (please no Claridge :slap:).After the goal, Accy had a couple more decent chances as we 'chased' an equaliser. By 'chased' I mean throwing our new targetman Branston up top. Yep, Guy Branston. We desperately need a big, ugly striker who does the donkey work, bullies defenders, wins headers and holds the ball up. I don't care if he doesn't score, just somebody who we can build a 'Plan B' around (Branston does actually boast most of these attributes - now I see what Bucks was trying to do 8/ ).
As for Mr. Buckle, I thought he had his hands tied today. Got his line-up spot on based on the conditions. This was not for your O'Kanes and fancy pink Macklin boots. He was badly let down by Ellis which obviously altered his second-half plans. We did our best to hold on for a point, but were undone by a fantastic goal.
The subs has no impact on the result. Robinson was our biggest threat in the first half, but the second half was a completely different game as we were against the wind, on the backfoot and had a numerical disadvantage. He barely touched the ball in the 15 minutes after the break and obviously Buckle thought Gilligan would give us a little more protection. LRT for Kee was a defensive change, but we were under a lot of pressure and it made sense. Kee
was quiet and the ball wouldn't stick to him. LRT actually played in a left-central midfield position and looked sharp. It wouldn't have mattered whether we still had Robinson, Kee or Jean-Pierre Simb on the field, none of them would have prevented the goal. On that pitch, in the circumstances and conditions of the game, I'm not sure what Bucks could have done differently with the set of players at his disposal to try and get something from the game.Robertson
was my MOTM. Calm and assured both at right-back and in the centre of defence. Distribution not great, but then not many were able to pass their way through the game. All of the defence played well, though, including Potter who had an excellent second half. Worth mentioning that the sponsors' MOTM was the Accy keeper...
