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just wide again from chapell.......

grimsby 7-0 alfreton......... :-o

FT 1-1

We are just cannot score without Ryan Bowman. You can’t say that Cameron’s goal counts; it was a looping cross that ended up in the back of the net. We created so many chances, from Chappell and Cameron on the wing, Ajala in the holding position, Ofori-Acheampong and Briscoe as the holding strikers, but we cannot score without Bowman. This is completely unacceptable. If we are reliant on one man to win games, we are screwed.

Ricey, he’s a great shot stopper and does well in his box, but his kicking is atrocious. Time and time again he just hoofs it up front and it either goes out or goes to the opposing keeper. Its things like this that makes me so angry, sloppiness and wasteful play giving the ball away. When he finally decides to play it short, he passes it to Richards, who was marked, gave the ball away in the centre of defence and luckily the Referee gave a free kick (it probably wasn’t the right decision).

Tonge, very average. Did okay at times, linking up with Chappell and clearing well. Other times he wastes the possession and looks like a complete numpty at the back. Not comfortable watching him.

Downes, different class. A terrific performance, did everything right, never put a foot wrong. Won every header, no nonsense defending.

MacDonald, he was the same as Downes just not as good.

Ives, a superb debut. Great ball control and awareness, linked up with Young well. I much prefer him instead of Cruise. He WASN’T at fault for their goal. It was a clear, clear foul on Ives and it shouldn’t have been 1-1. The officials were absolutely
abysmal all game. The linesman down the popside didn’t make one correct decision. Appalling.

Young, a very good performance. He made a couple of mistakes, but he looked very strong and has a brilliant footballing brain. Linked up with the wingers well and even had to play the role as winger, because Cameron/Chappell were too slow!
Richards, average. Sloppy at times but made up for it mostly. He looked okay, but was quiet.

Cameron/Chappell, both were average. Gave us pace and an option on the wing from time to time, but other than that was very frustrating. We were so slow going forward, hardly ever turned and faced the ball when Rice had the ball. It looked like we didn’t want to win the game.

Ofori-Acheampong, hard work but no end product. He did alright laying the ball off from time to time and chasing balls, but that isn’t his job. He can’t jump and can’t win headers. A real waste of space really? Very frustrating.

Ajala, was very lazy today. Little skill, didn’t make a lot of effort getting forward with pace. Didn’t get back enough to defend, Hargeaves shouted at him so many times to get back.

Briscoe, waste of time playing him with Ofori, no point having two laying off strikers. When Sullivan came on, he looked a little better, but nothing brilliant.

Wakefield/Sullivan, didn’t do anything.

The best thing about the day at Plainmoor, was that they played ‘Don’t look back in Anger’ by Oasis at the end of the game.

So another draw and probably a fair result and an indication I think where our season is going. There's ability and flair in the team but also a lot of inconsistency. We're an improvement on last season and you could argue we are going in the right direction. I was impressed today with youngsters Ives making his debut at left back, and Richards in central midfield. They both seem confident on the ball and pint size Ives even won a couple of crucial headers. Sadly Ives was blocked off for Aldershot's equalizer. Crowd 2,135, around 200 from Aldershot I would say. Spnonsors MOTM was Downes for a commanding display at the back.

After all the rain fall the match was played in mainly dry conditions with some sunshine. On 3 minutes Torquay had a dream start when a free-kick from Cameron eluded all the outfield players and then caught out keeper Smith and went straight in! Aldershot responded well to conceding and Torquay had some scary moments. On one occasion only a fantastic header over his own bar from Downes prevented a certain goal. There were one or hairy moments when Rice struggled to get to crosses but we survived. Both Downes and MacDonald were in commanding form at the back and young Ives showed good composure on the ball. Torquay had a decent chance when Chappell beat their keeper to the ball outside the box on the left hand side and put over a cross. O'Archie's shot was then blocked. So Torquay led 1-0 at half-time and at times we looked good with some exciting play.

The second half was ok but the truth of the matter is that we rarely tested their keeper. There were good moves at times only to be let down by players hesitating to shoot or giving the ball away. Our best moment came from great dribbling from Cameron who put through Briscoe on the right. Briscoe's shot was low and went past the far post. It was one of those situations when there were yellow bodies in the box and Briscoe should have either pulled the ball across or got his shot on target. He did neither and a good chance went begging. Sadly Aldershot then attacked on our left and scored. We got a bit exposed, apparantley Ives got blocked off and they beat the advancing Rice. Ironically we were having a good spell when that happened. Both teams pressed for the winner, Rice had to be alert on a couple of occasions making good saves. Chappell near the end got the ball as it rebounded off the corner flag into play, beat a player but his low cross just eluded the stretching Cameron in the box. Near the end Chappell should have done better to lob their keeper who was stranded out of position but miscued his shot with the goal gaping. There was no lack of endeavor but sadly a lack of quality at vital times and Chappell's last effort summed us up in my opinion. For all our effort and good approach play at times, Aldershot's keeper still had quite a quiet afternoon.

The ref made a bit of a farce of things and was roundly booed at half-time and at the final whistle. 1 minute was added to the end of the first half but he played 3 and gave Aldershot a free-kick that should have gone the other way moments before. Their header went inches wide in the last kick of the first half. At the end of the second half there were 4 minutes of added time on the board. After 3 minutes 50 seconds Torquay had a corner but the referee blew up for full-time.

So very much it was work in progress for us today. It was quite an entertaining match and we have our fair share of flair players to give us some exciting moments such as from Cameron, Young and it was good to see Chappell back. But there were also too many mistakes from too many players and mid table looks likely to me. The home crowd gave the players a good send off at the end.

Good post Swanny. If you don't mind, I'm going to add that to the main site alongside my view on the game.

Really pleased to see Chappell back in the side, thought he had a great game today. Defensively we looked solid, Angus and Downsey are proving to be a good prtnership. Good debut from Ives, too. I'd stick with him.

Overall I thought we were alright today, Young and Richards look like a good pairing and I think really the only issue was in front of goal we were not quite clinical enough.

I think our starting XI is beginning to show itself and once Bowman comes back we'll turn these draws into wins.

Let's be honest, we're 4 unbeaten now and that's something.

To be honest the quality of football was very, very poor. I was also surprised there was little sense of urgency amongst the players - at times felt like a friendly.
We showed very little self belief going forward and I thought overall Aldershot shaded the game. We have very few ideas up front and the only impressive performance was that of Briscoe when he came on. Perhaps his best position is in a central position and not out wide?
Hopefully the return of Bowman will change things but on this performance I am sorry to say we will end the season mid table at best.
Would lie to say that I thought the lad at left back had a great debut and I wish him all the best in the future. As others have said he was not at fault for the goal - fouled by one of their players.
Overall little to be pleased about - not sure I will attend for a while as the overall standard is so low.

A very frustrating game, I feel that we started and finished as the stronger side but never looked really in control whilst we were only a goal ahead. That said, we created several chances and at least one of them should have been converted, whilst without a bit of hesitation and poor decision making we could have created more.

We opened with a fluked goal from a deep free kick by Cameron, that said the kind of delivery he put in was perfect for the situation so can't really begrudge him the goal. After that, the Shots seemed unnerved and we noticeably got on top of the play for a while; if we had scored a second during this time, I think that would have been the game.

Unfortunately, after half time Aldershot came out very strongly, and although we were still creating a few half-chances on the break, they looked increasingly dangerous. Their fans certainly sensed this, and ramped up the volume accordingly. Unfortunately, not many in the Popside seemed willing to respond to this, and their goal more or less silenced the home fans. It came just after we had wasted a chance from the right wing where Briscoe (I think) went for goal from a tight angle when perhaps a square ball would have done the job. The ball rolled wide of the post, they went back up the other end and scored. I wasn't really sure what Ricey was doing for the goal, he seemed to come rushing out unnecessarily when it was a very tight angle for their striker and it allowed the ball to be slotted neatly under him.

We had multiple chances to win it after that, a low cross somehow eluding everybody in the box, and Jordan Chappell not quite able to control a lob after their keeper had rushed out the edge of his area. The Shots also threatened on occasion, though in the last ten minutes there was only really one winner.

The Players:

Rice
Look generally reliable with shot stopping, got a nice fist on a rocket of a half volley in the second half, but distribution was absolutely woeful and utterly without urgency. Also could have held his ground for their goal and forced their striker to hit the corner of the goal.
Tonge
Poor throughout the match, however in the last 15 minute was a different player and seemed a little hungrier.
Downes
Was booked early on for losing his footing in a 50/50 on the touchline, but won almost all of his headers. Reminded me of John Terry in that he was very 'all-action' but then a couple of times was caught out positionally.
MacDonald
Calm and collected, whilst not as 'visible' as Downes, he didn't make any mistakes.
Ives
Fantastic debut from a player who simply has to be given the chance to make the position his own. Seemed confident on the ball, with a nice turn of pace (or is it that I'm just used to seeing Kevin 'Turbo' Nicholson there?) and was obviously hungry for it.
Chappell
A player that I'm a fan of, he has the close control and touch but just seems to lack the pace to beat a man. Hesitated a few times when an early ball in would have been the best solution.
Young
My first time seeing Youngy, and I was very impressed. Much tougher in the tackle than some would have you believe, hopefully will be a fantastic asset to the club for years to come.
Richards
Combative performance combined with a nice touch, I feel that he could again be the future partnership in the middle with Young.
Cameron
Seemed a little unwilling to really have a go at his man, but in terms of movement was leagues apart from the rest of our front line. Could do with building his confidence levels up and not being afraid to have a crack at goal when cutting inside.
O'Achie
Big and bustling, he got around a lot whilst not really creating anything or looking particularly good with the ball. Had several half chances to turn his man or beat him that he did not take and somehow managed to lose a LOT of headers. Seemed out on his legs for a while before he sagged to the deck and was finally substituted.
Ajala
Obviously in a different class to his partner, but wasn't involved in some play as the ball got caught up down the flanks without a good delivery. Will be a threat with Bowman.
Briscoe
Came on and got stuck in, won several headers and generally looked dangerous despite sitting in the hole behind Duane, would have been nice to see him perhaps pushed a little further up with an Ajala type of player.
Wakefield
Didn't have long, but looked nifty on the ball.
Sullivan
Not enough time to judge.

As a whole, it was nice to see an attempt at 'proper' football, unfortunately in attack this led to us sometimes trying to thread it through the middle when a simple ball wide and cross would have sufficed.

The home fans in the pop side were alright in the first half, although there is a lamentable dearth in variety and invention for the songs. Liked the constant low-level drumming, and in a few moments it really felt like ten years ago with the volume levels. Unfortunately, after their goal the noise died and only returned towards the end of the match, with no real attempts to start anything back up, just after the Shots fans had raised the roof for their team and been rewarded with a goal. Not one rendition of 'You Are My Torquay', just a single, half hearted 'Give Us a TEEEEEE' and no concerted effort at player songs. I remember certain things always used to happen:
Teams come out - "UNITED!" and yellow pages (the chant happened first half and was ok.
Pre kick off - Each player with their own song gets it sung (remember Graham for Scotland, Don't mess with Hockley, He's here, he's there, every f*cking where Kevin Hill etc)
Corner kick - "Come on you Yellows" - happened once.
After conceding - "Come on Torquay" - nothing.
BUT the amount of people in the singing section was much smaller than I have ever seen it, so I have to give those who did sing points for effort. Even if I literally can't believe nobody has thought of the simple "OOH AHH, AJALA!"

All in all, a game short on real quality but plenty of positives to take forward about the way we are playing. Now somebody sort out the refereeing (although I have seen MUCH worse) and let's enjoy not being the whipping boys!

EDIT: Well done drummer for playing in time and the background level of noise, but we really needed you to be hitting that thing after we had conceded, not lamenting that we couldn't score without Ryan Bowman!

Was guest of the match sponsor today, so up in the family stand , and it a gave me a much different view to my normal spot near the half way line on the popside, of the 18 of us, the majority voted for Downes as motm myself included, and it was easy to see why with that view.

In the first half Downes made a defensive header facing our goal, for a start he had to get that right to avoid obviously heading into his own net, and secondly, he had to get something on the ball otherwise the shots forward would have had a relatively easy chance, he made another timely intervention in the first half to deny Aldershot another goal scoring opportunity , Downes went on to have a fantastic game cleaning up a few dangerous situations at the back.

Much tighter at the back today, conceded few chances to Aldershot, some neat passing moves through midfield from us, however we seem to get in really good positions and either a bit of quality missing or the wrong decision made at the vital moment, and there are times when you want to shake one or two of our players ' SHOOT ' please.

Richards had a good game today, breaks up play well keeps things simple, like O'Archie, boy that lads a handful, he's a typical forward player, rather than an out and out striker, seriously would love to see him up top with Bowman, can see those two causing mayhem in opposition defence. I think for the season ahead, my only concern is, we're going to be to reliant on a few very key players, we already seen how much we've missed Bowman these last few games.

The game was evenly poised and several of our players need to sort themselves out. Rice needs to sort his distribution out, Tongue to inconsistent and is struggling at times. McDonald deserves place outstanding today, Downes did ok but cannot handle pace or being roughed up. Ives a very good prospect had a good game got pushed aside for the goal and we should have had a foul but the ref. was very poor today. Young had a quiet game Richards did ok, Cameron needs to be stronger when in tight positions but is ok in space when running at players disappointed in him today. Chapell a bit of a mixed game had a few bright spells but disappointing. Ayala did ok but frustrating at times and Ping pong had no end product.
I think in a few years time that Ives will make the club money when he moves up a standard.

Rarely in my years watching the club have I seen a young player make such an impressive debut as young whipper-snapper Ives did today. As much as we would all have liked him to have had the perfect start he really was badly out of position for the Aldershot goal. It looked at one point he would concede a penalty, but did not really make a decision either way and was hounded further out of position by the Aldershot player. You could argue it was a professionals goal.

Once the Aldershot sub came on Ives looked more vulnerable and perhaps should have been taken off to protect him....although he looks so confident that perhaps Hargreaves assumed he could cope with the change in personnel....but that was a deliberate tactic from the Aldershot bench and one that worked.

Personally I do not think we can have any complaints about the goal, as you will see from any replays that are shown...but one things for certain Ives will learn from that quickly and is sure to have a big future in the game

Not a bad performance really. I thought we made Aldershot look pretty poor at times. I was really at a loss with Hargreaves team selection today but it according to him Benyon and Yeoman were injured as well so we were really struggling player wise.
Ajala definately isn't a striker though.
The surprise for me is O'Kachie - he looks ungainly and clearly isn't fit but a good effort from him today especially as its his second game in three days.
Looks like he has the potential to be useful.
Ives was excellent but a real shame he gifted them the equaliser.
Thats the third game in a row we could and should have won but we have now won only one game out of five - which really isn't good enough.
Thea Bristow said that CH was employed to keep us up or get us back at the first attempt - at this rate we will ve out of touch by October.

There is no such thing as a professionals goal. Ives seemed out of position he was then had his shirt pulled for three seconds. Ninety nine percent of referees would have seen it that way. For some obscure reason we get match officials who seem to go the extra mile to view things differently.

It was ok today. I would have settled for a point before the game but while Spotlight were suggesting we are 4 games unbeaten, we are now three without a win and I see that continuing at Lincoln next week.

However, today was perhaps a fair result. I thought the first half an hour or so, was all Aldershot, although we looked dangerous on the break. However, I don't think we especially tested their keeper, nor was Rice faced with anything too challenging.

The real shame is that the Aldershot goal came after the best move of the game, when Tonge passed to Cameron, who feigned to completely wrong-foot his opponent, then slip the ball to Briscoe, whose effort was just wide. That would have been 2-0 and game over but within seconds it was 1-1 - such is the margin of error.

Ives was perhaps at fault for the equaliser, perhaps not, but he can feel pleased with his debut. Whilst small, he looks a very promising talent and it is great to see a real prospect, home-grown, take his place in the team. Saying that, I'm not sure I would expose him to Sincil Bank next weekend, it may be best to ease him in fairly gently.

Downes deserved his m.o.m. award. he certainly saved us with a superbly headed clearance in the first half. Also, Richards deserves a special mention - he looks a great prospect in midfield. I don't think anyone had a bad game - all played their part but we lack uop front. Duane is a nuisance but he is probably only going to get as many goals in a season as Scott Rendell scored today.

6pts out of 15 is not great with 4 of the 6 pts coming from teams already marooned in the relegation zones. I think what we are seeing is a team that will do OK at home but will struggle away and will probably end up where we are in the table now. It is interesting to see the that table already seems to have settled into what you might expect to see at the end of the season: Halifax, Barnet, FGR, Eastleigh, Lincoln, Gateshead, Wrexham, Grimsby being the top 8, while Dover, Altrincham, Telford, Dartford, Welling, Nuneaton, Alfreton are already the bottom 7 - with us somewhere in between.