A predictable result against a very slick, athletic and fluent side.
We started OK in the first couple of minutes but it was downhill from there. A long distant shot from Saville early doors but then they got into their stride. The quality of the movement and the touch was first class and it only took them three minutes to open the scoring. A good and lively run down the left left Dutch in their wake. Their winger made it to the byline, cut it back for Mitrovic who just side footed it past Bart for 1-0. We were reeling and found it very difficult to get anything meaningful going. It wasn’t long before it was 2-0. Some good movement in the middle with a driving run. Their attacker was on the shoulder of Murray, he turned quickly to pick up a through pass and smashed it past Bart for their second goal. We were running around with our tongues hanging out and it wasn’t until the twelfth minute that we finally strung a few passes together. We were definitely second best and they were moving forward with speed and precision and cutting us open at will. We were not helping ourselves. When we had the ball a sloppy pass or a poor forward movement gave them the ball back and we almost paid the price. Their overlapping winger moved into acres of space, hit a great shot which their lot thought had gone in but it actually went wide. Realistically it could have been four or five but it was only 2-0 at the break when the ref blew the whistle. Surely things needed to change as we were in for a pasting if we stayed in the same formation.
GR rightly took off Romeo, moved Leonard to RB, Murray to left back and brought on Smith so we played 4-4-2. It looked as if all that planning in the break would have been useless if Bart had not made a double save in the first minute of the second half. We had a little more control in the middle and looked a bit more of a threat going forward but they still cut us apart at will. There was some desperate defending with block tackles, good saves from Bart and some decent movement forward. But we rode our luck and came more into it as the game went on. They seemed a little complacent but we had the bit between our teeth and after bringing on Danny for Leonard and Evans for a tiring Dutch we went for it big time. Smith played his part with his aerial threat and we got a goal back when Smith headed the ball back across goal and it seemed to hit Benik and went into the goal. It was now a case of forget the football and bring on the Christians as we went for it big time. A cross found Smith but he tried too hard to place his header and it went wide. Benik had a shot which went straight at the keeper and then panic struck Fulham as they brought on Mawson the shore up the back, the keeper took every opportunity to waste time and got booked for his trouble. And it all else failed the ref came to their rescue. At times he was bizarre and at other times he really did look biased. However, they survived the onslaught even with an added four minutes to secure the win.
Bart had a decent game with three or four excellent saves but he could do little with the two he conceded. Mahlon was poor, full of running but little threat or composure. Murray was solid with only one blip at the back and Cooper was the proverbial parsons egg, good in parts. MOM by a country mile was Ballard. He never put a foot wrong, was up for the challenge for the whole ninety minutes. Molly was OK but did not have his best of games as he was penned back by their forward movement. Saville had his moments, Leonard was similar and Dutch made some crisp tackles but faded badly near the end. Jed was all over the place and I lost count of the times he gave the ball away coming out of defence. He thinks he can beat everyone but he simply can’t and he was frustrating in the extreme at times. Benik had some good movement and excellent work rate but was lucky with his goal. Smith was a decent target man, Danny was aggressive and solid and Evans had little time to do much except get himself booked.
There are times you just have to admit that you were beaten by a better side but they were on a different page from us. We had a spirited second half but we were truly chasing the game for 82 minutes. We won’t come across many similar sides this season.
We started OK in the first couple of minutes but it was downhill from there. A long distant shot from Saville early doors but then they got into their stride. The quality of the movement and the touch was first class and it only took them three minutes to open the scoring. A good and lively run down the left left Dutch in their wake. Their winger made it to the byline, cut it back for Mitrovic who just side footed it past Bart for 1-0. We were reeling and found it very difficult to get anything meaningful going. It wasn’t long before it was 2-0. Some good movement in the middle with a driving run. Their attacker was on the shoulder of Murray, he turned quickly to pick up a through pass and smashed it past Bart for their second goal. We were running around with our tongues hanging out and it wasn’t until the twelfth minute that we finally strung a few passes together. We were definitely second best and they were moving forward with speed and precision and cutting us open at will. We were not helping ourselves. When we had the ball a sloppy pass or a poor forward movement gave them the ball back and we almost paid the price. Their overlapping winger moved into acres of space, hit a great shot which their lot thought had gone in but it actually went wide. Realistically it could have been four or five but it was only 2-0 at the break when the ref blew the whistle. Surely things needed to change as we were in for a pasting if we stayed in the same formation.
GR rightly took off Romeo, moved Leonard to RB, Murray to left back and brought on Smith so we played 4-4-2. It looked as if all that planning in the break would have been useless if Bart had not made a double save in the first minute of the second half. We had a little more control in the middle and looked a bit more of a threat going forward but they still cut us apart at will. There was some desperate defending with block tackles, good saves from Bart and some decent movement forward. But we rode our luck and came more into it as the game went on. They seemed a little complacent but we had the bit between our teeth and after bringing on Danny for Leonard and Evans for a tiring Dutch we went for it big time. Smith played his part with his aerial threat and we got a goal back when Smith headed the ball back across goal and it seemed to hit Benik and went into the goal. It was now a case of forget the football and bring on the Christians as we went for it big time. A cross found Smith but he tried too hard to place his header and it went wide. Benik had a shot which went straight at the keeper and then panic struck Fulham as they brought on Mawson the shore up the back, the keeper took every opportunity to waste time and got booked for his trouble. And it all else failed the ref came to their rescue. At times he was bizarre and at other times he really did look biased. However, they survived the onslaught even with an added four minutes to secure the win.
Bart had a decent game with three or four excellent saves but he could do little with the two he conceded. Mahlon was poor, full of running but little threat or composure. Murray was solid with only one blip at the back and Cooper was the proverbial parsons egg, good in parts. MOM by a country mile was Ballard. He never put a foot wrong, was up for the challenge for the whole ninety minutes. Molly was OK but did not have his best of games as he was penned back by their forward movement. Saville had his moments, Leonard was similar and Dutch made some crisp tackles but faded badly near the end. Jed was all over the place and I lost count of the times he gave the ball away coming out of defence. He thinks he can beat everyone but he simply can’t and he was frustrating in the extreme at times. Benik had some good movement and excellent work rate but was lucky with his goal. Smith was a decent target man, Danny was aggressive and solid and Evans had little time to do much except get himself booked.
There are times you just have to admit that you were beaten by a better side but they were on a different page from us. We had a spirited second half but we were truly chasing the game for 82 minutes. We won’t come across many similar sides this season.
