Just Back v Swans

silverlion

Well-known member
Staff member
An improved second half and a streaky win with a squeaky bum ending.

We started off ok but it went down hill from there. It really was a missable first half and my good friend heh-now said at half time you’re not going to write about this later are you. It was poor, lacked passion and drive, had a decent shot from Leonard on the burst and a couple of saves from Long. That really was about it and they passed the ball around fairly well but we just sat off them a bit and it was really boring.
Half time could not come soon enough and things could only get better second half.

GR had clearly given them all a kick up the pants and told them they just had to be quicker on the pass, tighter in the press and more forceful going forward. It didn’t take long before we had our noses in front. A long throw from the right by Leonard caused panic in their box. It bobbled about a bit and fell to Cresswell. He hit it firmly from ten yards out through a crowd of legs and the keeper tried in vain to keep it out. A sigh of relief rang out around the ground and we did think that we were on the right road. They were a bit crestfallen as they had managed a lot of possession in the first half and suddenly they were a goal behind. Things were likely to get a whole lot worse quickly. A decent ball out to the left was well kept in and managed by Flem. He charged forward and found Honeyman near the edge of their box. He just got a toe to it and pushed it right to Vogi on the edge of the box. He swept a left footed curler towards goal which their keeper made a complete mess of and it squirmed by him for 2-0. We were all smiles and thought we had it all home and hosed. They had other ideas and pressed forward. The ref was poor and inconsistent….what’s new?…..and a firm challenge from Danny was punished with a yellow card. There really wasn’t any malice in it. Their 10 rolled around holding his leg as if he had a double fracture. When the card came out he jumped up and ran off like a greyhound. He got dogs abuse for the rest of the game. They pressed hard and their goal had a touch of good fortune in it. A corner bobbled in our box, Creswell half cleared it to the edge and their defender gave it a whack and it was deflected past Long who was stranded. They ran back as if they had won the World Cup. They pressed hard and Long made a couple of decent stops but we were not helping by giving the ball away frequently. Bradshaw and Sav were on their knees and finally GR made a triple sub. Off went to two mentioned above with Vogi and on came Burke, Watmore and Shack. We now had energy and renewed resolve and two decent saves from Long and an inspired performance from Murray kept us in it. Their 12 had a right go at Cresswell near the end but the big man laughed it off which really riled their attacker. We saw the game out well despite five added minutes and then Rockin’ All Over the World rang out loud and proud.

Long had a decent game with some decent saves. Danny was aggressive and resilent and Cresswell and Cooper were very solid. MOM though was Murray with an excellent display at LB. One Roberto Carlos moment late in the second half had the crowd on their feet. Sav worked tirelessly and Leonard was very reliable. Vogi took his goal well, Flem had some moments and Honeyman was busy. Tom worked hard with little reward. Burke and Watmore ran hard and Shack added energy to the middle, Hutch had a seven minute cameo when he shouted loudly and bottled it up.
Three points at this stage of the season is gold dust and we worked hard for them. The pack are chasing us but we are keeping our noses in front and hope to do similar on Saturday against Colin Wanker and Co. I really hope we can keep this run going and it shall be there to cheer them on. COYL.
 
It was a poor showing by us but we won , majority of the team looked jaded & found it hard to get out of first year , yes they did outpass us had a lions share of possession but we held a deep backline & defended well , cannot agree about wallace think his lack of pace cost us again tonight like the last 3 games and the OPPO now seem to targeting him with a pacey winger, Dress well MoM for me , another point was how long Long takes to distribute the ball countless times we had players in space but he either dithered too long or choose to hit it as far as he could ,when he first came in he was a breath of fresh air with the ball but now he just too slow ( or is he being told) but we need all the points we can muster before we play Luton cause that will be I think the game to decide our fate....
 
Thanks Silver, probably our worst “winning” performance of the season but how can you criticise a manager or a team that are 5th in the league? So I won’t
Perhaps we have a bit of lady luck following us, not often does that happen at Wall. In seasons gone by we;ve played much better and lost. You need a bit of fortune along the way if you are to achieve something.We're being rewarded for our tenacity and endeavour.
 
I was a bit surprised by the unchanged team selection tonight. Tiredness is a problem. But it’s a fine line in keeping things going and freshening up the team. I think GR will make a few changes. However a brilliant result. Nice that Coventry and Middlesbrough both dropped points.
 
I thought Ryan Leonard was excellent tonight. He chases and tackles everything that moves. He is fast becoming a key player in the team and I look forward to watching him.
He's come back fit at the right time too. Fresh set of legs at this stage of the season has to a positive. He's decent and can cover a few positions. Needs to remain fit though!
 
one thing that stands out - we have injuries to key players and probably a squad that is a striker short yet we find ways to win. we have a very even group of 18-20 players so when we lose a few the next ones in are of similar quality
 
Can’t choose MOM for me it’s either Murray or Lennard both excellent last night.
As team our ball retention needs to improve. But who Am I to complain when we keep getting results. COYL
 
Horrible second half where they danced around us. A much better team than I thought and the game could easily ended a draw. This sitting back for 30 minutes or more may get the result, but its not a pleasure to suffer even if we do end with all of the points.

REf was pants as usual. Bradshaw & Flemming were blatently pulled down several times right in front of the him and got nothing God only knows what he was thinking letting those go. Likely "OMG they might actually make the prem". :eek!:
 
Thanks Silver. Maybe I saw the game differently to some others on here but I thought we were well disciplined in not breaking our shape and were quite happy to just let Swansea pass it about without making a real impact. Had we been sucked in to chasing it down I fear we may well have lost. 19 on shots on target for them, but so many just went wide of mark and I query the supposed 11 on target.
It wasn't our best performance but it wasn't because we were terrible, we have won other games playing far worse, Swansea just passed it around better.
They can keep the ball as much as they want, its got them to 17th in the table.
Leonard MOM for me, what a player he is when fit.
 
Thought Long pulled out a couple of great saves, made up for him and Cresswell getting in each others way.
The defence did a great job all night, Murray reads the game brilliantly but as the season closes more and more are going to look to exploit his lack of pace, needs better cover in front of him to stop him getting tag teamed. Some of Cresswells passing was great last night
Savilles lack of pace is worrying, he was obviously out of gas and should have been hooked earlier.
I have no criticism perse, Swansea play keep ball, we mostly managed the situation, though it wasn't pretty to watch.
Subs wise, Burke and Watmore did next to nothing, I was really disappointed with Watmore who to me put nothing in for those last 20 mins, besides one run when he got hacked down he was pretty much strolling around at a time when we needed real protection on the left.
A great result, but we really rode our luck, westbrom & Luton as our 2 toughest remaining games might not see us so fortunate. We need to be more confident on the ball.
 
Agree with you Bermondsey (my old Manor) also thought Burke should put himself about more. We needed all hands to the deck last night. I’ve never checked the clock so much as last night.