Thetownend.com

i've only just come down off the ceiling. how the fuck does a 1-1 draw at chesterfield get me so wired? i love it.

anyway, despite my complaints this morning i'm glad i went. driving up the m1 and seeing snow all over the shop then finally pulling into the car park near the ground, whereupon whits gives us a handbrake turn in the snow covered car park and managing not to full flat on my arse. remarkable.

the game was pretty exciting and fairly open. we played some decent football in the last 30 minutes but for the most part we tried to pass it around, especially in the final third, but failed miserably. there were times when it seemed as if they wanted to pass the ball into the back of the net and we simply lack the quality to do that, so why bother? admittedly, i'd rather see us play it on the floor than aimless hoofball but losing posession weakly all the time is infuriating.

gurney had three very good freekicks, one of which hit the cross bar and he was unlucky not to score with at least one of them. however he's probably used up his quota of good shots for the season now so i better cover the scoreboard with bubblewrap or something.

once holgate came on we started to play some counter-attacking football and created a few chances which needed a clinical striker to finish. perhaps once cureton is back, he'll provide that touch of quality we need up front? fallon looked decidedly average tonight, totally out of sorts and disinterested. i get the impression he's got the attitude of a player who has all but left the club but i'm probably reading too much into nothing.

overall, we could have won. we possibly should have done. i'm convinced their goal was offside but whits disagrees completely, who knows? i'll see it on telly and make my mind up then.

aside from the game it was a good night, good laugh in the pub beforehand and it was great to sing all night with a bunch of pissed up nutters :wink:

Maybe Fallon is struggling to keep up with games in close proximity to each other?

Their goal looked offside to me. But, then again, i don't think it should have been a penalty.....

oh and player ratings...

evans
made some good saves, came for a few crosses and is keeping up the level of performance i'd hoped for... so far.

smith
he looked lost at times. didn't use the ball to great effect either. disappointing.

ifil
very good. yes, i did say he was good. distribution mildly improved but his defending was of the highest order tonight so i can't really complain.

o'hanlon
improvement on the last few games but still not quite reaching that same level of performance he's set for himself in the past. solid.

nicholas
he's still improving with every game, i'd honestly say he's one of the best footballers at the club (shame he's a pisshead).

shakes
not as impressive tonight and his crossing is still a bit shoddy but he's young and he's learning. made some good runs and troubled chesterfield with his pace.

pook
fairly anonymous for much of the game.

gurney
got stuck in, used the ball well, showed some touches that migs would have been proud of. very unlucky not to score with one of his freekicks.

brown
looking better with every game, he can cross the ball as well. sign him up!

bouazza
it'll be a shame to see him go but he's ineffective at times. he's all about pace but often doesn't deliver when he's got himself into a good position. got a good reception when he went off.

fallon
lazy, disinterested, bewildered, confused, lost. i could go on.

holgate
changed the style of play completely. i wasn't hugely impressed with him on monday but tonight he was fucking quality, just needs to stay on his feet a little more often.

we dont look the same team without Miglioranzi

we didnt use the ball well at all, or keep it in the final third till Holgate was on.

He was the only one able to hold up the ball and bring the wingers and midfield into play

The goal looked slgihtly offside. O'Hanlon should have cleared it though.

I didnt see a handball for our penalty, but I saw their number 5 as soon as the ball hit him, look at the ref then quickly put his hand in his face as if to say 'awah my face!' that made him look guilty to me, anyway a few minutes before than I'm sure some Chesterfield player cleared the ball with his arm, stretched above his head.

Chesterfield only really had one chance, we only had about 1 from open play, but from set pieces we looked dangerous.

Neither teams looked dangerous in the final 3rd.

From what I gethered Sonic's view was quite accurate. We seemed to be playing nice football but then perhaps tried to score the perfect goal, especially with the chance Shakes had.
However you have to look at the positives. Gurney put 3 free-kicks atleast near on-target, Evans made some good saves, our pace caused them a few problems and the guys coming up from the youth team this year have done okay (Pook, Holgate, Stroud)

From the match report on thisis.....

"Daniel Powter's Bad Day' blared from the public address system at full time yet nothing could have been more inappropriate for the visitors, magnificently roared on by 325 travelling fans" 8)

if that was 'nice football' id hate to see us when we playing 'rubbish football'

First half was pure hoof to Rory who barely won a header against Blatherwick.

We only started playing football when Holgate was on, because he managed to hold the ball up and bring the midfield into play.

Snake hips!

Thank you for the pies Jim! :wink:

You are more than welcome.  I will beat my wife for not making sure they were properly hot though.  Who had them in the end - did DMR get his 'special' one?

 :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

Thats what I didnt mention, Jim was sat behind me..

He took the piss out of my mate dancing at half time to keep warm, then he gave Yooooooouf a handfull of pies.

He also does his own little running commentary during the game!!

I think SY had 3, me and DMR got 1 each....I hope it was Dave who got the Mourinho :o

Mine was very tasty though

What?

That will the the Tourettes kicking in - ARSE!

[/b]

Mate I hit my head last night in the pub? Ive got a massive lump on it and cant really remember much -who the hell starts drinking at 12? Mini buses are ace!

Patterson, wank wank wank  8)  :wink:

Poor Dex getting such racist abuse  :(

As for the game, we completely changed when Holgate came on... having looked solid up until that point, we burst into life. Quality result, quality support and a bloody good pie. I hope jim didn't end up munching the one destined for me  :D

Well done to all you guys who went up, sounded like we had some great support and I heard more town chants than Chesterfield which is all you can ask for really!!!
Top stuff!

Ash, you're lot were ace

I was over the otherside, some of the big ron chants made me chuckle...

oh ronny ronny, he used to be a racist but he's alright now.... 8)

it kind of reminded me of souhend away last year (excluding the result)

we all got really pissed, went to pubs, drank more, went to the game and every fucker sang his heart out.

i dont think there was more than a couple of minutes throughout the game where there wasnt a song

we dont deserve to be bottom  :(  where the fuck did my scarf come from  :o

Dave we were ashamed of ourselves on the way home, some of the chants on that bus were awsume! honestly was quality, say a load of rovers fans on the way home, they were sung at too!

We just love going mental at away games, doesnt matter who you take 20 lads stood together will always sing!

Question is do I do hartlepool?

Was that dills scarf?  Quality away day mate, we were all wrecked!

Looks like Gillingham will be my first away game, better get the voice finely tuned.  :wink:

Yes (I can't be arsed)

Kev (the non pissed up one) said on the way back that in that pub the bar maids (who were pretty decent) were watching us just shaking their heads saying 'how sad' to each other.   :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

Were just a bunch of pissed up idiots and we know it.

ha ha, I didnt even realise! The flying beer mats was a great dame...again Mark ruined it!!!!  He sees me as his toy that he punches and hurts!

You set him up though.

He loves it, he does scare me tho!

"don't rip it, it's italian!"

ash, what happened to that bell you tried to nick?

Im not 100% sure there were three in my pockets tho?

haha

when that steward had a word with you i could just imagine it falling out of your pocket and being kicked out for posession of an offensive weapon

hahahahahaha that was classic

even better was dill's matrix-like glass catching