***MatchThread*** 14th Jan 19:15 WES Cork Exiles

Lovely Bloke

Usually a tough enough game against the Cork lads, so we won't take them lightly.

Same approach as last week, same work rate, same pressure and same dedication

Ed - in
Cathal - in
Craig - inj
Damo - in
Keith - in
Paddy - in
SteMcD - inj
Ciaran - in
Darren - in
Luke C -
Dave - in
Jules - in
Ste K - in
Derek McL - in
Kingsley - in

homerjay2005

this is going to be a tough tough game, from the first round of fixtures they were the best team we played, they could and should have beaten us by a couple of goals and also missed a last minute penalty to level outside of that also.

these lads have an excellent defensive record, a quick look at their form shows they didnt concede a goal for 3 games and won last week, so they are on a decent run at the moment.

need to be on our game in this one, they are a really hard team to beat.

mrDerek

kings is in

helimachoptor

big performance needed, with the temps aswell a good warm up is key to make sure we start well from the whistle

Best of luck lads. This was like the bloody Alamo in the last 10 minutes in the last game. A physical enough side too.

FrankGrimes

3-3 draw. Clinical first half, dire second. One to write off and move on, at least we keep the unbeaten run going.

helimachoptor

Yeah a nice 30 min spell, but one mistake at the end which they scored from.

We didnt cover ourselves in glory in the second half, not helped by Eds injury but lets move on.

Lovely Bloke

Look, it happens. A few people having a bad night at the same time. We didn't lose the game, and as was said last night, we are in a better position than we were before Xmas - made even better by the number of games left.

Next week is a bit strange, given we know nothing about Kooventus, apart from they are 3rd in the league.

They must be decent, so we will need to be on top of our game. Put last night to bed and concentrate on three points next week.

By the way - nice hat-trick Derek.

Ed's injury isn't long term I hope?

Lovely Bloke

Deleted User wrote: »

Ed's injury isn't long term I hope?

Don't think so.

He was rolling around like a Nani at one stage though.

helimachoptor

Also.. the chap Ed bulldozed was half his size and he got up and walked away..

I very much think this was a Kerry/Cork thing :pac:


In all seriousness it was a big enough collission with both players going in at speed for the ball

homerjay2005

i think overall the draw was a fair result, both teams dominated into the bottom goals. disappointing to concede two goals again from set pieces though both were crazy decisions to award them in the first place, but we got caught napping and didnt get back quick enough for both, so we have plenty to work on.

at the same time, as we scored 2 last night ourselves and have about 10 scored in total this season i think we are going to accept given the nature of the rules (no offsides), set piece goals are going to happen especially in crowded boxes of sometimes 16 or more players all within 8 yards of the goals.

both goals could have been avoided though which is the disappointing thing. in saying that though we must have given away 20+ free kicks last night and that is astounding...says alot about attitude of refs too.

3rd goal was a disaster, the ball traveled about 50 yards i think and wasnt cut out and we need to do better on these though being fair, our defence has been absolutely excellent from open play all season and we still have the best record in the entire league so lets just consider it an off night at the back. they had alot of pressure and possession in that second half so they were bound to score a couple.

helimachoptor wrote: »

We didnt cover ourselves in glory in the second half, not helped by Eds injury but lets move on.

they were on top at that stage, had already scored, then hit the post and could have scored also when the collision happened. can barely walk today, hopefully its cleared up by next week.

murtagh

yeah sorry lads the 3rd was down to me, not communicating with Paddy and going to clear the ball myself.

That said, there were other things that cost us in that game... for both goals that came from set pieces we were light on numbers in the box. Mainly down to people not following their midfielders or big defenders into the box. That was part due to people arguing with the ref over the awarding of the free.
We've seen it all too often, but its still very frustrating... once we're a couple of goals up the calls all seem to go against us.
When the opposition are chasing the game & see us distracted by complaining to the ref, they will pile forward and we are short numbers in and around the box. We need to get back and mark up.
The first didnt come directly from the free but from the second phase afterwards. The guy who scored had too much time and space on the edge of our box because we didnt have the numbers back goal-side. He wasn't closed down and he wasn't put under pressure.
For the second goal we were much too slow to react to the awarding of the free. We were outnumbered in the box because we didn't get back as quickly as they got forward. as a result were weren't organised properly when the free was delivered and they got a very soft goal out of it.

I was amazed that their player wasn't penalized for the challenge on Ed. I dont think there was any malice or intent to harm in his challenge, but he led with his feet and was sliding, not in control. He was never going to get to that ball legitimately (and even tho he slid, he still got there second).

Anyway, every game from here on is a big one and we cant afford any more Jekyll & Hyde performances.

sReq | uTeK

murtagh wrote: »

yeah sorry lads the 3rd was down to me, not communicating with Paddy and going to clear the ball myself.

That said, there were other things that cost us in that game... for both goals that came from set pieces we were light on numbers in the box. Mainly down to people not following their midfielders or big defenders into the box. That was part due to people arguing with the ref over the awarding of the free.
We've seen it all too often, but its still very frustrating... once we're a couple of goals up the calls all seem to go against us.
When the opposition are chasing the game & see us distracted by complaining to the ref, they will pile forward and we are short numbers in and around the box. We need to get back and mark up.
The first didnt come directly from the free but from the second phase afterwards. The guy who scored had too much time and space on the edge of our box because we didnt have the numbers back goal-side. He wasn't closed down and he wasn't put under pressure.
For the second goal we were much too slow to react to the awarding of the free. We were outnumbered in the box because we didn't get back as quickly as they got forward. as a result were weren't organised properly when the free was delivered and they got a very soft goal out of it.

I was amazed that their player wasn't penalized for the challenge on Ed. I dont think there was any malice or intent to harm in his challenge, but he led with his feet and was sliding, not in control. He was never going to get to that ball legitimately (and even tho he slid, he still got there second).

Anyway, every game from here on is a big one and we cant afford any more Jekyll & Hyde performances.

One thing I've noticed is these refs, LOVE to even the score, I don't think we got any decisions from the moment we went 3-0 up after 15 minutes, from Paddys sending off, to the free against Ciaran which ultimately led to the 1st goal. Just have to get of their back as there is nothing you can say or do to change their mind.

dfx-

It was another case of a game of two halves (has anyone said that before..)

More than a one goal lead at half time and then defending it has been a feature for three or four successive games. Breaking the habit - even though the habit has saeen excellent defensive performances - could be important.

homerjay2005

dfx- wrote: »

It was another case of a game of two halves (has anyone said that before..)

More than a one goal lead at half time and then defending it has been a feature for three or four successive games. Breaking the habit - even though the habit has saeen excellent defensive performances - could be important.

you have to take into account the weather though for the past month, wind advantage is an issue when your playing against some teams who just lump the ball long into the box. they scored a goal from a ball that travelled about 50+ yards and had another shot that just dropped under the cross bar from their own half also as well as scoring from a headed free kick that was about 40 yards out- these things wouldnt be happening were it not for the weather.

last week we were very comfortable, i handled the ball once in the entire second half apart from the goal kicks.