[ Sat 24th Sep ] v Shaw Lane AFC, KO 3pm NPL1S HOME

[Pigman]

On to Tuesday and hopefully an improved performance - could have won it though had we not rattled the crossbar in the first half when it looked easier to score.

They battered us in the second half and we did well to hold out - I think (If I read Twitter right) Nabil had been ill in the week and maybe faded when asked to plough a lone furrow - the equaliser was always coming wasn't it?

A good point in the end, hope to see Bunts back in the centre on Tuesday!

[AFCRD_Dan]

First half was certainly better from us, unlucky not to score early on. But our second half performance was an instantly forgettable one.

Hopefully we'll see an improvement on Tuesday.

[Trek]

Your last statement sums up why we played as we did. With both Bunts and Oulton out and Curtis still not ready, just who did we have to fill that centre midfield? Tom and Brad were excellent as defensive midfield but lacked any attacking ideas or were able to hold the ball and look for options.

That still doesn't explain why our first half performance was 100% better than our second half performance. We should have been 2-0 up at halftime. We were getting into their penalty area in the first half and causing all sorts of problems with Brad and Tom pushing forward from midfield which didn't happen after the break. In the end we were lucky to get a point.

[BartonRaz]

Your last statement sums up why we played as we did. With both Bunts and Oulton out and Curtis still not ready, just who did we have to fill that centre midfield? Tom and Brad were excellent as defensive midfield but lacked any attacking ideas or were able to hold the ball and look for options.

That still doesn't explain why our first half performance was 100% better than our second half performance. We should have been 2-0 up at halftime. We were getting into their penalty area in the first half and causing all sorts of problems with Brad and Tom pushing forward from midfield which didn't happen after the break. In the end we were lucky to get a point.

I'm with Trek on this. We chose to sit back and defend our lead, it wasn't a case of having to just because we were missing 1 or 2. It was a conscious decision and a disappointing one at that.

Oh, and if Tom Lorraine doesn't have any "attacking ideas" then we're f****d! He of course does, we just opted not to utilise them despite him having his best game in a long time in the first half.

[Trek]

In past seasons we've been generally regarded as a 'second half' team. However, in the 6 league and 3 FA Cup games played so far this season it seems the reverse. Goals scored and conceded back this up. We've scored 11 goals and conceded just 4 in the first half whereas in the second half we've scored 8 goals but alarmingly conceded 9 goals with quite a few of these goals coming in the last quarter.

Is our fitness an issue or is it down to the management's tactics? Discuss.

[sussexdiamond]

I don't think our fitness is any less than previous seasons, no management coaching team is going to do anything that would adversely effect that. It could be that we are playing teams with a more professional attitude plus greater skill levels.

To be fair to Gresley and Shaw Lane they are better than anything we played last season, and I am sure that some more are to follow. The southern league in my opinion, of what I have seen to date, is much weaker than the NPL1S. I really believe that had we got promotion to the Southern Premier we would now be in a similar position to what we are.

We have only played two away league matches, one we won and the other a very late goal beat us, and in the cup game at Concord we were still going strong at the end against a Step 2 team.

At home it has been different though. After an iffy start v Chasetown and Sileby we beat Hornchurch and Bedworth without conceding and in the game v Gresley we kept fighting until the very last seconds of the match.

Yesterday was tough and hard to understand, maybe because we were playing an unbeaten team we were more cautious than we should have been. Injuries did to some extent dictate our system both before and during the game.

What is of concern/interest is that every game Oulton has played in we won or drew and the games he missed we did not win( except Sileby).

[Rushdenjim]

Biggest disappointment for me was the attendance. Lowest Saturday crowd for a league game ever!

[sussexdiamond]

Biggest disappointment for me was the attendance. Lowest Saturday crowd for a league game ever!

must say that really surprised me especially as we were playing an unbeaten team and after last weeks great win. Unexplicable.

Probably get a better crowd on Tuesday!

[corby diamond]

First of all I thought shaw lane were quality yesterday, they passed it well, were more dangerous in possession and let's be honest the equaliser was going to happen.. I thought it was coming in the first half to be honest, but they will count themselves unlucky they didn't go on to win it..

But saying that we could have went in 2-0 at half time. Second half the formation was completely wrong and playing defensive from the off it what cost us no doubt about it.. thought shariff was poor and often looked like he couldn't be bothered but playing up front as a lone striker no wonder. Thought the nature and timings of the subs was poor. If anything he should of bought wreh on much sooner to support shariff (what's he got to do to get a game) instead deciding to put Stevenson on who barely looked fit for anything..

Tuesday will be interesting but next weekend matters more.. Hendon will provide a tough test, but play like that like we did second half yesterday and it could be a miserable trip home..

[AFCRD_Dan]

3/400 seems to be the average we've been getting the last few months.

I just wonder where those fans are when we got 5/6/700 for games, why aren't they coming back?