R&DFC 3 (Smith x2 Prosser) H&YFC 3 (Buchanan x3)

[Pigman]

I said who told me, do keep up ;) :lol:

Football is a game of opinions I guess, but Chris is a pretty knowledgable chap and looks for more in a player than one who runs at defenders and down blind alleys, failing to get any supply into the front men. I wasn't there so can't comment, but even if it were a wobbly performance overall and a woeful one from our defence, they will take confidence from this. The defence has only had a couple of games together and they will improve, it takes a while for it all to come together.

I'm hoping this game will stop the rot and make them all feel a bit positive - we have to kick on now to avoid heaping more pressure on ourselves, I guess we're lucky that the sides below us are so bad, the run of form we've had should have seen them catch us up, but they haven't. Saturday will be a difficult test and a measure of if this is a false dawn, as they say, one swallow doesn't make a summer.

[BartonRaz]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/footbal ... 366344.stm

JE interview after last night...

[Harry]

Wow, just wow.

After going out I checked the score on my phone once, saw 3-0 and thought that's enough of that crap.

Then just coming on now... couldn't believe my eyes.

Amazing fighting from the lads. The point we gained is almost irrelevant... the fact that we staged such a comeback should be an immense boost.

[The Godfather]

It was a good comeback, but we shouldn't be down 3-0 to a team like Hayes!

Stuart

[davealbon]

We dominated possession for the majority of the game yesterday, but every time Hayes broke they looked like scoring. Despite all the possession though we never looked like scoring for the first hour.

The first goal was a simple ball lobbed over the defence and Buchanan ran on to it from their left in acres of space to smash it into the bottom corner. I'm not sure where Osano was at the time.... Hayes then stuck everyone behind the ball and we just weren't good enough to break them down. They could and perhaps should have had a man sent off for a shocking challenge on Jamie Day - it was late and about half way up his shin, but he escaped with only a yellow.

They hit us on the break a few times and had they had a bit more quality on the ball they could have punished us further. The second goal was an awful mistake from Porter whose square ball was deflected straight into the path of a Hayes player and they eventually scored at the third attempt after two great saves from Joe Day. 30 seconds before that though we had a blatant penalty shout turned down when Prosser was wrestled to the floor right in front of the ref (who was apalling all game) but he waved play on.

We did get in behind them a couple of times down the flanks, but we were always outnumbered in the box and never picked out a yellow shirt. I don't remember their 'keeper having a single save to make in the first half.

The second half started in the same vein, I'm not quite sure what happened for the third goal, it was a ball in from their right hand side and I think Buchanan just got a touch to deflect it in. I didn't think Charles had had a bad game (he picked up a ridiculous booking for a perfectly timed tackle shortly before he was subbed) but we definitely looked brighter when Sam came on. We had started to make inroads into the Hayes defence shortly before the goal, and it was a good move leading up to it. Osano (who was excellent going forwards, even if he was hopeless at the back) was put through by a clever back heel from Gash, and put in a great low cross that Sam deflected into the far corner. Gash did brilliantly for the second goal as well, and although the defender fucked up completely to gift him the ball, he deserved it for his persistence and did really well to pick Sam out just inside the box, and he calmly stroked it into the far corner again. The equaliser was a goalkeeping error, as he dropped a corner kick under pressure from Prosser who tapped in the loose ball from 6 yards out. We carved out a couple of almost chances, but the ball wouldn't quite run for us, and Hayes actually went closest to a winner with a shot from the edge of the box that went narrowly wide.

It was one of the best comebacks I've ever seen, possibly the best, but Hayes were dire and we should never have allowed them to gain that kind of advantage. Hopefully this will prove to be a turning point in our season though.

Oh, on the Sam Smith penalty decision, I thought it was a dive and the ref got it right - the only thing he got right all game (although I think the lino actually made the decision).

Interestingly, the Hayes 'keeper is actually a coach at Dagenham, and after a bit of first half banter he told us that they had been watching Joe Day for a while, and he was very impressed with him last night.

[Three of Diamonds]

Just out of interest Dave, where was Smith put on the pitch when he came on? Centre forward or wide?

[davealbon]

Just out of interest Dave, where was Smith put on the pitch when he came on? Centre forward or wide?

He was on the right of the front three, but for both goals he had moved into the middle and Gash drifted out to the right.

I would love to see Sam in the middle as I still maintain he is the best finisher at the club, but he's not going to work there in a front three because, despite his size, he doesn't win enough in the air and he's not good enough at holding the ball up.

[Three of Diamonds]

I agree. Back in 1970 we had a bloke called Barry Ellis played centre-forward. Did nothing all game but put that ball in the goal area and he was there like a shot. That's what we need, we don't WANT him playing with his back to goal, we want him in the box, poaching.
That's what management must work on.

[Mad Dog]

I agree. Back in 1970 we had a bloke called Barry Ellis played centre-forward. Did nothing all game but put that ball in the goal area and he was there like a shot. That's what we need, we don't WANT him playing with his back to goal, we want him in the box, poaching.
That's what management must work on.

Can I ask which 'us' pre merger we are talking about?

[Steve]

We dominated possession for the majority of the game yesterday, but every time Hayes broke they looked like scoring. Despite all the possession though we never looked like scoring for the first hour.

The first goal was a simple ball lobbed over the defence and Buchanan ran on to it from their left in acres of space to smash it into the bottom corner. I'm not sure where Osano was at the time.... Hayes then stuck everyone behind the ball and we just weren't good enough to break them down. They could and perhaps should have had a man sent off for a shocking challenge on Jamie Day - it was late and about half way up his shin, but he escaped with only a yellow.

They hit us on the break a few times and had they had a bit more quality on the ball they could have punished us further. The second goal was an awful mistake from Porter whose square ball was deflected straight into the path of a Hayes player and they eventually scored at the third attempt after two great saves from Joe Day. 30 seconds before that though we had a blatant penalty shout turned down when Prosser was wrestled to the floor right in front of the ref (who was apalling all game) but he waved play on.

We did get in behind them a couple of times down the flanks, but we were always outnumbered in the box and never picked out a yellow shirt. I don't remember their 'keeper having a single save to make in the first half.

The second half started in the same vein, I'm not quite sure what happened for the third goal, it was a ball in from their right hand side and I think Buchanan just got a touch to deflect it in. I didn't think Charles had had a bad game (he picked up a ridiculous booking for a perfectly timed tackle shortly before he was subbed) but we definitely looked brighter when Sam came on. We had started to make inroads into the Hayes defence shortly before the goal, and it was a good move leading up to it. Osano (who was excellent going forwards, even if he was hopeless at the back) was put through by a clever back heel from Gash, and put in a great low cross that Sam deflected into the far corner. Gash did brilliantly for the second goal as well, and although the defender fucked up completely to gift him the ball, he deserved it for his persistence and did really well to pick Sam out just inside the box, and he calmly stroked it into the far corner again. The equaliser was a goalkeeping error, as he dropped a corner kick under pressure from Prosser who tapped in the loose ball from 6 yards out. We carved out a couple of almost chances, but the ball wouldn't quite run for us, and Hayes actually went closest to a winner with a shot from the edge of the box that went narrowly wide.

It was one of the best comebacks I've ever seen, possibly the best, but Hayes were dire and we should never have allowed them to gain that kind of advantage. Hopefully this will prove to be a turning point in our season though.

Oh, on the Sam Smith penalty decision, I thought it was a dive and the ref got it right - the only thing he got right all game (although I think the lino actually made the decision).

Interestingly, the Hayes 'keeper is actually a coach at Dagenham, and after a bit of first half banter he told us that they had been watching Joe Day for a while, and he was very impressed with him last night.

Very accurate report, wouldn't disagree with any of it.
For me though, the shine of a 3 goal comeback is completely lost by the fact we let H&Y have a 3 goal lead soo easily. I don't know how we manage to concede such straightforward goals atm