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Post by Hannibal on Aug 26, 2019 18:59:39 GMT
Delightfully quiet from the 'sick-note, tear up his contract Absente' bores tonight. Love it GMT He took quite a bad foul in the first half and went down. Thought the worst, but he soon got up and carried on.
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Post by newferry on Aug 26, 2019 19:09:43 GMT
I expected a proper battle today with one goal deciding it either way but Hereford were never in the game. I thought the ref was also good today. Let the game flow as much as he could and didn’t blow his whistle every time someone fell over
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Post by MPW on Aug 26, 2019 19:18:31 GMT
Brilliant performance, I just hope Stopforth’s injury isn’t too serious as it was the same knee he had the operation on according to Jonno. It’s great when you have players that don’t want to go off, but we shouldn’t have took any chances and took him off straight away. We could really do with some cover in centre of midfield, especially if Roberts and Stopforth are doubts for next weekend.
I wonder if Tom Crawford fancies a little loan spell back with us? 😉
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Post by midfieldgeneral on Aug 26, 2019 19:19:15 GMT
How did Wrexham get on today? Came second A dream come true would be us to go up as Champions and the goats to lose their season long relegation battle, on the last day.
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Post by Rio Doherty on Aug 26, 2019 19:29:00 GMT
We played so well today my head fell off in shock 😅🙈! This was definitely our best performance in the Bern and Jonno era as it could have been a cricket score. Hereford FC were shell-shocked and just never got into the game today at all. They hadn’t got rid of their dirty antics either as they made some poor challenges in the second half and seemed to target Gary Stopforth, who hobbled off twice. Hopefully he will be fine as his engine has been a huge plus for us this season. Regardless of that though I do have sympathy for Hereford who are clearly not happy with the goings on off the pitch, and I hope they sort their issues out. The feel-good factor is certainly creeping back now as there is a real togetherness between our players and supporters, and our atmosphere was brilliant once again. Some of the chants started to filter through to the Main Stand which was great to see. It has happened a lot of times in recent years where we have failed to turn up in front of a strong home crowd, but it was so refreshing to watch us perform in front of 2,100+ home supporters which will hopefully inspire them to come back.
Our first half performance was outstanding as we played Hereford off the park. We should have been 4 up at the interval as we hit the woodwork and had other chances, but we were just scintillating. The visitors had the opening chance of the game as Bradley Ash fluffed his lines to fire well wide. Just a few moments later we went so close to taking the lead as a Gary Stopforth header hit the crossbar following good work by Matty Hughes. We didn’t let that get to us though as we continued to get into Hereford, which paid dividends as Akwasi Asante netted from close range to make it 1-0. On the 29th minute mark we made it 2-0 in what was a great team goal. Akwasi Asante did really well on the right to square it to Matty Hughes, who found Anthony Dudley who slotted home into the bottom right hand corner. Joel Taylor was unlucky to not have got on the scoresheet as a thunder strike forced Brandon Hall to make a strong stop. Bradley Ash had another chance for the visitors, but fortunately he fired over. Our first half display was excellent which saw us head into the interval with our tails up.
Once again we continued where we left off as our second half display was superb. We had plenty of possession which allowed us to create more chances, and on the 52nd minute mark we made it 3-0. Brad Jackson played in Akwasi Asante who found the net again to bag his second of the game. Matty Hughes was unlucky to not have got our 4th as his attempt was ruled out for offside. After that Anthony Dudley headed over following great play by Jackson, whilst we had a second effort flagged for offside as George Waring was the victim this time. We finally made it 4-0 just a few minutes later as Danny Elliott nodded home from a brilliant Kevin Roberts delivery to bag his first goal of the season. We didn’t sit back at all as we continued to dominate, and Jackson was unlucky to not have scored as Brandon Hall stuck his foot out to make a great one-on-one save. In the dying embers of the game Hereford had a couple of spells that called Russ Griffiths into action on two occasions. Firstly, he made a flying stop to deny Tom Owen-Evans, before he tipped a Raheem Hanley effort over. Hereford did have the ball in the net twice in the final 5 minutes with the first one being ruled out for a foul on Griffiths. The visitors got a mere consolation to make it 4-1 as Jordan Cullinane-Liburd scored a free header. Unfortunately this brought an end to our outstanding run of not conceding a goal from open play which almost lasted for 7 matches. Also, it was a bit harsh on Russ Griffiths who deserved a third consecutive clean sheet as he made some excellent stops. In the dying seconds of the match we should have made it 5 as a Brad Jackson effort was cleared off the line, before George Waring’s rebound forced a good save out of Hall. Our brilliant showing reaped its rewards once again as we extended our winning run to 3 games.
It is very hard to pick a man of the match today as every single player played so well today. I will opt for Joel Taylor who once again gave the opposition nightmares. I may as well copy and paste my take on him every week as he is yet to put in a bad shift so far, and long may it continue. Our transfer business in the full back department has proved to be very shrewd as both Taylor and Kevin Roberts have improved us so much. Roberts had another great game today as he was solid as usual, and made some good deliveries in the second half. Russ Griffiths made some top drawer saves and was unlucky to not have kept a clean sheet. Simon Grand and Danny Livesey didn’t have any troubles at all as Hereford were very inept up front. Due to Gary Roberts missing out Scott Burton was always going to be under the limelight, but he put in his best display since joining today. He passed the ball around really well, was combative, and was a great replacement for Roberts. Gary Stopforth was his usual self as he covered lots of ground and made some good passes too. I was gutted to see him hobble off and I hope that everything is okay. Hereford made some stupid tackles in the second half, and it’s fair to say they targeted Stopforth as he limped off the pitch not once, but twice. Brad Jackson was outstanding again as Hereford couldn’t keep up with his pace on the right flank, and he made some great crosses too. Akwasi Asante was back to his old self, as he found the net twice which will give him bags of confidence. He held the ball up really well and scored two good goals which takes his tally up to 4. Anthony Dudley was excellent, and I’m really pleased to see him get his first goal of the season. A lot of his work goes unnoticed but just like Akwasi, that goal will give him confidence. Finally, Matty Hughes put in another good display which bagged him an assist as he played Dudley in for our second.
At the start of the month I targeted us to pick up 15 points, but we have already done that with a game to spare. When the fixtures were released a lot of us expected this to be our toughest month, and considering we have picked up 15 points against the calibre of opponents bodes really well. We will end August with a long trip to Spennymoor Town on Saturday who have got off to a very disappointing start. I think that we are playing them just at the right time as we are full of confidence, whilst they will be scratching their heads. The atmosphere we created was second to none once again, and the togetherness is really showing. Hopefully we will take a following of 200+ up to the North East to end the month on a high. It feels SO good to be a Chester FC supporter at the moment, and long may it continue.
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Post by rcb on Aug 26, 2019 19:30:57 GMT
A brilliant 2573 with 423 from Hereford. Shame they didn’t bring the expected 800-1000. 2150 Blues, hopefully a few extras have signed up to the CFU as well. Most of them left when our 3rd went in ha ha. Those that stayed went and took down all their big flags. Football equivalent of throwing the toys out of the pram. Comical.
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Post by jb on Aug 26, 2019 19:50:16 GMT
For the second home game in a row it was men verses boys.
Every player in the blue and white pinstripes was class today. The pace that the likes of Jackson, Taylor, Hughes and Asante have give us an advantage against most teams in this division.
I would have felt sorry for Hereford but their rough house tactics supplemented by an Australian cricket team style of gamesmanship in appealing for everything put paid to that. Had the referee done his job and sent that number 4 off earlier our powerhouse midfielder would not have been injured.
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Post by Jack on Aug 26, 2019 19:56:39 GMT
On the crowd, I don't doubt it was just the angle I had from my spec in the Harry Mac, but I found it hard to believe there was only 2150ish home fans. The area of the terrace I was in was really full and both the seated stands seemed pretty busy.
Not sure where you'd get the extra 1200 or so in to make it a full house in the home end?
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Post by rcb on Aug 26, 2019 20:07:23 GMT
Sometimes players let themselves down and draw a bit of criticism. Today was an exceptionally good day, and there’s nothing more pleasing than to see great performances from those who have previously taken a bit of stick. I could sing the praises of all 14 players today, and many have already been named as having great games. I will name two deserving of special praise. Many have already named Scott Burton and I totally agree. Great vision, superb tackling and positional play, excellent distribution, and he didn’t get booked! The second player I have to mention is Simon Grand. Much maligned in the past, I thought he was outstanding in every respect. Hope he hasn’t damaged his pockets, because he had a very big centre forward there all match, with Hereford giving up and taking him off eventually.
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Post by agl on Aug 26, 2019 20:10:00 GMT
Delightfully quiet from the 'sick-note, tear up his contract Absente' bores tonight. You love to see it. We all know he could miss half the season, but always said he is worth the gamble. Some of the pre season comments were embarrassing. Worth having a look back. Four goals now. No doubt the moment he gets injured the bin him off brigade will be all over this forum.
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Post by superman on Aug 26, 2019 20:19:00 GMT
Brilliant all round performance in front of positive vocal home supporters. Struggling to think of a better performance from last 3 seasons. What a difference having 2 decent full backs makes, great recruitment in those positions. Well done Scott Burton, you shut me up with your performance today!
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Post by sqzl on Aug 26, 2019 20:22:33 GMT
Brilliant all round performance in front of positive vocal home supporters. Struggling to think of a better performance from last 3 seasons. What a difference having 2 decent full backs makes, great recruitment in those positions. Well done Scott Burton, you shut me up with your performance today! Agreed, that’s the Burton we expected to turn up a year ago. If he can keep that up, it’s brilliant for us. Name a better striker that Asante at this level when fit? The lad will score 20+ this season if he stays fit, easily.
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Post by sqzl on Aug 26, 2019 20:24:06 GMT
Sometimes players let themselves down and draw a bit of criticism. Today was an exceptionally good day, and there’s nothing more pleasing than to see great performances from those who have previously taken a bit of stick. I could sing the praises of all 14 players today, and many have already been named as having great games. I will name two deserving of special praise. Many have already named Scott Burton and I totally agree. Great vision, superb tackling and positional play, excellent distribution, and he didn’t get booked! The second player I have to mention is Simon Grand. Much maligned in the past, I thought he was outstanding in every respect. Hope he hasn’t damaged his pockets, because he had a very big centre forward there all match, with Hereford giving up and taking him off eventually. Shows how wasted Grand was at left back last year. Taylor is superb, looks a real good signing and he’s such a goal threat for a defender.
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Post by btb on Aug 26, 2019 20:49:36 GMT
Superb performance today. Couldn’t fault anybody. We looked strong, confident and full of running. Loved it. Really hope G.Stop is okay. It really didn’t look good. He’s an absolute beast of a player for us and it would be heartbreaking if it were a recurrence of the knee injury.
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Post by rcb on Aug 26, 2019 20:57:22 GMT
Superb performance today. Couldn’t fault anybody. We looked strong, confident and full of running. Loved it. Really hope G.Stop is okay. It really didn’t look good. He’s an absolute beast of a player for us and it would be heartbreaking if it were a recurrence of the knee injury. Hate to say anything even mildly negative today, but there wasn’t a reason to take a risk when he first went down. Should have taken him off for his own good then.
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Post by btb on Aug 26, 2019 21:01:03 GMT
Superb performance today. Couldn’t fault anybody. We looked strong, confident and full of running. Loved it. Really hope G.Stop is okay. It really didn’t look good. He’s an absolute beast of a player for us and it would be heartbreaking if it were a recurrence of the knee injury. Hate to say anything even mildly negative today, but there wasn’t a reason to take a risk when he first went down. Should have taken him off for his own good then. Indeed. And in all honesty, when games are won there are three players I would look to take off. Two had all ready gone and I would have hooked stopforth too. I said it last season, those three players win you the league.
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Post by Gandalf on Aug 26, 2019 22:16:12 GMT
Just so it doesn't go unnoticed, for the time that he was on the pitch I though Murray looked good, wasn't afraid to go forward with the ball. It must be great being a youngster coming on when your already 3-4 goals up.
Thinks it's important we loan Waters out to a club at a decent level as he was showing that he is capable of being in the first team, just with Taylor's recent performances you know he's going to struggle to break into the team now. It would be a shame if he was just a bench warmer when he could be developing getting minutes under his belt.
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Post by Forever Blue on Aug 27, 2019 0:18:32 GMT
That was a great performance on and off the pitch some of the football we played was sublime, and what a great atmosphere from the fans the best I have heard in years. The Harry Mac were tremendous today keep it up lads as I believe not many teams are going to relish coming to play us at home with an atmosphere like that The atmosphere has been a bone of contention for me for awhile now Ken and I have posted comments about it. Today was a different story the fans turned out and got behind the lads and it felt like old times again, it wasn't that long ago when you had H block taunting the Harry mac on this forum and vice versa who out sung who. I felt so proud of everyone today it was amazing to hear the fans and see the players so up for a game and I am in no doubt the atmosphere kept the lads going. We should never be out sung at home it is our fortress and every team should fear playing us at home, all round it was a great effort by everyone and long may it continue
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Post by chesterken on Aug 27, 2019 2:23:05 GMT
Just so it doesn't go unnoticed, for the time that he was on the pitch I though Murray looked good, wasn't afraid to go forward with the ball. It must be great being a youngster coming on when your already 3-4 goals up. Thinks it's important we loan Waters out to a club at a decent level as he was showing that he is capable of being in the first team, just with Taylor's recent performances you know he's going to struggle to break into the team now. It would be a shame if he was just a bench warmer when he could be developing getting minutes under his belt. Thought it was interesting when the manager said in his interview that we are going to struggle to keep hold of some of the players, so it looks like we have had teams from higher up the leagues sniffing around our top performers, so maybe his chance may come sooner than we might have exspected.
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Post by billyw on Aug 27, 2019 7:02:56 GMT
Just so it doesn't go unnoticed, for the time that he was on the pitch I though Murray looked good, wasn't afraid to go forward with the ball. It must be great being a youngster coming on when your already 3-4 goals up. Thinks it's important we loan Waters out to a club at a decent level as he was showing that he is capable of being in the first team, just with Taylor's recent performances you know he's going to struggle to break into the team now. It would be a shame if he was just a bench warmer when he could be developing getting minutes under his belt. Agree about Waters although he may be needed to fill a midfield gap if we are going to be without Stopforth and Roberts. There is also the highly rated Morgan who hasn’t had a sniff of a game yet.
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Post by midfieldgeneral on Aug 27, 2019 7:31:08 GMT
Just so it doesn't go unnoticed, for the time that he was on the pitch I though Murray looked good, wasn't afraid to go forward with the ball. It must be great being a youngster coming on when your already 3-4 goals up. Thinks it's important we loan Waters out to a club at a decent level as he was showing that he is capable of being in the first team, just with Taylor's recent performances you know he's going to struggle to break into the team now. It would be a shame if he was just a bench warmer when he could be developing getting minutes under his belt. Agree about Waters although he may be needed to fill a midfield gap if we are going to be without Stopforth and Roberts. There is also the highly rated Morgan who hasn’t had a sniff of a game yet. Hope Stopforth is ok? He is key to the way we play. Maybe play Kevin Roberts in Midfield and give Morgan a go at right back.
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Post by sqzl on Aug 27, 2019 7:51:00 GMT
Agree about Waters although he may be needed to fill a midfield gap if we are going to be without Stopforth and Roberts. There is also the highly rated Morgan who hasn’t had a sniff of a game yet. Hope Stopforth is ok? He is key to the way we play. Maybe play Kevin Roberts in Midfield and give Morgan a go at right back. Not a bad shout about KR moving into the centre. Not sure you’d want to change this defence though we look fairly solid, something nobody was thinking pre season!
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Post by Hannibal on Aug 27, 2019 7:51:31 GMT
They're all ran by Dougherty and Allen, not the club. bout time they bined them, absolutely shocking and a disgrace I think Dougherty and Allen do a good job in the main. What they do do that gives them great credit is the hot pot suppers they put on when there is a youth game at the stadium to raise money for our excellent Youth side. I believe that all the profits from these meals go to the youth team.
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Post by Hannibal on Aug 27, 2019 7:58:40 GMT
Brilliant performance, I just hope Stopforth’s injury isn’t too serious as it was the same knee he had the operation on according to Jonno. It’s great when you have players that don’t want to go off, but we shouldn’t have took any chances and took him off straight away. We could really do with some cover in centre of midfield, especially if Roberts and Stopforth are doubts for next weekend. I wonder if Tom Crawford fancies a little loan spell back with us? 😉 Elliot Durrell is not fixed up yet!
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Post by uptheseals on Aug 27, 2019 8:40:08 GMT
Should of been 3000 plus today, top performance on the pitch, off the pitch match day experience dreadful, kiosk in H block ran out of most soft drinks before kick off and blues bar ringing last orders at 5:50 pm laughable, no wonder were skint, club can't grasp food and drink makes money, players are performing on the pitch, bout time the bar and kiosks preformed That’s D&A to blame there Awful company need to get rid of them asap
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Post by uptheseals on Aug 27, 2019 8:48:22 GMT
What a performance what a result Unreal yesterday can only get better as season goes along too Up the national north we go
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Post by concernedexile on Aug 27, 2019 9:39:31 GMT
Should of been 3000 plus today, top performance on the pitch, off the pitch match day experience dreadful, kiosk in H block ran out of most soft drinks before kick off and blues bar ringing last orders at 5:50 pm laughable, no wonder were skint, club can't grasp food and drink makes money, players are performing on the pitch, bout time the bar and kiosks preformed That’s D&A to blame there Awful company need to get rid of them asap An awful company?? Please enlighten us. Or perhaps you're talking crap. Think D&A have been with us since the start of ChesterFC, and seen the crowds drop (including their profit no doubt) and quite possibly they could have more stock, but I've always found them pleasant and helpful. Suppose you are ready and able to volunteer your catering know how and expertise and run a squad of volunteers to man the kiosks and lounge catering?
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Post by embalmer on Aug 27, 2019 9:40:12 GMT
bout time they bined them, absolutely shocking and a disgrace I think Dougherty and Allen do a good job in the main. What they do do that gives them great credit is the hot pot suppers they put on when there is a youth game at the stadium to raise money for our excellent Youth side. I believe that all the profits from these meals go to the youth team. They're put on by the Senior Blues or the Fundraising team, not by D+A.
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Post by uptheseals on Aug 27, 2019 10:18:25 GMT
That’s D&A to blame there Awful company need to get rid of them asap An awful company?? Please enlighten us. Or perhaps you're talking crap. Think D&A have been with us since the start of ChesterFC, and seen the crowds drop (including their profit no doubt) and quite possibly they could have more stock, but I've always found them pleasant and helpful. Suppose you are ready and able to volunteer your catering know how and expertise and run a squad of volunteers to man the kiosks and lounge catering? Hahahaha grow up have you seen the state or what they serve in stands ?? Worst food in non league woeful They make plenty of money of us if they didn’t they wouldn’t be here would they
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Post by concernedexile on Aug 27, 2019 10:38:12 GMT
An awful company?? Please enlighten us. Or perhaps you're talking crap. Think D&A have been with us since the start of ChesterFC, and seen the crowds drop (including their profit no doubt) and quite possibly they could have more stock, but I've always found them pleasant and helpful. Suppose you are ready and able to volunteer your catering know how and expertise and run a squad of volunteers to man the kiosks and lounge catering? Hahahaha grow up have you seen the state or what they serve in stands ?? Worst food in non league woeful They make plenty of money of us if they didn’t they wouldn’t be here would they Grow up? Ffs, how old are you?? Anyway, awful company - just because they serve food you don't particularly like, how does that make them an awful company? As for worst food, very debatable. Stocking up wise - no pies available at Kiddy as sold out!! Now that was shocking! As for making lots of money off of us, that would mean we are making lots of money as well, as we split the profits and we dont carry the whole burden of staff and surplus stock.
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