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Post by Rio Doherty on Nov 17, 2018 18:34:07 GMT
A really poor result for us today given the circumstances. Our performance wasn’t awful, but we’ve got to be beating teams like Leamington if we are to be up there come April. On a personal note a draw should’ve been a fairer assessment as it was a scrappy encounter played on a heavy surface. Leamington were just your standard 6th tier team who tended to just hoof the ball up and hope as they made things tough for us today. We struggled to get going in the first period as the pitch was very bobbly at an extremely isolated ground. The hosts started off the better side as they caused us problems, but defensively we did well to shut them out. As the half went on we began to come into this encounter with Craig Mahon causing problems down the left hand side, but the end product just wasn’t there. We very nearly went a goal in front as Simon Grand hit the crossbar from Dan Mooney’s cross, and his follow up was saved really well by the Leamington custodian. A couple of more chances came to us but we just couldn’t thrive off anything, so we went into the break without a goal. I must say we played much better in the second half, even though we went onto lose which seems to be the typical norm here at Chester. Our players clearly did put the effort in this afternoon, and so did our supporters who got behind them even during the tougher times. I don’t know about the away attendance but personally I’d say we took between 350-400. This was my first opportunity to watch Adam Dawson in a blue shirt, and I thought he was one of our better players. On the ball he was creative going forward and was full of energy, so if we keep him fit he should go onto do well for us. Gary Roberts didn’t have the best of games this afternoon, whilst I believe he won’t be eligible to play against Darlington which is a blow. We continued to pile the pressure on but nothing came our way, and the killer blow arrived 10 minutes from time as Leamington scored the winner from inside the area. A massive dagger in the heart for us where a draw would’ve been a fairer assessment. The rails seem to be falling off a bit now which is gutting, whilst we’ve now dropped down to 7th. Considering the cold conditions, bobbly pitch and desolated stadium it was never going to be straight forward for us this afternoon, but as I said at the start we have to be beating these sort of sides. Leamington are a nice, friendly club and I wish them all the best. We now have to focus on Southport who seem to be on a roll themselves. They won again today by beating Boston away (is Jon McCarthy in holiday by any chance?) so there could be a banana skin in the making. At least we can take a break from league action and hopefully give the cup a good go, then get back ready and firing again for Darlington. A decent display from us today, but the result is certainly not good enough. Appreciate your feedback Rio but we lost because of the cold and a desolated stadium ? Really ? I never said they contributed towards our defeat, I was just stating the general surroundings at Leamington which didn’t help us. |
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Post by Hannibal on Nov 17, 2018 18:39:08 GMT
Heartbreaking losing that, but we got what we deserved. Shocking performance against one of the league's whipping boys. It was like all the outfield players were Lucas Dawson. Mahon should have been replaced at h/t by Deane Smalley. Dudley is wasted in that formation. Not sure either if the Dawson experiment is working. We're in a slump that has gone on for the last half a dozen games. If we don't arrest it soon we are not going to make the top 7.
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Post by rcb on Nov 17, 2018 18:53:03 GMT
We don’t become a bad team over night, but the squad clearly needs freshening up. Time for the managers to offload 2 or 3 non regulars and do a bit of wheeling and dealing. We have two managers who have made a team that is competitive, which, given what they inherited, is an excellent achievement. Don’t forget, whilst other clubs were consolidating and strengthening from last season, these two lads were forced to offload the dregs of a totally inept squad from last season, including two players capable of financially killing the club, and with their payoffs diminishing an already small budget. We have never been a good team this season, a circumstance partially hidden through workrate and commitment, so we haven’t dropped by much. I totally agree that it’s time to offload several who are not up to this standard, and in particular there is a need for a couple of goalscorers. Missed chances are now proving very costly. The managers need to do some quality Christmas shopping, and the budget at their disposal will determine where we end up. |
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Post by South Wirral Blue on Nov 17, 2018 19:19:11 GMT
We're an upper midtable side with a chance, possibly, of making top 7. These last few indifferent results don't change that.
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Post by stavros on Nov 17, 2018 19:42:27 GMT
Good to see some balance in these posts.
I ve said before, I think we will win more than we lose this season and hopefully restore some pride and achieve some stability. From where we were in April that’s a great achievement. Play offs would be an absolute bonus.
Disappointing result, couldn’t comment on the performance as I wasn’t there.
To be fair to Rio, I didn’t read anywhere that he said the cold, bobbly pitch or stadium caused the defeat. He said they made for an away game that was not straightforward but that nonetheless we should be winning. He was proved correct.
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Post by agl on Nov 17, 2018 20:01:02 GMT
Heartbreaking losing that, but we got what we deserved. Shocking performance against one of the league's whipping boys. It was like all the outfield players were Lucas Dawson. Mahon should have been replaced at h/t by Deane Smalley. Dudley is wasted in that formation. Not sure either if the Dawson experiment is working. We're in a slump that has gone on for the last half a dozen games. If we don't arrest it soon we are not going to make the top 7. Not shocking, just average. Plenty of endeavour but a lack of creativity and quality in the final third. If we were going to score it was going to come through Mooney, but they crowded him out. Thought Dawson looks a decent player but otherwise all a bit plodding I'm afraid. Didn't see them scoring after we've got on top, but we paid the penalty for not converting plenty of possession. Tidy set up there and a friendly welcome. |
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Post by dmcnally on Nov 17, 2018 20:16:17 GMT
Jonno said Leamington was one of their losses last season at Salford and you can see why it’s a tricky place. The pitch was poor so every time we tried to play football it was bouncing about and making things difficult. You’ve then got the problem that we’re forced to play long ball but having Mooney, Dawson, Mahon and Dudley as our attacking options - they’re not going to win the headers are they.
Leamington were pretty poor imo, their keeper played a blinder to be fair to him, some stunning saves which 9/10 times are a goal and we’re celebrating 3 points. Forget the goal scorer he’s the real hero for them today.
On another day could’ve been 4,5,6 nil to us but unfortunately most of the big chances fell to our centre backs. If you weren’t there, even if you were, you’ll despair at some of the chances missed in the highlights... a few missed from inside the six yard box without pressure!
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Post by agl on Nov 17, 2018 20:21:18 GMT
Thought the pitch was fine. Grass a bit long, but no problem with the bounce. We've played on a lot worse than that.
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Post by dmcnally on Nov 17, 2018 20:43:24 GMT
Thought the pitch was fine. Grass a bit long, but no problem with the bounce. We've played on a lot worse than that. Where I was stood in one corner it was bobbling about when players were dribbling. You can see why Leamington play long ball |
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Post by agl on Nov 17, 2018 20:49:24 GMT
Maybe we could let Baz be the judge?
Billiard table, or ploughed field? We are clearly divided on this.
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Post by citricky on Nov 17, 2018 21:07:35 GMT
In contrast to the last time we were in this league we're not dominating games and creating chances in the last third. We need a predatory striker in the Clare or Wilde ilk. It was a great day out anyway with a huge following at our level. We'll get there eventually but we may need to wait until the investment comes and we're not relying on home gates for income. Until then we're gonna struggle to compete with the likes of Leamington. Fair play to them today, they were really friendly but that bitter they had on tap was rank.
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Post by Hannibal on Nov 17, 2018 21:14:00 GMT
Maybe we could let Baz be the judge? Billiard table, or ploughed field? We are clearly divided on this. Farmer's field of a pitch that. |
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Post by dmcnally on Nov 17, 2018 21:16:17 GMT
In contrast to the last time we were in this league we're not dominating games and creating chances in the last third. We need a predatory striker in the Clare or Wilde ilk. It was a great day out anyway with a huge following at our level. We'll get there eventually but we may need to wait until the investment comes and we're not relying on home gates for income. Until then we're gonna struggle to compete with the likes of Leamington. Fair play to them today, they were really friendly but that bitter they had on tap was rank. ............what? |
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Post by chesterken on Nov 17, 2018 21:19:50 GMT
One of the problems we have is due to injuries and the thinness of the squad we are forced to select the same players every week,if you look at the bench we don’t have a single player who might change a game if they are brought on. The only player not in that bracket is Noble who is young and untested at this level, would like to see Marsh-Evans on the bench as his physicality is miles ahead of what we have at present.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 17, 2018 21:25:29 GMT
Travelled today, cute little ground, god awful pitch, loads and loads from a Chester oh and should have won 3-0.
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Post by citricky on Nov 17, 2018 21:44:09 GMT
In contrast to the last time we were in this league we're not dominating games and creating chances in the last third. We need a predatory striker in the Clare or Wilde ilk. It was a great day out anyway with a huge following at our level. We'll get there eventually but we may need to wait until the investment comes and we're not relying on home gates for income. Until then we're gonna struggle to compete with the likes of Leamington. Fair play to them today, they were really friendly but that bitter they had on tap was rank. ............what? |
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Post by citricky on Nov 17, 2018 21:49:49 GMT
We lost today. You need to explain what you mean rather than just highlighting a part of my post.
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Post by chislenko on Nov 17, 2018 22:00:04 GMT
We have lost to a village team, the players out there today deserve a damm good bumming!
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Post by dmcnally on Nov 17, 2018 22:10:05 GMT
We lost today. You need to explain what you mean rather than just highlighting a part of my post. How are we going to struggle to compete with the likes of Leamington when we're in the playoffs and they're mid table? |
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Post by citricky on Nov 17, 2018 22:16:55 GMT
We lost today. You need to explain what you mean rather than just highlighting a part of my post. How are we going to struggle to compete with the likes of Leamington when we're in the playoffs and they're mid table? They beat us today and we didn't deserve to win. Explain that. |
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Post by South Wirral Blue on Nov 17, 2018 22:30:17 GMT
Results like today happen if you're an average side. You can lose to anybody, you can beat anybody.
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Post by shango on Nov 17, 2018 22:33:14 GMT
How are we going to struggle to compete with the likes of Leamington when we're in the playoffs and they're mid table? They beat us today and we didn't deserve to win. Explain that. It's football isnt it.You win some,you lose some. I am confident that this team will finish above Leamington come the end of the season. |
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Post by tonya on Nov 17, 2018 23:02:53 GMT
It's football isnt it.You win some,you lose some. I am confident that this team will finish above Leamington come the end of the season. Well that' Thanks that is reassuring. |
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Post by tonya on Nov 17, 2018 23:04:33 GMT
It's football isnt it.You win some,you lose some. I am confident that this team will finish above Leamington come the end of the season. About as positive as Theresa May currently. |
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Post by thestanchion on Nov 17, 2018 23:27:32 GMT
This team is nowhere near the standard that which won this league under Neil Young, especially away from home.
I have been to 4 aways this season. Curzon where we looked competent after a poor 20 minutes . Blyth clueless. Dunston very poor and ridiculous game plan after we got back to 3-3 with 10 men. Then today- first half an hour we did nothing; when we got possession in our half we immediately gave it back to them, mostly by long aimless balls upfield. The back 4 have no distribution especially Moran. We need to play it out through Roberts and Stopforth like we do at home. Very disappointing, thought the pitch was reasonable, and Rio the stadium was not desolate, there were buildings there and people in it.
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Post by Rio Doherty on Nov 17, 2018 23:37:29 GMT
This team is nowhere near the standard that which won this league under Neil Young, especially away from home. I have been to 4 aways this season. Curzon where we looked competent after a poor 20 minutes . Blyth clueless. Dunston very poor and ridiculous game plan after we got back to 3-3 with 10 men. Then today- first half an hour we did nothing; when we got possession in our half we immediately gave it back to them, mostly by long aimless balls upfield. The back 4 have no distribution especially Moran. We need to play it out through Roberts and Stopforth like we do at home. Very disappointing, thought the pitch was reasonable, and Rio the stadium was not desolate, there were buildings there and people in it. It was in the middle of a country lane and was surrounded by lots of farmland. |
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Post by Rio Doherty on Nov 17, 2018 23:48:58 GMT
My match highlights:
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Post by Hannibal on Nov 17, 2018 23:57:04 GMT
Heartbreaking losing that, but we got what we deserved. Shocking performance against one of the league's whipping boys. It was like all the outfield players were Lucas Dawson. Mahon should have been replaced at h/t by Deane Smalley. Dudley is wasted in that formation. Not sure either if the Dawson experiment is working. We're in a slump that has gone on for the last half a dozen games. If we don't arrest it soon we are not going to make the top 7. Not shocking, just average. Plenty of endeavour but a lack of creativity and quality in the final third. If we were going to score it was going to come through Mooney, but they crowded him out. Thought Dawson looks a decent player but otherwise all a bit plodding I'm afraid. Didn't see them scoring after we've got on top, but we paid the penalty for not converting plenty of possession. Tidy set up there and a friendly welcome. York was average, that today was shocking, best summed up by Bazza as we left the ground when he said we never got going. Mahon shouldn't be anywhere near the starting XI based on his last 2 or 3 showings. Its traditional as the festive season approaches that we go on a lengthy winless run. |
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Post by Hannibal on Nov 18, 2018 0:46:23 GMT
We've dropped from 1 to 11 in form table.
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Post by Anders on Nov 18, 2018 0:57:53 GMT
Certainly should have picked up three points, we were really slow to start and were on the back foot in the first half hour but largely dominated after that, really sloppy to not at least pick up a point.
We had a stonewall penalty turned down in the first half for a shove in the box, ludicrous decision which was clear as day. We huffed and puffed in the second half, their keeper essentially won them the game with a string of good saves and late on they scrappily won it with a rare foray forward tucking away from a rebound after a Shenton save on the left.
We were nowhere near our best but did deserve more out of it, thought Leamington were quite poor and limited to be honest.
Off the pitch I can’t praise Leamington highly enough though, badly handicapped by one of the remotest grounds you will ever come across and do all they can considering that. They hired out a double decker bus service which starts off at the rail station and makes two trips beforehand and after the game. Both sets of fans mixed well on it and then they have lots of bar staff serving in their clubhouse when you get there.
Crowd was 975 of which probably about 350 was us, beats their previous best by about 150 by my reckoning and they’ve already had more local sides like Telford and Kiddy there.
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