|
Post by midfieldgeneral on Sept 22, 2021 15:26:05 GMT
It's not too strange to go and watch a live game in the city I work in 🙃 Shows how much of a dead place Wrexham is that you cant drive 20 minutes down the road and find something to do on a Tuesday night, you'd rather watch your rivals play. What a sad man Not particularly bothered where he is from if he wants to put his £17 in the kitty
|
|
|
Post by jimianto on Sept 23, 2021 8:38:26 GMT
First time I've seen us this season. Defence looked solid enough, impressed by Williams; reminds me of Sam Hughes. Midfield moved it well out of defence. Upfront is the clear and obvious issue. Cumbersome George and Dudley didn't have a shot between them did they? Johnstone looked okay when he came on, less speed boat and no driver than he has looked previously. I think the hope was that goals would come from all over the pitch. But if we have any real aspirations to do well this season we desperately need a striker. Dudley should get more but he's not consistent. Yes - Duds had the shot at the far post that their keeper brilliantly saved, just before he got subbed
|
|
|
Post by jimianto on Sept 23, 2021 8:39:40 GMT
Heard a lot of Gray’s involvement on the commentary last night - sounded like he made a string of important saves and others had said he was kept busy so it was no surprise to hear he was named MOTM. Well, no surprise to most - the announcement seemed to surprise our Chairman on the commentary who said Gray has had nothing to do all night(!). He made 4 really good saves - all from long range efforts - 2 in particular were excellent stops.
|
|
|
Post by Rio Doherty on Sept 23, 2021 9:32:57 GMT
Absolutely delighted we finally managed to make it through the other night. Like Saturday at Blackwell Meadows, it was a tight and fairly even affair, but we stepped up to the plate really well in the final twenty minutes therefore I believe we deserved to advance to the next round. In defence we were excellent again to record back-to-back clean sheets which is a major confidence booster for us, while we moved the ball around really well in that final half hour to perform much more like our usual selves. We had to remain patient but considering the majority of our players didn’t put a foot wrong, we are worthy of the victory. Darlington will probably feel hard done by as they caused us various problems in the first part of the second half, but they were quite vulnerable at the back after that by inviting pressure. I still feel like we deserve the win though given it was us who portrayed more ambition and desire to win the tie in the latter stages.
The opening period was very average and evenly matched because in defence both outfits performed solidly, although our frustration was our inability to take chances at the other end, which was our main problem in the original match too. Josh Askew in particular was outstanding on that left channel by being in acres of space all of the time, but when we managed to deliver into that danger zone their was either nobody there to stick the ball away, or we just fluffed our lines. Even though we were dominant in possession in the early stages, it was Darlington who had the opening chance of the encounter with Will Hatfield lobbing over the bar halfway through the half. Quite remarkably we failed to register a single shot in the first 45 to sum up our frustrations, hence we unsurprisingly headed into the half time break still goalless.
Meanwhile, the second half was much more lively and entertaining considering we really upped the ante in the final twenty minutes by taking more shots on goal, while we were more creative and ambitious in our play too. We performed like our old selves again, with the brilliant atmosphere in the Harry Mac certainly helping us towards our late winner. To be fair to Darlington though, I believe they were the better side in the first half of the second 45 as they looked the more likelier to find a breakthrough. On both flanks our alarming lack of width or shape allowed Darlo to run down each channel to get balls into the box, but thankfully Louis Gray and our centre backs dealt with everything superbly to earn another deserved clean sheet. Just one minute into the half Joe Wheatley lashed inches wide following Luke Charman’s initial attempt which was blocked by Matty Williams. James Hardy drilled wide for us at the other end, before Louis Gray did very well to push a dipping Kallum Griffiths free kick away from the goal. Gray had to be alert to parry a dangerous cross away, with Luke Charman’s rebound turned behind for a corner. Meanwhile, as the hour mark passed it was us who began to conjure up the pressure, with firstly a Jamie Morgan curler blocked for a corner. Then, Darlo’s Tommy Taylor produced a miraculous save to deny Anthony Dudley, because our number ten had the whole of the goal to aim at, but despite only being a few yards out Taylor superbly blocked his shot. Taylor was called into action again to prevent Hardy from breaking the deadlock for us. A first time John Johnston rasper flew over the crossbar, while at the other end Louis Gray made another outstanding stop by palming a Hatfield attempt around the post. With the entire tie being 175 minutes old and still without a goal, we finally managed to find a breakthrough as James Hardy poked home from close range to make it 1-0 to us, thus ensuring we will travel to the Teesside seaside a week on Saturday. The Quakers desperately wanted to force the encounter into extra time with Gray palming a dangerous Jake Cassidy shot behind, before Jack Lambert luckily slotted wide in what was the final action of the clash. We managed to hold on to deservedly book our place in the next round, where Marske United away awaits us.
A really solid and hard-working performance the other night as we had to work hard to earn that win, therefore my man of the match goes to Louis Gray who kept us in the match by producing a string of fantastic saves. Louis has also achieved back-to-back clean sheets which is a brilliant feat, so I’m sure his confidence levels have shot right up ahead of another North East affair on Saturday. I was also impressed with Josh Askew who was our only bright spark in an otherwise mediocre opening half, because he was explosive going down that left channel, while he also did really well to stop crosses and hunt down Darlington. John Johnston arguably changed the match when he came on, because unlike his frustrating habits of running into blind alleys, he was much more on it on Tuesday by running into spaces and getting crosses in, which is much more like the proper JJ. That, therefore, enabled us to create more chances, so he deserves plenty of credit for playing a key role in our win. Simon Grand was excellent in defence again by blocking shots at crucial moments, and being very dominant in the air so hopefully he too is turning a corner after a difficult start to the campaign. Matty Williams was also superb at the back by being at the right place at the right time, so he too deserves plenty of praise for playing an important role towards our second clean sheet in a row.
Lots of positives to take from Tuesday night as our attentions now turn back to the league, where we really have to hit the ground running. I’m now really looking forward to a day out up in Marske as I purchased my ticket yesterday evening, but for now I’m also looking forward to two matches at the Deva, which are Blyth Spartans on Saturday and our FA Youth Cup fixture against Altrincham Youth on Wednesday. Our next match is on Saturday where we play Blyth Spartans at home where we look to start climbing back up the table. Since our last league outing at Chorley where we got embarrassed 4-1, we have since followed that up with two promising outings, therefore hopefully they will give us that morale boost ahead of a winnable set of league fixtures. Blyth are a much-improved side compared to the last couple of years, but that said we still have to win this clash to ensure we continue to build a run of momentum.
|
|