NLS: WSM v Torquay United 7:45pm 30/10/2018

All happening, penalty saved by McDonald but WSM score from the corner

A game we could of lost in the end

2-2 WSM played with pride and had little to lose and everything to gain.

Never dismiss or take any game for granted.
Expect the unexpected.
Well done to WSM.
There are bound to be setbacks - still not a bad return of four points from six over the last few days.

Still unbeaten since the arrival of GJ but a real test this coming Saturday I hope we have some players returning to fitness as we have lost Nabi and Essuman tonight I believe.

Unbleddy believable 😟

GJ thoughts on the game:

Gary Johnson told his players to sharpen up after nearly coming unstuck at winless Weston-super-Mare.

The Torquay United manager said his side were well off the pace in Somerset after their good recent winning run came to an end.

Johnson lavished his team with praise after they strolled to a 3-0 win at Wealdstone on Saturday.

But against the National League South’s bottom side it was a totally different story as they escaped the Woodspring Stadium with a point.

“You don’t want my thoughts on that performance!” he told the club’s media team when asked to reflect on a challenging night.

“My polite thoughts are that we weren’t good enough. The players know that.

“Weston had too much of the ball in the first half but we got ourselves back in the game without playing well.

“It was scrappy and hard to watch at times, we really didn’t play well, which a surprise as we have been lately.

“But there is one positive for me and that is that we saw how big this club could be if we get a team out on the pitch,” he told the club’s website.

“The support away from home on a Tuesday night was incredible and it shows how good things could be if we do get it right.”

Bucks used to have a phrase "at it" or "not at it".

We were "at it" at Wealdstone and "not at it" at Weston. Weston were definitely "at it".

Being "at it" turns a decent team into a very good team and a poor team into a decent team. Being "not at it" turns a decent team into a poor team.

Gary Johnson doesn't seem to be a guy to look for excuses - which is refreshing.

We did not really miss Hall and Andrews at Wealdstone, but we really did at Weston. Two games in four days was too much for Dickson at this stage of his recovery. Unsurprisingly, he needed to be subbed off and Nabi's style does not complement Lemonheigh-Evans leaving us lightweight in midfield. Kalala had been excellent against Winchester and o.k. against Wealdstone but was extremely poor at Weston. No wonder he was taken off at half-time. Keating is not the most technically-gifted player and certainly isn't a wide-left midfielder, but he made a far better fist of it than Kalala did. Essuman received a knock five minutes or so before he was taken off just before half-time. Wynter did not impress.

Formation again was 4-4-2 as Saturday, although I have read reports saying we played three at the back. The Keating substitution again did not change our shape - he played wide left of a four.

Weston were not afraid to play out from the back and it looked like we could force a mistake from them, but we did not show that extra edge to force it - so they got away with a few sloppy moments. We had more of the play, but did not press home the advantage and paid the price when they scored from our failure to pick up at a free kick.

Picked up the pace after half-time and Janneh scored to put us back on terms. The winner would not come - Reid rattled the underside of the bar. Finally, another quality goal from Edwards looked to have clinched it - to the delight of the massive away following. We barely deserved the lead, but I now expected us to see the game out in a professional manner. I was disappointed. How we missed an experienced head in centre-midfield.

I didn't really see the penalty incident. We were riding our luck with the ball ricocheting around the box when the ref pointed to the spot and showed Nabi a straight red. Nabi was furious at the injustice and took a long time to leave the field - heading first towards the dugouts then across towards the dressing rooms on the other side. I have no idea how justified his anger was - but will be interested to see the video.

MacDonald - excellent throughout the game - saved the penalty to huge celebrations from the away fans. It looked like we had got away with an off-key performance. Sign of a good team is to play badly and win so they say. But we had the resultant corner to deal with it and deal with it we did not - missing several opportunities to clear our lines. The ball finally fell to Ash on the edge of the box and he lashed home the equaliser. Very frustrating, but in truth it was a deserved equaliser.

Weston celebrated like they had won the Cup. Some unpleasant scenes followed. I will post on those tomorrow. Our support was magnificent in number, in vocal backing and in behaviour for 99%+. I loved the fact that the ground was unsegregated. It p****s me off that a handful of idiots out of close on a thousand can sour the mood.