NL: Eastleigh FC v Torquay United 3pm 28th December 2021
Dec 28, 2021 21:23:42 GMT
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Post by rjdgull on Dec 28, 2021 21:23:42 GMT
For the second season in a row the Gulls are unable to maintain a half-time lead away at Eastleigh as they ran out of steam in the second-half after playing the same starting XI from 48 hours earlier plus not able to get the rub of the green in some of the inconsistent refereeing decisions when they had initially looked the better side.
After an even start for both sides once the game started to settle down it was Torquay that were creating more and better chances. Our first clear cut opportunity was when Wright was able to chest the ball down well to lose his marker and create the space to shoot from the edge of the area with the ball just going on the wrong side of the right hand post. The goal came just after the half hour mark when some good interlinked play on the left saw Little break free and find Wright deep in the area and whose deft touch back to him allowed him to shoot home from close range at the near post. Unfortunately he was booked for the goal celebrations in the corner which seemed harsh as did the other two bookings we received for both Martin and Moxey later on in the game.
We started to have some joy particularly on the left hand side with Sparkes seeing his well struck shot stinging the keepers gloves and the ball falling behind him to hit the crossbar and bounce back into his arms. Some good work from CLE crossed the ball for Lolos to steer the ball goalwards from the edge of the 6 yard box which was well saved by pushing it just past the post. Possibly the turning point came when Låpslie was fouled just before half-time and while he continued for a few minutes without obvious discomfort, perhaps the lesson of Moore at Weymouth combined with the fact that Little is now banned for our next game at Yeovil saw him taken off. Little was once again our best player by a country mile and his regular turn of speed to close down the opposition shows he is now well clear of any injury issues but he will be missed on Sunday.
As the second-half started it was becoming increasingly obvious that Eastleigh had that bit more energy and were pressing more and able to make more territorial gains with their first good chance coming when their striker got on the end of a ball and shot wide when perhaps should have done better. Another foray saw them able to work the ball into our penalty area and their striker with his back to goal just had his leg caught (sorry Chelston did not see who in the melee,)losing the ball in the process which was kicked out to the edge of the area and for a second it look like the referee was going to allow play to continue before he snapped his head back and pointed to the spot. Penalty was well taken and just grazed the inside of the right-hand post. The referee seemed a little slow in his decision-making and another example of this was when the ball bounced up and hit Wright’s arm, he then controlled the ball and found a good pass for CLE to get away into the opposition area before the referee after about five seconds called play back for the free kick. Certainly missed a handball or two by their players….
We were certainly facing an uphill battle now and a six of one, half a dozen of the other, challenge between Lolos and one of their players was adjudged a foul in a dangerous position and from this, the freekick was headed well by their striker in the area and while McDonald reacted well to catch it, the ball seem to spill as he landed on the goal line. With hindsight could have palmed it over but wouldn’t put him at fault. CLE also had a good penalty shout and while I did not have a good view, he seemed to go down a little too easily and again not our day. Chances were few and far between in the second-half with Little forcing a good save from a free kick and Hall not getting enough on a header but overall they were not as good as those in the first half and all three points agonisingly slipped from our grasp…..
After an even start for both sides once the game started to settle down it was Torquay that were creating more and better chances. Our first clear cut opportunity was when Wright was able to chest the ball down well to lose his marker and create the space to shoot from the edge of the area with the ball just going on the wrong side of the right hand post. The goal came just after the half hour mark when some good interlinked play on the left saw Little break free and find Wright deep in the area and whose deft touch back to him allowed him to shoot home from close range at the near post. Unfortunately he was booked for the goal celebrations in the corner which seemed harsh as did the other two bookings we received for both Martin and Moxey later on in the game.
We started to have some joy particularly on the left hand side with Sparkes seeing his well struck shot stinging the keepers gloves and the ball falling behind him to hit the crossbar and bounce back into his arms. Some good work from CLE crossed the ball for Lolos to steer the ball goalwards from the edge of the 6 yard box which was well saved by pushing it just past the post. Possibly the turning point came when Låpslie was fouled just before half-time and while he continued for a few minutes without obvious discomfort, perhaps the lesson of Moore at Weymouth combined with the fact that Little is now banned for our next game at Yeovil saw him taken off. Little was once again our best player by a country mile and his regular turn of speed to close down the opposition shows he is now well clear of any injury issues but he will be missed on Sunday.
As the second-half started it was becoming increasingly obvious that Eastleigh had that bit more energy and were pressing more and able to make more territorial gains with their first good chance coming when their striker got on the end of a ball and shot wide when perhaps should have done better. Another foray saw them able to work the ball into our penalty area and their striker with his back to goal just had his leg caught (sorry Chelston did not see who in the melee,)losing the ball in the process which was kicked out to the edge of the area and for a second it look like the referee was going to allow play to continue before he snapped his head back and pointed to the spot. Penalty was well taken and just grazed the inside of the right-hand post. The referee seemed a little slow in his decision-making and another example of this was when the ball bounced up and hit Wright’s arm, he then controlled the ball and found a good pass for CLE to get away into the opposition area before the referee after about five seconds called play back for the free kick. Certainly missed a handball or two by their players….
We were certainly facing an uphill battle now and a six of one, half a dozen of the other, challenge between Lolos and one of their players was adjudged a foul in a dangerous position and from this, the freekick was headed well by their striker in the area and while McDonald reacted well to catch it, the ball seem to spill as he landed on the goal line. With hindsight could have palmed it over but wouldn’t put him at fault. CLE also had a good penalty shout and while I did not have a good view, he seemed to go down a little too easily and again not our day. Chances were few and far between in the second-half with Little forcing a good save from a free kick and Hall not getting enough on a header but overall they were not as good as those in the first half and all three points agonisingly slipped from our grasp…..
