Post by Dave on Oct 16, 2010 20:45:06 GMT
Pleasing week for me on the TFF and no real issues or fall outs for a change and long may that continue as it makes my life so much more enjoyable and problem free.
Great to see a new name on the winners list and he wrote an excellent match report and I hope it’s the first of many.
This week’s winner is jimgull5543 well done Jim
The winning post
Another good performance at a good side. I put this performance below that of Shrewsbury and Port Vale but above that at Stevenage and at Lincoln. To give an idea of how well we played.
Strange one to write about because so much happened, it was certainly an eventful game. We reverted to a 4-4-2 of sorts, with Wroe absent, O'Kane and Mansell in the middle. Kee and Benyon up front, with Kee playing just behind a la Rendell. Most notable of this formation alteration was Zebroski's deeper role on the right side of midfield, which I believe subdued his performance. We started brightly with O'Kane shooting just over from distance having won the ball with a good tackle. We pressured them well and it wasn't long before Ellis headed home a Nicholson corner at the back post. Not long after that, a Nicholson free-kick sauntered its way past a static defence allowing Ellis to put himself on a hat trick ("Ellis on a hat trick, Ellis on a hat trick, la la la la")
Crewe's main threat seems to be pace, they look for that quick ball into space or the pineapple of Clayton Donaldson. Much of this threat was nullified by the superb positioning of Ellis and Branston in the first half, but at times there remained the fear that Joel Grant (he of that Aldershot side that piped us to promotion a couple of years ago) or Byron Moore would get their fair share of ball time. Fortunately, the ball spent much of the first half in the opposition's territory.
Kee impressed me. Against Lincoln, he struggled to hold the ball up or win the aerial battles and I wasn't too sure he could forge a successful partnership with Elliot Benyon, however today he did just that. We had a few chances to put the game out of sight before a bizarre penalty decision (apparently Branston handballed? I saw a header but I have my biases. I certainly couldn't fathom why Branston would opt to use his hand at that particular moment!). Despite the miss, they seemed galvanised and we kind of wanted half-time a minute earlier. It was a punishing finish from Donaldson, to make amends for a howling miss shortly after Ellis' first goal.
It was an end-to-end game in the second-half. We certainly didn't look to hold onto 2-1 playing some good stuff both on the ground and in the air. Stevens should have made it three after a teasing cross from (I think) Zebroski bamboozled everyone to the back stick, but his positioning was wrong and it went just over. A particular strategy employed frequently was a quick ball in the air to Benyon while contested by Patrick Ada (formerly of Histon's play-off team). This might seem like a mismatch considering Ada's physical presence, but in most cases Benyon controlled and held the ball up excellently. This eventually yielded the foul that led to our third goal, which swept through the new lad to O'Kane who expertly scored in off the bar from the edge of the area.
Their second was a very good volley after an attacking move broke down with Zebroski and a cross was poorly defended. The second penalty, I really have no idea what it was for - a good cross caused havoc in our defence, it found one of their forwards, the shot was saved by Bevan, there was a bit of a melee for the ball but I didn't see a Crewe player in sight! I'll have to see it again to understand what the infringement was.
From 3-3 it was a very open game with Crewe having several good crosses wasted by their front men (for some reason, Donaldson was taken off) and a handful of moments where Zebroski beat his man, tried to cut in from the left but couldn't angle the right shot. Oh and we had a goal bound effort from someone cleared off the line.
While it's obviously going to feel like two-points dropped given the commanding position we found ourselves in at 3-1, I once again take great heart from a third straight good away performance. And, this against a team I feel are a genuine fellow promotion candidate.
I'll do ratings in odd numbers 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, where 9 is excellent, 5 is average and 1 is abysmal.
Bevan 7 (looked shaky in the first half, commanding in the second)
Nicholson 7 (two assists)
Ellis 9 (two goals)
Branston 7 (9 for first half display, 5 if found guilty of both penalties)
Robertson 7 (struggled to cope with whoever came on for them in the second half, did very well in the first)
Mansell 9 (another awesome display)
O'Kane 9 (what a star)
Stevens 5 (I feel that playing 4-4-2 stifles the effectiveness of our wingers)
Zebroski 7 (see Stevens, although Zebroski picked up when switched left and ordered to attack; though he seemed to pick up an injury)
Kee 7 (played the role very well)
Benyon 9 (hardworking display, pressured the opponent into making mistakes all game)
Carlisle 5 (struggled to get into the game)
Oastler 7 (looks like a good addition)
Gritton 7 (won headers that lead to chances at the death)
NOTE: This rating system requires you to pretend the likes of 6, 8 and 10 do not exist.
Great to see a new name on the winners list and he wrote an excellent match report and I hope it’s the first of many.
This week’s winner is jimgull5543 well done Jim
The winning post
Another good performance at a good side. I put this performance below that of Shrewsbury and Port Vale but above that at Stevenage and at Lincoln. To give an idea of how well we played.
Strange one to write about because so much happened, it was certainly an eventful game. We reverted to a 4-4-2 of sorts, with Wroe absent, O'Kane and Mansell in the middle. Kee and Benyon up front, with Kee playing just behind a la Rendell. Most notable of this formation alteration was Zebroski's deeper role on the right side of midfield, which I believe subdued his performance. We started brightly with O'Kane shooting just over from distance having won the ball with a good tackle. We pressured them well and it wasn't long before Ellis headed home a Nicholson corner at the back post. Not long after that, a Nicholson free-kick sauntered its way past a static defence allowing Ellis to put himself on a hat trick ("Ellis on a hat trick, Ellis on a hat trick, la la la la")
Crewe's main threat seems to be pace, they look for that quick ball into space or the pineapple of Clayton Donaldson. Much of this threat was nullified by the superb positioning of Ellis and Branston in the first half, but at times there remained the fear that Joel Grant (he of that Aldershot side that piped us to promotion a couple of years ago) or Byron Moore would get their fair share of ball time. Fortunately, the ball spent much of the first half in the opposition's territory.
Kee impressed me. Against Lincoln, he struggled to hold the ball up or win the aerial battles and I wasn't too sure he could forge a successful partnership with Elliot Benyon, however today he did just that. We had a few chances to put the game out of sight before a bizarre penalty decision (apparently Branston handballed? I saw a header but I have my biases. I certainly couldn't fathom why Branston would opt to use his hand at that particular moment!). Despite the miss, they seemed galvanised and we kind of wanted half-time a minute earlier. It was a punishing finish from Donaldson, to make amends for a howling miss shortly after Ellis' first goal.
It was an end-to-end game in the second-half. We certainly didn't look to hold onto 2-1 playing some good stuff both on the ground and in the air. Stevens should have made it three after a teasing cross from (I think) Zebroski bamboozled everyone to the back stick, but his positioning was wrong and it went just over. A particular strategy employed frequently was a quick ball in the air to Benyon while contested by Patrick Ada (formerly of Histon's play-off team). This might seem like a mismatch considering Ada's physical presence, but in most cases Benyon controlled and held the ball up excellently. This eventually yielded the foul that led to our third goal, which swept through the new lad to O'Kane who expertly scored in off the bar from the edge of the area.
Their second was a very good volley after an attacking move broke down with Zebroski and a cross was poorly defended. The second penalty, I really have no idea what it was for - a good cross caused havoc in our defence, it found one of their forwards, the shot was saved by Bevan, there was a bit of a melee for the ball but I didn't see a Crewe player in sight! I'll have to see it again to understand what the infringement was.
From 3-3 it was a very open game with Crewe having several good crosses wasted by their front men (for some reason, Donaldson was taken off) and a handful of moments where Zebroski beat his man, tried to cut in from the left but couldn't angle the right shot. Oh and we had a goal bound effort from someone cleared off the line.
While it's obviously going to feel like two-points dropped given the commanding position we found ourselves in at 3-1, I once again take great heart from a third straight good away performance. And, this against a team I feel are a genuine fellow promotion candidate.
I'll do ratings in odd numbers 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, where 9 is excellent, 5 is average and 1 is abysmal.
Bevan 7 (looked shaky in the first half, commanding in the second)
Nicholson 7 (two assists)
Ellis 9 (two goals)
Branston 7 (9 for first half display, 5 if found guilty of both penalties)
Robertson 7 (struggled to cope with whoever came on for them in the second half, did very well in the first)
Mansell 9 (another awesome display)
O'Kane 9 (what a star)
Stevens 5 (I feel that playing 4-4-2 stifles the effectiveness of our wingers)
Zebroski 7 (see Stevens, although Zebroski picked up when switched left and ordered to attack; though he seemed to pick up an injury)
Kee 7 (played the role very well)
Benyon 9 (hardworking display, pressured the opponent into making mistakes all game)
Carlisle 5 (struggled to get into the game)
Oastler 7 (looks like a good addition)
Gritton 7 (won headers that lead to chances at the death)
NOTE: This rating system requires you to pretend the likes of 6, 8 and 10 do not exist.