rjdgull
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Post by rjdgull on Mar 21, 2012 21:54:30 GMT
With their win against Hereford last night, any concerns that Port Vale may be dragged into a relegation fight have abated with an eleven point gap, game in hand and vastly superior goal difference! I think this suits us fine as without their 10 point deduction for going into administration, they would have still been fighting to get into the play offs but now they can focus on sorting out their off field activities and build for next season! On the field of play, they have collected a fair 8 points from the last six with home wins against the hapless Burton and Hereford, draws against Accy and Crewe and narrow losses to Crawley and Barnet. Lee Collins has now left the club as they look to cut costs which again suits us! Whether any other player is loaned out before the window closes on Thursday remains to be seen although the club have quite a lot of interest from potential buyers...... As for Torquay, with a bit of luck, everyone should be fit for this one so we can continue to build on from what has been a very successful month. No idea what the score will be but the old man is getting down to Plainmoor for the eighth time this season and has a 100% win record so far!  |
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Post by loyalgull on Mar 22, 2012 11:39:30 GMT
another tough game saturday,as is often the case,portvale are in dire straights financially off the pitch,but as sometimes happens it seems to cement the squad in times of need and makes them battle harder,lingy will instill this in the players before the game for sure.We didnt really click on tuesday night,but should be ok for this one.Lingy states today that 82 points will get us promoted,personally i am not sure that will be enough,but if so we need 13 points minimum from 8 games,very gettable,but with pressure mounting i just hope we dont fluff our lines
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rjdgull
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Post by rjdgull on Mar 22, 2012 12:02:47 GMT
Didn't want to give the impression that it will be easy, just that the pressure is now off Port Vale and they do have other distractions.
If we can finish the month with two wins then that will cement our play off place and maybe could take some pressure off with us climbing to the safety net level whilst piling a lot of pressure on the other teams around us. that expect to go up. Lots of twists to come yet...
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Post by loyalgull on Mar 22, 2012 12:06:55 GMT
dont think you implied it would be easy rob at all,and hopefully they will be distracted.I genuinely thought swindon would have wembley on their minds tuesday night,history now shows they didnt,all out attack if possible on saturday should sort em out
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petef
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Post by petef on Mar 22, 2012 14:43:13 GMT
dont think you implied it would be easy rob at all,and hopefully they will be distracted.I genuinely thought swindon would have wembley on their minds tuesday night,history now shows they didnt,all out attack if possible on saturday should sort em out All out defence - and then attack loyal.  Now lets get our priorities right ....  |
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Post by loyalgull on Mar 22, 2012 16:04:09 GMT
yes petef get the clean sheets going and things can be so much easier agreed,but would take winning 8-7 if need be lol
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petef
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Post by petef on Mar 22, 2012 22:32:00 GMT
Just watched the highlights of Vale v Hereford and us at Swindon.
Sure to be tested and I thought they looked sharp and Richards is bound to pose a threat.
Our two goals against from set pieces the first looked a bit sloppy and the second a bit of a free header which is a worry but was well executed.
We need to win this one to get back on the road to promotion - 1-0 I hope!
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rjdgull
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Post by rjdgull on Mar 24, 2012 12:08:48 GMT
It is a lovely day to watch a game of football but unfortunately won't be able to get to this one.  Hopefully, there will be some good match reports on here to get a feel for how the match went! |
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jj
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Post by jj on Mar 24, 2012 12:26:03 GMT
The Weather is Fantastic, lets get up too Plainmoor and cheer the Gulls onto victory.  |
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Post by milber on Mar 24, 2012 17:29:38 GMT
Oh the wonders of following a football team like the Gulls. With 20 mins to go I had resigned our season to the play offs and subsequent defeat by the Gills, who surely were destined to get promoted. What a turn around. Well done Utd. Before the game felt 84 pts was the min. I reckon we`ll need 85 now. Got to hope the away form of Shrews & Crawley lets one of them down big time. 14 Apr could be the last chance saloon for Southend. making the trip down. This is building up to a mega finish. we`re so good its unbelievable milber |
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Post by Swanny on Mar 24, 2012 18:05:36 GMT
A fantastic second half comeback to claim 3 vital points after a very poor first half performance. Crowd an improved 3,138, 480 from Port Vale, sponsors MOTM Rene Howe.
The first half I thought we started off looking lively and Howe almost scored in the first minute. He beat the keeper to the ball but from an angle could not hit the target with the goal gaping. The game settled down to a midfield battle and Port Vale started to get on top. On 29 minutes following a very poor clearance in the penalty box from Oastler, the ball fell to McCombe who could not believe his luck just inside the penalty area. He hit the ball cleanly into the roof of the net. This raised Port Vale's game and they were looking a decent side. There were a couple of other scares for Torquay when Port Vale just needed a finishing touch but we luckily survived both. At the other end Torquay were struggling to get going, passes were going astray and there seemed a lack of energy in the team. Was the long season taking its toll? It was looking that way. We had one or two weak efforts at goal and that was about it in the first half. At least it was only 1-0 but a big improvement was needed in the second half.
After the first 10 minutes of the second half, Torquay started to build some pressure. A Nicholson long throw came over, the ball bounced a couple of times, and Mansell's attempt was just blocked in time by their keeper. At last Torquay looked threatening. Torquay made a double substitution Atieno and Jarvis coming on for the ineffective wingers Stevens and Morris. This did the required trick and Torquay looked threatening with their attacks. Jarvis almost scored - the ball crahed against the crossbar, bounced on the line and bounced out. Mansell almost scored the rebound but the keeper saved. But this was more like it, Torquay were playing well.
Our breakthrough came from a through ball to Howe who was clear on goal. howe was brought down, the ref pointed to the penalty spot and sent off Davis who was the culprit. Howe cooly sent the keeper the wrong way and side-footed the ball in. Just 4 minutes later over came an O'kane corner to the far post, Jarvis stooped and headed into a little gap at the far post. Torquay were in full flow and a long range Lathrope shot again crashed against the crossbar, hit the line and came out. Rowe-Turner came on late for Howe. Port Vale only threatened once but nearly scored. A dangerous cross was hit at close range onto the crossbar and bounced over. The final whistle finally came to a great ovation from the home fans.
This was a fine win that had looked most unlikely after the first half display. So onto Barnet next Friday, it was interesting to see Lawrie Sanchez watching today's match. As for today's players I thought today's double subs Jarvis and Atieno made a big difference and gave us that extra boost of energy we badly needed. Our wingers Stevens and Morris just did not deliver today. We looked secure at the back and Olejnik had little to do. O'Kane and Mansell were in the thick of our moves and howe did a good job using his strength and won the vital penalty.
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petef
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Post by petef on Mar 24, 2012 18:12:17 GMT
I have just read one of Lingys comments on the BBC website where he called for mental toughness for the run in and true to his word that's just what he got today.
After a very poor first half where we were second best in every department and on balance deservedly behind by a sinle goal, that mental toughness once again kicked in and saved our bacon. Along with Milber I had more or less given up on getting a result at half time and was simply resigned to working out all the "what if" scenarios in my head and coming to the conclusion that we would sneak into the play off's while on a downturn in form and face the likes of Crewe who claim a place on the last day.
Still might happen I guess but if mental toughness and a desire to get a positive result is anything to go by we still have a very good chance of making the auto's.
Vale came into the game with little riding on it and it showed. They pressed, out passed and out thought us for long periods and with a multitude of corners it was only a matter of time before they took their chance. Richards looked a threat as predicted and gave Mark Ellis a rough ride but generally he came through pretty well. It was our wide men in Morris and Stevens where we became ineffective with both having torrid afternoons and both having little influence on the game in general. Our passing game was off all over the pitch and it was only an injection of fresh legs and a front line re think that saved it for us today. Despite a nuch improved start and first 20 minutes of the second half we still looked off the pace and lack lustre. Vale took there foot off the pedal a bit and resorted to the inevitable time wasting tactic which played into our hands a little and invited us on. With Jarvis and Attenio doing far better in holding the ball up onto theri back line than their predecessors we finally got the deserved break when MOM Howe powered onto a through ball and was hauled down by the last defender who was promptly sent off for his sins. A strong and determined Port Vale tried to rally and still looked dangerous and lively but within a few minutes the game was seasled with a fine headed maiden goal from an improving Jarvis. In the dying moments and with legs wilting from a hard fought match vale almost snatched a point when their sub very nearly clipped in a near post cross that clipped the corner of the upright and we could all breath again.
Victory snatched from the jaws of defeat and an indication of why we are difficult to defeat despite us rarely and convincingly dominating the opposition, the story of our season really.
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Post by loyalgull on Mar 24, 2012 20:40:00 GMT
the first 60 minutes left me asking a few questions,the last 30 minutes the answers were revealed,we were staring at defeat full on,then inspired substitutions by lingy turned this game on its head.No matter how good or bad we play,we have so much fight and spirit running through the squad,we are more than capable now of pulling off an immense feat in promotion,amazing times at tq1
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paulr
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Post by paulr on Mar 24, 2012 21:53:14 GMT
the first 60 minutes left me asking a few questions,the last 30 minutes the answers were revealed,we were staring at defeat full on,then inspired substitutions by lingy turned this game on its head.No matter how good or bad we play,we have so much fight and spirit running through the squad,we are more than capable now of pulling off an immense feat in promotion,amazing times at tq1 Could not agree more about the team spirit. The substitutions did indeed turn the game and we looked capable of getting the better of any team when playing like that........so why don't we start with that line up every home game? Shame some fools decided to applaud the substitution of Morris in the way that they did as it very obviously upset the lad. |
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Post by loyalgull on Mar 24, 2012 22:36:36 GMT
the first 60 minutes left me asking a few questions,the last 30 minutes the answers were revealed,we were staring at defeat full on,then inspired substitutions by lingy turned this game on its head.No matter how good or bad we play,we have so much fight and spirit running through the squad,we are more than capable now of pulling off an immense feat in promotion,amazing times at tq1 Could not agree more about the team spirit. The substitutions did indeed turn the game and we looked capable of getting the better of any team when playing like that........so why don't we start with that line up every home game? Shame some fools decided to applaud the substitution of Morris in the way that they did as it very obviously upset the lad. indeed morris was visibly upset on leaving the pitch,but i think it was a right substitution,he wasnt on the pace,as far as cheering his substitution by fans that was bad and lingy has mentioned it in his post match interview,he is scathing of supporters who participated in it.I see morris as a very hot or cold player like many others at times but he was not right today but wasnt alone,shame he had to endure that in a fantastic season at tq1  |
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