Over the past few days, I have had the chance to watch the CTFC under-18 side play twice - and on the evidence of the two matches our future is in good hands.
One of their number, Joe Hanks, made his first-team debut against Exeter last Saturday, by my reckoning the 17th 'home-grown' player to represent us in the Football League.
He was also the 180th player to don the red/ruby in those games since August 1999, so 17 home grown players in that number is almost one in 10.
But it must be said that the majority of them have started less than 10 games - only the Duff brothers, Dave Bird and Andy Gallinagh started more than 100 games, and behind them, Theo Lewis started 18 times.
After that, Adam Connolly, Michael Jackson, Gareth Hopkins, Marley Watkins, Kyle Haynes, Michael Wylde, Josh Emery, Jake Lee, Will Puddy, Jack Durrant and Luke Corbett made sporadic appearances down the years.
Others, notably Jamie Edge and Jamie Price, were snapped up by bigger clubs, and only recently brothers Courtney and Tyrone Duffus went to Everton.
But we have never managed to do a Crewe, and unearth a Nick Powell-type player - but the new Football League academy rules mean that sort of transfer may not happen again, and clubs like us may end up being short-changed if some of our youngsters are prised away.
In recent years, our managers have had different approaches to the youth set-up - some have embraced it and others largely ignored it, but with Joe Hanks being given a chance Mark Yates is definitely in the 'former' category.
A notable thing for me from the two games I saw is that Russ Milton's under-18s mirror the formation being used in the first team - 4-2-3-1 - and he also champions the same style of neat, passing football that the first team look to employ, so if these lads do progress it might smooth the transformation somewhat.
Academy manager Milton fully understands the ethos of the club, as does his head of coaching, some bloke called Jamie Victory. I think he also played a bit in the red and white.
We also have Keith Knight and Tommy Callinan coaching the under-16s, so there is some CTFC history entrenched in the system at the top echelons.
Knighty was there at Seasons joining me in freezing half to death last Friday afternoon while watching the League Cup game with Oxford, which was handy as he was able to mark my card about one or two of the players on show. Neil Howarth was also watching the game.
Hanks didn't play as he was 24 hours from his Exeter debut, and the side were edged out 1-0 in a tight game.
It was decided by a shot which slipped through goalkeeper Harvey Rivers' hands and was adjudged to have crossed the line.
As goal-line technology has not reached Seasons, the assistant referee gave it.
Our lads had chances, and were helped by Oxford going down to 10 men, but couldn't get back on terms.
Four days later, it was the under-18s' big day - the start of the FA Youth Cup, and their chance to play at Whaddon Road, against Maidenhead in the first round proper.
Looking on their website pre-match, Maidenhead were unbeaten for 10 months, had conceded two goals this season, and beat Forest Green in the previous round.
Impressive - but our lads were 5-0 up at half-time, and despite Hanks missing a penalty, racked up an 8-0 win, playing some great football and doing a ruthless job on their opponents.
Of the starting 11 on show, only four - Hanks, goalkeeper Dale Reaney, defenders Keiran Thomas and Michael Gonzalo, are second year scholars, and so will learn their fate this summer.
The other seven, hat-trick heroes Bobbie Dale and Harry Williams, defenders Elliot Keightley and Spencer Hamilton, midfielder Adam Powell and flying wingers James Bowen and Zack Kotwica still have another year to progress and impress.
There were a number of scouts there - I was told that one had come to specifically watch one of our players, and some big clubs were represented, and our lads will definitely have impressed them.
Goalkeeper Reaney did not have much to do - one low down save and a late tip-round the post, and aside from conceding the goal against Oxford, Rivers looked a capable young keeper.
Full-backs Thomas and Keightley were both able to get forward in both games and did their defensive duties adequately.
Thomas (Pitbull to his mates... and boy, does he like a tackle) also found time to finish off a great move with a good finish for our fourth goal against Maidenhead.
He got an injury against Oxford and came off at half-time, his replacement Callum Marshall having a good second half, and also doing well as a sub against Maidnhead.
The centre-backs Hamilton and Gonzalo both looked comfortable with the ball at their feet, and weren't afraid to bring it out of defence rather than launch it, although both did play some nice cross-field balls in both games I saw.
Gonzalo also moved into midfield against Oxford and looked comfortable there as well, and, as the taller of the two, Hamilton did well in the air
Powell is a tall midfield player, must be 6ft 2 or so I would guess, and he had two good games, while Hanks was impressive against Maidenhead (we will forgive the missed penalty).
Harry Williams was my man of the match against Maidenhead, playing in the role behind striker Dale. He took his goals well, set up another and won the penalty which Hanks missed.
Maidenhead never got to grips with him at all, and he also did well against Oxford, where he played in the deeper role alongside Powell in Hanks' absence.
In both games I saw possibly the most impressive thing of all was our wide play, with Bowen and Kotwica.
Both looked very direct, tricky players, not afraid to take players on, and - as is key with wingers - also able to get quality crosses in.
In the first half against Maidenhead, Kotwica was virtually unplayable, twisting the poor left-back in knots before he went off injured. He was quieter after the break - but Bowen repeated the dose on the other flank.
Both gave good support to the lone striker - who was Dale against Maidenhead and Lewis Morana, a taller target man once on Exeter's books, against Oxford.
Morana battled away against two strong Oxford centre-backs with Dale coming on later and then starting against Maidenhead.
He linked well with Bowen, Kotwica and Harry Williams, and took his three goals well, showing a good poachers' instinct to seize on rebounds and take half-chances.
Against Oxford, Ed Williams (who scored a cracker in our pre-season game at Bishop's Cleeve) started behind the front man, and he replaced namesake Harry late on against Maidenhead and took up where he had left off, buzzing around, finding space and causing problems.
They now face AFC Wimbledon away in round two after this win, which shows that we might have some real promise for the future in our youth system.
For more information on our youth system, go to http://www.ctfcyd.com/site/index.asp
Thursday, 1 November 2012
Wednesday, 31 October 2012
Catching up
Before we get down to business, an apology.
Due to a combination of laziness and lack of time, this blog has been neglected, and judging by a few messages on Twitter and comments in the bar before and after games, some of you have missed it.
Well, you poor, misguided souls, I have finally sat down and will try to get things back on track.
The last post was after the 1-1 draw at Wycombe, where we played very well, and should have taken the win against a very poor Chairboys side who, since then, have sacked boss Gary Waddock and have Gareth Ainsworth in temporary charge.
We have played 11 games since that afternoon in Buckinghamshire, and I am not going to catch up on each game in the detail I have done in the past - I will just give a little precis of each one (just hope I can remember them all...)
The first was the home game with Southend, which ended in a 3-1 home defeat, thanks mainly to more suspect defending, especially from set-pieces.
It all started well enough with a goal from Jermaine McGlashan and all seemed well with the world, until we got the shotgun out and proceeded to fire it at our own feet. Repeatedly.
As half-time approached and Yatesy was preparing a 'you've all done very well' team-talk, Southend turned the game round in the shape of about 10 minutes.
Britt Assombalonga, one of the best loan signings this season in League Two (no bias here as he is a Watford player, it's true...), skinned Keith Lowe and after a bit of pinball around the box Sean Clohessy, who scores about as often as a monk in a brothel, fired in the equaliser.
Then, our defence, disintegrated for the second home game running after the Accrington debacle.
Ryan Cresswell had a free header from a corner which hit the post and Assombalonga tapped in the second, then Mark Phillips had the freedom of Gloucestershire to make it three,
That was the end of that, but in true footballing cliche heaven, we had a game the following Tuesday to make amends.
It was against Oxford, and we were lifted by the return of Alan Bennett from injury, and he made a big difference, with Steve Elliott looking much happier with his partner in crime next to him.
We did look much more solid, and scored two cracking goals through Darren Carter - his first since signing for us - and Shaun Harrad's fifth of the season (and as it turns out, his last goal...).
Peter Leven did convert a penalty after Bennett fouled James Constable, but this was our first Tuesday win since we beat Stockport in March 2011. Yes it's true...
Next stop was York and if I am being honest it wasn't the greatest game, finishing 0-0, but it was a big day for me - my first 90-minute commentary on BBC Radio Gloucestershire.
After winning on a Tuesday, the next task was to win on a Friday, and that was executed rather easily, if I am being honest, when we saw off Morecambe 2-0.
Our new deadly goalscoring machine Darren Carter got them both and either end of the match - after two minutes and two minutes into stoppage time.
Then we moved on to Bristol Rovers, and it was a great night at the Mem and Chris Zebroski continued his run of goals against old clubs after netting at Torquay with the winner - which was exactly what we deserved.
Fleetwood were next - and what an incident-packed game this one was.
We started very well, but fell behind at half-time with David Ball's scrambled goal - but credit to Yatesy as he changed the system to 4-4-2 and with it came a brilliant turnaround.
Shaun Harrad and Jeff Goulding came on, and Jeff equalised from a corner, then Sido Jombati powered in a near-post header from a Billy Jones corner for 2-1.
I have to say that Fleetwood were the niggliest, nastiest team we have come across this season, and it erupted after Junior Brown - their one outstanding player - equalised in the 92nd minute.
Jamie McGuire then tried to provoke Steve Elliott by barging him and celebrating in his face, but Alan Bennett took the bait and confronted him, being shown a red card.
McGuire was a nasty individual for his needless reaction to the equaliser, but Benno should have known better, and he has had to serve his time.
It meant three games out for him so soon after coming back from injury, and gave Keith Lowe a chance to come back into the side, but he played at right back when Oxford came back in the JPT.
We led twice, but once again defensive frailities cost us dear - although it must be said I am not exactly heartbroken that we have gone out.
After Jeff Goulding scored a much-needed goal against Fleetwood, it was Darryl Duffy's turn to end a long run without a goal, and it was a superb finish.
But we gifted a goal to Tom Craddock before Keith Lowe smashed us back in front again - only for us to give it all away again.
Harry Worley got a free header at the far post to equalise, then James Constable and Leven's penalty ended our Wembley dreams... if we had any in the first place.
More importantly, it was the first game of Benno's three-match ban, and the other two were tough-looking games at AFC Wimbledon and Bradford.
At Wimbledon, we played well and fully deserved our win. Marlon Pack smashed in the first and Kaid Mohamed headed in the second and - despite some good crosses and problems caused by our summer transfer target Byron Harrison, who got a late goal - we came away with the win.
It was another success against a bottom half of the table side, and we faced a sterner test at Bradford, and it was another stirring 90 minutes.
We led through a penalty, won by Jermaine and converted by Marlon, then Jermaine should have had another - which was more stonewall than the one we got (hope you are keeping up here).
Nakhi Wells then dived to try and win one back as the 10,000 Bradford fans finally woke up and tried to get their side back into the game.
He wasn't booked, but was soon after for clattering into Marlon - that should have been a second yellow, but in true Ronald Koeman style he was still on the pitch to convert the penalty Bradford finally got in first-half stoppage time.
It was given away by Sido, who fell over then palmed the ball off Craig Forsyth's foot for some reason, and that turned the game against us.
Wells scored again and James Meredith added a third, then Darryl was booked for diving late on, with a fall nowhere near as ridiculous as the one Wells was allowed to get away with unpunished.
So we went down 3-1 - a defeat which is our only one in the League since Southend after we took six out of six from the Devon double against Plymouth and Exeter (never in doubt, as we usually do beat Devon clubs at home!).
Now, against Plymouth I felt we were a bit fortunate, a view not shared by Yatesy in his pre-match interview for the Exeter game, where we mentioned his perceived 'negativity' of the Robins Player coverage of that game.
We fell behind to Conor Hourihane's goal, but fought back to win with Billy Jones set-pieces being headed in by Steve Elliott and Kaid Mohamed.
Happy days that we got the win, but Plymouth had two penalty shouts, missed an open goal at the death and, when we went to 4-4-2 for much of the second half, had a lot of possession and several chances.
Yatesy went back to his 4-2-3-1 later on and we won the control back, but unlike the Fleetwood game the move to 4-4-2 did not seem to work.
The game also saw yellow cards for Sido and Russ Penn, their fifth of the season, so they sat out against Exeter - not that it made much difference.
Yatesy had been looking for a loanee, and in came Lawson D'Ath from Reading, with Keith Lowe at right back, and Darryl Duffy given his first league start.
The first half was even, but once D'Ath finished off a superb move after a one-two with Darryl, the result was never in doubt.
Unlikely hero Lowe added the other two finishing off headers from Steve Elliott from a combined distance of about three yards, all of which was adequate punishment for Exeter boss Paul Tisdale's decision to where purple cords on the touchline, and a very silly hat to top it all off.
The game was also notable for Joe Hanks' league debut. The 17 year old midfielder has been around the first team squad for much of the season, and got his chance with 10 minutes to go - let's hope it is the first of many games for the teenager.
As if that wasn't enough of a shock, Yatesy deemed that 3-0 was a big enough lead for him to risk getting Danny Andrew out of the ice box he has been in for the best part of a year and let him loose on the pitch.
So that's brought things up to date, and we go into the break for the FA Cup this weekend sitting in third place - and still some fans don't think we have hit top gear.
If that's the case then we have some treats in store in the coming weeks and months - hopefully starting after the Cup tie with our nesxt League game at Gillingham, now managed by... oh you know... whatsisname...
Due to a combination of laziness and lack of time, this blog has been neglected, and judging by a few messages on Twitter and comments in the bar before and after games, some of you have missed it.
Well, you poor, misguided souls, I have finally sat down and will try to get things back on track.
The last post was after the 1-1 draw at Wycombe, where we played very well, and should have taken the win against a very poor Chairboys side who, since then, have sacked boss Gary Waddock and have Gareth Ainsworth in temporary charge.
We have played 11 games since that afternoon in Buckinghamshire, and I am not going to catch up on each game in the detail I have done in the past - I will just give a little precis of each one (just hope I can remember them all...)
The first was the home game with Southend, which ended in a 3-1 home defeat, thanks mainly to more suspect defending, especially from set-pieces.
It all started well enough with a goal from Jermaine McGlashan and all seemed well with the world, until we got the shotgun out and proceeded to fire it at our own feet. Repeatedly.
As half-time approached and Yatesy was preparing a 'you've all done very well' team-talk, Southend turned the game round in the shape of about 10 minutes.
Britt Assombalonga, one of the best loan signings this season in League Two (no bias here as he is a Watford player, it's true...), skinned Keith Lowe and after a bit of pinball around the box Sean Clohessy, who scores about as often as a monk in a brothel, fired in the equaliser.
Then, our defence, disintegrated for the second home game running after the Accrington debacle.
Ryan Cresswell had a free header from a corner which hit the post and Assombalonga tapped in the second, then Mark Phillips had the freedom of Gloucestershire to make it three,
That was the end of that, but in true footballing cliche heaven, we had a game the following Tuesday to make amends.
It was against Oxford, and we were lifted by the return of Alan Bennett from injury, and he made a big difference, with Steve Elliott looking much happier with his partner in crime next to him.
We did look much more solid, and scored two cracking goals through Darren Carter - his first since signing for us - and Shaun Harrad's fifth of the season (and as it turns out, his last goal...).
Peter Leven did convert a penalty after Bennett fouled James Constable, but this was our first Tuesday win since we beat Stockport in March 2011. Yes it's true...
Next stop was York and if I am being honest it wasn't the greatest game, finishing 0-0, but it was a big day for me - my first 90-minute commentary on BBC Radio Gloucestershire.
After winning on a Tuesday, the next task was to win on a Friday, and that was executed rather easily, if I am being honest, when we saw off Morecambe 2-0.
Our new deadly goalscoring machine Darren Carter got them both and either end of the match - after two minutes and two minutes into stoppage time.
Then we moved on to Bristol Rovers, and it was a great night at the Mem and Chris Zebroski continued his run of goals against old clubs after netting at Torquay with the winner - which was exactly what we deserved.
Fleetwood were next - and what an incident-packed game this one was.
We started very well, but fell behind at half-time with David Ball's scrambled goal - but credit to Yatesy as he changed the system to 4-4-2 and with it came a brilliant turnaround.
Shaun Harrad and Jeff Goulding came on, and Jeff equalised from a corner, then Sido Jombati powered in a near-post header from a Billy Jones corner for 2-1.
I have to say that Fleetwood were the niggliest, nastiest team we have come across this season, and it erupted after Junior Brown - their one outstanding player - equalised in the 92nd minute.
Jamie McGuire then tried to provoke Steve Elliott by barging him and celebrating in his face, but Alan Bennett took the bait and confronted him, being shown a red card.
McGuire was a nasty individual for his needless reaction to the equaliser, but Benno should have known better, and he has had to serve his time.
It meant three games out for him so soon after coming back from injury, and gave Keith Lowe a chance to come back into the side, but he played at right back when Oxford came back in the JPT.
We led twice, but once again defensive frailities cost us dear - although it must be said I am not exactly heartbroken that we have gone out.
After Jeff Goulding scored a much-needed goal against Fleetwood, it was Darryl Duffy's turn to end a long run without a goal, and it was a superb finish.
But we gifted a goal to Tom Craddock before Keith Lowe smashed us back in front again - only for us to give it all away again.
Harry Worley got a free header at the far post to equalise, then James Constable and Leven's penalty ended our Wembley dreams... if we had any in the first place.
More importantly, it was the first game of Benno's three-match ban, and the other two were tough-looking games at AFC Wimbledon and Bradford.
At Wimbledon, we played well and fully deserved our win. Marlon Pack smashed in the first and Kaid Mohamed headed in the second and - despite some good crosses and problems caused by our summer transfer target Byron Harrison, who got a late goal - we came away with the win.
It was another success against a bottom half of the table side, and we faced a sterner test at Bradford, and it was another stirring 90 minutes.
We led through a penalty, won by Jermaine and converted by Marlon, then Jermaine should have had another - which was more stonewall than the one we got (hope you are keeping up here).
Nakhi Wells then dived to try and win one back as the 10,000 Bradford fans finally woke up and tried to get their side back into the game.
He wasn't booked, but was soon after for clattering into Marlon - that should have been a second yellow, but in true Ronald Koeman style he was still on the pitch to convert the penalty Bradford finally got in first-half stoppage time.
It was given away by Sido, who fell over then palmed the ball off Craig Forsyth's foot for some reason, and that turned the game against us.
Wells scored again and James Meredith added a third, then Darryl was booked for diving late on, with a fall nowhere near as ridiculous as the one Wells was allowed to get away with unpunished.
So we went down 3-1 - a defeat which is our only one in the League since Southend after we took six out of six from the Devon double against Plymouth and Exeter (never in doubt, as we usually do beat Devon clubs at home!).
Now, against Plymouth I felt we were a bit fortunate, a view not shared by Yatesy in his pre-match interview for the Exeter game, where we mentioned his perceived 'negativity' of the Robins Player coverage of that game.
We fell behind to Conor Hourihane's goal, but fought back to win with Billy Jones set-pieces being headed in by Steve Elliott and Kaid Mohamed.
Happy days that we got the win, but Plymouth had two penalty shouts, missed an open goal at the death and, when we went to 4-4-2 for much of the second half, had a lot of possession and several chances.
Yatesy went back to his 4-2-3-1 later on and we won the control back, but unlike the Fleetwood game the move to 4-4-2 did not seem to work.
The game also saw yellow cards for Sido and Russ Penn, their fifth of the season, so they sat out against Exeter - not that it made much difference.
Yatesy had been looking for a loanee, and in came Lawson D'Ath from Reading, with Keith Lowe at right back, and Darryl Duffy given his first league start.
The first half was even, but once D'Ath finished off a superb move after a one-two with Darryl, the result was never in doubt.
Unlikely hero Lowe added the other two finishing off headers from Steve Elliott from a combined distance of about three yards, all of which was adequate punishment for Exeter boss Paul Tisdale's decision to where purple cords on the touchline, and a very silly hat to top it all off.
The game was also notable for Joe Hanks' league debut. The 17 year old midfielder has been around the first team squad for much of the season, and got his chance with 10 minutes to go - let's hope it is the first of many games for the teenager.
As if that wasn't enough of a shock, Yatesy deemed that 3-0 was a big enough lead for him to risk getting Danny Andrew out of the ice box he has been in for the best part of a year and let him loose on the pitch.
So that's brought things up to date, and we go into the break for the FA Cup this weekend sitting in third place - and still some fans don't think we have hit top gear.
If that's the case then we have some treats in store in the coming weeks and months - hopefully starting after the Cup tie with our nesxt League game at Gillingham, now managed by... oh you know... whatsisname...
Friday, 14 September 2012
An opportunity missed
OVER a season, you will get results which surprise, frustrate and annoy you in equal measure.
This one was definitely in the 'frustrate' category, as even those with the intellect of an amoeba would have left Adams Park knowing we should have had the three points tucked away in our back pocket.
After four goals between them in the reserves, Darren Carter and Sam Deering were unsurprisingly brought into the starting line-up, and there was also a first start of the season for Keith Lowe.
It was Keith's 100th League and Cup appearance for us, and consigned Harry Hooman back to the bench after his difficult afternoon against Accrington.
For a few days before the game, it looked like Alan Bennett would be back against his old club, but now we are unlikely to see him until York next weekend at the earliest.
So Mark Yates, having decided to take Harry out of the firing line (rightly in my view) turned to the ever-dependable Bilston Cafu - and he took three minutes to make an impact with a great finish.
Unfortunately it was past Scott Brown, who could do nothing about it - but it could have been prevented further up the field.
From our corner, Nikki Bull caught the ball, threw it to Dennis Oli, he fed Joel Grant, and one cross later the ball was in our net. No tackles, no pressure as the ball travelled from their penalty area to our net.
Before that, we had two corners and has started well, and that own goal was as bad as it got in the first half.
As poor as we had been against Accrington, this was the total opposite.
I can barely remember the ball coming into our half during that first period, and there is no argument that we should have been in front at the break.
Our passing and movement, especially from our central midfield trio of Carter, Deering and Marlon Pack, was too much for Wycombe, and we looked a threat out wide, especially down the right.
Deering and Kaid Mohamed missed good chances, and we had a few long-range efforts, then we got a stonewall penalty after Pack was fouled and up stepped Shaun Harrad to smash it in.
Wycombe had been no threat at all, and also lost two players to injury - Oli and Matt Spring - in that half, and it looked odds-on for us to go on and win the game.
But to Wycombe's credit, they were better in the second half, led by Gareth Ainsworth, who has tormented us in the past and kept Billy Jones on his toes defensively.
It was a sweltering day, and was hardly a surprise that Mark made three substitutions - with two of the players introduced, Jeff Goulding and Chris Zebroski, having good late chances to win it.
But they weren't taken and we had to settle for a point, and I have been surprised by the somewhat negative backlash to the result.
Before the game, I would definitely have taken a point from Adams Park as I thought pre-season that Wycombe would be in the mix this season.
But as it transpires it might have been a good time to play them - they recently sold hotshot striker Stuart Beavon, had a few players missing, lost two more players during the game and it seems they had pressed Ainsworth into action (although he was their best player and won their man of the match award).
Yes, we should have won the game as it turned out and I understand people being disappointed that we didn't do so, but some of the reaction since the game has, I feel, been disproportionate and over the top.
We are not going to win every game, and it is arrogant to believe that we will. There will be disappointments along the way.
Much of the post-match ire was aimed at the subsititutions, and especially the decision to take Jermaine McGlashan off.
Once again, Jermaine had angered the home fans by (in their view) going down too easily and too often. On this occasion, I think it was 50-50 on that front, and I wonder whether this was a factor in Mark taking him off.
Shaun Harrad was limping slightly when he came off, and Sam Deering had run himself silly before he came off, and I cannot argue with the changes - put it this way, Mark has made worse substitutions in other games than these.
The fact that Goulding and Zebroski came on and then missed chances could have coloured some views on the decisions - Zeb's chance was the best in my view as he screwed his shot wide.
Jeff was denied by the goalkeeper with a good save then put a late shot over the bar, and we had to settle for a draw.
I am not going to get too deeply into the alleged incident involving Jeff towards the end of the game as I didn't see him make any gesture, and I wasn't in the away stand to hear what may or may not have been shouted towards him.
Anyway, no player should ever be gesturing towards rival players or his own fans, and if Jeff did that, he is out of order.
But equally, I also find it disturbing if some of our fans have started turning on certain players only five games into the season.
It's not only Jeff. I have read on the Nest and Twitter this week that Billy Jones is 'not good enough', only five games into his CTFC career, and Darryl Duffy (a player desperately in need of a goal and looking very low on confidence) is also coming in for some criticism.
We need 'better back up' apparently. Darryl needs fans to help him through a rough patch, but instead it seems that some fans are only happy when they have a scapegoat or two amongst the squad.
I find that sad and wish it didn't happen, but I guess it is the case at every club and I find it one of the more distasteful sides to the modern game.
The manager said the other week that Mo was his 'favourite player' - with tongue firmly placed in cheek. Unfortunately for some of our players, they are not favourites with anyone it would seem.
The likes of Marlon, Jermaine and Sido, it seems, are impervious from any criticism at all, but practically everyone else in the squad would appear to have their share of detractors.
What happened to getting behind everyone in your team? Surely it isn't rocket science to work out that certain players perform better when there is a positive atmosphere coming from the terraces?
Why should there be ANY negativity anyway? We have eight points from five games and sit in 9th place, which is hardly a disastrous start.
I read somewhere this week that the games with Southend and Oxford this week are 'must win' games and it would be a disaster if we took less than four points from them. Really?
Well, here's a fact. If we beat Southend tomorrow, 11 points from 6 games will mean we will have made our best start to a Football League season in 12 years.
Hardly a disaster that, is it?
Player by player
Scott Brown: Hardly had a save to make all game, such was our domination. No chance with the own goal.
Sido Jombati: Got forward well to link with Jermaine down the right hand side but delivery poor. Defended well when he had to.
Billy Jones: Also an asset going forward and as usual with his set-pieces but had his hands full with Gareth Ainsworth in the second half.
Steve Elliott: Solid enough, and dealt with the long balls they were sending downfield and showed composure to start our attacks going again.
Keith Lowe: Recovered well from the own goal and was very good for the remaining 87 minutes, nearly grabbing a goal and dealing with their occasional threat.
Darren Carter: Excellent full debut. Composed on the ball, intelligent passing and calm touches to prompt our attacks and linked well with Marlon.
Marlon Pack: Poor last week, but superb this week as he and Carter ran the game. Confident on the ball and always involved. Won the penalty.
Sam Deering: Seemed to have plenty of space to play and influence the game. Missed an excellent chance in the first half.
Jermaine McGlashan: A big weapon all game as most of our attacks went down the right. Got very few decisions from the ref - hope he isn't getting a reputation as a 'diver'.
Kaid Mohamed: Not as big a threat as Jermaine. Made some decent runs and got into good positions, but then either didn't shoot or picked the wrong pass.
Shaun Harrad: Emphatically put away the penalty and worked hard, showing good touch, especially with his back to goal, but didn't have many chances.
Substitutes
Chris Zebroski (for McGlashan 68): Looked happier on the right hand side, and had a very good chance to win it for us.
Jeff Goulding (for Deering 74): Again playing in 'the hole' but had two good chances, one was saved well and one over the bar.
Darryl Duffy (for Harrad 78): Usual effort in the time he was on but looks very low on confidence. Needs a goal so badly.
This one was definitely in the 'frustrate' category, as even those with the intellect of an amoeba would have left Adams Park knowing we should have had the three points tucked away in our back pocket.
After four goals between them in the reserves, Darren Carter and Sam Deering were unsurprisingly brought into the starting line-up, and there was also a first start of the season for Keith Lowe.
It was Keith's 100th League and Cup appearance for us, and consigned Harry Hooman back to the bench after his difficult afternoon against Accrington.
For a few days before the game, it looked like Alan Bennett would be back against his old club, but now we are unlikely to see him until York next weekend at the earliest.
So Mark Yates, having decided to take Harry out of the firing line (rightly in my view) turned to the ever-dependable Bilston Cafu - and he took three minutes to make an impact with a great finish.
Unfortunately it was past Scott Brown, who could do nothing about it - but it could have been prevented further up the field.
From our corner, Nikki Bull caught the ball, threw it to Dennis Oli, he fed Joel Grant, and one cross later the ball was in our net. No tackles, no pressure as the ball travelled from their penalty area to our net.
Before that, we had two corners and has started well, and that own goal was as bad as it got in the first half.
As poor as we had been against Accrington, this was the total opposite.
I can barely remember the ball coming into our half during that first period, and there is no argument that we should have been in front at the break.
Our passing and movement, especially from our central midfield trio of Carter, Deering and Marlon Pack, was too much for Wycombe, and we looked a threat out wide, especially down the right.
Deering and Kaid Mohamed missed good chances, and we had a few long-range efforts, then we got a stonewall penalty after Pack was fouled and up stepped Shaun Harrad to smash it in.
Wycombe had been no threat at all, and also lost two players to injury - Oli and Matt Spring - in that half, and it looked odds-on for us to go on and win the game.
But to Wycombe's credit, they were better in the second half, led by Gareth Ainsworth, who has tormented us in the past and kept Billy Jones on his toes defensively.
It was a sweltering day, and was hardly a surprise that Mark made three substitutions - with two of the players introduced, Jeff Goulding and Chris Zebroski, having good late chances to win it.
But they weren't taken and we had to settle for a point, and I have been surprised by the somewhat negative backlash to the result.
Before the game, I would definitely have taken a point from Adams Park as I thought pre-season that Wycombe would be in the mix this season.
But as it transpires it might have been a good time to play them - they recently sold hotshot striker Stuart Beavon, had a few players missing, lost two more players during the game and it seems they had pressed Ainsworth into action (although he was their best player and won their man of the match award).
Yes, we should have won the game as it turned out and I understand people being disappointed that we didn't do so, but some of the reaction since the game has, I feel, been disproportionate and over the top.
We are not going to win every game, and it is arrogant to believe that we will. There will be disappointments along the way.
Much of the post-match ire was aimed at the subsititutions, and especially the decision to take Jermaine McGlashan off.
Once again, Jermaine had angered the home fans by (in their view) going down too easily and too often. On this occasion, I think it was 50-50 on that front, and I wonder whether this was a factor in Mark taking him off.
Shaun Harrad was limping slightly when he came off, and Sam Deering had run himself silly before he came off, and I cannot argue with the changes - put it this way, Mark has made worse substitutions in other games than these.
The fact that Goulding and Zebroski came on and then missed chances could have coloured some views on the decisions - Zeb's chance was the best in my view as he screwed his shot wide.
Jeff was denied by the goalkeeper with a good save then put a late shot over the bar, and we had to settle for a draw.
I am not going to get too deeply into the alleged incident involving Jeff towards the end of the game as I didn't see him make any gesture, and I wasn't in the away stand to hear what may or may not have been shouted towards him.
Anyway, no player should ever be gesturing towards rival players or his own fans, and if Jeff did that, he is out of order.
But equally, I also find it disturbing if some of our fans have started turning on certain players only five games into the season.
It's not only Jeff. I have read on the Nest and Twitter this week that Billy Jones is 'not good enough', only five games into his CTFC career, and Darryl Duffy (a player desperately in need of a goal and looking very low on confidence) is also coming in for some criticism.
We need 'better back up' apparently. Darryl needs fans to help him through a rough patch, but instead it seems that some fans are only happy when they have a scapegoat or two amongst the squad.
I find that sad and wish it didn't happen, but I guess it is the case at every club and I find it one of the more distasteful sides to the modern game.
The manager said the other week that Mo was his 'favourite player' - with tongue firmly placed in cheek. Unfortunately for some of our players, they are not favourites with anyone it would seem.
The likes of Marlon, Jermaine and Sido, it seems, are impervious from any criticism at all, but practically everyone else in the squad would appear to have their share of detractors.
What happened to getting behind everyone in your team? Surely it isn't rocket science to work out that certain players perform better when there is a positive atmosphere coming from the terraces?
Why should there be ANY negativity anyway? We have eight points from five games and sit in 9th place, which is hardly a disastrous start.
I read somewhere this week that the games with Southend and Oxford this week are 'must win' games and it would be a disaster if we took less than four points from them. Really?
Well, here's a fact. If we beat Southend tomorrow, 11 points from 6 games will mean we will have made our best start to a Football League season in 12 years.
Hardly a disaster that, is it?
Player by player
Scott Brown: Hardly had a save to make all game, such was our domination. No chance with the own goal.
Sido Jombati: Got forward well to link with Jermaine down the right hand side but delivery poor. Defended well when he had to.
Billy Jones: Also an asset going forward and as usual with his set-pieces but had his hands full with Gareth Ainsworth in the second half.
Steve Elliott: Solid enough, and dealt with the long balls they were sending downfield and showed composure to start our attacks going again.
Keith Lowe: Recovered well from the own goal and was very good for the remaining 87 minutes, nearly grabbing a goal and dealing with their occasional threat.
Darren Carter: Excellent full debut. Composed on the ball, intelligent passing and calm touches to prompt our attacks and linked well with Marlon.
Marlon Pack: Poor last week, but superb this week as he and Carter ran the game. Confident on the ball and always involved. Won the penalty.
Sam Deering: Seemed to have plenty of space to play and influence the game. Missed an excellent chance in the first half.
Jermaine McGlashan: A big weapon all game as most of our attacks went down the right. Got very few decisions from the ref - hope he isn't getting a reputation as a 'diver'.
Kaid Mohamed: Not as big a threat as Jermaine. Made some decent runs and got into good positions, but then either didn't shoot or picked the wrong pass.
Shaun Harrad: Emphatically put away the penalty and worked hard, showing good touch, especially with his back to goal, but didn't have many chances.
Substitutes
Chris Zebroski (for McGlashan 68): Looked happier on the right hand side, and had a very good chance to win it for us.
Jeff Goulding (for Deering 74): Again playing in 'the hole' but had two good chances, one was saved well and one over the bar.
Darryl Duffy (for Harrad 78): Usual effort in the time he was on but looks very low on confidence. Needs a goal so badly.
Monday, 3 September 2012
Accrington Stanley ... who are they?
I thought that by holding off writing this for 24 hours or so, my feelings over this limp surrender would have mellowed in the cold light of day. They haven't.
Going into this game, I couldn't find anyone who thought we would not win the game.
All the predictions I read were 2-0, 2-1, 3-0, 3-1... a cakewalk, pipe and slippers job it seemed.
Maybe that was part of the problem. That was the view of the paying customers, maybe it was also the view of those who crossed the white line, so they thought going through the motions would be acceptable.
After all, this is the season when we put right the wrongs of last March onwards, and cruise majestically to a top-three place and march relentlessly into League One. Not on this evidence.
I know it is one game, I know we have only played four games this season. I know this was our first defeat of the season. I know we are still three points off top spot. I know all that.
But all that doesn't stop the alarm bells ringing after as inept a home performance from a Cheltenham Town side since the current manager took over.
It had the hallmarks of some of those displays at home under previous managers. You remember them, the abject surrenders where a limp Cheltenham side is rolled over by a side who are set up well and, quite simply want it more.
We have seen lots of them away in recent times too - Crewe, Stevenage, Southend, but at home they have been a rarity in more recent times.
I usually moan about fans booing the team off. I certainly would never do it myself, but am not going to criticise those who did so yesterday.
Positives? Not many. The final whistle was the main one...
Now I know players have off days, but it is a rare thing when all 10 outfield players choose to have theirs at the same time - however I don't think they were helped by the manager's choice of system, and seeming reluctance to change it.
Our success and best results since he took over have come with a three-man central midfield, but he opted to change to a 4-4-2.
That left Marlon Pack and Russ Penn to be over run by Stanley's trio of Will Hatfield, George Miller and Luke Joyce - but we have seen that happen a lot when we play a two-man midfield and come up against a trio.
We just never seem to be able to cope with it. The extra man always has the upper hand, and surely it should have been changed at half-time.
Marlon was as poor as I have seen him in a Cheltenham shirt. Wasteful in possession far too often, and well closed down by a Stanley midfield who chased and harried all game.
The same went for Russ - unable to impose himself on the game, and was outbattled - something which has rarely happened since he has been with us. Maybe it's the new completely shaven haircut - Samson-style, it may have taken his strength away.
It seems to me that Marlon can not play in a 4-4-2. Very rarely have I seen it work with him in that system as the deeper role he can play in a three suits him and allows him to get on the ball more and play the 'quarterback' role he seems to relish.
Up front, Chris Zebroski and Shaun Harrad were paired in a new-look partnership which didn't make an auspicious start.
Part of that can be put down to the way the game panned out - a goal down in four minutes, 2 down at half-time and the game gone a minute after the break - but the link-up play was fleeting, they were left isolated and the service was negligible.
In the opening minutes, I thought the Stanley back four (and Aristote Nsiala in particular) looked nervous and shaky, and was there for the taking, but we never got a head of steam up to put them under concerted pressure.
Both Shaun and Zeb had a couple of half-chances, but neither looked like scoring and I would have have had one of them off at half-time (or even before) to go back to 4-2-3-1, with either Darren Carter or Sam Deering coming on.
Jermaine McGlashan got into plenty of good positions out wide, and was our main threat - until it came to the time to deliver a cross.
Time and again he hit the first man, and was unable to pick out the ruby shirt. That is the part of the game he needs to work on.
He has the pace, his upper body strength is surprisingly good as he displayed when he took on two defenders and fed Mo in the move which ended with his volley being well saved, but his crossing is erratic.
Mo and his yellow boots lasted an hour on his return from injury, but looked a bit rusty. He should have scored in the first half but got no power in his shot. There were a few flashes of pace but that was it.
As for the back four...
Much of the spotlight will fall on Harry Hooman, and rightly so I'm afraid.
Alan Bennett is fit again, but pre-match you would not have found many people who would have argued with the decision to leave Benno on the bench and keep Harry in the side.
He was voted player of the month for August after some excellent displays in a side which has kept two clean sheets in the first three games, and he has set up one goal and nearly scored himself as well.
But four minutes in, his error led to Padraig Amond's goal, and you saw the confidence drain out of him.
Instead of attacking the ball as he has done on the first four games of the season, he was letting it bounce, and was part of the collective hell from a corner that led to the second goal for Miller.
Then, it was he who hung back to play Romauld Boco onside for the third that consigned the second half to a slow, lingering death, which left us with 44 minutes until the final whistle put us out of our misery.
Post-match, I have seen many comments saying that Yatesy should have given him the hook and sent Benno on, or criticising the decision to play him in the first place.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and Yatesy has made plenty of bold decisions in his tenure, and he opted to leave Harry in there, and unfortunately it has backfired.
I think Mark did the right thing in leaving Harry out there. To have taken him off would have killed his confidence even more. The game was gone anyway, so better to use it as part of the learning curve.
Now he can sit down this week with the DVD, learn from his mistakes, go back on the training ground and come back a better player after a return to the bench. Benno has to start at his old club Wycombe next weekend.
Steve Elliott will be happy to see his oppo back alongside him, I would suggest. He would have had the job of lifting Harry up and seeing him through the game while having to also deal with Amond's excellent movement and the runs of Hatfield and Boco.
Billy Jones was the better of the two full backs, although Boco caused him plenty of problems, he did send in some useful set-pieces again.
Sido was his usual mixed bag. It seems to be sacrilege to criticise him, and he often seems to get man of the match for not doing a great deal, but he was poor defensively and better going forward.
That is a problem as his position in the side is right back, and defending should be his priority - as a mate of mine pointed out in the post match inquiry, if his name was Tom Smith and he didn't come from Portugal, he might get a bit more flak rather than seemingly being above criticism for poor performances.
Danny Andrew was pilloried by fans for his defending but lauded as he was 'good going forward' - I don't believe Sido has started the season well from a defensive point of view.
Scott Brown was not at fault for any of the goals - the 10 in front of him afforded him no protection at all, only serving to heighten the surprise that it took 60 minutes for any of them to be replaced.
Another topic pre-match was the bench. The six outfield players sat there were Carter, Deering, Bennett, Keith Lowe, Jeff Goulding and Darryl Duffy.
A Championship-class midfielder, our club skipper, the 2010-11 player of the year, last season's 15-goal top scorer, one of our marquee summer signings and a striker with 20 goals in the past two seasons for us.
By common consensus, it was one of the strongest benches we have managed to field in our 14 years of League football - and it should have been used quicker.
As I said earlier, at half-time or even before, we should have matched Accrington and gone back to our tried and tested 4-2-3-1, but we stuck with 4-4-2 as Mo was taken off with Duffy coming on, and Zebroski moving wide again.
That the starting line up stayed out there so long almost seemed like a punishment - you have got us into this mess, now it's up to you to try to get us out of it.
Finally, Carter and Deering came on and for 14 minutes we went back to our 'usual' formation but it was too little too late.
Overall, we have to hope this was a one-off, and one poor performance in August does not derail a season.
We now have three tough-looking games - Wycombe, Southend and Oxford in the next two-and-a-half weeks.
It's not make or break this early on, but it's a test of character and heart coming up a little earlier than we had hoped.
The manager has been rightly lauded for his summer recruitment, and the squad he has at his disposal is one of the best we have ever had.
His job now is to find a system they are comfortable with and the right blend of players to make it work.
He admitted post-match that he got it wrong this time - let's hope it's not long until he gets it right.
I am not going to do a player-by-player. It speaks for itself that everyone was poor, bar Scott Brown, who is excused as the three goals were not down to him, rather the ineptitude of those in front of him.
Going into this game, I couldn't find anyone who thought we would not win the game.
All the predictions I read were 2-0, 2-1, 3-0, 3-1... a cakewalk, pipe and slippers job it seemed.
Maybe that was part of the problem. That was the view of the paying customers, maybe it was also the view of those who crossed the white line, so they thought going through the motions would be acceptable.
After all, this is the season when we put right the wrongs of last March onwards, and cruise majestically to a top-three place and march relentlessly into League One. Not on this evidence.
I know it is one game, I know we have only played four games this season. I know this was our first defeat of the season. I know we are still three points off top spot. I know all that.
But all that doesn't stop the alarm bells ringing after as inept a home performance from a Cheltenham Town side since the current manager took over.
It had the hallmarks of some of those displays at home under previous managers. You remember them, the abject surrenders where a limp Cheltenham side is rolled over by a side who are set up well and, quite simply want it more.
We have seen lots of them away in recent times too - Crewe, Stevenage, Southend, but at home they have been a rarity in more recent times.
I usually moan about fans booing the team off. I certainly would never do it myself, but am not going to criticise those who did so yesterday.
Positives? Not many. The final whistle was the main one...
Now I know players have off days, but it is a rare thing when all 10 outfield players choose to have theirs at the same time - however I don't think they were helped by the manager's choice of system, and seeming reluctance to change it.
Our success and best results since he took over have come with a three-man central midfield, but he opted to change to a 4-4-2.
That left Marlon Pack and Russ Penn to be over run by Stanley's trio of Will Hatfield, George Miller and Luke Joyce - but we have seen that happen a lot when we play a two-man midfield and come up against a trio.
We just never seem to be able to cope with it. The extra man always has the upper hand, and surely it should have been changed at half-time.
Marlon was as poor as I have seen him in a Cheltenham shirt. Wasteful in possession far too often, and well closed down by a Stanley midfield who chased and harried all game.
The same went for Russ - unable to impose himself on the game, and was outbattled - something which has rarely happened since he has been with us. Maybe it's the new completely shaven haircut - Samson-style, it may have taken his strength away.
It seems to me that Marlon can not play in a 4-4-2. Very rarely have I seen it work with him in that system as the deeper role he can play in a three suits him and allows him to get on the ball more and play the 'quarterback' role he seems to relish.
Up front, Chris Zebroski and Shaun Harrad were paired in a new-look partnership which didn't make an auspicious start.
Part of that can be put down to the way the game panned out - a goal down in four minutes, 2 down at half-time and the game gone a minute after the break - but the link-up play was fleeting, they were left isolated and the service was negligible.
In the opening minutes, I thought the Stanley back four (and Aristote Nsiala in particular) looked nervous and shaky, and was there for the taking, but we never got a head of steam up to put them under concerted pressure.
Both Shaun and Zeb had a couple of half-chances, but neither looked like scoring and I would have have had one of them off at half-time (or even before) to go back to 4-2-3-1, with either Darren Carter or Sam Deering coming on.
Jermaine McGlashan got into plenty of good positions out wide, and was our main threat - until it came to the time to deliver a cross.
Time and again he hit the first man, and was unable to pick out the ruby shirt. That is the part of the game he needs to work on.
He has the pace, his upper body strength is surprisingly good as he displayed when he took on two defenders and fed Mo in the move which ended with his volley being well saved, but his crossing is erratic.
Mo and his yellow boots lasted an hour on his return from injury, but looked a bit rusty. He should have scored in the first half but got no power in his shot. There were a few flashes of pace but that was it.
As for the back four...
Much of the spotlight will fall on Harry Hooman, and rightly so I'm afraid.
Alan Bennett is fit again, but pre-match you would not have found many people who would have argued with the decision to leave Benno on the bench and keep Harry in the side.
He was voted player of the month for August after some excellent displays in a side which has kept two clean sheets in the first three games, and he has set up one goal and nearly scored himself as well.
But four minutes in, his error led to Padraig Amond's goal, and you saw the confidence drain out of him.
Instead of attacking the ball as he has done on the first four games of the season, he was letting it bounce, and was part of the collective hell from a corner that led to the second goal for Miller.
Then, it was he who hung back to play Romauld Boco onside for the third that consigned the second half to a slow, lingering death, which left us with 44 minutes until the final whistle put us out of our misery.
Post-match, I have seen many comments saying that Yatesy should have given him the hook and sent Benno on, or criticising the decision to play him in the first place.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and Yatesy has made plenty of bold decisions in his tenure, and he opted to leave Harry in there, and unfortunately it has backfired.
I think Mark did the right thing in leaving Harry out there. To have taken him off would have killed his confidence even more. The game was gone anyway, so better to use it as part of the learning curve.
Now he can sit down this week with the DVD, learn from his mistakes, go back on the training ground and come back a better player after a return to the bench. Benno has to start at his old club Wycombe next weekend.
Steve Elliott will be happy to see his oppo back alongside him, I would suggest. He would have had the job of lifting Harry up and seeing him through the game while having to also deal with Amond's excellent movement and the runs of Hatfield and Boco.
Billy Jones was the better of the two full backs, although Boco caused him plenty of problems, he did send in some useful set-pieces again.
Sido was his usual mixed bag. It seems to be sacrilege to criticise him, and he often seems to get man of the match for not doing a great deal, but he was poor defensively and better going forward.
That is a problem as his position in the side is right back, and defending should be his priority - as a mate of mine pointed out in the post match inquiry, if his name was Tom Smith and he didn't come from Portugal, he might get a bit more flak rather than seemingly being above criticism for poor performances.
Danny Andrew was pilloried by fans for his defending but lauded as he was 'good going forward' - I don't believe Sido has started the season well from a defensive point of view.
Scott Brown was not at fault for any of the goals - the 10 in front of him afforded him no protection at all, only serving to heighten the surprise that it took 60 minutes for any of them to be replaced.
Another topic pre-match was the bench. The six outfield players sat there were Carter, Deering, Bennett, Keith Lowe, Jeff Goulding and Darryl Duffy.
A Championship-class midfielder, our club skipper, the 2010-11 player of the year, last season's 15-goal top scorer, one of our marquee summer signings and a striker with 20 goals in the past two seasons for us.
By common consensus, it was one of the strongest benches we have managed to field in our 14 years of League football - and it should have been used quicker.
As I said earlier, at half-time or even before, we should have matched Accrington and gone back to our tried and tested 4-2-3-1, but we stuck with 4-4-2 as Mo was taken off with Duffy coming on, and Zebroski moving wide again.
That the starting line up stayed out there so long almost seemed like a punishment - you have got us into this mess, now it's up to you to try to get us out of it.
Finally, Carter and Deering came on and for 14 minutes we went back to our 'usual' formation but it was too little too late.
Overall, we have to hope this was a one-off, and one poor performance in August does not derail a season.
We now have three tough-looking games - Wycombe, Southend and Oxford in the next two-and-a-half weeks.
It's not make or break this early on, but it's a test of character and heart coming up a little earlier than we had hoped.
The manager has been rightly lauded for his summer recruitment, and the squad he has at his disposal is one of the best we have ever had.
His job now is to find a system they are comfortable with and the right blend of players to make it work.
He admitted post-match that he got it wrong this time - let's hope it's not long until he gets it right.
I am not going to do a player-by-player. It speaks for itself that everyone was poor, bar Scott Brown, who is excused as the three goals were not down to him, rather the ineptitude of those in front of him.
Monday, 27 August 2012
Thunderbolts and lightning... very very frightening
Driving along the road from Bracknell towards Aldershot on Saturday afternoon, it started raining.
That precipitation was then joined by thunder and lightning - then the radio told us that the game between Sunderland and Reading was called off.
In August.
Things seemed to have cleared up by the time we reached the EBB - but it was a false dawn, as no sooner had the game started than the heavens opened.
And how. All that was missing was the grey-haired bloke building a boat.
By the 20th minute of the game, it was stair rods, and the thunder and lightning had moved across, so referee Darren Bond's decision to call a halt was not a great surprise.
I was told afterwards that some fans were moaning about the decision - but there is no sense in taking any chances, so safety first is a sensible way to go.
The break of around 15 minutes, however, disrupted us as we had started the better of the two sides.
Steve Elliott had a header well saved, and down the right hand side, both Sido Jombati and Jermaine McGlashan had got into promising positions and wasted them both with poor crosses.
We had gone into the game with one change - Jeff Goulding keeping the 'hole' position in place of Sam Deering, while Alan Bennett and new boy Darren Carter came in on the bench.
The Goulding-Deering switch was an interesting one.
Sam didn't have a great game at Torquay, while Jeff did well when he came on - but also Aldershot's more 'direct' style and added physicality and height in midfield could also have tipped the balance.
We did start brightly, but the unscheduled break obviously gave Dean Holdsworth a chance to get into his side and they came out a bit more fired up.
Adam Mekki caused problems down the right hand side and was given too much space on a couple of occasions, notably once when he flashed a cross right through our six-yard box.
In that spell up to half-time, Michael Rankine, another off the production line of bulky League Two strikers, which also produced Rene Howe, Bayo Akinfenwa and our old favourite Kayode Odejayi, missed a real sitter and Peter Vincenti forced the only save of the afternoon out of Scott Brown.
Yes, his only save.
That was testament to those in front of him, and especially Harry Hooman and Steve Elliott. Skipper Benno was back on the bench, and he will be there for a while if Harry carries on like this.
Going forward, Sido and Jermaine are a real force down the right hand side, and on his return to the EBB, Jermaine won a few free-kicks and managed to upset his former fans by doing so.
I accept that on occasions he may go down too easily, but some of the challenges were, shall we say, robust - notably the one which got the completely inept Jordan Roberts a booking after Jermaine had run about 50 yards skinning three defenders on the way.
He has started the season very well indeed - along with Hooman I would say he has been our most impressive player in the first three league games.
As the game wore on, the chances were becoming fewer and fewer and the yellow cards were growing - the tally ended up on seven.
One of them had gone to Russ Penn, so Mark Yates opted to take him off and bring on Darren Carter - whose first two touches alone were enough to showcase the quality he will bring for at least the next six months.
Another plus point from the afternoon, and the season as a whole, has been Billy Jones' set-piece delivery.
His free-kicks and corners brought a goal at Torquay and some of our best chances yesterday, and in a tight game like this it was going to be our best chance of opening the door.
And so it proved - a near-post delivery was met by Shaun Harrad, his header hitting the post and going over the line.
The assistant confirmed it, no Shots players complained about it, so that's three out of three for 'King' Harrad, who apparently scores when he wants, but only if they are inside the six yard box at the moment...!
Three goals from a combined distance of about 11 yards - but so far he has been the difference in taking those half-chances and he couldn't stop smiling about it afterwards.
He is the sort of striker we have needed for a while - a player who fed on scraps for 89 and three-quarter minutes, but was alert enough in that split second to make the difference in a knife-edge match.
We never looked like surrendering that lead, and at last we managed to win one of those ugly games we have lost so often in similar circumstances in the past (notably at Aldershot last season around this time...).
And so for the fourth time in our league history we are unbeaten after three league games.
One of those seasons ended in promotion under John Ward, but another, under the previous manager in 2009-10, did not, so not much can be read into the embryonic table.
But there are good signs - Hooman and Elliott's partnership, Billy's excellent set-pieces, the Sido-Jermaine right-hand side axis, Shaun's goals - and also the strength in depth.
Yesterday, our bench had Keith Lowe, Darren Carter, Sam Deering, Alan Bennett and Darryl Duffy on it - I would argue that all of those players would get a starting place in the vast majority of League Two sides (and quite a few in League One).
Add the still-injured Kaid Mohamed to that list too, and Yatesy will be reaching for the headache tablets a lot this season when it comes to picking a starting 11.
Accrington at home next week gives us the chance to make it four unbeaten, then we have three of the pre-season fancied sides in Wycombe, Southend and Oxford which will provide a decent test, and by the end of those games we might have an even better idea of how things will pan out.
The atmosphere in the squad, around the club and among the hardcore fans is superb at the moment, the best it has been for several seasons - long may that continue.
Player by player
Scott Brown - Not much to do as he was so well protected, but made one decent save late in the first half. Has made a great start to the season.
Sido Jombati - Still gives me heart failure at times, but links up well with Jermaine. Got into some good forward positions, but needs to work on crossing and his final ball.
Billy Jones - Some tricky moments defensively against Adam Mekki, especially in the first half. His delivery from set-pieces is excellent and brought us the winner.
Harry Hooman - Continued his strong start to the season. Seems to have taken it in his stride and kept the fit-again Benno on the bench, which is no mean feat.
Steve Elliott - Dominant as ever and after having one cleared off the line at Torquay, he nearly got a goal again. Looked after Michael Rankine well.
Marlon Pack - Best game of the season so far. Broke play up and looked to get us moving with his calmness on the ball in a frenetic midfield. Also won important defensive headers on many occasions.
Russ Penn - His sort of game. A bitty, scrappy game suited his combative style. Got a booking and was a sensible decision to take him off.
Jeff Goulding - Thought Jeff did well. He gave us extra height and a physical presence in midfield and linked well with those around him.
Jermaine McGlashan - Another good game. Always our biggest threat and made some great runs and showed excellent work rate. His old fans were booing him, so he must have done well.
Chris Zebroski - Not his most effective game, but he worked very hard again. Remember he is playing out of position and will be an asset for us over the season.
Shaun Harrad - What can you say? Three goals in three games, all poachers' efforts, and this one in a game where he fed on scraps. Hold-up play excellent again.
Substitutes
Darren Carter (for Russ Penn, 66) - Looked good when he came on. Good passing and calm under pressure.
Darryl Duffy (for Shaun Harrad, 89) - Allowed Shaun to get an ovation from the travelling fans...
Keith Lowe (for Jeff Goulding, 90) - Extra insurance policy in midfield to shore up the win.
That precipitation was then joined by thunder and lightning - then the radio told us that the game between Sunderland and Reading was called off.
In August.
Things seemed to have cleared up by the time we reached the EBB - but it was a false dawn, as no sooner had the game started than the heavens opened.
And how. All that was missing was the grey-haired bloke building a boat.
By the 20th minute of the game, it was stair rods, and the thunder and lightning had moved across, so referee Darren Bond's decision to call a halt was not a great surprise.
I was told afterwards that some fans were moaning about the decision - but there is no sense in taking any chances, so safety first is a sensible way to go.
The break of around 15 minutes, however, disrupted us as we had started the better of the two sides.
Steve Elliott had a header well saved, and down the right hand side, both Sido Jombati and Jermaine McGlashan had got into promising positions and wasted them both with poor crosses.
We had gone into the game with one change - Jeff Goulding keeping the 'hole' position in place of Sam Deering, while Alan Bennett and new boy Darren Carter came in on the bench.
The Goulding-Deering switch was an interesting one.
Sam didn't have a great game at Torquay, while Jeff did well when he came on - but also Aldershot's more 'direct' style and added physicality and height in midfield could also have tipped the balance.
We did start brightly, but the unscheduled break obviously gave Dean Holdsworth a chance to get into his side and they came out a bit more fired up.
Adam Mekki caused problems down the right hand side and was given too much space on a couple of occasions, notably once when he flashed a cross right through our six-yard box.
In that spell up to half-time, Michael Rankine, another off the production line of bulky League Two strikers, which also produced Rene Howe, Bayo Akinfenwa and our old favourite Kayode Odejayi, missed a real sitter and Peter Vincenti forced the only save of the afternoon out of Scott Brown.
Yes, his only save.
That was testament to those in front of him, and especially Harry Hooman and Steve Elliott. Skipper Benno was back on the bench, and he will be there for a while if Harry carries on like this.
Going forward, Sido and Jermaine are a real force down the right hand side, and on his return to the EBB, Jermaine won a few free-kicks and managed to upset his former fans by doing so.
I accept that on occasions he may go down too easily, but some of the challenges were, shall we say, robust - notably the one which got the completely inept Jordan Roberts a booking after Jermaine had run about 50 yards skinning three defenders on the way.
He has started the season very well indeed - along with Hooman I would say he has been our most impressive player in the first three league games.
As the game wore on, the chances were becoming fewer and fewer and the yellow cards were growing - the tally ended up on seven.
One of them had gone to Russ Penn, so Mark Yates opted to take him off and bring on Darren Carter - whose first two touches alone were enough to showcase the quality he will bring for at least the next six months.
Another plus point from the afternoon, and the season as a whole, has been Billy Jones' set-piece delivery.
His free-kicks and corners brought a goal at Torquay and some of our best chances yesterday, and in a tight game like this it was going to be our best chance of opening the door.
And so it proved - a near-post delivery was met by Shaun Harrad, his header hitting the post and going over the line.
The assistant confirmed it, no Shots players complained about it, so that's three out of three for 'King' Harrad, who apparently scores when he wants, but only if they are inside the six yard box at the moment...!
Three goals from a combined distance of about 11 yards - but so far he has been the difference in taking those half-chances and he couldn't stop smiling about it afterwards.
He is the sort of striker we have needed for a while - a player who fed on scraps for 89 and three-quarter minutes, but was alert enough in that split second to make the difference in a knife-edge match.
We never looked like surrendering that lead, and at last we managed to win one of those ugly games we have lost so often in similar circumstances in the past (notably at Aldershot last season around this time...).
And so for the fourth time in our league history we are unbeaten after three league games.
One of those seasons ended in promotion under John Ward, but another, under the previous manager in 2009-10, did not, so not much can be read into the embryonic table.
But there are good signs - Hooman and Elliott's partnership, Billy's excellent set-pieces, the Sido-Jermaine right-hand side axis, Shaun's goals - and also the strength in depth.
Yesterday, our bench had Keith Lowe, Darren Carter, Sam Deering, Alan Bennett and Darryl Duffy on it - I would argue that all of those players would get a starting place in the vast majority of League Two sides (and quite a few in League One).
Add the still-injured Kaid Mohamed to that list too, and Yatesy will be reaching for the headache tablets a lot this season when it comes to picking a starting 11.
Accrington at home next week gives us the chance to make it four unbeaten, then we have three of the pre-season fancied sides in Wycombe, Southend and Oxford which will provide a decent test, and by the end of those games we might have an even better idea of how things will pan out.
The atmosphere in the squad, around the club and among the hardcore fans is superb at the moment, the best it has been for several seasons - long may that continue.
Player by player
Scott Brown - Not much to do as he was so well protected, but made one decent save late in the first half. Has made a great start to the season.
Sido Jombati - Still gives me heart failure at times, but links up well with Jermaine. Got into some good forward positions, but needs to work on crossing and his final ball.
Billy Jones - Some tricky moments defensively against Adam Mekki, especially in the first half. His delivery from set-pieces is excellent and brought us the winner.
Harry Hooman - Continued his strong start to the season. Seems to have taken it in his stride and kept the fit-again Benno on the bench, which is no mean feat.
Steve Elliott - Dominant as ever and after having one cleared off the line at Torquay, he nearly got a goal again. Looked after Michael Rankine well.
Marlon Pack - Best game of the season so far. Broke play up and looked to get us moving with his calmness on the ball in a frenetic midfield. Also won important defensive headers on many occasions.
Russ Penn - His sort of game. A bitty, scrappy game suited his combative style. Got a booking and was a sensible decision to take him off.
Jeff Goulding - Thought Jeff did well. He gave us extra height and a physical presence in midfield and linked well with those around him.
Jermaine McGlashan - Another good game. Always our biggest threat and made some great runs and showed excellent work rate. His old fans were booing him, so he must have done well.
Chris Zebroski - Not his most effective game, but he worked very hard again. Remember he is playing out of position and will be an asset for us over the season.
Shaun Harrad - What can you say? Three goals in three games, all poachers' efforts, and this one in a game where he fed on scraps. Hold-up play excellent again.
Substitutes
Darren Carter (for Russ Penn, 66) - Looked good when he came on. Good passing and calm under pressure.
Darryl Duffy (for Shaun Harrad, 89) - Allowed Shaun to get an ovation from the travelling fans...
Keith Lowe (for Jeff Goulding, 90) - Extra insurance policy in midfield to shore up the win.
Friday, 24 August 2012
A Riviera rollercoaster ride
It seemed like we had never been away as the supporters' bus drew up outside Plainmoor on Tuesday night.
It's a ground I know well, having covered the Gulls for a few seasons, and it was a shame not to be walking up to that old rickety press box with a terrible view and no leg room at all once again.
We have only played three competitive games since we were there last, on that never-to-be-forgotten night of Marlon's free-kick and booking a ticket to Wembley.
We all know what happened there - but if we want to go back there again, or go one step further, then a trip to Torquay is one of the tougher hurdles we will encounter.
And so it proved, as we turned in what can only be described as a patchy display, but came away with a point from a cracking game.
We started well enough, Harry Hooman's header being cleared off the line, then when he was first to another Billy Jones corner, Shaun Harrad touched it over the line.
Two in two from Shaun now, making him the division's joint-top scorer and it is to be hoped that he can keep himself at the head of the scoring charts, and again it was another poacher's finish.
But then we went off the boil. Torquay, inspired by Lee Mansell, who, despite being from Gloucester, is a super player at this level and a great leader for the Gulls, started to boss the midfield and cause us problems.
Billy Bodin was buzzing around and we were struggling with the height and power of Rene Howe, who was dropping off to good effect and picking up loose balls.
For a 20-25 minute spell, in the first half, they just seemed to want it more, simple as that.
They were winning the second balls, putting together nice little moves and we looked off the pace.
In that time came their two goals, in the space of about a minute, both poor ones to concede, and both from crosses delivered from similar spots on their left-hand side.
Kevin Nicholson sent over the first and Aaron Downes towered over Chris Zebroski to head in at the far post. A good ball, yes, but a) it travelled a long way, and b) why was our winger the man picking up the big centre-half at the far post?
The second was a ball in from Mansell, and Howe peeled off Steve Elliott and was too strong for Billy Jones, glancing in a header at the far post. Another good cross, but then we allowed ourselves to be bullied in the box.
So in 60 seconds our good start was extinguished, Torquay had their tails up and we were rocking. Now it was going to be time to see what this 'new' squad was made of.
In that first half, Sam Deering, Russ Penn and Chris Zebroski, all impressive on Saturday, struggled to make an impact.
Jermaine McGlashan was always a threat and a worry for the Torquay fans who were still booing him from the play-off game three months ago.
But rather than looking like equalising, we looked more likely to concede a third - until I felt we got a helping hand from fate, as Torquay lost Damon Lathrope to injury just before half-time.
He is their shield - the very effective bits and pieces man who breaks things up and barely moves from a 10-yard area either side of the halfway line each game.
When he went off, they lost that insurance policy, and all of a sudden more room appeared in midfield for us, and I felt we exploited it after the break.
We could have gone 3-1 down as Howe hit the post then Sido kicked his backheeled follow-up off the line, then Scotty came off his line well to thwart Bodin as they had some breaks which they should have made more of.
Hence Mark Yates' comment after the game that we were a bit 'gung-ho' at times - and yes, we were, but that was good to see. I was glad to see us having a go and taking a few risks. Rather that than a meek surrender.
Deering's off-night ended when Jeff Goulding replaced him, and the system stayed the same with Jeff making a bit of a difference I felt.
Billy Jones' corners and set-pieces were causing problems and still looked to be the best bet of us getting an equaliser, Steve Elliott's header being cleared off the line nearly brought that to fruition.
Then Sido nearly scored a carbon copy of his goal at Oxford, cutting inside on his left foot but the keeper turned it away. That had me thinking the equaliser wasn't going to happen.
But in the end it did, and with another carbon copy goal from last season - think Luton in the FA Cup and Darryl Duffy's opener.
Scotty launched the ball downfield, the defender made a hash of it under pressure from Jeff, Zeb controlled it in the left channel and put it into the far corner. 2-2, and on the second half display we deserved it.
A great impact for Zeb against his old club, and we go to Aldershot now hoping Jermaine can do the same thing.
And we will have a new face on the coach as the search for a new midfielder ended in success in the shape of former Birmingham, West Brom and Preston midfielder Darren Carter.
On paper, it looks as though Yatesy has pulled another rabbit out of his ever-deepening transfer hat with this one.
A player who has spent all of his career at Championship level or above, Carter is fit after a nasty-sounding injury, with a six-month deal suiting both parties it would appear.
For us, we get a player who enhances our midfield options in spades at what seems to be a reasonable price wages-wise, while Darren gets a shop window to prove he is still an option for clubs higher up the ladder.
But who knows, if he does a job for us and no-one comes knocking in January, a longer deal may be thrashed out, but let's see how it goes.
I would suggest that will be that on the recruitment front now unless anyone, for example, comes in for Danny Andrew or if we get another couple of injuries to add to Benno and Mo's absences.
Yes, they are still out. Such has been the impact of Harry Hooman and with a goal from Zeb on Tuesday, it is almost forgotten that our skipper and joint-top scorer from last season are still to come into the ranks.
Nice problems for Mark to have, and also reassuring to think we have made a decent start in the league without two almost ever-present members of last season's side.
Player by player
Scott Brown - Not sure he could have done much about the goals. Otherwise, he made a couple of good saves and his handling was secure.
Sido Jombati - Defended well enough and linked superbly with Jermaine, notably one great run which nearly set up a goal and denied himself by a good save.
Billy Jones - Was ok defensively but really starred with a string of dangerous set-piece deliveries from corners and free-kicks.
Harry Hooman - Continues to impress in Benno's absence. Also unlucky not to score but did get an assist for the first goal.
Steve Elliott - Did his best against Howe and also tested by Bodin's movement. Also unlucky not to score from one of Billy's corners.
Marlon Pack - Much better game than Saturday. Was pick of the midfield in the first half and made us tick in the second.
Russ Penn - Not as good as Saturday and struggled to make a real impact as Mansell and Lathrope overshadowed us, especially first half.
Sam Deering - Off-night for Sam as he struggled to find space and lost out on a few second balls before being rightly taken off.
Jermaine McGlashan - Seems to have started the season in a good form. Always a threat, keeping Nicholson pegged back for the most part.
Chris Zebroski - Not comfortable on the left and drifted inside too much, but redeemed himself with a great finish for the equaliser and his first goal for us.
Shaun Harrad - Two games, two goals. Can't ask for more than that and looks stronger and fitter now. Good touch and hold-up play.
Substitutes
Jeff Goulding (for Sam Deering, 64) - Made a difference when he came on with good link-up and was a good presence just off the front man.
Darryl Duffy (for Shaun Harrad, 87) - No real time to make an impact.
It's a ground I know well, having covered the Gulls for a few seasons, and it was a shame not to be walking up to that old rickety press box with a terrible view and no leg room at all once again.
We have only played three competitive games since we were there last, on that never-to-be-forgotten night of Marlon's free-kick and booking a ticket to Wembley.
We all know what happened there - but if we want to go back there again, or go one step further, then a trip to Torquay is one of the tougher hurdles we will encounter.
And so it proved, as we turned in what can only be described as a patchy display, but came away with a point from a cracking game.
We started well enough, Harry Hooman's header being cleared off the line, then when he was first to another Billy Jones corner, Shaun Harrad touched it over the line.
Two in two from Shaun now, making him the division's joint-top scorer and it is to be hoped that he can keep himself at the head of the scoring charts, and again it was another poacher's finish.
But then we went off the boil. Torquay, inspired by Lee Mansell, who, despite being from Gloucester, is a super player at this level and a great leader for the Gulls, started to boss the midfield and cause us problems.
Billy Bodin was buzzing around and we were struggling with the height and power of Rene Howe, who was dropping off to good effect and picking up loose balls.
For a 20-25 minute spell, in the first half, they just seemed to want it more, simple as that.
They were winning the second balls, putting together nice little moves and we looked off the pace.
In that time came their two goals, in the space of about a minute, both poor ones to concede, and both from crosses delivered from similar spots on their left-hand side.
Kevin Nicholson sent over the first and Aaron Downes towered over Chris Zebroski to head in at the far post. A good ball, yes, but a) it travelled a long way, and b) why was our winger the man picking up the big centre-half at the far post?
The second was a ball in from Mansell, and Howe peeled off Steve Elliott and was too strong for Billy Jones, glancing in a header at the far post. Another good cross, but then we allowed ourselves to be bullied in the box.
So in 60 seconds our good start was extinguished, Torquay had their tails up and we were rocking. Now it was going to be time to see what this 'new' squad was made of.
In that first half, Sam Deering, Russ Penn and Chris Zebroski, all impressive on Saturday, struggled to make an impact.
Jermaine McGlashan was always a threat and a worry for the Torquay fans who were still booing him from the play-off game three months ago.
But rather than looking like equalising, we looked more likely to concede a third - until I felt we got a helping hand from fate, as Torquay lost Damon Lathrope to injury just before half-time.
He is their shield - the very effective bits and pieces man who breaks things up and barely moves from a 10-yard area either side of the halfway line each game.
When he went off, they lost that insurance policy, and all of a sudden more room appeared in midfield for us, and I felt we exploited it after the break.
We could have gone 3-1 down as Howe hit the post then Sido kicked his backheeled follow-up off the line, then Scotty came off his line well to thwart Bodin as they had some breaks which they should have made more of.
Hence Mark Yates' comment after the game that we were a bit 'gung-ho' at times - and yes, we were, but that was good to see. I was glad to see us having a go and taking a few risks. Rather that than a meek surrender.
Deering's off-night ended when Jeff Goulding replaced him, and the system stayed the same with Jeff making a bit of a difference I felt.
Billy Jones' corners and set-pieces were causing problems and still looked to be the best bet of us getting an equaliser, Steve Elliott's header being cleared off the line nearly brought that to fruition.
Then Sido nearly scored a carbon copy of his goal at Oxford, cutting inside on his left foot but the keeper turned it away. That had me thinking the equaliser wasn't going to happen.
But in the end it did, and with another carbon copy goal from last season - think Luton in the FA Cup and Darryl Duffy's opener.
Scotty launched the ball downfield, the defender made a hash of it under pressure from Jeff, Zeb controlled it in the left channel and put it into the far corner. 2-2, and on the second half display we deserved it.
A great impact for Zeb against his old club, and we go to Aldershot now hoping Jermaine can do the same thing.
And we will have a new face on the coach as the search for a new midfielder ended in success in the shape of former Birmingham, West Brom and Preston midfielder Darren Carter.
On paper, it looks as though Yatesy has pulled another rabbit out of his ever-deepening transfer hat with this one.
A player who has spent all of his career at Championship level or above, Carter is fit after a nasty-sounding injury, with a six-month deal suiting both parties it would appear.
For us, we get a player who enhances our midfield options in spades at what seems to be a reasonable price wages-wise, while Darren gets a shop window to prove he is still an option for clubs higher up the ladder.
But who knows, if he does a job for us and no-one comes knocking in January, a longer deal may be thrashed out, but let's see how it goes.
I would suggest that will be that on the recruitment front now unless anyone, for example, comes in for Danny Andrew or if we get another couple of injuries to add to Benno and Mo's absences.
Yes, they are still out. Such has been the impact of Harry Hooman and with a goal from Zeb on Tuesday, it is almost forgotten that our skipper and joint-top scorer from last season are still to come into the ranks.
Nice problems for Mark to have, and also reassuring to think we have made a decent start in the league without two almost ever-present members of last season's side.
Player by player
Scott Brown - Not sure he could have done much about the goals. Otherwise, he made a couple of good saves and his handling was secure.
Sido Jombati - Defended well enough and linked superbly with Jermaine, notably one great run which nearly set up a goal and denied himself by a good save.
Billy Jones - Was ok defensively but really starred with a string of dangerous set-piece deliveries from corners and free-kicks.
Harry Hooman - Continues to impress in Benno's absence. Also unlucky not to score but did get an assist for the first goal.
Steve Elliott - Did his best against Howe and also tested by Bodin's movement. Also unlucky not to score from one of Billy's corners.
Marlon Pack - Much better game than Saturday. Was pick of the midfield in the first half and made us tick in the second.
Russ Penn - Not as good as Saturday and struggled to make a real impact as Mansell and Lathrope overshadowed us, especially first half.
Sam Deering - Off-night for Sam as he struggled to find space and lost out on a few second balls before being rightly taken off.
Jermaine McGlashan - Seems to have started the season in a good form. Always a threat, keeping Nicholson pegged back for the most part.
Chris Zebroski - Not comfortable on the left and drifted inside too much, but redeemed himself with a great finish for the equaliser and his first goal for us.
Shaun Harrad - Two games, two goals. Can't ask for more than that and looks stronger and fitter now. Good touch and hold-up play.
Substitutes
Jeff Goulding (for Sam Deering, 64) - Made a difference when he came on with good link-up and was a good presence just off the front man.
Darryl Duffy (for Shaun Harrad, 87) - No real time to make an impact.
Monday, 20 August 2012
Opening day success
As starts to the season go, this wasn't one from the Carlsberg stable, but more of a Ronseal job - it did what it says on the tin.
All you want from the first game is a win, a clean sheet and some decent performances from your new signings. That's what we got.
It wasn't spectacular. It didn't send a roaring message out to the rest of League Two. We just did what needed to be done.
After last season's over-achievement of finishing in sixth place, we now start with that as the minimum requirement in most supporters' minds.
The bar has been raised, and therefore most of the 2,655 who bothered to turn up (more on that later) did so not hoping for a Ruby victory, but expecting it, against a side beaten 7-1 on aggregate last season.
I suspect that had we ended up with a draw, there would have been a few teeth gnashed together in the town's pubs, but as it was we got the win.
The performance itself was patchy. That might have had something to do with the absence of two key men in Alan Bennett and Kaid Mohamed - losing your skipper and joint top league scorer on the opening day is not always easy to overcome.
If fact, it probably mounts to an injury crisis for us, as last season we hardly lost anyone to injury throughout the campaign - so let's hope this isn't a foreboding of what is in store this time around.
So Harry Hooman kept his place alongside Steve Elliott - a vote of confidence for him as he was preferred to Keith Lowe, the right decision in my book as HH is more natural at centre-half than Keith.
Mo's absence pushed Chris Zebroski out left as Mark Yates decided not to play a natural left-footer in Bagasan Graham or even Danny Andrew out wide.
I felt it did at times leave us a bit unbalanced as Zeb looked to drift inside and on occasions we were a bit short of width on the left unless Billy Jones was able to get forward and help out, or Sam Deering found himself moving out there.
The loss of two players also showed up the depth of the squad, as the 18 included youth teamer Joe Hanks and the (by the manager) unwanted Andrew, and beyond that there is no-one else. Reinforcements are still needed.
Benno and Mo are still out at Torquay tomorrow, so bets are off for the make-up of the squad...
As well as Zeb's move, Mo's injury meant Shaun Harrad came in for his debut, and the goal would have been the perfect start to his career with us.
We started well, and created a couple of openings, Jermaine McGlashan shooting wide and Deering hitting the post, but Daggers came back into it as the half went on.
Browny made a couple of decent saves and the Daggers won a few corners, and as the half was coming to an end, I was thinking that the win was not going to be as straightforward as maybe a few people thought pre-match.
But then, with practically the last kick of the half, we scored. Sido's ball up the line, Sam's low cross and Harrad got in front of Gavin Hoyte to score at the near post. Just the sort of half-chance we have been crying out for someone to convert.
The goal would have changed the two managers' team talks, and when Jermaine smashed in the second four minutes after half-time, it looked like the job was done.
Ultimately, it was, but we seemed content to sit back and defend our 18-yard line, letting them have the ball 30-40 yards out.
I am not a fan of this habit we seem to have fallen into when we get a lead. We have the players who can hurt the opposition with pace and movement - I would rather we had looked to get a third and tried to kill the game off, but instead at 50 minutes, it seemed we settled for 2-0.
The humid conditions may have played a part in that mindset, but credit to Dagenham as they carried on pressing and with a bit more composure and luck (I thought Steve Elliott's clash with Dwight Gayle was a penalty, not a yellow for diving) they could have made things a bit more hairy for us.
I may have to revise my pre-season predicitions on this basis - Dagenham were better than I thought they would be.
After Jermaine's goal, I can't remember us creating another clear-cut chance as we looked to close the game out, but we kept our shape and managed to close the game out.
Of the newcomers, Harrad and Deering were the most impressive, Harrad with his finish and good hold-up play and Deering with his ability to find space and time on the ball in a cluttered midfield.
His arrival pushed Russ Penn deeper, and I thought he was our best player - he was everywhere and amazingly told me afterwards that this was the first time in his pro career that he has tasted victory on the opening day of the season.
Zebroski showed promise, while Billy Jones looked a steady performer but worried me positionally on a couple of occasions when crosses from his side nearly caused problems.
But it was a win. No frills, not spectacular, just a win, and we haven't had many of those on the opening day down the years, so we'll take it, and move on to two tricky awaydays at Torquay and Aldershot.
Before we head for Devon, a final word on the attendance figure of 2,655, of which 200+ came from East London.
To put it mildly, 2,400 home fans on the back of what we achieved last season is a pathetic figure.
Twice that number went to Spurs. Five times as many went to Wembley. Whether the excuse is holidays, being sat in the garden having a barbecue because the weather is nice, post-Olympics hysteria or whatever, it's crap.
We all know that if the season pans out as we hope, and in 8 months time we are heading upwards, they'll be back, queueing for tickets.
It's a recurring theme and not a new problem. I just wish we had a solution to it.
Player by player
Scott Brown - Two good first half saves and one dodgy back pass to worry about but otherwise protected well by his back four.
Sido Jombati - Some galloping forward runs and solid enough defensively, but got a silly booking at the end.
Billy Jones - Better going forward than defensively. Was caught out positionally a couple of times which led to crosses into our box.
Harry Hooman - The odd nervy touch early on and one anxious back pass, but otherwise did well.
Steve Elliott - Usual dominating self as he led the back four in Benno's absence.
Russ Penn - My man of the match. Thought he was everywhere, breaking up play and throwing himself around to block shots and passes.
Marlon Pack - Didn't think he had the influence he has had in past games. Good spell in the first half but was in and out of the game.
Sam Deering - Slow start but grew into the game the further it went. Great cross for the first goal and unlucky to hit the post in the first half.
Jermaine McGlashan - Great strike for his goal and almost had another. Did well against the left-back Femi but thought crossing was patchy.
Chris Zebroski - Out of position really, standing in on the left for Mo, but showed some good touches and nearly got on the end of a good move in the first half.
Shaun Harrad - Poaching skills shown with the finish for his goal, and he was excellent at holding the ball up and linking with Deering, Zebroski and McGlashan. Promising signs.
Substitutes
Jeff Goulding (for Sam Deering 73) - Thought Jeff struggled in that 'hole' position, didn't really get into the game.
Bagasan Graham (for Chris Zebroski 82) - Could have got on the end of a cross with a bit more awareness, and only had one little run. Needs to show more when he gets a chance.
Darryl Duffy (for Shaun Harrad 85) - Not really enough time to influence the game.
All you want from the first game is a win, a clean sheet and some decent performances from your new signings. That's what we got.
It wasn't spectacular. It didn't send a roaring message out to the rest of League Two. We just did what needed to be done.
After last season's over-achievement of finishing in sixth place, we now start with that as the minimum requirement in most supporters' minds.
The bar has been raised, and therefore most of the 2,655 who bothered to turn up (more on that later) did so not hoping for a Ruby victory, but expecting it, against a side beaten 7-1 on aggregate last season.
I suspect that had we ended up with a draw, there would have been a few teeth gnashed together in the town's pubs, but as it was we got the win.
The performance itself was patchy. That might have had something to do with the absence of two key men in Alan Bennett and Kaid Mohamed - losing your skipper and joint top league scorer on the opening day is not always easy to overcome.
If fact, it probably mounts to an injury crisis for us, as last season we hardly lost anyone to injury throughout the campaign - so let's hope this isn't a foreboding of what is in store this time around.
So Harry Hooman kept his place alongside Steve Elliott - a vote of confidence for him as he was preferred to Keith Lowe, the right decision in my book as HH is more natural at centre-half than Keith.
Mo's absence pushed Chris Zebroski out left as Mark Yates decided not to play a natural left-footer in Bagasan Graham or even Danny Andrew out wide.
I felt it did at times leave us a bit unbalanced as Zeb looked to drift inside and on occasions we were a bit short of width on the left unless Billy Jones was able to get forward and help out, or Sam Deering found himself moving out there.
The loss of two players also showed up the depth of the squad, as the 18 included youth teamer Joe Hanks and the (by the manager) unwanted Andrew, and beyond that there is no-one else. Reinforcements are still needed.
Benno and Mo are still out at Torquay tomorrow, so bets are off for the make-up of the squad...
As well as Zeb's move, Mo's injury meant Shaun Harrad came in for his debut, and the goal would have been the perfect start to his career with us.
We started well, and created a couple of openings, Jermaine McGlashan shooting wide and Deering hitting the post, but Daggers came back into it as the half went on.
Browny made a couple of decent saves and the Daggers won a few corners, and as the half was coming to an end, I was thinking that the win was not going to be as straightforward as maybe a few people thought pre-match.
But then, with practically the last kick of the half, we scored. Sido's ball up the line, Sam's low cross and Harrad got in front of Gavin Hoyte to score at the near post. Just the sort of half-chance we have been crying out for someone to convert.
The goal would have changed the two managers' team talks, and when Jermaine smashed in the second four minutes after half-time, it looked like the job was done.
Ultimately, it was, but we seemed content to sit back and defend our 18-yard line, letting them have the ball 30-40 yards out.
I am not a fan of this habit we seem to have fallen into when we get a lead. We have the players who can hurt the opposition with pace and movement - I would rather we had looked to get a third and tried to kill the game off, but instead at 50 minutes, it seemed we settled for 2-0.
The humid conditions may have played a part in that mindset, but credit to Dagenham as they carried on pressing and with a bit more composure and luck (I thought Steve Elliott's clash with Dwight Gayle was a penalty, not a yellow for diving) they could have made things a bit more hairy for us.
I may have to revise my pre-season predicitions on this basis - Dagenham were better than I thought they would be.
After Jermaine's goal, I can't remember us creating another clear-cut chance as we looked to close the game out, but we kept our shape and managed to close the game out.
Of the newcomers, Harrad and Deering were the most impressive, Harrad with his finish and good hold-up play and Deering with his ability to find space and time on the ball in a cluttered midfield.
His arrival pushed Russ Penn deeper, and I thought he was our best player - he was everywhere and amazingly told me afterwards that this was the first time in his pro career that he has tasted victory on the opening day of the season.
Zebroski showed promise, while Billy Jones looked a steady performer but worried me positionally on a couple of occasions when crosses from his side nearly caused problems.
But it was a win. No frills, not spectacular, just a win, and we haven't had many of those on the opening day down the years, so we'll take it, and move on to two tricky awaydays at Torquay and Aldershot.
Before we head for Devon, a final word on the attendance figure of 2,655, of which 200+ came from East London.
To put it mildly, 2,400 home fans on the back of what we achieved last season is a pathetic figure.
Twice that number went to Spurs. Five times as many went to Wembley. Whether the excuse is holidays, being sat in the garden having a barbecue because the weather is nice, post-Olympics hysteria or whatever, it's crap.
We all know that if the season pans out as we hope, and in 8 months time we are heading upwards, they'll be back, queueing for tickets.
It's a recurring theme and not a new problem. I just wish we had a solution to it.
Player by player
Scott Brown - Two good first half saves and one dodgy back pass to worry about but otherwise protected well by his back four.
Sido Jombati - Some galloping forward runs and solid enough defensively, but got a silly booking at the end.
Billy Jones - Better going forward than defensively. Was caught out positionally a couple of times which led to crosses into our box.
Harry Hooman - The odd nervy touch early on and one anxious back pass, but otherwise did well.
Steve Elliott - Usual dominating self as he led the back four in Benno's absence.
Russ Penn - My man of the match. Thought he was everywhere, breaking up play and throwing himself around to block shots and passes.
Marlon Pack - Didn't think he had the influence he has had in past games. Good spell in the first half but was in and out of the game.
Sam Deering - Slow start but grew into the game the further it went. Great cross for the first goal and unlucky to hit the post in the first half.
Jermaine McGlashan - Great strike for his goal and almost had another. Did well against the left-back Femi but thought crossing was patchy.
Chris Zebroski - Out of position really, standing in on the left for Mo, but showed some good touches and nearly got on the end of a good move in the first half.
Shaun Harrad - Poaching skills shown with the finish for his goal, and he was excellent at holding the ball up and linking with Deering, Zebroski and McGlashan. Promising signs.
Substitutes
Jeff Goulding (for Sam Deering 73) - Thought Jeff struggled in that 'hole' position, didn't really get into the game.
Bagasan Graham (for Chris Zebroski 82) - Could have got on the end of a cross with a bit more awareness, and only had one little run. Needs to show more when he gets a chance.
Darryl Duffy (for Shaun Harrad 85) - Not really enough time to influence the game.
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