Wind spoilt it, not much quality except flashes from Adam Hammill and Harvey Barnes when he came on. They created nowt and scored from a fluke. We had far more shots on target than the BBC stats suggest, so anyone who wasn't there would get the wrong impression. Can't think of anyone who had a poor game, obviously lots of changes but the solid performance showed the depth of our squad. Back 4 very solid, Gardner a good replacement for Williams and Moncur lively when he came on. Disappointed, obviously, but still it's (for me) a great time to be a Reds fan. Unlucky lads.
Gardner had a good five minute spell around the 65 or 70 minute mark. He played three decent passes in quick succession. The rest of the game was a bit of a write off as far as I could see. He looked what he is - a player severely lacking match practice.
Off my head 4 - Thiam, Hammill, Fryers and another but can't remember who. Several shots just wide, Hammill 2, Barnes, can't think who else. Not trying to say it was great, but we played the 3rd placed team in difficult conditions with a relatively new line up. We lost to a fluke in a game we could easily have won. I'm not going to criticise after that.
I just think had we shown a bit more attacking intent we’d have won the game We seemed petrified of them. Still, I suppose being disappointed we’ve lost to a team 3rd at kick off shows that we feel capable of beating anyone. We could have beaten them but couldn’t use the Ball well enough.
Said exactly the same at the end. Just unlucky. We were the better team throughout. Cardiff never looked like scoring - even when they did! Gardner, Pearson and Hedges all did ok with Yiadom and Fryers excellent and Hammill looking dangerous. Potts and Mcgeehan look very similar so the man of the match voting probably included some who thought that Potts was twice the player.( thought they both did well actually). At least we haven’t an unbeaten run to defend on Saturday!!
I can remember at least 8, on and off target. Thiam 2, Hammill 3, Fryers, Barnes and another from an unnamed player. Funny old game, but I suppose it depends on the definition of your phrase "of note".
That's a far more reasonable description than your original "F***ing Garbage" which I thought was harsh. I agree that we did look a bit scared, maybe we didn't want to commit forwards for that reason? Anyway, time to nod off.
One that was on target and the keeper made a difficult save to keep out or an easy chance missed like when they crossed and their player at the back post completely missed the ball unmarked from 5 yards. Not a hit and hope miles off or a drop his cap on it for the goalie.
I should not post in anger straight after the game. I still think we could have won that game had we shown a little more attacking intent. Too much sideways passing, not helped by the forced introduction of Gardner. I'm hoping we can get Bradshaw, Moncur, Williams and Barnes back in on Saturday and try and be a bit more attacking and less sideways.
I know exactly what you mean by posting in anger, I've done it myself, in fact I reckon most of us on here have done it at some point or other. That's why I've got a few posters on here on ignore, as it stops me from reacting to them in knee-jerk mode. I always look at things like this - if Hecky or any of the players, having worked their balls off against one of the top teams in dodgy weather, came on here and saw a post entitled "F***ing Garbage", it would probably hurt. That's why I made my "Unlucky" post, so there was a balanced view for any "outsiders" reading. No problem in anyone having a different view to me though. After home games these days I have to wander round to the away end or the west stand to dismantle the Patrick Cryne flag and pack it away. That allows me to calm down, so when I get home after matches I've got more chance of being more objective about the game. It will be fun on Saturday walking in front of their fans after the game. Especially if we hammer them.
Well it may welll hurt, it hurts fans to see us lose that way. Theirs was a lucky goal but I can't hand on heart say we deserveed more than a point. I think we made too many changes and the midflied three, especially Gardner and McGheehan did not help the isolated Thiam one little bit. We played into their hands by playing balls up to Thiam instead of trying to get the ball wide. Having said that, only one winger was anything like effective out of the starting two. As I've said elsewhere, i can understand why we'd start off cagey but based on what I could see 20 mins in, they were a team we could beat had we had more about us. We were not helped by the forced introduction of Garnder; I know others see him differently but he seems to me to be a typical modern midfielder - instrumental in us playing square balls instead of moving forward. It is a positive that I believe that we had enough to beat teh team 3rd before the game; it is a shame the chnages made prevented this, coupled with a lack of qulaity when it mattered.
For me, both defences were on top and I couldn't see either team creating a goal scoring opportunity. We made a high riding Cardiff team look extremely ordinary indeed. Unfortunately, that came at the expense of our normal attacking play. I was extremely impressed with our back four, ensuring Adam Davies had little to do. I think a special mention must be made for Matt Pearson, though. The lad has been pilloried at times as he's struggled to adjust to the leap up in class. However, last night he put in a solid, no nonsense display and had his best performance so far in a Reds shirt. Keep up the good work, lad.
Can't disagree with most of that. I myself was a bit scared before the game, because of their league position, but like you after 20 mins I started thinking "Hang on, we can beat these". I think it took a bit longer for that feeling to get onto the field, and we didn't have the personnel to attack more. A point would have been fair enough, I think we'd all have taken it, and we deserved it. Still feel very happy with things at the moment, long way to go though.
