A few thoughts

My first live game for a long while so for what it's worth the views of a fly-by-night...

First half started well with a very well taken goal from JOB who well picked out (by Hunt?) after he'd made a good run from deep, something that we seem to miss from midfield in games I've seen on tv where we seemed to be a little static. It could have been two had the otherwise excellent Jennings picked him out when he was free in the centre.

That aside i thought we struggled to get to grips for most of the first half with Steele making a couple of good stops and Cranie launching himself head first to block a ball on the ground. Frimpong was having a good game but we were losing too many second balls in the centre. Clearances were falling to Millwall players and they found a little time and space to pass the ball about for a while. As good a a game as Mellis was having he's just not a naturally defensive player, no criticism of him, but that's just how it was. This was fixed when Wilson brought JOB in from the wing and we started to win more of the ball and cut the supply to the Millwall front two. That did leave us a little exposed down the wing JOB had vacated, but nothing came of it despite the ball going out there on a more regular basis. As a result of the change we had a good spell in the last 10 minutes of the half where Millwall saw far less of the ball.

The second half showed why an apparently defensive substitution (Mellis off for Dawson) was actually an attacking one. Dawson's immediate impact was to win us more of the ball and although his shooting left a bit to be desired, he was positive with the ball and gave us some momentum. That really didn't change throughout the half with Millwall struggling to win a midfield battle and only forcing one good save from Steele low down at his near post. It also meant Cranie and Ramage could play their game and weren't constantly having to clear their lines. The end result was a much more composed and unrushed looking defensive performance. We could have had a goal, or two which would have rounded off a good win against a team that looked pretty short of ideas once we stopped them from playing in midfield.


Steele: Couple of nervous moments early on made up for by three good stops.

Kennedy: Off the pace for the first 15 minutes or so, making a couple of clangers but gradually got into the game more and was solid in defence and effective going forward, even if a little hesitant with his final ball.

Ramage: Very good solid game, especially in the 2nd half when he and Cranie had time to defend properly instead of mopping up the lack of protection from midfield.

Cranie: Excellent with Ramage, made a great block in the first half.

Hunt: Somewhat anonymous, but that was mainly down to the fact that he's such a good defender that Millwall clearly weren't going to get much joy down his side of the field. With JOB moving insidehe lost much of the chance to link up down the right side.

Frimpong: Worked very hard in the first half when the midfield were struggling to get hold of the ball for most of it. Second half was just as good but had more time on the ball. His tackling was excellent even if a couple of his challenges were not so far away from yellow card material if his timing had been a fraction out. Please for him though, i think he's still settling into playing regular competitive football.

Jennings: Very impressive game. Works hard, good with the ball - direct, tricky and barely gave it away. Much of our best work came through him.

Mellis: Lovely on the ball, not so lovely without it - although it certainly wasn't for the lack of putting a shift in and trying hard.

JOB: Well deserved MOTM. Well taken goal, worked very hard all over the field closing down and then when he was moved inside.

O'Grady: He does like the wing doesn't he? Not his best of games but caused plenty of problems and held the ball up much better in the 2nd half.

Big Nick: Seemed a little peeved to be subbed for Shea, but to be fair he wasn't seeing much of the ball.

Dawson: Changed the game for my money. Broke play up and made good use of the ball.

Shea: Did ok and worked reasonably hard defending and had a couple of nice touches going forward. Criticism would be that he looks a bit half hearted and not entirely up to the physical side of the game, despite being a fair sized lad.


Danny Wilson: Cant fault him for starting with Mellis at home (imagine the outcry if he'd have picked Dawson!) but he was spot on with his substitution and it made a massive difference. I'd still like to see 3-5-2 or 5-3-2 as the extra body in midfield is obviously beneficial, but it would perhaps take Jennings out of the game a little more....

All in all a good win. Heard so many fans saying "If we dont win this that's it". So we won. Next!

 

It was Cranie who hit the great pass to Jimbo though.

 

Ah thanks.

 

Sorry, should've included, I agree with most of that first.

 

Pretty much agree with every word there.

I was one saying we were down if we didn't win today. Thankfully we did win and aren't bottom, there's still hope! There's finally some desire to stay up showing too, hopefully we can show the same again at Huddersfield!

 

No worries