...but how did Nick Vertigans not receive the highest mark out of ten yesterday...not only did he bag a brace but he was also our most dynamic player in trying to force the issue in the 2nd half...
The Marks Out Of 10 are now done by a general consensus of opinion amongst club members who come down the pub afterwards...and they were all unanamous in agreement yesterday that Del was Man Of The Match.
It could be that the numerous players who didn't come down the pub (including Nick himself, and of course you, Murf) would have said Nick was Man Of The Match.
I will have to wait until I have edited the video to give my own assessment.
I do think Derek had a top first half but was blowing a bit like an exhaust in need of a Kwik Fit fitter in the second period. Nick, however, was effective the full 90 minutes and tracked back to help me more than I have seen him do in previous matches. Add to that the 2 goals and I think he warranted the MOM. I mean, Nuggett got it in a game before Xmas and all he did all game was score 1 goal !! Consistency is what we need ..... be it referees or post match club scoring!!
I have now finished editing the video and I have changed BOTH Nick Vertigans AND Stuart to a 7.5 from a 6.5, but I agree with Nick as Man Of The Match. All other marks (Including Del's) are unchanged.
Stuart was being very modest down the pub giving himself 6.5.
I forgot to mention though, that I spoke to their Manager afterwards and he thought Murf was our best player, closely followed by Kris & Juneka Junior !
I didn't realise at the time just how dominant we were in that Second Half, and it was definitely yet another match that WE should have won 4 or 5-2 and not the other way round.
In total, we had 19 clear-cut chances compared to their 10. This includes the goals, and also the one where their No.8 did a blatant handball to stop Conor going clean through. How did he not get booked (or even sent off) for that ??! The bloke even went up to ref EXPECTING to be sent off !
We also had two blatant penalties not given within the space of about 10 seconds (a push in the back on Del, then a 'sandwich' on Kris by both their No.4 & No.3), then just seconds after that their No.2 should have been booked for an obvious late challenge on Juneka Junior.
We are not allowed to criticise Referees on here, but what I would say is that Metroline Uniques have had him before and he has apparently refereed very well, so let's just say he had an 'off-day' (as all players do now and again) and leave it at that.
Although our finishing was poor, I have to say that after that early mistake for our first goal, their keeper played a 'blinder'. He made eight excellent saves and was clearly their Man Of The Match, although their No.12 was obviously their best outfield player. As for the rest of their team, man for man we were better than them, even though we thought we played poorly.
Gary Cokell made three good saves (one of which is now showing on Clip Of The Week) and he also did some good catches, but he was at fault in some way with all four goals, mainly because he is not a proper keeper. The first one was obvious (see the picture now included with the Match Report if you missed it at the time), the second one he was slow getting down to and it went underneath him, the third one he was badly positioned and it went in over his head, and the fourth one he did a bad punch instead of tipping it over the bar. Having said that, Darryl and/or Simon would have done well to keep out the 2nd & 3rd goals.
My description of their 4th goal was way off the mark in my initial report (based on what Trev told me), so I have now corrected that.
I have just spoken to the IML Red Cow Secretary to confirm this coming Sunday's match and told him we are really shit at the moment, we have no keeper, we have loads of players missing this Sunday, and we have now lost 9 out of our last 10.
He said they have won all 13 matches they have played this season and been 5-0 up in most of them, then relaxed. He says they have a quality squad of players from Senior Saturday Football who are all in their mid-20's and at their peak and they have four fitness trainers and conditioning/diet experts who get them to turn up an hour before kick-off and warm up properly (unlike Speller).
I therefore think we will win this Sunday, because the luck will go our way for the first time this season. How about it lads ?
Just to explain about the third goal, it looked on video as if you came off your line to the edge of the 6-yard box to close him down when he was still too far away for that and just about to shoot.
He then seemed to hit the shot above your head and into the roof of the net because of that, when if you had stayed further back nearer the goal-line, you might have been able to tip it over the bar if it was straight above you.
However, I didn't have the greatest camera angle at ground level, and as you say it was a good shot.
Definitely no blame attached to you Gary, just a tip from watching the video.
By the way, I know we are losing every week, but I'm a bit disappointed that nobody is buying the 20-minute highlights compilations.
As virtually everybody has been making mistakes recently, they should be looking at the DVD's to see where they went wrong and how they can improve their game.
Every team we play buys a DVD off me, win or lose, but hardly any of our players ever watch them...and neither does Trev !
It then ends up with me having to tell players on here where they went wrong and some of them just can't take the 'criticism'...as I found out today !