Stevenage 3 Oldham 4

[opinions4u]

 

Decent summary O4U.

 

But that mark for Byrne is a surprise.

 

We scored in the 87th minute and he didn't come on for a couple of minutes after that so was on the pitch for all of 5 mins. For me the steadying influence on that pitch was our captain who I think brings calm and direction to his teammates

 

The 3 we conceeded today were team faults not individual errors

fair call on Byrne it settled my nerves though.

 

Defensive discipline is the thing ti work on. Personnel may be the lesser issue.

[oafcprozac]

"It's just been a really miserable day all round for us," said Westley. "We've put the effort in but that's not always enough at League One level.

"We were very much on top in the first half but you've got to try and kill teams off when you're in that situation.

Same game?

They had a couple of efforts but we dominated possession, played all the all the football and had a perfectly good goal disallowed. They seemed intent on putting our wingers in hospital. When you have flair in a abundance the opposition know they can't match it and first and foremost will attempt to kick you out of the game. It's the biggest compliment an opposing team can pay you. The wingers (and Baxter) need to be aware of this….

[rudemedic]

BBC totally ruined it by only starting his run from outside the 18 yard box. What about the other 50 yards from their half?

 

Cracking goal. From where I sat/stood, loads around me were shouting "come on, come on" as he was making his run; willing him to score. I too thought he'd messed it when he went wide...even screamed for him to square to McDonald. Then the dink over keeper with the ball rolling over the line before their defender could clear it.

 

Too true re your comment had this been in the Prem. Even Talksport gave goal of the day to one of their favoured clubs.

 

I'm quite happy following an unfancied, unfashionable team who will quietly make progress before making a few headlines later in the season.

To be fair to the BBC they showed a longer version of his goal in the chat with Lee's Dad later. It showed him winning the ball off their player.

[the_mighty_bosh]

I thought Mellor did OK today, there were certainly some very good interceptions higher up the pitch and I think a lot of our attacks can start with him passing out from the back, but a couple of long balls over the top with him being last man exposed his lack of pace and positioning, luckily Tounkara's finishing was awful. Strikers with good pace and movement will exploit our whole defence though, with the possible exception of Brown.

[Lukers1]

Exactly and that line-up will hopefully bring a few back through the turnstiles should they stay injury free, avoid suspensions and continue from yesterday. There's no excuse because that quintet tick all the boxes; skill, trickery, dribbling, creativity, proper wingers, pace and excitement.

 

All five wanted the ball and as soon as we were on the attack we flooded their half and Stevenage just couldn't contain us. Unsure how effective we'd be against the more experienced and quality teams but can't wait to see it.

 

Felt sorry for those fans who couldn't make it yesterday as I've never been this excited for a number of seasons, probably since the Dowie play-off season.

 

EDIT - I also thought Mellor played well yesterday and seemed composed at times. Shrugged off the size of Tonk a few times and when intercepting the ball, held the ball well, dribbled through a few challenges and played the ball out of defence making composed passes to midfield and attack without lumping the ball forward. There's definitely something there as a ball-playing CB

Mellor is quite a unit, I think he is about 6'1, good feet and his footballing brain should get him out of trouble.

[rudemedic]

I thought Mellor did OK today, there were certainly some very good interceptions higher up the pitch and I think a lot of our attacks can start with him passing out from the back, but a couple of long balls over the top with him being last man exposed his lack of pace and positioning, luckily Tounkara's finishing was awful. Strikers with good pace and movement will exploit our whole defence though, with the possible exception of Brown.

From some of the stuff said at the meet the manager event I'd hazard a guess that we will chop and change our defence (including the midfield) to best cope with their players. That may mean Mellor won't have to regularly cope attack lines with pace, as a CB.

[slystallone]

Exactly and that line-up will hopefully bring a few back through the turnstiles should they stay injury free, avoid suspensions and continue from yesterday. There's no excuse because that quintet tick all the boxes; skill, trickery, dribbling, creativity, proper wingers, pace and excitement.

 

All five wanted the ball and as soon as we were on the attack we flooded their half and Stevenage just couldn't contain us. Unsure how effective we'd be against the more experienced and quality teams but can't wait to see it.

 

Felt sorry for those fans who couldn't make it yesterday as I've never been this excited for a number of seasons, probably since the Dowie play-off season.

 

EDIT - I also thought Mellor played well yesterday and seemed composed at times. Shrugged off the size of Tonk a few times and when intercepting the ball, held the ball well, dribbled through a few challenges and played the ball out of defence making composed passes to midfield and attack without lumping the ball forward. There's definitely something there as a ball-playing CB

Totally agree re: Mellor Mids.

 

I thought it was a bold statement from LJ to go with him, especially after i thought he was a tad 'found out' vs higher opposition in Hudds in the friendly.

BUT - well, I thought he had a superb game yesterday.

 

It was a little moment, but when Morais came on, he targetted Mellor for some verbals and was trying to obviously get in his head and throw him off his game. When a Stevenage attack broke down, Morais tried to shoulder / nudge Mellor and again give him some verbals. Out of eye-shot of the ref, Mellor stood on his foot, pushed him away and gave him some back.

Brilliant stuff. A little snippet during a game but to me shows that Mellor can hold his own & mix it in League One.

 

None of the 3 goals we shipped in yesterday were individual errors really, and certainly none could be levelled at Mellor's door. I don't think a new CB would have helped yesterday in not conceeding any of the goals, and Mellor looks to be central to the way LJ wants to play from the back.

[leeslover]

They have lots of roundabouts in Stevenage. Which led me to a car park I'd last used in 1990, after driving there via Darlington to collect a blonde to take in a huge gig at Knebworth. I never noticed the small football ground over the road. And I never saw the blonde again and can't even recall her name. But that's another story.

 

Today felt good. Other than a small delay to to people queuing to get off the A1 to get to a go kart event the drive was good, parking was easy and stood outside the ground I couldn't wait for the turnstiles to open. Friendly stewards, a tasty bacon buttie and an hour to kick off which was spent finding seats behind the goal and observing the warm up. The Latics shooting practice looked particularly classy.

 

Team sheet tracked down on Twitter, no surprise. A bit disappointed JCH wasn't starting. Would have preferred Byrne to Mellor. But not stressing. The manager seems to know what he's doing.

 

From the start Latics were right on it. Pushing hard, passing the ball and trying to get the wingers in to play. Their number three booked early on and when, on 13 minutes, he offended wildly again the inevitable red card was a foregone conclusion. Until the referee made the first of many mysterious decisions and just told him off.

 

A couple of minutes later Tarky got booked for passing the ball to a team mate at the precise moment the referee awarded a free kick to Stevenage. A joke of a decision that was immediately followed by Westley replacing their hapless left back with Filipe Morais.

 

Latics continued to look the better side, creating openings down the left, hitting the wall with a Baxter free kick and then Tarky had the ball in the net after getting to it before Chris Day. The referee looked to the linesman, who said goal and ran to the half way line. So the referee after a moment of thought said foul. From 120 yards away I couldn't see any obvious contact.

 

Then it rained heavily. Then they got the all into our box from their left side, scramble, bar, cleared, bang, 1-0. Out of the blue. Didn't expect it. Not a deserved lead. Immediate response from the players was positive, Mellor particularly noticeable in efforts to lift his team mate at. But it got to half time with Latics a goal down.

 

No obvious changes in formation as the same eleven emerged for the second half. A bit of frustration from Baxter who's shirt found itself in the hands of a Stevenage player for most of the game saw him stop playing in anticipation of a whistle that never came, almost leading a Stevenage counter attack. But he eventually did get a free kick on the right hand side, took it himself and Tarky got in front of two defenders to volley Latics level.

 

A Baxter cross from a similar position to the free kick was heading towards McDonald and Rooney at the far post when McDonald appeared to slip. Referee gave a penalty with only muted objections from Stevenage. Baxter hit a similar penalty to last week's friendly success against Huddersfield, only to see Day make a save. Baxter calmly knocked home the rebound and Latics, while not dominant, were very much on top.

 

The third came from a Stevenage corner, pushed to the edge of the Latics box. Montaño intercepted and headed for the half way line and a Stevenage defender. Support was behind him to his left. So he took it to the right and looked to get past the last man. Bad decision? No, but keeper's pushed him wide and looks able to get back. Deft chip from a slightly more awkward angle than he would have wanted. Goal. 3-1. Game over. Let's get 5.

 

And we really did look in total control at that moment. I think this is where the subs came in. Schmeltz for Dayton, JCH for Rooney. Schmeltz was a pain to them with some real pace, as was JCH who is my new favourite player. Then they scored, wandering past a static Latics defence and Tansey knocking in from close range. Poor defending.

 

The JCH inexplicably tried to catch a throw in of theirs. Handball. Yellow card. Free kick. No problem, it's close to half way. Hoofed long, Latics defence runs out en-masse. Most of the Stevenage front men offside. Except for Morais in acres of space on the Stevenage right who collected the ball, strode forwards and smashed in the equaliser. :censored:. 3-3.

 

Still, the boys in blue came forwards. McDonald appears to have a trademark back to goal spin on to right foot and shoot manoeuvre. He tried again, defender threw himself across to block and it hit the defender's arm. Referee gave the penalty. Baxter placed it just inside the left post and the celebrations began. Byrne came on for Mellor, they gave it a bit of a go but, despite a couple of corners, didn't look like making it 4-4. Final whistle. Superb!

 

Sweating, heart beating fast, mentally shattered, physically exhausted too. And that was me.

 

By the way, Tounkare still can't shoot straight. And while Stevenage weren't that good he should have worked Oxley on a couple of occasions.

 

Great day out. Decent game. Any away win is a brilliant result.

 

Oxley 8 - could he have done more on their first?

Brown 7 - not the fastest thinker, got forward a little more today.

Grounds 8 - solid.

Mellor 7 - some good interceptions, seemed stretched at times.

Tarky 8 - and I suspect his disallowed goal was perfectly good.

Smith 9 - doing the work of Furman and Wesolowski, but much more effectively.

Baxter 8 - occasional lapses with the passing, but central to three of the goals.

Montaño 8 - great goal, but :censored:s out of tackles.

Dayton 8 - scared them early on. Scared them before he went off. Quiet in between.

McDonald 8 - hard working, not always effective, won two penalties.

Rooney 7 - you know what, I think he's got "it" but he needs to give a little bit more than he did today.

 

JCH 8 - would have been 9 without the brainfart handball.

Sid 8 - loved his pace and skill.

Byrne 8 - steadying influence after we went ahead.

Did you smash it?

[OAFC_Ryan]

Football L Show on at 57:52 mins monty full goal at 1:00:54 what a cracker

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b038bm07/The_Football_League_Show_2013_2014_03_08_2013/ I player

[opinions4u]

Did you smash it?

My sons read these pages.

[PhilStarbucksSilkySkills]

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11719/8853821/westley-ready-to-move-on

 

Graham Westley:

 

"We were very much on top in the first half but you've got to try and kill teams off when you're in that situation.

 

Anyone who watched the game concur with this statement? I'm a little confused myself.

 

edit::

 

I am officially on 1000 posts. I have a dilemma. Should I keep posting and wreck my perfect round number?

Edited August 4, 2013 by PhilStarbucksSilkySkills

[LeylandLatic]

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11719/8853821/westley-ready-to-move-on

 

Graham Westley:

 

Anyone who watched the game concur with this statement? I'm a little confused myself.

 

edit::

 

I am officially on 1000 posts. I have a dilemma. Should I keep posting and wreck my perfect round number?

 

Nah leave and never return, we've had enough of your ramblings anyway!

[PhilStarbucksSilkySkills]

 

Nah leave and never return, we've had enough of your ramblings anyway!

 

A bit uncalled for

 

Edit:

 

oh crap, what have I done?

Edited August 4, 2013 by PhilStarbucksSilkySkills

[LeylandLatic]

 

A bit uncalled for

 

Edit:

 

oh crap, what have I done?

 

It was my plan all along!

[disjointed]

 

A bit uncalled for

 

Edit:

 

oh crap, what have I done?

Was it worth it, I am now on 999 do I go for the grand, or do I resign and set up a new account, just thought of a few names I could use, Ibby or Royle army have a ring to them and would be quite popular I would have thought.

[AnthonyOAFC]

Was it worth it, I am now on 999 do I go for the grand, or do I resign and set up a new account, just thought of a few names I could use, Ibby or Royle army have a ring to them and would be quite popular I would have thought.

 

LaticsLee

[PhilStarbucksSilkySkills]

Was it worth it, I am now on 999 do I go for the grand, or do I resign and set up a new account, just thought of a few names I could use, Ibby or Royle army have a ring to them and would be quite popular I would have thought.

It depends if you prefer Gunnar Halle or Earl Barrett I suppose.

 

I shall certainly miss old Gunnar

[disjointed]

It depends if you prefer Gunnar Halle or Earl Barrett I suppose.

 

I shall certainly miss old Gunnar

That has tipped it for me, Earl it is. (Who is next, and how many posts)

[Forte_Baby]

Do we adopt the " vindaloo " song?.......we're gonna score one more than you...

we sung it on the coach home

[bossrocks]

Great result, 48 more points should see us safe.