4 Matches to update on:
26 September 2015 Grays Athletic 6 Hullbridge Sports 0 FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round
29 September 2015 Leyton Orient 1 Carlisle United 2 League 2
2 October 2105 Grays Athletic 1 Kingstonian 3 Rymans League Premier Division
3 October 2015 Leyton Orient 3 Notts County 1 League 2
26 September 2015 Grays Athletic 6 Hullbridge Sports 0 FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round
A real mixed bag of games. Firstly FA Cup day and Grays flying high in Rymans League Premier Division, (Step 3) hosted Essex Senior League strugglers Hullbridge Sports FC (step 5). There was realistically only ever going to be one winner.
Sadly the game won’t be remembered by me for the good football played by Grays. As a spectacly, the game was over after 18 minutes, with Grays scoring 3 goals in 3 minutes to end the tie as a competitive event. 3 well taken goals. Indeed by 31 minutes it was 5-0 to Grays. They eased off in the second half only adding one more goal.
Interestingly the 6 goals resulted in 2 players scoring hat tricks.
In some ways, I felt sorry for Grays in the second half. Starting 5 goals up, it is hard to motivate yourself. Indeed in the 2nd half Grays played more like 11 individuals and lost their shape. Players trying long range efforts and solo runs that they wouldn’t play if the game had been close.
What I remember from this game is the disgusting foul mouthed management from Hullbridge. They clearly have not heard of the FA’s Respect Campaign. Every decision was questioned, even when the referee got it right. What made it worse was the language used to challenge the referee. The only surprise was that it took the referee until late in the game to send one of the offenders from the touchline.
Clearly from the behaviour of the Hullbridge players this behaviour rubs off on them. Their open dissent and challenges to the referee are not something one wants to see in football.
Quite why the referee allowed such behaviour to go on is a surprise to me. Especially as that night, I was watching the England v Wales Rugby match when after a mass brawl, the referee simply said to the 2 captains “I am in charge” – after that there was no bad behaviour or dissent from the players.
Dissent is a cautionable offence and foul language is a red card offence. If the referees adopted a strict line to this behaviour it would rapidly stop. So referees, why do you allow it?
Another thought, if I had young children I would be put off from bringing them to games to hear that language and see such bad behaviour from people who should know better.
29 September 2015 Leyton Orient 1 Carlisle United 2 League 2
The following Tuesday night, I went to see high flying Leyton Orient host mid table Carlisle. A mid week fixture and a long trek for Carlisle fans. Hats off to the 284 who made the trip to Brisbane Road.
Carlisle won this game, they scored the two chances they had. Orient had lots of possession and seemingly had a master plan for the game. Get the ball, pass it out wide to the wingers ( yes remember wingers?) and get them to put crosses into the penalty area for the strikers to get on the end of the cross. What could possibly go wrong?
1. It takes so long to get the ball wide and get a cross in that Carlisle have 10 men back, have time for a cup of tea and a slice of cake before the ball is crossed over.
2. Carlisle have very competent central defenders who can deal with crosses like this all day long without worrying about it
3. Orient front two were like dead sheep. They had no movement and provided no challenge to the Carlisle defence at all
So, after 45 minutes of the master plan not working and not going to work, you would expect a competent manager to come up with a new plan. Ian Hendon didn’t disappoint. His new plan was Get the ball, pass it out wide to the wingers ( yes remember wingers?) and get them to put crosses into the penalty area for the strikers to get on the end of the cross.
Indeed Orient’s only goal actually came from a defender rather than a striker.
The only excitement of the night was when the Orient Assistant Manager and the Carlisle Manager were sent to the Stand’s for squaring up to each other.
A very disappointing night. Even though I had a free ticket, the football was not worth the price I paid. Its football like this that reminds me I go to Orient to see friends.
2 October 2105 Grays Athletic 1 Kingstonian 3 Rymans League Premier Division
Friday night football at Millfield. With Aveley at home in the FA Trophy the next day, their tenants moved thier game with Kingstonian forward to a Friday night. There is a movement to try playing games on a Friday night to try to increase attendance. The logic being their is less competing attractions on a Friday night than on a Saturday.
There were however, the regular ground hoppers at the game. For Ground hoppers this enables an extra game to be fitted into a weekend
I am not sure this works. Grays got a lower than average attendance for this game. Grays were 2nd in the table before this game, but had played only 48 hours before losing away at Leatherhead. It showed in this performance. Grays were deservedly beaten by a Kingstonian side that seemed livelier and fresher and more up for the game.
This Grays performance was such a contrast from the performance only 6 days before against Hullbridge.
The loyal Kingstonian Fans did not seem to worry about this. It amazes me how a small group of perhaps 20 people can make so much noise at a game.
The good news is the lack of foul language and dissent. Indeed the visiting bench could not have been more different to Hullbridge. During the first half, the Kingstonian physio spent some time treating a spectator whom I believe had fallen and cut themselves.
3 October 2015 Leyton Orient 3 Notts County 1 League 2
After the previous Tuesday night’s game, I can’t say the prospect of this game filled me with excitement. Still it would give me chance to spend some times with friends at the Royal Cafe before the game. A prospect that makes up for some of the rubbish Orient have been known to produce.
Orient seem to have realised that Tuesday’s tactics didn’t work and produced a very different performance in the first half and deservedly lead 1-0 from a well worked goal that Shaun Moore volleyed in for his first Orient goal. He sprung the offside trap well by running at the Notts County defence.
Orient seemed to realise that by running towards the goal you put pressure on the defence and create chances.
The second half started or at least Notts County did. They scored almost straight from the kick off. The ball was passed through Orient players who stood around as though they had not heard the whistle for the start of the 2nd half.
This seemed ot rock the confidence of the Orient players and the second half was not dominated by Orient in the way the first half was. The game was heading towards a draw when Jay Simpson finally got on the end of a lose ball and tapped in a rebound from 6 yards out. A goal that came about from Orient running at the opposition defence.
5 minutes later Orient’s Shaun Moore tried a shot from around 30 yards towards the goal I sit behind. As he unleashed the shot, people groaned as the ball appeared to be on a trajectory to hit the back of the stand, but the ball then dipped and moved in the air and left Scott Loach in the Notts County goal watching as the ball went into the top corner of the goal. Possibly one of the best goals I have seen at Brisbane Road.
All in all it was a completely different Orient performance to the one a few days earlier. Grays went from good to bad, Orient went from bad to good.
Given this was a Saturday and the distance from Nottingham to London is about 1/3rd of that from Carlisle to London one might have expected a decent following from Notts County. Sadly only 370 or so travelled. It makes the Carlisle attendance on Tuesday night of 284 a magnificent feat.
If the above is not enough about the Good and the Bad, and even the Ugly, I could write about the FIFA scenario. Although I am not sure there is any good in that. Indeed most people were shocked after the FIFA ethics committee suspended Sepp Blatter and 2 others. The shock as people did not realise FIFA had any ethics, let alone enough people to make up a committee
The Beautiful Game? 