Last year we played away against them on Aug 10 and won 0-1 by a goal from Maclean. At home on March 10 we lost for a crowd of 306 0-2 ( goals Turl and Moody )
These 2 players are the proven top scorers of Chipstead; Turl scored in the last season 11 goals and Dan Moody an incredible 30 for a team that finished on place 13 in the League table. Also a new face in the squad is coming from Aldershot, goalkeeper Stojlavljevic. The first 2 games of this season they made a strong impression with wins against Guernsey 3-1 and Ramsgate 3-2 with Quarty (3X ) and Moody (2x) as scorers.
Hopefully the U's will have Johnson and Dolan back in the squad after they picked some small injuries. Although the result against Whitstable Town was a little bit disappointing , we really had some good chances to make it also 6 points out of 2 games.
So this game will be already in these early stage of the season a test for Terry and his team. We have to play against a strong opposition but i think we can win this game with a brace from our Captain Frankie Sawyer
So please visit again our beautiful Pilot Field and support the team ! Enjoy the game !
Not in a million years did I think I would ever say this, this season, but was today's performance as bad as anything we saw last season? Barely a shot on goal in 90mins, constant long balls to poor old Frankie, no cutting edge in midfield and yet again, and I really am sick and tired of talking about this, but left back is still a real problem. If we thought our squad had plenty of depth, the substitution in the last 10 mins said it all. Chasing the game we bring on Bryce Masters for Crutwell. I know Ade pulled up in the warm up but aren't we all aware of his injury problems over the years? Was it discussed just a couple of weeks ago how short we are up front. There was a moment in the first half when Frankie had the ball on the edge of the Chipstead area and not one other Hastings player was in the half. Chipstead looked fitter, were quicker, played more football and totally deserved their win.
As for the players, Sammy was again the stand out player before he went of injured. Timmy did pretty well but was then strangely taken off and Frankie ran his heart out without any support whatsoever. Young Taylor was really poor and you wouldn't have known Dave Cook was playing. Crutwell struggled all match and he desperately lacks pace at left back.
So just 3 games in and very early doors but I saw nothing today to say we will battling for the title come April. Very disappointing and Mr Walters must be extremely concerned already.
Appauling performance out there, no fight, no pace, no determination and not one single player on that pitch stood out!!!!!! Only highlight was that moosh who did the half time 'Delia Smith' speech, not even that motivated the players, hate slating this team off but after that circus show out there today i cant think
Of anything positive to say. Loud of rubbish !!!!!
Anyone know where Terry was as I feel Ben and nigel had no idea what they were doing as johnw said to take Timmy off was a joke also personally I would try playing Bryce masters at right back and putting our right back at the moment at left back as we're leaking goals there even though at time sam is trying his hardest we need to shut the back door now if we're to challah ge to go up and let's hope Sammy and adis injurys are not bad adi looked ok but sams ankle looked really swollen so fingers crossed!!!!
Agree with all that's been said and, like John, reckon that was as dire as any performance we witnessed last season. We seem to be desperately lacking team work, ideas and any real quality to break down a decent but far from exceptional opponent. As a minimum, I feel we need a fit Sam, a fit Ade and a fit Tom to give us an edge against sides like Chipstead.
Hard to say that any of the new guys so far look any better than what we had last year in people like Danny and Kenny. It is still VERY early days so no need to panic yet and I'm sure we'll see a reaction to that performance in the next few games.....but the belief that this squad was going to be too powerful for most of our opponents this season looks like a severe case of misplaced optimism just at the moment.
The half time rallying call was certainly the highlight for me on what was a desperately poor afternoon's entertainment.
Looking for positives it was marginally better than clearing out the garden pond and at least we didn't lose as heavily as last season. Thought Chipstead missed a tactical opportunity by not taking off their keeper as he wasn't needed all game. Awful goal to concede-when we are playing so poorly we need to get at least a point out of the game. Badly miss one quality player to inspire the team and as Mick says that is where we miss Tom. Could be another long season.
Agree with most of what's been said so far but would say that Josh had a good game. Can't understand why Tim was taken off I couldn't see why Taylor finished or even started the game. I understand that Terry has a very good reason for missing the game. I spoke to Sam and Ade after the game and they are both uncertain when they willbbe fit to play.
Need a bloody great improvement on Tuesday night at Redhill.
I won't criticise players personally on here for obvious reasons but over all that was just not good enough today. I agree with someone else replacing young Sam with Bryce was bewildering, I would of gone to three at the back and stuck another attacking player on. Tim being subbed was a strange one for me, IMO was having a good game.
It is as a we've said early days but stil a very poor performance at least a few players had the decency to apologise in the bar afterwards.
As for Chipstead I honestly thought they were average, never looked like scoring to me however they did their homework and snuffed out any game plan we had. I expect to see a reaction from the boys on Tuesday and hope I'm right.
Just an update on Tom, don't expect Tom to be fit until at least Christmas, he has had major surgery and is still walking with a limp and has told me he's still sore. I agree though we do miss his presence.
Agree with most points was shocking and not good enough £10 of my money to watch that! well half time liven it up and got bigest cheer of day shows our support has passion if players dont. taking tim off think he was our best player, he did not look injured. a lot of strange decision from bench and if terry can not be there he need get people on bench that know what they doing. today nothing from bench apart from wrong decision. Ade think show toay that a lot of people excited with him back but no point. we need fit reliable player who can play 75% of game and Ade will probably not play 25%. a few of other new player dont look hungry enough to win, not happy and if it dont improve cant pay tenner to watch that. chipstead just average we made them look world beaters. our player need to do more than just turn up. that all they did today
-- Edited by Peter R on Saturday 16th of August 2014 07:35:22 PM
One further observation on today......we have a fabulous playing surface thanks to the efforts of Simon but, on a day like today, the rather lush top doesn't make for a particularly 'fast' game....which I think we need. I appreciate we have no sprinkler system so can't achieve that 'slick top' that top clubs always play on...but this may be what we need to attack at pace and break opponents down. It has also been noticeable how many knee and ankle tweaks have been picked up in the two home games and I'm sure this is down to the very luxuriant grass at the PF.
Not going to defend that - it was very poor. Neither am I going to use it as a yardstick for the season. We will have to play better than that to win the league but I'll make a judgement after 10 games
Hang on, Pat, I'm certainly not BLAMING the pitch. What I'm saying is we would see faster, more entertaining games which in turn would give us a better chance to break teams down if we had a sprinkler system and could play on a wet surface.
The pitch is excellent....I'm not saying it was too long but it's so lush that without a wet top it will always 'hold' the ball.
No- I know you're not blaming the pitch Mick. I remember Gus Poyet blaming the lack of moisture when they lost here a couple of seasons ago. Sprinklers would obviously help but in all honesty I don't think a wetter pitch would have made much difference. It was a good surface which should have facilitated better than what we saw today
-- Edited by Pat on Saturday 16th of August 2014 10:13:45 PM
-- Edited by Pat on Sunday 17th of August 2014 09:35:40 AM
Sorry to read about all the comments which are made after yesterday's game. Obviously we were poor. That seems to be 100% certain. The reasons why ? Don't know because the other performances in the last games we played were better then yesterday's. I think you can discuss about reasonable reasons including positions in the field; lack of attacking players etc but i don't think we have to be that negative. We are 3 games underway; 43 to go....
i thought pitch was very short yesterday and ball moved well. can the pitch be water for games? i have seen some games when grass is very long and ball sticks but cant see that yesterday. whatever it same for both sides but but one of the big things yesterday was our passing it was so frustrating that the simple thing in football to pass the ball could not be completed. our possession lasts at time 3 or 4 passes then misplace so on any grass that is not help winning games. if we can not even do basic thing right we can not win games but to compound that chipstead wanted it more we had manager making ridiculous decisions and no motivation for players
i thought pitch was very short yesterday and ball moved well. can the pitch be water for games? i have seen some games when grass is very long and ball sticks but cant see that yesterday. whatever it same for both sides but but one of the big things yesterday was our passing it was so frustrating that the simple thing in football to pass the ball could not be completed. our possession lasts at time 3 or 4 passes then misplace so on any grass that is not help winning games. if we can not even do basic thing right we can not win games but to compound that chipstead wanted it more we had manager making ridiculous decisions and no motivation for players
Unfortunately Peter we aren't in the position to water the pitch prior to or during a game, this is due to the hoses having to be laid across the standing areas. Opening the gates two hours before kick off and having the hoses across the terracing would obviously cause a trip hazard and watering the pitch two hours before a game would see it quickly dry out in warm weather. Hope that clears things up a bit, but as you say it's the same for both sides.
Wasnt really sure whether to bother but ive put together the 'highlights' this morning, got a longish postmatch interview with Nigel Kane at the end which is worth watching.
Barrie,
Thanks for clarifying why watering the pitch isn't really a practical option.
Personally I don't think the ball did move that well yesterday....and this is not a criticism of the pitch.
The difference is that on a dry but lush surface the ball has to ROLL. A thirty yard pass therefore rapidly loses speed. Water the top and it SKIDS across the surface without rotating and, if anything, gains speed.
Anyway...I'm hoping for some Bank Holiday rain to (hopefully) prove my point that a wet top on such lustrous grass greatly improves the entertainment level and our performance.
Frankie was unlucky with that clever overhead shot, great skills. It did seem that the whole team was out if sorts although Sam Adams was excellent again until he went off and Timmy the same. Frankie did what he could but was always a tough job feeding off scraps. Shame Tiny Temba wasn't available as would have been a perfect chance for him to break into the starting XI.
Needs to be put right quickly on Tues but the injurys won't help, agree that having Rose at LB and masters at RB would help. Hope Taser is ready to start and Dolan too.
Like Mick I was looking for reasons why the game was played at such a slow pace- I don't think Chipstead will have many easier away matches this season. Nigel spoke very well after the game- hope there is a reaction in our next 2 away matches.
