After the Match abandoned at half time with Merthyr leading 2-0 on Saturday we have another cup game against
Of course how the situation of the pitch is doing we played already against them on October 27th at home and won 2-0. Jack Harris and Sean Ray the scorers.
Sittingbourne have now lost 11 games in a row in all competitions..........
I thought we were playing Merthyr again On Tuesday. And if weather/state of pitch stops the game going ahead we then have to go to Merthyr on Thursday. Is that correct?
No change,as yet,on our website.Merthyr have a game away to Stratford on Tuesday which hasn't changed on their site and no sign of us playing next week on the F.A.site either
Wow ! This is getting a tad confusing . It shouldn't be though should it ? How about an official announcement ? Also , a proper announcement about use of the ticket from yesterday's game . I couldn't hear the announcement made at the game , because I was in the bar . Maybe I'm missing something but I can't see anything on the official site stating if we get free re-entry or not on showing the ticket . I don't think I will be arsed to turn out on Tuesday if it's a League Cup game , as that cup is totally irrelevant to anything at the moment in my eyes . But the Trophy ... Oh yes !
The supporters are getting restless, nearly 24 hours and nothing, why no statement from the club?
Does it have to be played this week?
If not, when must it be played by?
If the pitch is still waterlogged this week and we are unable to play, does it switch to another local ground, or Merthyr's ground, or do we forfeit the game?
An announcement was made regarding free entry if you still have your ticket. As the match was called off before the second half commenced, why was a refund not offered?
It's hard enough to get and keep supporters at this club, so please, for the few of us who care and turn up week in week out, somebody somewhere, please keep us informed.
Well we threw that away least down to one cup now, surley jack Harris and Simon Johnson have gotta be better striking a ball then our 2 centre halves at penalties
Well you never know what to expect, do you ? Saturday was a pleasant surprise against a good side...tonight was nothing but a ****-up against a very ordinary side. We ****ed up the match and then we totally ****ed up the penalties.
First half we were cruising and seemingly in total control, despite only getting one.
So what happened at half time ? We were awful after the break and it was no surprise when they equalised. We thought the arrival of Sam and Simon would make a difference but, although we improved, never got going like we did on Saturday.
The penalties were just a reflection of the match. Confident and decisive for the first half. Jittery and indecisive for the second half.
I'm sure in the cold light of day, we'll shed no tears over a league cup defeat.......but God that was a frustrating evening !
Frustrating is right Mick but at the end I'm glad we came away with no injuries despite some of the attempted tackles by Sittingbourne. Should have been out of sight by half time and it had to be Olie Bankole who scored for them. Lets hope the weekend off gives the boys a chance to re-energise their batteries and get a winning run going in the league.
Good news that Sam Cole hopes to be fit for Tuesday.
I see our opponents next Tuesday, Corinthians, are playing an FA Trophy match on Sunday. I presume this will only affect our Tuesday game if the Trophy match ends in a draw. So potentially our next league match could be a week on Saturday.
Pool league and champion league for me tonight so couldnt go to game but may be blessing that we are out with our fixture backlog but sound like we throw this one away both in game and in penalties. thought we would win this easy after great perormance on saturday but to many changes to team and look like we may be thinking this easy against a team that is near bottom of form table. was crowd really only 132? think tuesday crowd will always be bad with champion league and would like to see back to monday or wednesday so i can get to mdweek game. follow game on twitter and dont understand why players took penalties that did. why no harris or johnson it dont make sense or was manager happy to concentrate on league by starting team and penalty takers?
The sooner we are out of all cups the better, in my mind it means that then, every game is must win, and we play our strongest side, all this shuffling the players around can't be very settling for them. The league is all that matters now.
Not a lot of shuffling in last nights team to be fair . Rotating to give players game play is always good but agree that cup is a total hindrance. At least with the Sussex Senior Cup you get the end result to play the final at Brighton . Now we need to really make our games in hand count . How many times do you see teams in that situation succeed doing that ? Not often , but we can do it !
I think this is more of a missed opportunity to be honest. It would've been a winnable home game in the quarter final if we had won last night, giving us a possiblility of making the semi-finals, but the quarters have gone begging. Not quite sure why Harris and Johnson didn't take a penalty but there we are. Like Windy said, time to make the games we have in hand count.
What a forgiving lot we are these days. We are abysmal against Poole Town, but its probably a blessing in disguise as we are in so many competitions and have a backlog of fixtures, bugger the money and the prestige. We are very poor against Merthyr and are deservedly beat, twice, but everyone is relieved that there is no replay and no chance of progressing to the next round, bugger the money and prestige again. We then get knocked out of the league cup by a Sittingbourne team who have lost 10 in a row including a 6-1 home defeat to bottom of the league Chipstead on Saturday, but you know what....what a relief we are out due to the backlog of fixtures we have. We keep getting knocked out, and everyone is relieved and very little is said about the performance. What makes everyone think that we will win our games in hand and the playoffs are nailed on? and if we do get there, who says we will win 4 games against the likes of Worthing and Faversham? I agree with Liam, great chance last night albeit in a Mickey Mouse cup, but why enter if you are not going out to win it or blood the youngsters, We did neither. And lets please not blame it on tiredness, Sittingbourne have played one game less than us this season, as have Folkestone and Ramsgate, whilst 2nd place Worthing have played 2 more.
Yes we played well on Saturday albeit against an absolute terrible South Park side. Some have said against a good side but defensively they were as bad as anything I have EVER seen at the Pilot Field. We have now played four of the top six at home and lost all four comprehensively so i just think we need to stop getting so excited after big wins against poor opposition and also look at the big games we have lost this season. Maybe its just me but I am not relieved to see us lose again and think this season will be much tougher than a lot of people think. Lets hope I'm eating my words come the end of April.
Got to disagree John, I think going out of this cup improves our chances in the league as the last thing we need is games in this cup taking up more weeknight slots. There is no money or prestige in that competition at all and can only assume that it was the fact we don't have a game on Saturday that such a strong team was put out.
Tiredness will affect the performances more & more from here in and although you are 100% right to say that we have no certainty of winning our games in hand I would definitely argue that going out of rather than staying in this competition can only increase our chances and staying in it would have hurt them further.
Even though I'd love to see Hastings play at the AMEX having watched the last two finals there as a neutral i'd shed no huge amount of tears either if we went out to Worthing in that game as well. If we win then I only hope it doesn't affect our league games too much
John makes some good points, but I agree with Dan, although I sat through that C*** last night, and I think we should get our money back for fraud. It was a disgusting second half, it was although they had been told to throw it away.Getting out of this league is the most important thing.
And that's the joys of a good forum Dan. We cannot agree and disagree on everything but no one will ever convince me that one game in a 46 game league season will make any difference whatsoever to a squad like ours. I would rather keep a winning habit as long as possible as it breeds success. I am guessing Gary and Danny feel exactly the same looking at the teams they put out for both the league and Sussex cups.
Of course, the league has to be the priority, and winning promotion is everyone's goal but the main point of the post was every time we put in a poor and sometimes unacceptable performance the answer from a lot of people is, 'well that's a relief' or 'glad we are out of that'. Have we had it so bad for so long now that is how we feel about defeats? Find it funny that to confirm all I have said you are now saying exactly the same about the Sussex Cup!
Absolutely feel that about the Sussex Cup right now and If you offered the choice of the Sussex Cup Final or just 3 more points in the league right now then I'd take the points hand down as they could easily make a hugely more significant difference to possible promotion prospects which the club is desperate for to progress. Plenty of time to win the Sussex Cup from a stronger position if we get back to the Ryman Prem
League, FA Cup, FA Trophy in that order were the only considerable priorities for this season. The other two cups were for squad & Dev side rotation fitness and opportunities imo this season.
And yep after 3 seasons in this poor quality league ( which we obviously deserve to be in ) anything that distracts or adversely affects the chances of getting out of it we can't be to upset about not being in! :)
-- Edited by Dan on Wednesday 25th of November 2015 06:32:46 PM
But I keep hearing this poor quality league from supporters, does that mean we are a poor side? I don't think so, so perhaps we are just an okay to decent side in an okay to decent league. From what I have seen from Folkestone, Worthing, Faversham, Dorking etc its not as bad as we think....or maybe we think we are better than we actually are?
Personally, I believe we will make it and still have a very slim chance of winning the league but we must keep everyone fit (Razor is absolutely critical), get Zac back and firing, and get Walder to behave. Along with a bit of luck and probably one or two more signings along the way we will be okay but to be pleased that we were knocked out of the FA Trophy, League Cup and possibly Sussex Cup in the future I just cannot fathom. Try telling that to Burgess Hill fans last year after they made the first round proper of the FA Cup and got deep into the trophy. Didn't affect them.
I wasn't there last night, so I can't comment on the game itself. For my part, I'm sorry to see us lose any game. Yes, a congested fixture list doesn't help, but losing games doesn't either. Impetus in football counts for a great deal. So, I agree with some of what John has had to say but I'm sure it won't surprise him that there is a deal with which I don't. South Park weren't by any standard I would apply 'absolute(ly) terrible' on Saturday. As someone else commented they played a very open game. Indeed. On Saturday we were able to exploit that to the full. Other teams - judging from South Park's results and position in the league - have not. So, let's give ourselves credit and relish the things which go right.
But John is absolutely correct to contend that there is a good deal which is not going right. To me the problem is our inexplicable inconsistency. Sometimes between one game and another; but quite often within a game. I have no answer for that and I suspect that those who know football in general and this team in particular much better than I do have no clear answer either. I would just like to see us playing with the energy levels we had on Saturday and with players making runs into space. Sometimes that will be countered. Then we need a plan B. That has not been very evident in those games I have seen - Merthyr, Poole, Folkestone, etc - when we come under the cosh. I hope Garry and Danny can address that. If they can I have no doubt we will make the play-offs; if they cannot then we might well fall short.
But I keep hearing this poor quality league from supporters, does that mean we are a poor side? I don't think so, so perhaps we are just an okay to decent side in an okay to decent league. From what I have seen from Folkestone, Worthing, Faversham, Dorking etc its not as bad as we think....or maybe we think we are better than we actually are?
Personally, I believe we will make it and still have a very slim chance of winning the league but we must keep everyone fit (Razor is absolutely critical), get Zac back and firing, and get Walder to behave. Along with a bit of luck and probably one or two more signings along the way we will be okay but to be pleased that we were knocked out of the FA Trophy, League Cup and possibly Sussex Cup in the future I just cannot fathom. Try telling that to Burgess Hill fans last year after they made the first round proper of the FA Cup and got deep into the trophy. Didn't affect them.
absolutely spot on the most sensible post on hear for a long time well said Johnw
Remember we didn't lose the game and Sittingbourne settled for a draw once they equalised. We were the better side, just failed to score. Surely we want promotion and that's all that matters this season. And by having fewer games the cause will be helped.
I must admit that John does put a good point over . I wouldn't mind if we were still in the FA Cup that's for sure. I for one am not at all convinced yet that we are capable of getting out of this league . I've only seen a few wins this season as I always seem to be unlucky and have seen us lose more than we've won . But get a few wins going in the league and who knows ? Time will tell and I think we will all have a better idea where we are in 6 weeks time . There's a lot of games coming up and keeping players fit and suspension free is essential . Fingers crossed !
Quite relieved I didn't go last night judging by the comments. From the matches I have seen we should have the players to make the top 6. But I don't think we are close to sides like Peacehaven, Burgess Hill and Folkestone. Any side that are big and physical
and play with energy will cause us problems. South Park were great in that came down to play some football and weren't, I think, a typical Ryman south side.
Doeboy, all a matter of opinion but many sides in our league seem to rely on workrate and physicality more than their skill. The best sides (Folkestone ) combine both.
I agree with Tim's point - we struggle against big physical well organised sides who play a stifling game and then rapidly counter-attack. The average sides in our league who attempt to play this way don't do it particularly well; but the better sides actually do it very effectively. We are very good indeed when we are able to play as we want; but we need to do better against the better physical sides - above all we need to avoid reverting to hopeless 'lump it up' or ineffective over - passing tactics when we become frustrated by being knocked off our game plan.
They came for penalties and got them 10 men behind the ball almost the whole game. Closed down the space and only gave the full backs time to cross the ball, if your asking me there a poor side but came with a game
Plan that worked for them. Could and should have been 4 or 5 - 1...
