After the magnificent display against Carshalton it is another home game against now
Chatham are currently the number 22 in the table and in a really big relegation battle.
They got 22 points out of 35 games , scored 47 and conceded 95 goals.
From their last 10 games they lost 7 and drew 3.
Remember the game against them away : http://www.footballwebpages.co.uk/isthonesouth/match/22528 after 0-0 at halftime!
And we? We are hot aren't we? Great game and great result last Tuesday after such a short time of rest after the Guernsey game.
Scoring more then 100 goals as the first team this season in the league and conceding 0 goals in the last 5 matches.
I really think Tooting and Dorking are too far away from us in the table but maybe place 3 is our goal now with the advantage of a home game in the play offs.
Anyway, nothing can go wrong this Saturday we all suppose so support the team and give them a big boost!!
Well Bert, I know you wrote "nothing can go wrong this Saturday" tongue in cheek (sorry if that phrase has a different meaning in Holland!), but in its own way Saturday will be another difficult game for us because of the weight of expectation. Somehow the players have to go out with all the confidence deservedly won from Tuesday's performance, but without complacency. Not too long ago we were shockingly bad against poor opponents; if we've really turned the corner we'll deal with Chatham, but we must be aware that they will likely come with a ten man behind the ball, get a point at all cost, game plan.
Yes, we can dream of better, but third place is a tough but realistic goal. With Hythe imminent, we've just got to keep this wonderful impetus going.
Think you are right Bert in that following last nights results we are looking at third place. It would appear that there are six teams chasing three play off places, from Carshalton who are third down to Lewes in eighth place.
We just have to concentrate on getting as many points as possible (stating the obvious) and see where it takes us.
My great friend Mystic Peg tells me we will come third and have a home tie v Hythe in the semi. In the other semi Greenwich will win at Dorking giving us a home final tie v Greenwich. Kiernon will then score the winner to take us up with Tooting.
Mystic Pegs revelation has taken all the enjoyment out of the end of the season
If it is that certain there is no surprise element or enjoyment
Gates will fall now that outcome is known
She did predict that as well Bookworm but I didn't want to upset the owners regarding the inevitable drop in gates. Might dump her now and use Chrisb in future as he has just purchased his first crystal ball.
I'm probably now more worried about Saturday than I was on Tuesday.
I actually thought a draw wouldn't have been too bad on Tuesday given Carshalton's form, but as Geoff says,there is now an expectation of a comfortable, if not huge, win on Saturday and it's essential the players go out with the right attitude. To be honest though with Simon 'leading by example' and now a genuine opportunity to get in the playoffs with home advantage, I think the attitude will be right. Get an early goal and as Bert says it will be plain sailing !
Let's hope we get the crowd that the team deserve and put on a good show on Saturday......what a shame 500 didn't turn up for Tuesdays match...because I'm sure everyone will come back.
No doubt they'll turn up in their thousands like they did against Harrogate if we reach the play offs.......bloomin' Glory Hunters !
Think Mick with the form the team is having now and the league position of Chatham you have to beat them easily.
You may expect, require that also if you want to finish in a play off place.
This is when Darren really earns his money and I am confident he will send the lads out with exactly the right attitude. We need to get behind the team from the start and keep cheering even if we don't score early.
Quite right Steve, it's the supposedly 'easy' task after the difficult one which defines the good manager. I have renewed optimism that Darren will get it right. I think some of us might need to reappraise our view of our management team. I can think of quite a few decisions where their view has fared better than some of those expressed on this forum .......
Yes Darren has turned it round results wise. But still not consistently good. One more I will throw out there. Was it luck that a player new to the club has made significant impact on the team. Sobers would he have joined if Crutwell Davies and Rowe not suffered injuries around same time.
don't listen to predictions after good wins wonder what Carshalton thoughts were on there way to the pilot field on Tuesday,just want entertaining game and the three points.
As ecstatic as I was on Tuesday I am equally disappointed today. A really average performance today and I thought Chatham thoroughly deserved their point. Dare I say we took them lightly and already had minds on Tuesday at Hythe?
I thought Darren got it all wrong today with both selection and tactics and no surprise both goals came down the right. Why would you play a young raw talent like Akoto at left back and then stick Kiernon in front if him. Kiernon was back to his very worst today, making no effort to work back and give young John any support so no surprise he struggled all game. And yet seeing this we made no tactical changes. Either Sobers is fit or not, so naming him on the bench I assume he was fit. We looked poor all match today at the back and just shows how important Sobers has become to us. Both full backs looked suspect and Ollie did not look his normal comfortable self. To be fair I thought Crutts was best of the four but way too many long balls. And at the other end we just seemed intent on walking the ball in. So many opportunities to hit the target today but just too many touches taken. Thought Frannie was excellent today and MOM but elsewhere very average and felt the substitutions were made way too late.
I did warn of this on Tuesday so just hope a few supporters bring themselves back down to earth as we are a long way off from securing any kind of top 5 finish yet. Very disappointing today and quite extraordinary how we can see such polar opposites in the space of a few days.
I actually though John Akoto started well but, after their first goal, seemed to have a confidence crisis and put in a very nervy second half performance. Unless Sobers was unfit, I can't for the life of me think why Darren changed the side that were so good on Tuesday.......and at times we defended like we did at East Grinstead.....something I still have nightmares about. Pidge has been superb lately but twice got caught in no-mans-land today giving them two simple finishes.
All in all VERY frustrating but, after 50 years of visiting the PF, perhaps predictable. Other than Frannie there were an awful lot of 'nearly' performances from the likes of Matt, Bradley and Keirnan. We just didn't quite do it in front of goal today, despite probably a dozen goal scoring positions.
Agree about Sam, John, he can deliver a fantastic long pass, but we have looked good all season when we play through the midfield and he seems to ALWAYS want to play the killer pass. That didn't really help us today.
But well done to Chatham...they looked far better than their league position and deserved a draw today.
I agree with most of what has been said but we should give their keeper credit for keeping them in the game especially in the first half. Second half very disapointing.
I think the above comments are spot on. Many of us saw this coming. No game can be taken for granted. I particularly agree that we were not set up right and, critically, that we look a much much poorer side with Jerome Sobers on the bench. I don't know whether it was his absence that contributed to a jittery performance from John Akoto and a poor one from Pidgely; but I didn't think that Sam Cruttwell had a good game at all. John is absolutely right that today he was always looking for the killer ball. There were some good ones but far too many went astray. That said, we had ample chances to win this game in the first half, but their keeper put in an excellent shift. All we can console ourselves with is that we could quite easily lost. They had one against the bar/upright that somehow stayed out, another brought out a good save from Pidgely late on; and our first goal -though on-side - was tight. We've got to get over this quickly because having put ourselves into a good spot we can drop out of contention very quickly if things go awry. It's very simple - just win at Hythe and all will be back on track.........
I know Jerrome was named on the bench but did anyone actually see him today ? I certainly did not. He was not on the pitch before the match and did not warm up with the subs at half time. Was he held up on way & did not make it ? Or maybe he ended up in Margate ?
Games like this happen - Dorking and Tooting will get them too, Hythe couldn't beat 3 Bridges last weekend - that is the unpredictable nature of football. The Carshalton performance was exceptional - you aren't going to get that very often. Chatham got stuck in, their goal led a charmed life at the start of both halves and we could have had it won after 15 minutes - just one of those days. Sobers was badly missed but defensively Chatham didn't cause us many problems if you look back at the game - four or five chances with a good conversion rate it has to be said.
Important thing is that now we have a real play off opportunity - much as I hate them - having got into real contention we need to remain there. Carshalton have played more games than anyone and will be nervous now after losing again yesterday. Let's just do the business at Hythe - remember the nine there last season!
Difficult to understand why Hastings can play so well in some games and look so poor in others. Should have been too good for Chatham yesterday and the loss of 2 points was ridiculously careless. Would agree with the point Simon makes that games like this happen but would add they seem to happen to Hastings rather too often. The whole performance against Carshalton was so impressive but it was a bit of a nightmare watching Chatham gain in confidence the longer the game went on.
Anything can happen against Hythe and Ramsgate-but really hope we have Jerome back against Hythe to counter the aerial threat of Jay May. Their right back was very adventurous against us at the Pilot Field so hope we have the same starting side we had against Carshalton.
