Decent first half performance and first 10mins of second but after that it was a very flat performance and for the first time this season I thought the players looked tired last 20mins and Merstham won very comfortably in the end. Not a lot to say on the game and not disappointed we are out to be honest. Could do without these distractions at the moment and with the squad all of a sudden looking rather thin with Christie, Dajonne and I assume Ogboe all gone, tonight was far from a disaster. Back to the important stuff on Saturday.
About sums it up John. Thought Sam’s sending off a bit harsh but think we can compete at this level. Interesting that both Christie and Golding have gone to teams in a higher league.
Thought it was a pretty good game in its own way: the unstoppable force of our midfield against the immovable object of their defence. A lot of sustained possession that we couldn't turn into chances as they defended their penalty area extremely well; I thought we played quite well for periods, but found our opponents much less accommodating than some in recent weeks. They're the first team (that I've seen) this season to really smother Daniel Ajakaiye and he barely had a sniff of goal all evening, constantly crowded out. Their keeper only had a couple of saves to make, the best being from Bamba's low drive at the near post in the second half, whereas they were a threat whenever they did decide to come forward.
It was all set up quite nicely for the final half hour when they scored and we immediately equalised, and you wouldn't have bet against us at that point, but then a daft second goal and Sam Adams' dismissal rather killed the contest. We were never really going to come back from that. Overall, I thought we were beaten by a strong, effective side who shut us down and then waited for their opportunities. Some good experience, a far from disastrous result, and quite an enjoyable evening.
To be honest, I think I'd expected a more experimental, less first-string side for the third game in a week, and by far the least important of the three. Given that we'll probably be calling on the likes of Jamie Fielding and Tom Climpson in due course, and that both are promising young players who are still developing, I'd have given them more time. As it was, the only real experiment - Antonio Walker-Barth at right-back - was vaguely successful, in that he looks a brighter player with more of the game in front of him, while not really convincing you that you'd want to try it in a league match. Mind you, Matt Cruttwell had a decent ninety minutes too. And it's probably a bit churlish to criticise a manager for putting out his strongest side in an attempt to win the game...
