What did you think of that ? A poor day from us ,or Haywards Heath best team at the Pilot Field this season. Certainly they had a great deal of possession,especially second half. Louis deserved Man of the Match, and should their keeper have been sent off,divided opinion among supporters I was with.
They say good teams can win even when they play badly......and I felt that was us today !
In terms of both possession and our ability to create chances we really weren't at the races today and we were as disappointing as we have been for a couple of months. That said, I always felt this was going to be a really tough match as they gave us a difficult game on an equally heavy pitch back in October. However the degree to which they dominated possession was rather concerning today, especially with ten men.
Five huge matches coming up next all against teams in the top eight. Let's hope we can reproduce some of the scintillating passing football that has carried us to the top of the table so impressively.
Also, I hope our management can impress the need for self discipline on the players. It all got rather heated out there today and the last thing we need is a break down in discipline with unnecessary cards and the inevitable suspensions. A few sailed a bit too close to the wind today.
To answer your question, Phil, I thought the ref handled the incident with their keeper correctly. I wasn't sure just how much contact there was and in any event it wasn't a clear cut goal scoring opportunity...so yellow was fair enough. (Didn't stop me joining in the "Off, off" chants though !) 😜
Blatant,premeditated foul by the goalkeeper,in no way an accident.If that was committed by an outfield player,they would have been red carded.Why is it different for goalkeepers?.Referee was dreadful today.
It was definitely a yellow as two defenders were covering so he wasn’t the last man. Also if that had been a defender doing that he would only have got a yellow, he did not attempt to hurt our player in a dangerous way.
Massive result today. Alongside Ashford away that was our worst performance of the season but our most important win. Really struggled all game to keep the ball and last 20mins we were just happy to hoof it long at every opportunity, something I’ve never seen from this team but nice to see another side to our game and it got us a massive win in a game where HH deserved at the very least a point.
Thought Pope was very fortunate not to get a red first half but put in a great shift today and their keeper was always going to get a yellow with covering defenders in behind
Special mention for Ollie today who did an admirable job in replacing Stone and first half Jack Dixon was magnificent and what a goal but MOM deservedly going to the ever improving Rogers.
Stone back next week and desperately need Adam in particular and Davide back (anyone have any news??) as the bench looked really light today, but a really super win today when far from our best 👏👏👏
To answer Phil's second question....Yes, Haywards Heath are a VERY decent side. We saw that last season and they have given us two very tough games this season. Whitehawk managed two draws against them and Ashford have already lost to them once. They visit Ashford the week after Ashford visit us.
I won't be at all surprised to see them make the play-offs again.
I thought today was a battling performance against a well organised HH side. They deserve considerable credit. They pressed us very hard indeed and we needed Louis Rogers to be on top form. The penalty save might well have given us the two points which count at the end of the season. We looked out of sorts, lacking energy in mid field and obviously missing Adam Lovatt (and Craig Stone). Agree with John that Ollie Black did a really great job. What an improved player.
Yes, some of our players were indeed courting cards. We need to address that. But oh dear the officials!
Enjoyed that win more than some of our easier wins. Thought our goal was excellent and we put in good spell of pressure towards the end of the first half. Gary Elphick seemed to pick up an injury in that period and it must have been touch and go whether he reappeared for the second half. Thought the whole team put in a massive effort to preserve our lead knowing we were a bit short on the bench and, despite hobbling badly at times, Gary played the whole 90 minutes. Well done also to Louis, Sam, Ollie and Jake in particular.
Simple solution re keepers. You foul outside the area, penalty. Just like outfield players in the box - penalty. And a ludicrous rule that needs changing - back passes. Yes, pick em up but you have to get rid of the ball in 5 seconds or free kick.
Sorry - strayed a little off topic.
Soooooo pleased to see the penalty save was at the expense of McCreadie. He played against us for E Grinstead a few years ago and was in the ref's face all afternoon trying to get our boys carded.
the one thing i worry about is if pope gets hurt or sent off at the moment we do not have another goal scorer it would be good if chris could use the extra gate money to bring in another striker
Soooooo pleased to see the penalty save was at the expense of McCreadie. He played against us for E Grinstead a few years ago and was in the ref's face all afternoon trying to get our boys carded.
I mentioned that McCreadie would do that in a previous thread...and he wont be the last .But we just about held our discipline yesterday, despite the refs greatest efforts . Although tbf to the ref thought he did well when Pope was on the verge of a second yellow to just to warn him ,,,,maybe some of that went down to captain Sammy having a word, who knows ? Didnt think the goalkeeper should have seen red in the eyes of the law as he wasnt last man ....but like Mick and the whole of the mainstand we were screaming for it But i did say that we are now getting towards the business end of the season and discipline is going to be the bomb. Especially as we seem to be picking up a few injuries now as well...Rodari out for the rest of the season im hearing ....lets hope that's not true...And what has happened to Lovatt,,,,is he injured....I thought the we going to be promised more club updates on injuries....maybe its on Facebook , ive no idea as im not on it.
Don't think its going to be an easy second half of the season but we are grinding at results ....something that hasn't happened in recent seasons ,,,so well done to the lads !
Crowds on the up as well....the gate v Ashford will be interesting
Totally agree Ollie. The news circulating on Rodari is not good at all and there is absolutely no back up whatsoever to Pope and looking at the academy sides not a lot coming through in this position either. Seen and heard a lot of comparisons between Hastings this season and Cray from last and quite rightly so but also remember around this time last season Cray solidified their position at the top of the table by signing top striker Joseph Taylor. Let’s hope we do likewise and invest a bit of money back into the squad, especially if Davide is out for the season.
Certainly was the toughest game of the season that I have seen and thought Haywards Heath will think themselves very unlucky they didn't at least get a draw. With the pitch being heavy and bumpy now the nice passing game we had earlier in the season no longer is as effective and I think the opposition know that if they can rough us up and disrupt the game they have a chance. Ramsgate did it last week but we were far too good to let that affect the result. Yesterday was different. The opposition were better and the fact that Rogers was man of the match shows that we could have lost that game although we still have breathing space if we do lose a couple.
Yes the bench looks a bit sparse and with all the extra gate money, if that was in fact the crowd (still didn't look that many?), really important that the squad is strengthened and hope money is being made available for this. Be nice if the club could keep supporters up to date with player news instead of Chinese whispers about why Rodari and Lovatt aren't playing. Unfortunate for Rodari and the team if he is out for the season especially after the injury last season.
Rightly Rogers got man of the match but Ollie Black is certainly the most improved player this season, another solid performance from him yesterday
Is there a video of the goalkeeper’s foul on Daniel? I’d love to see it ir there is as from where I stood the defenders got back after the foul was committed.
I think HH are the best team to visit the PF this season and we battled well to retain all three points.
Is there a video of the goalkeeper’s foul on Daniel? I’d love to see it ir there is as from where I stood the defenders got back after the foul was committed. I think HH are the best team to visit the PF this season and we battled well to retain all three points.
I`m glad someone else felt the same as me, I agree Steve, I was in the main stand and am pretty sure at time of contact there was no one behind the goalkeeper. But as you say, a video might prove us wrong ?
A query on the keepers yellow/red card. The argument is that it’s a yellow because he wasn’t the last man. Usually when there is a red card for being the last man, there is still a keeper to beat. I would say that beating a keeper one on one is harder than beating a scrambling covering defender or two. Hence Daniel had an even easier goal scoring opportunity than if he had been brought down by a defender as the last man ?
Agreed Chris.
Furthermore Daniel's final touch before impact had sent the ball a fair distance parallel to the touchline giving him a lot to do. Defenders may have been a little behind him but far more central....so I think a yellow card was correct.
Have to say I REALLY miss Jo Knight's video highlights that were previously available on the Facebook group. I am not interested in signing up to watch the whole 90 minutes of any particular game and I seriously wonder how many have signed up !
Hopefully the club will change their thoughts on this because I can't believe it's generating much income. At least we would get the chance to rewatch these contentious incidents.
By way of clarification I do subscribe to United on demand.
It does not provide coverage of the whole match. It involves highlights of around 5 to 10 minutes and appears on the designated site around 36 hours after a game.
It is precious to me as it is the only means whereby I can see any matches,although still hoping to get to a Pilot Field later this year.
Feel we do need to look to bring in a couple of players perhaps on loan, without disrupting what has been a very settled team selection/ squad
Good point Roger re settled squad. That has been a major feature this season.
I too cant get to every game so I subscribe to the highlights show. Joe Knight does a good job and his dad got some great shots of the Haywards Heath game. Curious as to why Scott White isnt doing the photo shoots anymore.
Re us possibly being been seen as lucky to win on Saturday, while I concede we played a decent side who had more 2nd half possession, their keeper had more to do, we created more chances and the result made up for the daylight robbery that happened in the corresponding fixture last season. The game was also decided with a quality goal plus two examples of Louis Rogers at his best.
Simon,Scott has injured his arm, and currently has it in a cast. I think he believes that it may have been caused by the weight and movement of his camera whilst taking photos at the games.
No doubt we will see him back soon .
How many players were behind the keeper then? As when its a defender who brings someone down and is deemed 'last man 'there is usually a keeper in place still to beat which wasn't the case here.
As for the game, discipline definitely needs to improve as we wont win this league playing at times with 10 men.
I thought we looked light in central midfield and our 2 fastest players struggled to outpace the HH defenders. Our defence was strong as usual, but we hardly saw Jake galloping down the right which showed how much defending we were having to do in the 2nd half.
Think we need a couple of players to boost the run in and make sure we win this league.
But i did say that we are now getting towards the business end of the season and discipline is going to be the bomb. Especially as we seem to be picking up a few injuries now as well...Rodari out for the rest of the season im hearing ....lets hope that's not true...And what has happened to Lovatt,,,,is he injured....I thought the we going to be promised more club updates on injuries....maybe its on Facebook , ive no idea as im not on it.