A curious first half where we explored extreme frontiers of our 'pass it back to Louis' game plan. Our one shot from Ryan, towards the end of the half, brought a goal. A suspicion that the Ashford goalkeeper could have done better.
Ashford upped the tempo in the second half and Louis was required to make a number of saves. The goal conceded - worryingly - came as did the one scored by Whitehawk on Tuesday from a corner. We had had more of the game after that with a Ben Pope effort going just wide; but I suspect a neutral would have thought Ashford deserved to win.
Not so on penalties, however, Ashford put two of their's over the bar (one nearly over the stand) while we netted all of ours. So we progress.
Thought we should have had this sewn up by half time, Ashford had a poor half. They came into it more in the second half and deserved their goal, nobody marking the feller at the far post. Excellent penalties.
Congratulations to our supporter Dave who won the 50/50 . Ticket 36339 for £138.00
I thought we had reasonably good control of the game in the first half, but the first 15 minutes of the second half we were awful and encouraged them onto us. I know this forum is seen by some as negative, but how can we justify the amount of times we pass back to the keeper when we're half way into the oppositions half?! It seems to me our players are conditioned to look backwards in the first instance when an attacking option is more often than not available. Other teams are now getting wise to these tactics and allow us to pass it back and forth across our back four waiting for a mistake. Dont get me wrong we've got some great attacking midfield and forward players, but they must be getting frustrated at the lack of balls getting up to them after getting into space. I'm sure some will point out our current run of wins is what its all about, but I would like to think we can deliver some more positive play to get our fans excited about? "Are you Arsenal in disguise" says it all! Sorry Gunners fans.
-- Edited by Wallyboy on Saturday 31st of October 2020 06:32:46 PM
I thought we had reasonably good control of the game in the first half, but the first 15 minutes of the second half we were awful and encouraged them onto us. I know this forum is seen by some as negative, but how can we justify the amount of times we pass back to the keeper when we're half way into the oppositions half?! It seems to me our players are conditioned to look backwards in the first instance when an attacking option is more often than not available. Other teams are now getting wise to these tactics and allow us to pass it back and forth across our back four waiting for a mistake. Dont get me wrong we've got some great attacking midfield and forward players, but they must be getting frustrated at the lack of balls getting up to them after getting into space. I'm sure some will point out our current run of wins is what its all about, but I would like to think we can deliver some more positive play to get our fans excited about? "Are you Arsenal in disguise" says it all! Sorry Gunners fans.
-- Edited by Wallyboy on Saturday 31st of October 2020 06:32:46 PM
Quoting their fans after a win on the pitch AND in the terraces. You absolute embarrassment. COYU.
Other than Ryan's goal just before the break It certainly wasn't an inspiring first half and even though at times we looked promising going forward, I would have liked to see us get Sam on the ball more. Second half was by far more worrying and if it hadn't been for Louis then I would not want to imagine what the final score would have been. Myself and others in the main stand were certainly not feeling optimistic at 1-1.
Disappointing to concede from a set piece and felt either side could have pinched it before the shoot out. With Gary unavailable and Ollie not in the team I think that played a big part.
Does anyone know why Billy rushed over in the second half? I can only imagine that either there was Ashford fans in the Hastings end who were looking for trouble or there was a group of supporters causing trouble? As the players rushed towards the crowd after the shoot out, it looked like there were a few choice of words used which did not go down well. What exactly happened after the shoot out?
First time I've also been to a game ending with penalties so nice to get a win from it. Looking forward to hearing who we get in the next round.
Did the heavy pitch contribute to our laboured performance which kept a not very good Ashford side in with a good chance of winning. Ashford didn't look capable of launching an attack of their own in the first half, but probably didn't feel the need to as our sideways and backwards passing created their best chance.
Second half we struggled badly and could have done with a Sam Cruttwell style player to get the ball forward quickly and accurately but I fear he may have moved on.
Into the next round but not a game that we'll remember for long.
First half Tom's searching runs seemed our greatest threat with both Ben and Kenny failing to make much impact and far too many final passes and crosses failing to find their target.
Having weathered some early pressure, the second half became a bit more interesting with both teams creating a few decent chances. Well done Louis for some good stops and MotM.
I don't know if it was the pitch or the wind that affected us today but we seemed below par. Nobody was able to take on and beat their opposite number and I feel we needed a Daniel or a Lanre to make something happen today.
Anyway, an excellent set of penalties ......the first Ashford kick being the highlight of the day for me.
I thought we had reasonably good control of the game in the first half, but the first 15 minutes of the second half we were awful and encouraged them onto us. I know this forum is seen by some as negative, but how can we justify the amount of times we pass back to the keeper when we're half way into the oppositions half?! It seems to me our players are conditioned to look backwards in the first instance when an attacking option is more often than not available. Other teams are now getting wise to these tactics and allow us to pass it back and forth across our back four waiting for a mistake. Dont get me wrong we've got some great attacking midfield and forward players, but they must be getting frustrated at the lack of balls getting up to them after getting into space. I'm sure some will point out our current run of wins is what its all about, but I would like to think we can deliver some more positive play to get our fans excited about? "Are you Arsenal in disguise" says it all! Sorry Gunners fans.
-- Edited by Wallyboy on Saturday 31st of October 2020 06:32:46
Havent we won 6 in a row id understand if it wasn't working but our tactics are. We dominated the game for long periods we just lacked that killer instinct yesterday and a lot of that was down to the pitch (simon and his team did a amazing job getting a game on yesterday 🙏 )
Into the next round but not a game that we'll remember for long. First half Tom's searching runs seemed our greatest threat with both Ben and Kenny failing to make much impact and far too many final passes and crosses failing to find their target. Having weathered some early pressure, the second half became a bit more interesting with both teams creating a few decent chances. Well done Louis for some good stops and MotM. I don't know if it was the pitch or the wind that affected us today but we seemed below par. Nobody was able to take on and beat their opposite number and I feel we needed a Daniel or a Lanre to make something happen today. Anyway, an excellent set of penalties ......the first Ashford kick being the highlight of the day for me.
Yes that first Pen was beautiful wasn't it 😁 there's skying it and SKYING IT 😂😂
