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Another loss yesterday but I think we probably deserved a draw after a spirited second half performance.
We were under the cosh for much of the first half and I went in early for half time moaning about what a lazy player I thought Danny Summers was, so missed what was by all accounts a cracking goal from him .Our defenders were overworked for much of the first half and I don't think Danny worked hard enough to hold the ball up and take the pressure of us.
The second half was a different story with us having a lot more possession but could not turn that into a second goal. I would have liked to see Frankie come on a lot earlier, that might have made a difference. I can't see the point of bringing Sol Pinnock on as a right sided sub, he is ineffective on that side and with the recent departure of Tom Jelly I think Craig ought to try and strengthen our attack down the right.
Stefan Cox looked a really good player down the left, putting in numerous dangerous, early crosses into the box that on another day would have resulted in a goal or two. Even Summers desided to put in a shift in the second half, maybe he was given a talking to during the break, or maybe his goal put an extra spring in his step.
So, all in all, not too disappointed with the result, Burgess Hill are a good side, even with ten men for, it would have been great to have broken their unbeaten record but if we play the rest of the season the way we performed in the 2nd half we will be ok.
One last thing. Is it beyond the wit of the club to sort out the TV in the bar, its been on the blink for months. There was a massive Premier League game on after the game with loads of fans wanting to see it, many of them left to watch it elsewhere. An own goal by the club I think.
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I think you are being a bit unfair on Danny, it is difficult when you are a lone striker. Agree thought Stephan Cox had a good game. Shame we couldn't have got a draw but credit Burgess Hill, they are well organised and can play a good game and that is why they will win the league easily.
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Fully agree we defended pretty well in that 1st half.
Looked like the tactic was to soak up the pressure and hope not to concede. But when you give good quality oppo that much possession v difficult to keep the score down.
Thought a lot of balls played up to Summers were pretty inaccurate. And when he is up there on his own against 3/4 that makes it really difficult to retain the ball. He was begging for a midfielder (Khan) to play up closer to him more quickly.
But what a goal that was. A real corker made from nothing.
Graves made the tackle and was always going to be booked. So the Hill player did not need to get involved. But what did he do? I could see Graves making very sure he kept his head well back when he chested up. Was it a head but?
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Much as I agree with bits of what has already been said I cannot understand why, as the home team, we only played one striker up front. How easy do we want to make it for the opposition - it was such a negative set up.
I think Bondy got it pretty much spot on with regards to Danny Summers as the service to him was pretty diabolical. Although our defence defended like demons, a couple of out players were quite content to hoof the ball upfield in the faint hope that it might come down to earth somewhere near one of our players. Most of the time the opposition's defence gladly gathered the ball and set up another attack. We have seemed poor in keeping possession for some time.
Why Danny and Frankie aren't picked to play together up front is beyond me and definitely Sol Pinnock should be playing on the left NOT the right.
We only started playing against Burgess Hill in the second half when we pushed more players forward and looked much more menacing. Come on Craig , let's see a bit more positivity in the team line up and ditch this one- forward -up policy
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I missed the game on Saturday, but the 1-up-front systems looked quite good earlier in the season, although it does require at leats 1 or 2 midfielders busting a gut to get forward Earlier in the season we were getting that from Pinnock, Clarke and latterly, Newton.
If you want to play Sawyer and Summers together, you obviously have to drop down to 4 midfielders. And I think that our typical midfield quartet are possibly a bit one dimensional and are lacking a little bit of creativity.