Can we thrive under the Friday night lights in a pressure cooker of a 30k+ stadium against probably the best team in the league?

Probably not. It has wilting, 5-0 vibes this.

 

I'll say it. 

It helped massively that Dec John was back in. 

 

What I noticed watching on the box last night was, presumably, a bit of what had been talked about in the week between Evatt and the lads. We played it out from the back but quicker, Santos and Toal moved forward 20 yards or so with it then played it forward rather than standing still in our penalty area as last week.

Couple of times I also saw Evatt telling throw in takers to look forward, not always go back. Overall we played our way but did it quicker and further up the pitch. Sheff Wed found it more and more difficult to handle as game wore on. 

Sheehan helped that, he's a bit more nimble if given the ball in tight areas and can wriggle away from pressing midfielders rather than play it back again or sideways. Thought Morley was hard done to being dropped but Sheehan justified his place

 

It’s a very small criticism of Morley but you do notice when he gets the ball, mainly off Trafford he doesn’t even look over his shoulder. It’s an immediate pass back to Santos as though he’s under pressure

sheehan was a little calmer and knew when to do that or when he could turn. It made us move up the pitch quicker and with more intent 

8 hours ago, Biggish Dave said:

I love Jerome. He was directing everyone when he came on, the lad has a real football brain

I was made up when we signed really experienced and the other strikers will learn a lot off him true professional.

Just seen the interview with Evatt and the subsequent comment from their centre half. Nailed on pen 

Great team selection from Evatt, Sheehan and Santos immense, Toal back to his best (he’s gonna leave for big money one day) and special praise for Jerome, we’re gonna need him to play big part at Wembley hope he can last 90 minutes, fans were loud and proud, real confidence booster, we’ve got to continue playing out from the back even if we drop the odd bollock it really is the way forward, great night!  

9 hours ago, Burndens Bogs said:

Yeh he looked decent tonight, every credit

Did it suit him better playing deeper, as some said he was.

39 minutes ago, barrycowdrill said:

Just seen the interview with Evatt and the subsequent comment from their centre half. Nailed on pen 

What did the defender say?

Just now, Tonge moor green jacket said:

What did the defender say?

Admitted to Evatt it was 100% a pen 

1 minute ago, barrycowdrill said:

Admitted to Evatt it was 100% a pen 

We should complain post match and have the player retrospectively punished!

 

Is Sheehans best position deeper now rather than as most thought as a number 10 he looked comfortable to me last night in that role.

 

Those pillars holding the roof up and the two in the away end. I’m no structural engineer but would it be beyond the realms of possibility to put a pole or pylon at each corner and hold the roof up from above? 
I love a historical old ground but not when you lose sight of part of the pitch.

Just seen the highlights. Apparently from the goal, they make it look like there was only one team in it. 

The pen appears stone wall. The way he falls is natural and is difficult to achieve in a dive.

I’m not saying it wasn’t a pen but after seeing it I’d of been pissed off if it was given against us. 

1 minute ago, Tonge moor green jacket said:

Just seen the highlights. Apparently from the goal, they make it look like there was only one team in it. 

The pen appears stone wall. The way he falls is natural and is difficult to achieve in a dive.

Was just about to say, apart from the pen, we mustn’t have had many highlights.

I thought Charles went down a bit easily for it to be a pen. Not seen anything in a replay to change my view. Seen them given though

1 hour ago, Mounts Kipper said:

Great team selection from Evatt, Sheehan and Santos immense, Toal back to his best (he’s gonna leave for big money one day) and special praise for Jerome, we’re gonna need him to play big part at Wembley hope he can last 90 minutes, fans were loud and proud, real confidence booster, we’ve got to continue playing out from the back even if we drop the odd bollock it really is the way forward, great night!  

Good post.

I echo the praise on all mentioned.

Especially Evatt.

Selecting Sheehan was brave and it worked.

And sticking to his philosophy playing from the back was key yesterday. I was talking to @MickyD and @marple whites at HT yesterday - keeping hold of the ball, and that Includes sideways, backwards and (sometimes) short from the goal kicks, got us back into the game yesterday. 

The easiest thing to do yesterday at 1-0 with their backs against the wall would have been to stop receiving in tight areas and play the percentages.

Keeping hold of the ball they grew in confidence and into the game.

It’s a great way to sign off before Wembley. I feel really positive now for the big day and more importantly what happens next at Exeter and the run-in

Que sera sera, put the Champagne on ice, we’re going to Wembley twice, Que sera sera 

3 hours ago, barrycowdrill said:

just goes to show our destiny is all about us. Play like that more often and there wouldn’t be many who could deal with us. When we do get beat (aside from probably last sat) I always feels it’s more to do with what our performance level was like rather than how good the opposition was 

Spot on - it's always about us and which BWFC turns up because we can play really well when we're at it and I'm always happy with a good performance even if we don't win. That said I do prefer some line ups to others and I think Evatt got it wrong against Ipswich but got it right last night.

Some draws can be disappointing but last night almost felt like a win.

1 hour ago, Mounts Kipper said:

I’m not saying it wasn’t a pen but after seeing it I’d of been pissed off if it was given against us. 

Me too. At the time I thought, never a pen but I’ll bow to the honest assessment of their defender..

1 hour ago, MickyD said:

Was just about to say, apart from the pen, we mustn’t have had many highlights.

Clear cut chances were few and far between and they had far more efforts on goal than we did - but we dominated the ball (61% possession) and played some nice stuff at times.

34 minutes ago, desperado said:

Good post.

I echo the praise on all mentioned.

Especially Evatt.

Selecting Sheehan was brave and it worked.

And sticking to his philosophy playing from the back was key yesterday. I was talking to @MickyD and @marple whites at HT yesterday - keeping hold of the ball, and that Includes sideways, backwards and (sometimes) short from the goal kicks, got us back into the game yesterday. 

The easiest thing to do yesterday at 1-0 with their backs against the wall would have been to stop receiving in tight areas and play the percentages.

Keeping hold of the ball they grew in confidence and into the game.

It’s a great way to sign off before Wembley. I feel really positive now for the big day and more importantly what happens next at Exeter and the run-in

Que sera sera, put the Champagne on ice, we’re going to Wembley twice, Que sera sera 

Exactly.

We only need to get better at what we do best and we will blow 95% of the teams away in this league and sets us up in higher leagues in the future.

Most teams can't live with us when we are pressing, making the pitch wide and jotting all-around the pitch. Sheff Weds looked dead with nothing left in the last 20 minutes.

We struggle when teams press us and is a combination of us either not being brave enough, passing through the press or good movement from the midfield.

I loved last night how we were 1 0 down in front of 30k away to top of the league, and we didn't crumble, our defenders and midfield showed fantastic composure. Whenever we are  pressed, instead of just hoofing it, we used their momentum against them, turned away and looked up the pitch instead of just passing it back.

Special praise for Toal, Sheehan, Lee and Santos in particular on doing that time and time again.

It might worry some when Santos especially holds onto the ball, but the rewards are there to see, when we play through the press and start popping the ball around their box.

Fantastic performance and a real confidence boost

Edited March 18, 20233 yr by Lostock Whites

Nice to see less of the silly back line play last night and when we did it was more composed 

we can be a frustrating watch at times it’s finding that middle ground

nice to have a break now 

Just seen a close up of the penalty incident on Twitter. As Flint goes down, he catches the back of Charles right heel. On that viewing, def penalty but can see why the ref didn’t see it

7 minutes ago, Biggish Dave said:

Just seen a close up of the penalty incident on Twitter. As Flint goes down, he catches the back of Charles right heel. On that viewing, def penalty but can see why the ref didn’t see it

When the CB is saying it’s 100% a pen. It’s a pen. The ref so so far behind he couldn’t see the contact. Maybe if the Lino was that side he would’ve but wouldn’t hold my breath. At the other end with the crowd influence he’d of given it 

referees do seem to get influenced by the crowd. Not because they’re particularly weak but because you can see them thinking “if they all think it is I must’ve missed it and it must be” you can see it in the delay of decisions being made