[ Tue 2nd Oct] v Kempston Rovers, KO 7:45pm SLCC1R AWAY

[Dazzler]

Official Match Preview

http://www.afcdiamonds.com/kempston-rov ... nd-october

[Dazzler]

<BUMP> Tomorrow night!

[sussexdiamond]

Peaksy says he will field a strong team but what will Kempston do, as they have FA Cup match on Saturday.

[Brownie]

Peaksy says he will field a strong team but what will Kempston do, as they have FA Cup match on Saturday.

Given the value of the game they have on Saturday I would doubt they will go full strength, thought Jermaine Hall who recently signed from Bedford due to lack of game time may well play and he did score a hat trick last weekend in the Vase v Barton, what ever sort of side they put out it won't be a walk over but hopefully we can get a win.

[diamondsteve]

Peaksy says he will field a strong team but what will Kempston do, as they have FA Cup match on Saturday.

Given the value of the game they have on Saturday I would doubt they will go full strength, thought Jermaine Hall who recently signed from Bedford due to lack of game time may well play and he did score a hat trick last weekend in the Vase v Barton, what ever sort of side they put out it won't be a walk over but hopefully we can get a win.

Hopefully we can get a win lol . That’s how bad we are at the minute. Not sure if we can even beat a second string kempston oh dear

[BartonRaz]

Any feedback from those at the game?

On the face of it the result looks a poor one although the fact we came back from 2-0 down is perhaps something to build on.

[Dbsl]

I think perhaps the lack of feedback tells its own story. We are still in shock at how poor we were again. marginally better in the second half due o Zac Reynolds coming on at half time and actually being able to run with the ball, run past players, pass the ball to one of our team, and cross the ball. If you were at Hayes and Yeading this was probably worse as at least Hayes were a decent team. For the first time in ages I heard die hard fans bemoaning the fact that £9 had been spent to watch such an inept display.

Enough said. I will still be there on Saturday hoping for a much, much, much better performance. All I want is for the Players to put effort in and show they care about wearing the shirt

[davealbon]

I'd largely agree with Dbsl; the first half performance was up there with such memorable games as Arlesey (A, 1-2), Oadby (A, 0-2) and St Andrews (H, 0-2). The defence were a complete shambles, the midfield was non-existent, and the front three huffed and puffed but lacked any quality or cohesion. On the rare occasions we actually got the ball in an attacking position, the final ball was atrocious. All that said, we perhaps should have been level at half time, thanks only to two horrendous Kempston errors; one where the 'keeper dropped the ball but Rogers' tame shot was cleared off the line, and then a poor back header that allowed Shanks to nip in ahead of the 'keeper, but from 25 yards, with a difficult angle and on his left foot, he dragged the ball agonisingly wide of the open goal.

I'd argue we were much better in the second half, not just marginally better. Zack Reynolds was superb going forwards and solid at the back (MotM without a doubt - we'll gloss over his Jaap Stam-esque penalty), and the defence as a whole looked infinitely better with Westbrook alongside Dolman. Farrell ran things from the middle of the park, although Hicks and Rogers were still largely ineffective, and the front three finally started to test the Kempston defence - although were still nowhere near as effective as they were against Redditch on the opening day of the season.

I don't think I've seen four worse penalties in a shootout though! Even the one that went in (Hicks) nearly didn't, as the 'keeper got a good hand to it, but there was just enough power on it to beat him.

[sussexdiamond]

DaveAlbons comments are absolutely spot on. Westbrook in the back four with Reynolds in front changed the game. We could so easily have won that game in the second half. There was one incident in particular where at least 3 times Kempston defenders hacked the ball off the line. Strangely enough any other time we could have been 2-0 up at half time. The two goals we conceded were horrendous mistakes and the misses by Rogers and Lorraine were unbelievable. What does concern me is " why do wait 45 minutes before we start to compete?". If Westbrook moves into back four who does that leave in midfield? Sorry if you were listening to RD, moments before our second goal the laptop battery died on me. But we do have new mics and headset now so hopefully everything will go to plan on Saturday on and off the pitch

[Pressman]

Have to agree with Dave Albon and Sussex Diamond.

The first half was somewhat surreal. 3 bad defensive errors and less than clinical attacks had some of us scratching our heads at the interval. However, switching Westbrook to central defence plus the introduction of Zac Reynolds almost turned defeat into a win.

Obviously, Westbrook can't play in 2 different positions but being such a class act might it be worth us taking a punt by playing him alongside Liam for one or two games? The question then is who would replace him in the defensive midfield role? Reynolds played very well at Royston and stole the show last night. He has to start at Needham.

It must be frustrating for Peaksy seeing these Jeckyll and Hyde performances but while I was disappointed with our first half performances on Saturday and again last night I do take comfort from the fact that we are creating lots of chances and I'm sure goals will come.