[ Sat 2nd Apr ] v Leighton Town, KO 3pm SL1DC AWAY

[Dazzler]

Official Match Preview

http://www.afcdiamonds.com/leighton-tow ... -2nd-april

[Pigman]

Probably won't make this today - still in Cornwall and not leaving for home until 10am - but hopefully the lads can build on last week and get us that confidence boosting win !!

[Three of Diamonds]

An improved performance with highs and lows. Midfield is still a problem in the middle of the park, it's not mobile enough. Several times Sandy put some lovely crosses in the box, after linking well with Shanks, but there's no midfield busting into the box. I thought we improved second half when Brad came on as he sat in the holding role and Jeppo then looked free to roam. At last we started to look an attacking threat again, with good effort all over the pitch.

[sussexdiamond]

That was a crucial win today when you look at the results for all the other contenders. I missed the entire match as car broke down and had to wait for RAC. By time got home to listen to Radio Diamonds the game had finished long ago. So I read the twitter thread and that really got me worried as the minutes passed by!!.

[BartonRaz]

An improved performance with highs and lows. Midfield is still a problem in the middle of the park, it's not mobile enough. Several times Sandy put some lovely crosses in the box, after linking well with Shanks, but there's no midfield busting into the box. I thought we improved second half when Brad came on as he sat in the holding role and Jeppo then looked free to roam. At last we started to look an attacking threat again, with good effort all over the pitch.

Whilst I agree with the midfield issue (I'll come on to that in a minute) I actually thought we deteriorated second half after a very promising first period in which we could have scored 2 or 3 on another day.

A win's a win at the end of the day and I'm delighted we've managed to achieve that, but if we're totally honest with ourselves anything other than a victory against Leighton would have been a big disappointment regardless of our current form. It's something to build on, but we're going to have to keep improving before the play-offs come around assuming we're in them. Whilst I thought Manship and Jepson both looked OK today, they're both quite defensive and I feel Quigley would be better in there beside one or the other. I'd also have Richards in the XI.

Besides the obvious midfield issue, I think we're suffering a bit in that our full backs don't seem comfortable running with the ball or overlapping. They're defending well and that's obviously their primary objective, but we need something from them going forward to distract the opposition full backs and allow the likes of Hoban and Hall to cut inside. Both Lee and Kennedy's first instincts are to hump the ball forward to a striking duo that are yet to form a proper partnership.

A huge couple of games coming up in the sense that we really ought to be picking up 6 points against Arlesey and Hanwell.

[bozzer]

[Formic]

My first thought when we scored was to check whether Tom Lorraine was offside, and the video tends to confirm it was a pretty marginal decision.

Andy's comments after the game are very informative regarding player availability etc.

[Oundle Diamond #2]

It's funny how when we win the threads are 6 comments long, and when we lose it gets to 30-60. Good win lads, lets grind out another tomorrow night!

[SouthRushdenJFC]

It's funny how when we win the threads are 6 comments long, and when we lose it gets to 30-60.

That's because when it's a loss you say it's down to Brad Harris being a donkey and anyone who knows anything about football jumps in to correct you.

[Dowlo]

It's funny how when we win the threads are 6 comments long, and when we lose it gets to 30-60.

That's because when it's a loss you say it's down to Brad Harris being a donkey and anyone who knows anything about football jumps in to correct you.

This ^^^