The unofficial AFC Rushden & Diamonds messageboard

Sara Pascoe wrote:Creditable mention for Dale Roberts though, who seriously earned his clean sheet with a few great saves especially the way he put off the Wrexham attacker in the second half so he missed from a yard out. Well done Dale.

Agreed, was his best game for a while.

3 people I usually go with couldn't come because of the cold (because one is an old codger) and the other 2 because of night shifts.

Personally found the game quite enjoyable for a 0-0 draw and really think Louis is starting to prove himself as a decent target man. When he went off, we had no presence upfront.

I liked the fact Osano was willing to have a crack from 30 yards. It makes a change from trying to walk the ball in the net or missing from 3 yards (taxi for Farrell!)

My MOM was Roberts though. Quality keeping.

I found the first half enjoyable, second half many of the players lost the plot, particularly Tomlin. Agree, Well Done to both Osano and Roberts. Keep the faith.

UttoDiamond wrote:Bang goes playoff hopes? Or am I being to pessimistic?

4 points behind with a game in hand..

I thought we did ok in the first half, but Wrexham (credit where it's due) sussed us out. IMO, we should have reverted to 4-4-2 10 mins into the second half. I also thought that Tommo was wasted in the second half, cos he seemed to be playing more central when he's clearly much more dangerous from a wide position.
Every time we get near to the play-off places we bugger it up.

Two of Diamonds wrote:I thought we did ok in the first half, but Wrexham (credit where it's due) sussed us out. IMO, we should have reverted to 4-4-2 10 mins into the second half. I also thought that Tommo was wasted in the second half, cos he seemed to be playing more central when he's clearly much more dangerous from a wide position.
Every time we get near to the play-off places we bugger it up.

I agree with that from what I saw. I couldn't get to the ground until almost 9 o'clock so I missed the entire first half, but in the second half we were dire! The 4-3-3 formation has worked well at times, and credit to JE for that, but he should have changed back to 4-4-2 yesterday. They completely dominated the midfield in the second half, and we could have played for a week and not scored.

[quote="Superhans"]i personally enjoyed the game - for a 0-0 draw

Well we all see games from different view-points - mine was, it was a frustrating game that was not exploited tactically, and one that we should have won.
Attacking football for me is about wingers and full backs playing down the flanks, reaching the by-line, behind the defence and getting crosses in. It's exciting to watch and gets goals. Of course, to vary this keeps defences on their toes but playing it all through the middle is stultifying for the game and for spectators.
It seems to me that this system allows our excess of central mid-fielders to get a game and keeps them all happy, otherwise the likes of Wolleasten and Terry would take turns in warming the bench.

Dukes wrote: Attacking football for me is about wingers and full backs playing down the flanks, reaching the by-line, behind the defence and getting crosses in. It's exciting to watch and gets goals.

You're living in the past, Dukes, like me. ;)

I blame Alf Ramsey! :(

JamesRDFC wrote:

Sara Pascoe wrote:Creditable mention for Dale Roberts though, who seriously earned his clean sheet with a few great saves especially the way he put off the Wrexham attacker in the second half so he missed from a yard out. Well done Dale.

Agreed, was his best game for a while.

Abbey would have made all of those saves and cleared up the one that went across the box where no-one dealt with ;) :lol: (I am actually joking for the record)

I also enjoyed the firs thalf of the game, and i think with the goal and Farrel's miss, we should probably have got three points. I reallly dont think Byrne was offside, but the lino should have a better view than me, so i will have to accept the decision.

Agreed with the comment on 433/442. I personally prefer 442, and i would have much preferred to see this in the second half. There were a number of times when the only width was from Osano/Robbo, whcih was leaving us dangerously short on the counter attack, which they were exploiting with numbers from midfield. We were quite lucky on occasions to survive. The first half, however, was completely different. I enjoyed the switching of positions from the front three, and i think the Wrexham defence were caused a lot of problems by this. I also think that the influence from Wolly was key, with Terry also putting in a commanding performance, something which imho has been lacking from him for a while.

For me, J-Lo was the key. His holding up of the ball was something that we came to expect from Faz at the start of the year, but he just seems to have gone off the boil. J-Lo seems to me to be the one man who you would always expect to hold up the ball and be able to distribute to the other strikers/wingers/midfielders, and then get on the crosses. He did this very well for me on Tuesday, and it was just a shame that it was not him on the end of the cross, instead of Faz!

On the whole, good but not quite good enough. Play-off chances are far from gone, but we do need to ensure that, for once, we dont miss the opportunity to get ourselves into the play off places, and take advantage of some easier games coming up.

Obviously the biggest problem of all is that we were attacking the home end in the first half. It's never good when that happens :evil: