North Ferriby Replay

No matter what the result was tonight, I hope that all this talk including the word sack is a joke.  Remember that 1 game does not make a season

Having said that I do agree about the need for new players, as there are areas on the pitch where we could obviously do better.

Never fear devil....Sir Rocky should soon be back with us.

Of course it's a joke Smiler!

Bloody hell smiler have a word with yourself, of course it's a joke, good grief!

Bloody hell smiler have a word with yourself, of course it's a joke, good grief!

Thought I'd make my point twice lol

Rowey hits bar with lob. Nothing gone our way...

Blimey TRM this game is going on a bit ain't it?

Aled wrote:Blimey TRM this game is going on a bit ain't it?

Next goal wins!!

Winner stays on?

A very cold night on the Humber and in the end the result I feared. The first 25 minutes we looked good, Benbow hitting the bar and a couple of other chances we could have been two up and who knows what might have happened, then two poor goals to concede (the second an own goal off the defenders back) and that was pretty much that with the third coming just before half time. The second half was pretty much one way traffic like Saturday and we did well to keep the score down, a Rowe lob from outside the box hit the crossbar being our only real chance. 134 watching and I would say more from Stourbridge on a tuesday night then they brought on a Saturday! Smallish ground, some work to do to retain their conference status I think.

Many Thanks to Richard, aka TRM, for the lift there and back, I feel shattered just sitting in the car and watching the game, after a day's work, so appreciate the players efforts and commitment. Both Ford and Clifton where named as substitutes, indeed they announced Clifton had come on the pitch when it was actually Sam Tye!

Aled wrote:Bloody hell smiler have a word with yourself, of course it's a joke, good grief!

I keep talking to myself but I never make much sense, so now I've given up trying. You have to realise that if the joke isn't a dirty one, then I don't understand it  

Plus talking to yourself is the first sign of madness, so welcome to the house of fun.

They didn't play as well as on Saturday and we played a lot, lot better. Defensively, we were more solid, and whereas at the weekend they were through us like a knife through butter, that never really happened last night. Yes, they had attacks and they had chances - but in the first game they genuinely should have (not could have, or might have) scored at least ten, last night we limited their clear-cut chances.

Overall, Ferriby were always the better side in most departments but the margins were slim.

And then you look at the scoreline! Over the two games, it's ridiculous that both finished the way they did!

The first 25 minutes we probably shaded - Luke had a header cleared off the line, and Nathan had another header hooked away - though I didn't think it was going in - before Ryan forced a good save from the keeper and Luke could only hook the rebound at full stretch against the bar. We forced a series of corners and were well in the game.

Their first goal was well-finished low into the corner, though we could have done more to stop the shot, I felt. And the second soon afterwards knocked the stuffing out of us. One of their blokes found space at the far post and Leon could only divert his header into the net - I think it may have been going in anyway.

We put a bit of pressure on leading up to half time and Nathan and I were saying that if we got one back at that stage it could give us some real momentum. But they killed us with a really poor third goal defensively - big punt from the keeper collected by one of theirs in acres of space with time to pick out an unmarked striker in the box to shoot first time past Dean. Right on half time and that was that.

We didn't really threaten as much in the second half, although I can't agree with OHB that it was "one-way traffic". Most of our attacks were snuffed out on the edge of the box or before then, though Ben did just fail to get a proper connection coming in on the far post unmarked to meet a great cross by George on about the hour mark. Might it have changed anything? I doubt it, really.

I missed the build-up to their fourth goal but it looked like a 1-on-1 with Dean and a good finish. We had more pressure late on and Rowey was unlucky to hit the bar with a good lob. Maybe we deserved a goal, not that it would have made any difference to the outcome. I don't think Ferriby were at full tilt in the second half but they were comfortable by then.

There is a lot we can take from the game, in my view, after Saturday. But the things we should really be taking from it are where we need to improve. DA touched on it already and many of us have said it before. Last night and particularly the first game showed that we are not competitive and physical enough against stronger, fitter teams. Yes, Ferriby were the best NL team we've played in a good while and we don't come up against that every week, but even at our level we can be found out by other teams too easily and we give away too many soft goals because we aren't solid enough. 23 games this season and we've kept FIVE clean sheets - for a side with aspirations to go up that is a shocking statistic. Three of those were against lower division sides (Alvechurch, Evesham and Curzon). Only two clean sheets in 13 League games, and one of those was against nine men.

There has got to be more physical strength in the team and that has got to happen quickly otherwise we will always be a play-off side at best in this Division, and if we do get to the play-offs we are likely to suffer more "Gosports" against teams who are good enough to finish top 5 in the SLP. They will exploit our weaknesses.

As for competing at a higher level, if we were to get there, Ferriby have shown how us hard that would be. Let's not get too carried away though. We beat Workington and that was no fluke. Yes, they are in the relegation zone in Conf North, but they are not cut off, so that suggests to me that we are not a million miles away from having a chance if we got up and if we strengthen in the right areas. What worries me is that we have never shown any sign of intending to bring in that type of player - I don't mean filling the team with them, just one hard-nosed "snotter" would do as a start!

Nathan remarked during the second half last night that it was a lot like some of the games in our first SLP season (I wouldn't know, I didn't see any of them!) where we were getting pasted by teams distinctly stronger than us. It took us time to get to grips with that and we did. The style of play and the tactics we use have been superb at times over the last four years or so, but it has got us so far and is unlikely to get us any further, in my opinion, without a tweak or two at the very least.

TRM wrote:They didn't play as well as on Saturday and we played a lot, lot better. Defensively, we were more solid, and whereas at the weekend they were through us like a knife through butter, that never really happened last night. Yes, they had attacks and they had chances - but in the first game they genuinely should have (not could have, or might have) scored at least ten, last night we limited their clear-cut chances.

Overall, Ferriby were always the better side in most departments but the margins were slim.

And then you look at the scoreline! Over the two games, it's ridiculous that both finished the way they did!

The first 25 minutes we probably shaded - Luke had a header cleared off the line, and Nathan had another header hooked away - though I didn't think it was going in - before Ryan forced a good save from the keeper and Luke could only hook the rebound at full stretch against the bar. We forced a series of corners and were well in the game.

Their first goal was well-finished low into the corner, though we could have done more to stop the shot, I felt. And the second soon afterwards knocked the stuffing out of us. One of their blokes found space at the far post and Leon could only divert his header into the net - I think it may have been going in anyway.

We put a bit of pressure on leading up to half time and Nathan and I were saying that if we got one back at that stage it could give us some real momentum. But they killed us with a really poor third goal defensively - big punt from the keeper collected by one of theirs in acres of space with time to pick out an unmarked striker in the box to shoot first time past Dean. Right on half time and that was that.

We didn't really threaten as much in the second half, although I can't agree with OHB that it was "one-way traffic". Most of our attacks were snuffed out on the edge of the box or before then, though Ben did just fail to get a proper connection coming in on the far post unmarked to meet a great cross by George on about the hour mark. Might it have changed anything? I doubt it, really.

I missed the build-up to their fourth goal but it looked like a 1-on-1 with Dean and a good finish. We had more pressure late on and Rowey was unlucky to hit the bar with a good lob. Maybe we deserved a goal, not that it would have made any difference to the outcome. I don't think Ferriby were at full tilt in the second half but they were comfortable by then.

There is a lot we can take from the game, in my view, after Saturday. But the things we should really be taking from it are where we need to improve. DA touched on it already and many of us have said it before. Last night and particularly the first game showed that we are not competitive and physical enough against stronger, fitter teams. Yes, Ferriby were the best NL team we've played in a good while and we don't come up against that every week, but even at our level we can be found out by other teams too easily and we give away too many soft goals because we aren't solid enough. 23 games this season and we've kept FIVE clean sheets - for a side with aspirations to go up that is a shocking statistic. Three of those were against lower division sides (Alvechurch, Evesham and Curzon). Only two clean sheets in 13 League games, and one of those was against nine men.

There has got to be more physical strength in the team and that has got to happen quickly otherwise we will always be a play-off side at best in this Division, and if we do get to the play-offs we are likely to suffer more "Gosports" against teams who are good enough to finish top 5 in the SLP. They will exploit our weaknesses.

As for competing at a higher level, if we were to get there, Ferriby have shown how us hard that would be. Let's not get too carried away though. We beat Workington and that was no fluke. Yes, they are in the relegation zone in Conf North, but they are not cut off, so that suggests to me that we are not a million miles away from having a chance if we got up and if we strengthen in the right areas. What worries me is that we have never shown any sign of intending to bring in that type of player - I don't mean filling the team with them, just one hard-nosed "snotter" would do as a start!

Nathan remarked during the second half last night that it was a lot like some of the games in our first SLP season (I wouldn't know, I didn't see any of them!) where we were getting pasted by teams distinctly stronger than us. It took us time to get to grips with that and we did. The style of play and the tactics we use have been superb at times over the last four years or so, but it has got us so far and is unlikely to get us any further, in my opinion, without a tweak or two at the very least.

Cheers for that report and summary TRM.

I would like to see some of the money from this year's cup run's put into a "weights room" facility at the ground.

I think this addition would aid the physical improvement of our player's AND player's could use the facility at their own convenience and fit it in around their work and life timetable.

I started using weights in my early 20's at the time i took to running and the improvement in my running times was massive,i think it's something Stour need to look at.

I was surprised down at Chippenham when i was stood next to Ben in the club house,he was really quite "slight" and an additional 7 to 10 lbs of muscle would help him and many of the other player's improve in my opinion.

There was talk of a weights room at the ground,but this sort of thing has to be done properly as we dont want a stour player macho man to hurt himself! if i remember the club have used the club on the ring road,why not either players have a strength exercise class at the gym or hire a PTI for training nights? Time is very precious for the players so trying to get them together other than training nights would be hard,do weight themed classes at gym myself,which find works for me and my running.

North Ferriby have today won 4-0 away at Lincoln City to reach the quarter finals.