Cambridge on sat

Bad news on Will, according to E & S he is out for 3 weeks.

Bad news indeed, but he initally thought he'd be out for the season so not as bad as feared.  Hopefully we'll still have something to play for when he comes back.

What are the options at centre back now?  Leon, Birch, Ramsey-Dickinson?  Any news on Nathan?  Bring back Jamie?

We've signed Sam Brooks, ex Halesowen defender on dual reg from Buxton. Think we also have another on dual reg but don't know if its public or not. Not sure whether or not we have "first call" on either or both at all.

Sadly I can't make the game today so any updates would be gratefully received.

Come on Stour.

Scoreline flatters Cambridge. With them being so high in the league, they must be going through a bad run of form as they were one of the poorest teams seen at Amblecote this season.
Our new formation of 3-5-2 is settling down nicely with our makeshift back 3 doing well, superbly marshalled by Leon. Chris seems to be doing a Will ie a centre forward settling comfortably into central defence.
Sean was at his best, directing the whole team from midfield and displaying several defence-splitting passes.
All-in-all, today's was a very good all-round team performance with the close team spirit having returned. Congrats to Luke on his general play, highlighted by his hat-trick.
Fingers crossed for the next tough 3 away games, although, funnily enough, I fancy our chances against Hemel. To get 5 points will be good going.
Best of luck, lads.

That was more like it!

Dominated for most of the game and quite frankly Cambridge just didn't show up or we didn't let them. All over the park I thought we bossed it and everyone played well.

3 good goals and we probably should have had more but it shows how well we can play and we will need more of the same over the next few games.

Only down side was the last 5 minutes or so where lapses of concentration gave them 2 goals which they didn't deserve and made it a bit more nervy at the end than it should have been.

On to the next test, COYG

A deserved 3 points from a game in which we produced our best all round performance for a while, apart from a late wobble, which gave the scoreline an unfair reflection.  Felt defeat today would spell the end of play off chances, we had to deliver, and we did.                                                      

Benbow was a constant threat and a great strike from a tight angle for his second goal, we looked dangerous every time we went forward, although Cambridge where pretty poor and allowed us to dictate, a bit like some of our recent performances, their keeper made some good saves to keep the score down.  Strange to see Knight in defence but thought he did alright, as did Broadhurst, making the most of limited options at the back at present.

The odd hairy moment, free header put the wrong side of the post somehow, just before our third goal, then one hacked away from the striker after Coleman spilled it.  Looked a clear penalty at the death, as it was already 4.55, wasn't sure how long was left, fortunately about 5 seconds was the answer! 3.05 kick off again today, it's always late at every game I go to and clubs should be reminded that 3.00 and 7.45 kick off should be exactly that.

Highest gate in the league today, and plenty to shout about, 3 tough away games coming up now though, fingers crossed for those.

It's up to the ref to make sure the game kicks off on time, not the club(s).

Pleasantly surprised how well the 3-5-2 formation worked yesterday, particularly given the 3 were two forwards and a midfielder (although it does need to be acknowledged that Cambridge didn't offer much to test them). Five in midfield worked well, thought Harris had an excellent game alongside Geddes and the attacking full backs got plenty of ball to Benbow and brown. 3 well taken goals as well and opportunities for more spurned. The only worrying bit about yesterday was our inability to keep a clean sheet and the Teflon gloves of Coleman. Hopefully he will have sandpapered them before Tuesday. With the substitutions I don't think we finished the game with a recognised outfield defender on the pitch, something I suspect doesn't happen too often!

A much better performance,more shape,more commitment and desire than of late.

I thought Chris Knight did a very decent job as a CH and Rasmsey-Dickson look's a very good addition at this level although i hear rumour's that he's emigrating later this year,if so that would be a shame for us,if anyone know's if the rumour is true it would be good to know?

On a down note i was disappointed with Sansara yesterday,i though his distribution and crossing were very poor,he started well with us but has faded by the match.

Overall Coleman had a shocker in goal,i'm as big a bag of nerves as he is every time a cross comes into the box and the number of times he spills shots and crosses is alarming.He has all the physical attributes required to be an outstanding keeper but if he can't get the better of his nerves then i think we need to look elsewhere.

I thought Brown/Benbow worked much better with Brown in a central,traditional centre forward role with Benbow working off him,this isn't rocket science,instead of coaches trying to re-invent the wheel we should stick with this format in my opinion.

Although this 3-5-2 has worked in the last three games i am concerned that Hemel's quality of midfield and forward will exploit a makeshift back three on Tuesday night,it's asking a lot of Knight and Broadhurst to stem the threat of Mackey and co.

I'm really hoping we can keep up this run though and clinch third spot.

MotM was Luke with 20votes, Sean & Louis received 2 each & Kyle 1.

The Wine was won by John Johnson.