Hitchin away.

With our fullbacks pushing forward it also gives our midfield more options.

We need to get the basics right tomorrow, no dithering about particularly 1st half.Keep the pressure off our defence and play to our strengths.
Plenty of quick ball, good discipline, smiley faces, belief and patience.

Good point PA. I really think the big difference is Louis as the holding midfielder, let's the others play. Think Louis' performances have really improved in recent games.

Spot on Mr 81, his positional play is top notch.The rest of the team benefit from the solidity that he brings to our line up,
Encouraging to know that we have another option to use there since the reshuffle with Leons successful transition to CB.

It will be interesting to see who's on the bench today, always the most telling sign of our strength.
Anybody have any injury news updates?
Hooefully Will and Luke are fit but if so I'd keep them on the bench and utilise them 2nd half.

Whatever happens today, I think we can all acknowledge the fact that this season has seen a change in personnel and with Sean and Ben signing new deals it emphasises even more that we have the nucleus of a very good new team and if we sign correctly in the summer I have no doubt we will be up the top again, whichever league we may be in. Of course, this will all mean nothing as we're going up.   

Devil out

Aled wrote:Devil out

I was going to offer you a lift to Chesham but you can walk now!

Talk about squeaky bum time! Injury time corners at the home end no good for my ticker! it seemed in the script for one of their defenders to bury a last minute header in the back of the net.

We controlled the game comfortably in the first half, a good finish form Smikle and Hitchin posed little threat, as soon they equalised (scrambled home from close range), the pressure was on and although we still played the better football they looked more likely to score as we run the clock down, though their keeper made a good save to tip one round the corner to deny us a late winner. It would have been awful to have missed out seeing how late Hungerford scored their winner, 90+8. Bet Poole are ruing those 3 lost points too.

Decent non league ground is Top Field and decent fans, i've enjoyed the last two Saturday away days, and now face a nervous tuesday evening in a hotel in Cornwall! A big thank you for the efforts of the players and management in a roller coaster "regular season" hope there's still more to come. A lively coach journey back, with the chairman on the Microphone at regular intervals.

Was not at the game, so all I can say is congratulations to everyone. I certainly look forward to going to Chesham on Tuesday, and yes I will be there this time as I'm travelling by coach.

Not wishing to make myself look anymore stupid than I already am, but is the play-off over 1 leg or 2 as I cannot remember  

sirsmilerIII wrote:Was not at the game, so all I can say is congratulations to everyone.  I certainly look forward to going to Chesham on Tuesday, and yes I will be there this time as I'm travelling by coach.

Not wishing to make myself look anymore stupid than I already am, but is the play-off over 1 leg or 2 as I cannot remember  

It's a one leg semi final and a one leg final Smiler   

Just got home , drunk and tired. Poor match, job done, Quality banter on the coach home and random posts on the forum from me. Boom!

We were poor today. Too many players had off days and against a Cambridge or a Chesham we would have lost. However, the form the boys have been in they're allowed 1 off day and luckily its today not Tuesday! Very good numbers, however like TRM said thought the actual noise was poor for most of the second half, and when songs were song it seemed to be about 'Dave'  Get its banter etc, but when our season is in the balance singing about a deflated plastic Llama is a bit odd. All about opinions I suppose! There was a moment on the coach back that sums up why for many of us, Non league football is better than Football League. As 1 supporters coach passed the team coach, the Chairman of our club, surrounded by supporters rang the manager up and effectively told Gary he was sacked. You would never get that sort of camaraderie at a Albion, United etc etc. Onto Tuesday we go. The journey back was very enjoyable, and it was nice to finally put a name to a face with Aled!

You could tell your coach looked rowdy as it past our far more sedate one! The subsequent phone conversations on loud speaker and Gordon being promoted to chairman were indeed a highlight.

The game wasn't great but hey job done and the added tensions of not knowing the real hungerford score (bloody social media! ) made for a better atmosphere in the last 15 - and they were long 15 too. A good day with a good result and more excitement to come.

Well done Stourbridge FC.

Well done to all the players & staff on reaching the Play Offs.

MotM was Brian with 7 votes , Chris received 5 ,Kyle 3 , Leon & Will 2 each , Ben & Kayelden 1 each.

Wine was won by Eric Timmins

Good to meet you too Jack, I was of course, impeccably behaved

Great day out. Loved how they had a 'quieter' coach and a 'rowdy' coach (the latter containing the fez contingent). I went on the quiet coach but think I was definitely on the rowdy one on the way back. It was good fun though! Had a lot of beer though so was feeling the effects on Sunday morning :/

Enjoyed the pre-game beers in the sports bar (Venue?) and the Victoria pub.

The game was a bit of a non-event, great finish by Brian for our goal, seemed like we switched off for theirs but other than the goals, chances were few and far between for either side. It was always going to be difficult to go there and win with the knowledge that a draw would be enough.

At the services on the way back, pulled up next to a minibus of Walsall fans (including one lovely girl in a bear onesie) and traded a few moans about Stevenage!

Decided against the option of continuing the drinking at West One in Hagley with the team and instead opted for a Chinese takeaway from the White Rose and an early night!

stour_boy wrote:Great day out. Loved how they had a 'quieter' coach and a 'rowdy' coach (the latter containing the fez contingent). I went on the quiet coach but think I was definitely on the rowdy one on the way back. It was good fun though! Had a lot of beer though so was feeling the effects on Sunday morning :/

Enjoyed the pre-game beers in the sports bar (Venue?) and the Victoria pub.

The game was a bit of a non-event, great finish by Brian for our goal, seemed like we switched off for theirs but other than the goals, chances were few and far between for either side. It was always going to be difficult to go there and win with the knowledge that a draw would be enough.

At the services on the way back, pulled up next to a minibus of Walsall fans (including one lovely girl in a bear onesie) and traded a few moans about Stevenage!

Decided against the option of continuing the drinking at West One in Hagley with the team and instead opted for a Chinese takeaway from the White Rose and an early night!

I'd have preferred it if she'd been a "Bare girl in a onesie" but at my time of life i can't afford to be so choosey   

Jack wrote:We were poor today. Too many players had off days and against a Cambridge or a Chesham we would have lost. However, the form the boys have been in they're allowed 1 off day and luckily its today not Tuesday! Very good numbers, however like TRM said thought the actual noise was poor for most of the second half, and when songs were song it seemed to be about 'Dave'  Get its banter etc, but when our season is in the balance singing about a deflated plastic Llama is a bit odd. All about opinions I suppose! There was a moment on the coach back that sums up why for many of us, Non league football is better than Football League. As 1 supporters coach passed the team coach, the Chairman of our club, surrounded by supporters rang the manager up and effectively told Gary he was sacked. You would never get that sort of camaraderie at a Albion, United etc etc. Onto Tuesday we go. The journey back was very enjoyable, and it was nice to finally put a name to a face with Aled!

Very much inclined to agree with you, Jack. I think there were a few reasons for this, some understandable.

1. The team weren't on top form and that didn't "lift" our supporters. The players seemed to be nervous, and more so the longer the game went on, and that transmitted to the terraces.

2. We were all nervous anyway to start with!

3. This is the "harsh truth" bit. Quite a few people seemed to go with the main intention of having a good drink with the football almost incidental. The coaches leaving so early probably didn't help that - 11.30 would have been ample time. That's fine, as long as they get behind the team, but when alcohol has been taken people get silly and lose focus (hence all the "Dave" stuff).

I thought the quantity of our support was superb, and in terms of behaviour equally so - not a hint of any nonsense of any kind. Indeed I know Clive has had correspondence from Hitchin praising our support and wishing us well.

But the quality in terms of getting behind the team and driving them on was very, very poor in my eyes - certainly not a patch on Poole or Chesham where we had far fewer numbers. If we're going to take 200 to a game then let's all 200 of us be right behind the team. I kind of got the feeling on Saturday that to some people whether we won, lost, made the play-offs or bombed out was all irrelevant compared with having a bloody good piss-up.

I'm not having a go at everybody who had a few drinks at the game - there are plenty that could be flung at who I know will have been desperate for us to succeed and will have been right behind the team, allowances being made for points (1) and (2) above.

I think circumstances on Tuesday will help. Nobody is going to be there hours ahead of kick-off and minds will be more focused on the game than the "day out".

Tell me if this is all a bit schoolmaster-ish! It's easy for me to be critical - I don't drink at games beacuse (a) I'm usually driving, (b) I often have the kids with me, as on Saturday, and (c) I can't handle it!!!  

EDIT - I probably could have worded some of this better. It's not necessarily about the drinking, but about the feeling that the outcome of the match wasn't as important to some of our supporters as to others.

TRM wrote:

Jack wrote:We were poor today. Too many players had off days and against a Cambridge or a Chesham we would have lost. However, the form the boys have been in they're allowed 1 off day and luckily its today not Tuesday! Very good numbers, however like TRM said thought the actual noise was poor for most of the second half, and when songs were song it seemed to be about 'Dave'  Get its banter etc, but when our season is in the balance singing about a deflated plastic Llama is a bit odd. All about opinions I suppose! There was a moment on the coach back that sums up why for many of us, Non league football is better than Football League. As 1 supporters coach passed the team coach, the Chairman of our club, surrounded by supporters rang the manager up and effectively told Gary he was sacked. You would never get that sort of camaraderie at a Albion, United etc etc. Onto Tuesday we go. The journey back was very enjoyable, and it was nice to finally put a name to a face with Aled!

Very much inclined to agree with you, Jack. I think there were a few reasons for this, some understandable.

1. The team weren't on top form and that didn't "lift" our supporters. The players seemed to be nervous, and more so the longer the game went on, and that transmitted to the terraces.

2. We were all nervous anyway to start with!

3. This is the "harsh truth" bit. Quite a few people seemed to go with the main intention of having a good drink with the football almost incidental. The coaches leaving so early probably didn't help that - 11.30 would have been ample time. That's fine, as long as they get behind the team, but when alcohol has been taken people get silly and lose focus (hence all the "Dave" stuff).

I thought the quantity of our support was superb, and in terms of behaviour equally so - not a hint of any nonsense of any kind. Indeed I know Clive has had correspondence from Hitchin praising our support and wishing us well.

But the quality in terms of getting behind the team and driving them on was very, very poor in my eyes - certainly not a patch on Poole or Chesham where we had far fewer numbers. If we're going to take 200 to a game then let's all 200 of us be right behind the team. I kind of got the feeling on Saturday that to some people whether we won, lost, made the play-offs or bombed out was all irrelevant compared with having a bloody good piss-up.

I'm not having a go at everybody who had a few drinks at the game - there are plenty that could be flung at who I know will have been desperate for us to succeed and will have been right behind the team, allowances being made for points (1) and (2) above.

I think circumstances on Tuesday will help. Nobody is going to be there hours ahead of kick-off and minds will be more focused on the game than the "day out".

Tell me if this is all a bit schoolmaster-ish! It's easy for me to be critical - I don't drink at games beacuse (a) I'm usually driving, (b) I often have the kids with me, as on Saturday, and (c) I can't handle it!!!   

Largely agreed. There wasn't a fat lot to cheer about all in all, and we never looked like conceding again after their equaliser, but on the other hand, we had very few corners, good openings etc. second half which would get the fans on board.

I thought there were more Stour-related chants than I can remember this season - certainly more than the average home game - but it did peter out in the second half.

The only thing I would say is, the 'fez' crowd are not obliged to get involved with Stour-related chants if they don't want to, as long as their behaviour is good. As you said, it was exemplary both in the ground and on the coaches & the bars so I'm all for it. I don't personally 'get' the fezzes and the llama and the "Dave" thing, but that's their in-joke and they can sing about what they like.

Their presence can't possibly mean less noise - so if you say there was less 'getting behind the team' at Hitchin than at Poole or Chesham than that can only be because the regulars were quieter too. I was pretty 'in drink' throughout so I wasn't fully focused on the match. Poole and Chesham were pretty much 'must wins' whereas at Hitchin we just needed to see it out. That inevitably would affect the atmosphere IMHO.

Saturday felt very much like a "day out"/celebration to me, as we were pretty much over the finishing line. Hence the beering all day which I very rarely do before matches. Tuesday will be very different - nerves throughout, no drink, and shouting myself hoarse most likely.

I think you've put it a lot better than I did, SB!

However, I never felt it was a case of being "pretty much over the finishing line." We could not guarantee anything at Hungerford (as events showed) and we were only one slip from blowing it in the last 20 minutes.

When the game is so important, I really can't get into the fancy dress, musical instruments, carnival atmosphere. I am too nervous and it's too important to me. Yes if we have already won but not needing to win. It's not criticism it's just not me.

I actually had a real pop at a bunch of teenagers during the gosport game last year. We were losing and they were chatting and laughing like it didn't matter! Maybe I take it too seriously. :-)

stour_boy wrote:Great day out. Loved how they had a 'quieter' coach and a 'rowdy' coach (the latter containing the fez contingent). I went on the quiet coach but think I was definitely on the rowdy one on the way back.

Ah, that's what happens when young Jack gets a few beers into him!   

(Only kidding, Jane!)

I can only echo the comments that Jack has made about the day and performance.A great day out, decent place, real good old fashioned ground,quality banter, poor attacking performance, resilient defending.
I'd like to see Sansara back tomorrow, playing Drew in that position didnt work for me and allowed Hitchin too much time on the ball.
MOTM for me was Chris Knight.
Impressed too with our discipline and workrate, well done lads.

Jane.N wrote:When the game is so important, I really can't get into the fancy dress, musical instruments, carnival atmosphere. I am too nervous and it's too important to me. Yes if we have already won but not needing to win. It's not criticism it's just not me.

I actually had a real pop at a bunch of teenagers during the gosport game last year. We were losing and they were chatting and laughing like it didn't matter! Maybe I take it too seriously.  :-)

Agree completely with you Jane.
I agree with most of what SB also says, I don't know who or what "the fez" are, but when you say they aren't obliged to get involved in stour chants,when they're watching stour, then I'm a little confused. Why go and watch if you have no interest of getting behind the team and rather. Make a mockery of our support by singing about an inflatable lama? Something else I've never understood, each to their own.

The thing is, at times on Saturday it almost felt as though we had gatecrashed a small private party where there happened to be a football match going on in the background. For some, the party was the main event.

Or am I being curmudgeonly?