Mickleover Away

Man of the match voting was as follows:

JUSTIN RICHARDS 18

Matt Gould 8

Leon Broadhurst 3

Joe Hull 2

Kristian Green 1

Brian Smikle 1

DEREK EDMONDS won the wine.

Thanks to everyone who took part.

It was a strange feeling coming away from the match feeling so deflated after what in all truth was a very poor second half display against the worst side i have seen us play this season,Mickleover were truly dreadful in the first half and whilst we were average at best in that half we deserved our three goal lead.

It's hard to know what was going through player's and management heads in the second half,what on earth did we think we were trying to do.

Brockmoor ( Neil ) made a very good point,when we are in attacking mode very few teams can cope with us,some of our intricate play around and inside their box in that first half was a joy to watch and if we'd continued in that vein i could've seen us scoring 7 or 8 today so poor were they defensively.

We are simply not good enough defensively to just sit back and try to soak up pressure,if we try this in the play offs we'll catch a cold against a decent side,we need to push for goals and not sit back,we ended up making a useless opposition decent in that second half and in the end they deserved a draw or more based on chances created and missed in that second half,Matt Gould pulled off some great saves.

Once again our form dipped as soon as Lait had to come off,i thought Vincent had an awful game,constantly giving the ball away and offering nothing as an attacking threat.

Hawley too was careless in possession and failed to hold the ball up well enough or to play team mates in,thank goodness Justin Richards was at the top of his game today,his performance and work rate was immense,his channel running on both sides was superb.

Geddes had a decent first half but was obviously unimpressed with Gary's decision to "hook" him in the second half but making the displeasure so blatantly obvious is never good for team morale and i didn't like the way him and Tonksy very obviously didn't shake hands as they passed during the substitution.

Two very combative and influential players,both with fiery natures but they have to understand they are part of a squad and just take the managerial decisions "on the chin" in public.

Decent performances today from Scarr and Leon but overall it was a poor performance and anyone who tries to spin it any other way is having a laugh.

All of this said the result is the main thing at this stage so i hope today is a lesson learned and that we go for the throat against Matlock on Tuesday because i still think we can win our remaining games and finish third.

We do NOT want to be travelling up to play "Reality TV City" on a midweek night with them limiting the away attendance and them playing all the games they no doubt will,we want to be at worst playing them at home.

Good result today Stour but let's really go at Matlock for the whole match on Tuesday night.

It wasn't a brilliant performance yesterday, especially in the 2nd half of the game. But personally I don't really care how bad we play, just as long as we win and get the 3 points.

I have seen games this season where we've played a lot better than that and got nothing out of it. So I'm just glad to except the 3 points and move onto the next game, especially as other results went our way yesterday.

And it was also an excellent turn out by our supporters, as we must have had at least half of the crowd at yesterdays game.

We did deserve the 3 points but it was the character of the performance that was a bit worrying,we should of turned the screw on them in the second half as maybe goal difference will come into it,the body language of the players said it all at the end,but it has been a long season for them physically and mentally.

Not sure what to make of yesterday. 3 points a good first half and everyone else dropping points should make it an outstanding day. However that second half was utterly utterly pathetic. It's the second time in 7 days we've had a 3 goal lead and nearly chucked it away. Ashton is one thing, micklelover is simply unacceptable. If we cannot look comfortable with a 3 goal lead we will never go up.

As Mick has said,first half they couldn't live with us, with Justin and Laity being excellent but that second half. Dear oh dear.

The issue with Tonks & Sean needs to be sorted asap. It's no secret I'd start Tonks. I don't think Sean has consistently done enough since he's came back. If it's one game for one, one for enough, okay, but the stropping by the pair of them needs to pack it in asap. There is a lot of football left this season. They simply need to be united.

Nothing much more to add other than maybe...phew!!!!

One of my dislikes in football is a bad attitude when a player is subbed off. I know some pundits say it shows the player cares. I disagree, I know all of our players care and want to play, thy don't need to act like 3 year olds when asked to swap places with a fellow team mate who hasn't had the good fortune to be in the starting eleven.

We have had players do it over the years and again this year. I don't care who the player is, how good they or, or where we are in the season, I would automatically drop a player for a bad attitude. This isn't aimed just at Sean - others are guilty too.

Regarding Sean and Tom, I like them both and was pleased when they returned, however at this stage of the season we cant be messing around with a formation that has in the main worked and therefore it is difficult to play both of them. I think they also need to remember that they chose to leave Stourbridge and join another team - I understand why and don't blame them for it - that didn't work out and so both wanted to return. That's great but they cant just expect to walk back in the team and play a full 90 minutes every game. They both can be of benefit in the last few games and for the sake of our team and the supporters they need to sort themselves out.