Just Back

[Northants Nomad]

That was gut wrenching.

First 10 minutes, we were not in it and deserved to be down (to Mills goal) but, slowly, we came into it and, after 5 minutes of being on top, Hayter equalised. A wonderful cross from Copps found Hayter and, with his heading, you just knew it was a goal as he headed past the keeper's right hand. At 1-1, Reading went clean through, one on one with Sulli...a certain goal with Sulli on the floor and beaten...but wait...Sulli lost about 20 years and grew elastic arms and, somehow, got the ball right off the Reading players foot. We were immediately up on our feet applauding what was a simply breathtaking piece of goalkeeping.

The second goal wasn't quite so neat and really was Martis bundling it into the net under pressure. 2-1 at the break and, on  balance, I think we were a tad lucky.

After the break, we came out like an express train. For the first 15 minutes, we were fantastic, one-touch passing, quick etc. A great run from Deano when the ball looked lost saw him take it in the box and fire it past the keeper.

3-1 and we seemed to be in control and playing well. Oster was organising the midfield.

At this point, I need to mention our fans...erm...I think you showed your lack of maturity to start singing \"Easy, easy...\", \"We're just too good for you\" and \"Can we play you every week\"....oh yeah, and \"1 nil, and you f***ked it up\"...WITH 35 MINUTES TO GO!!! Jesus...did you boys deserve those words rammed down your throats when Reading won the game.

I'm not going to talk about Reading's next 3 goals - in short, with Oster going off, Sheils going off and being replaced by Sam Hird (making a back 5) and Byron \"even when I jump I get no higher\" Webster (playing as a striker), we lost our style. To be fair, we knew it was tough before those changes when they pegged us back to 3-2. Their equaliser was a great free kick over the wall which Jimmy saw but even his move couldn't block it. And their 4th was like a dagger through the heart.

As I said, a gut-wrenching defeat.

For me, Dumbuya, Oster and Shiels were great. Martis looks shaky (to say the least).

I haven't mentioned the ref...some very dodgy decisions...supported by Lino's who don't flag when the ball goes out. He gave free kicks if our players breathed on theirs. The only saving grace was that he was not a card-happy clown. If he was, we could have been down to <9 men.

[philsky]

Also just back.

Gutted; large style.

Reading did a double substitution, went for broke, and it worked.

We seemed to lose composure and at 3-2 I feared the worse.

We have to defend better; simple.

RTID

[grayx]

philsky wrote:

Also just back.

Gutted; large style.

Reading did a double substitution, went for broke, and it worked.

We seemed to lose composure and at 3-2 I feared the worse.

We have to defend better; simple.

RTID

But have we got the personnel at the club to defend better?, I fear not. It doesn,t help matters by putting more pressure on them by sitting deeper & inviting pressure onto them either. Self-inflicted defeat, sorry SOD.

[wilts rover]

Sorry EIW, I agree with most of your report (especially the arrogant chants - it was obviously all going to go wrong then and probably only acted to spur them on) but Dumbuya was at fault for their second, which was probably the game changer as it got them back in it from nowhere, and their winner. He was way to far off him, showed him the outside to invite the cross, which he did and as soon as you get a quality ball across the box you are in trouble. And there were more than these two occassions, he hardly stopped a cross coming in. Was this the first time he has come up against a quality winger because he looked very naive defensively and we paid the price?

[philsky]

I think we are all furiously agreeing.

Nonetheless, we had enough quality elsewhere to play from 3-1 and secure victory.

We should have doubled up early doors as the trouble came from the same side time and again.

Someone should have said to the lad - stay back.

[Northants Nomad]

I believe Sean's not at all happy with the officials...steam coming out of his ears and wouldn't talk to the press. He was the most animated on the touchline that I have seen him - rarely (if ever) do you see Sean arguing face to face with the ref and being threatened with the stands. He was (rightly) NOT a happy bunny.

[Northants Nomad]

wilts rover wrote:

Sorry EIW, I agree with most of your report (especially the arrogant chants - it was obviously all going to go wrong then and probably only acted to spur them on) but Dumbuya was at fault for their second, which was probably the game changer as it got them back in it from nowhere, and their winner. He was way to far off him, showed him the outside to invite the cross, which he did and as soon as you get a quality ball across the box you are in trouble. And there were more than these two occassions, he hardly stopped a cross coming in. Was this the first time he has come up against a quality winger because he looked very naive defensively and we paid the price?

Yep, don't disagree about the 2nd. To be fair, he did make a couple of errors and, when you're a defender, it can be a major issue. However, he also had to deal with a heck of a lot. I saw a lot of good stuff he did and, on the overall game, I thought he did well. It would be a harsh decision to swap him out for Chambers/O'Connor. If we see what we saw at Cardiff, the idea of moving O'Connor to right back and putting Thomas in with Martis fills me with dread. So, you'd leave O'Connor in the centre, then it's a fight for the right back between Chambers and Muzzy. And yes, I'd leave Joe Mills at left back.

[Surrey Rover]

Maybe just maybe today may be the wake up call that should  leave no one in any doubt that unless we add to the defensive personel we will be lucky to stay up. Our defensive situation is weaker than at any time under the tenure of SOD. He needs to be given the tools to replace the void left by Mills/Shackell/Ward and Gareth Roberts. Otherwise I'm convinced we'll become sucked into a relegation scrap come the second half of the season. Martis is poor to the say the least, and is not the anawer to the quality we had when the one of the three central defenders mentioned above were playing. If after all SOD has done for DRFC it would be a travesty should he be powerless to arrest a decline brought about by the defensive frailaties in evidence this afternoon but they are not going to go away any time soon unless we find the quality we lost in the summer.

[Standanista]

Surrey Rover wrote:

Maybe just maybe today may be the wake up call that should  leave no one in any doubt that unless we add to the defensive personel we will be lucky to stay up. Our defensive situation is weaker than at any time under the tenure of SOD. He needs to be given the tools to replace the void left by Mills/Shackell/Ward and Gareth Roberts. Otherwise I'm convinced we'll become sucked into a relegation scrap come the second half of the season. Martis is poor to the say the least, and is not the anawer to the quality we had when the one of the three central defenders mentioned above were playing. If after all SOD has done for DRFC it would be a travesty should he be powerless to arrest a decline brought about by the defensive frailaties in evidence this afternoon but they are not going to go away any time soon unless we find the quality we lost in the summer.

Yep, hear hear.  And it's not something which has come as a surprise today - folk have been talking about this all season.

[Viking Don]

Reading let 3 in and they've got Mills. Norwich let 3 in and they've got Ward. Barnsley have let a fair few in with Shackell. Just seem to be more goals flying in in this league this year, I don't know what the answer is. I'd have JoC and Chambers back in the fullback positions like a shot, and see what Martis and Thomas can do in the middle.

Sounded like a cracking game again though.

[Pintolager]

Viking Don wrote:

Reading let 3 in and they've got Mills. Norwich let 3 in and they've got Ward. Barnsley have let a fair few in with Shackell. Just seem to be more goals flying in in this league this year, I don't know what the answer is. I'd have JoC and Chambers back in the fullback positions like a shot, and see what Martis and Thomas can do in the middle.

Sounded like a cracking game again though.

Fully agree with your comment regarding JOC & Chambers at full back as I feel they are the best we have for those positions. I just hope that Rovers can get some cover for the CB position.

See you next saturday!

[streatham dave]

We lost in part due to Readings twelfth man and partly due to strange substitutions. I intended to say more but computer wouldn't let me. Maybe I timed out?

[streatham dave]

from Reading board
 Excellent entertainment after our substitutions, knew we'd won when they mistakenly brought on a basketball player who seemed to have no idea what he was doing on the pitch, who the hell was he and how tall is he?

[Boyhood dreams]

Pintolager wrote:

Viking Don wrote:

Reading let 3 in and they've got Mills. Norwich let 3 in and they've got Ward. Barnsley have let a fair few in with Shackell. Just seem to be more goals flying in in this league this year, I don't know what the answer is. I'd have JoC and Chambers back in the fullback positions like a shot, and see what Martis and Thomas can do in the middle.

Sounded like a cracking game again though.

Fully agree with your comment regarding JOC & Chambers at full back as I feel they are the best we have for those positions. I just hope that Rovers can get some cover for the CB position.


See you next saturday!

CH is more important than fullback, so until we get a competent CH, JOC must stay there?

[Wokingviking]

streatham dave wrote:

We lost in part due to Readings twelfth man and partly due to strange substitutions. I intended to say more but computer wouldn't let me. Maybe I timed out?

Have you been imbibing that bag of stuff you bought in the staff room again Dave?

[big fat yorkshire pudding]

Harsh, but Dumbuya's poor positioning cost us the points really, we're leaking a few goals down his side. I like him and his lack of experience is the problem, we knew it would happen at some point as we can't expect him to do it week in week out.  SOD has to decide whether Chambers comes in and I'd probably say yes to that, but Dumbuya just simply needs to play and given our defensive options if SOD goes with Chambers again Dumbuya must go straight out on loan.  I think Webster is the same he could do with a loan too, but we lack bodies, it's a tough one to call really.  Dumbuya will be class, but can we accept his weaknesses?  Tough to say.

Good news was going forward we were good.  But I'm not even going to start with that ref, he was the definition of a homer and got so many things wrong.

The baffling thing is how can anyone blame the fans for the defeat and it spurring them on, no it didn't spur them on, the goals were fairly soft really, poor defending, good crossing and poor officiating cost us the game, not the crowd.  Geez if our players were to pay attention to banter between two sets of fans they wouldn't be playing at any level, what a ridiculous comment that was.

[Boyhood dreams]

big fat yorkshire pudding wrote:

Harsh, but Dumbuya's poor positioning cost us the points really, we're leaking a few goals down his side. I like him and his lack of experience is the problem, we knew it would happen at some point as we can't expect him to do it week in week out.  SOD has to decide whether Chambers comes in and I'd probably say yes to that, but Dumbuya just simply needs to play and given our defensive options if SOD goes with Chambers again Dumbuya must go straight out on loan.  I think Webster is the same he could do with a loan too, but we lack bodies, it's a tough one to call really.  Dumbuya will be class, but can we accept his weaknesses?  Tough to say.

Good news was going forward we were good.  But I'm not even going to start with that ref, he was the definition of a homer and got so many things wrong.

Shame that about Dumbuya! He had Yates in his pocket last weekend.

I never went, today, but it sounded like all our defence were shaky from the start?

[mushRTID]

I agree about dumbuya. He has done brilliantly but just recently a few goals are coming from down that right side (scunny away, derby home 2 goals, today?).

He is a big part of the 1st team squad now and one of my favourite players but I can see Chambo coming back in for him. Dumbuya would be brilliant to throw on when were losing and going all out for a goal or two.

[Chrisd_123]

When Chambers is back I wouldn't have Dumbuya anywhere near full back. His positional sense is diabolical. Coventry, Derby x2, Scunny, and today he just got skinned with ease far too often. Stick him on the wing and get some stability at the back with Chambers at right back.

[Al4475]

JO'C looked uncharacteristically shaky too I thought - especially early doors. However - it was a great afternoon's entertainment and we perhaps deserved a point from it, although at 3-1 we should've had it bagged! I said to the Mrs just after Shiels scored that if we held firm for 15 mins keep them at bay and they'd not come back - what did we manage? About 8? At that point I could just feel us losing 4-3! Crazy!

[Boyhood dreams]

Al4475 wrote:

JO'C looked uncharacteristically shaky too I thought - especially early doors. However - it was a great afternoon's entertainment and we perhaps deserved a point from it, although at 3-1 we should've had it bagged! I said to the Mrs just after Shiels scored that if we held firm for 15 mins keep them at bay and they'd not come back - what did we manage? About 8? At that point I could just feel us losing 4-3! Crazy!

Was that the point when Oster came off? It sounded like we lost our outlet, according to the Rovers player commentator.

[streatham dave]

Ok lets try again.Joe Mills was under par today. His positioning was not as it should have been. Joc had to come out of position to cover too often. No one could argue with Matt Mills Goal. The free kick should never have been given because it was our throw in beforehand that was not given. Hartes Free kick was good but no one was on the post like they normally are. Joc tried to come back but did not make it. Other two Reading Goals had a hint of offside about them but I would need to se these again to see if we were to blame. Ref was awful. the only things he gave for us were what linesmen flagged for otherwise we would have been given nothing. At one point Reading player dived for a pen. It was not given but he was not carded. One player rugby/wrestled Martis again no card. SOD's subs did not work. Those were most of my points. Most of game we were well on top. Maybe Dumbaya should have gone up front instead of webster he has played there before non league. Webster to cetre back. Joc out wide. Copps Brill today as was shiels.

[streatham dave]

Ps agree with above that save from sulli was one of the best you will ever see. Also todays subs show us how weak we are up front when a few players are out. Gutted we should have been on the edge of getting into the playoffs tonight. Still seen enough to say that will happen. Happy Birthday Joe Mills by the way.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

[/quote]At this point, I need to mention our fans...erm...I think you showed your lack of maturity to start singing \"Easy, easy...\", \"We're just too good for you\" and \"Can we play you every week\"....oh yeah, and \"1 nil, and you f***ked it up\"...WITH 35 MINUTES TO GO!!! Jesus...did you boys deserve those words rammed down your throats when Reading won the game.[/quote]

Agree to a point. It made me cringe a bit and I thinks it's bad karma. However, I said at half time, we're 2-1 up and we haven't really go going yet.

By this time, the ref had given us nothing. Every time we breathed on one of their players - Foul. We were getting bumped and barged and it was play on.

I said it normally evens itself out and the ref will even it up. Well for a while it didn't look as though it was going to matter, we scored another good goal. We had them totally devoid of ideas, other than long ball over the top, which they had been trying all game.

Oster was enjoying himself, they couldn't get the ball off us. Their  crowd were deathly silent and all was looking good. (Although I was a bit nervous with our defending at times. Shelton giving away one or two needless free kicks)

Then they got a break, the managed to get round us and a good cross came in. Goal.

We gathered ourselves for a bit, started passing it again,
but then the officials decided it was too one sided. Not content with his weak refereeing in the first half, he could not wait to give a free kick in Harte's range.

The got possession from the 'phantom ball out' throw, their player collected the ball, was boxed in by us and was going now where, he tried to play a pass through Stock who was a yard away, the ball hit him, we got possession back. WHAT ! HANDBALL ! YOU'RE HAVING A LAUGH.

Harte scored despite O'Connor getting his shiny head to it and that gave them all the momentum and the crowd came alive.

Their two subs had a big influence and we we're suffering on and off the pitch.

At 3-1 and playing well I let myself think that if we won this, its shows we've come of age and we are showing our credentials as contenders. Trouble is, just as I showed weakness in allowing myself to think that, I think the players were thinking that too. Fatal !

Reading will go on to do well. We are a little short of being BETTER.

My last comment observation is on Sully. Great save in the first half BUT, he needs to command his box better when crosses come in. He could have calmed things down a few times by coming out to catch or punch, but stayed on his line. O'Connor was going mental with him and I don't blame him.

Very nearly a great day sowered by a weak referee.

[streatham dave]

It turned out to be premature to sing the things that were sung, but at the time they were true. In spells we looked Premiership (at least going forward). Unfortunately the best team does not always win. We get nothing from refs particularly away. this has been the  case for years. This ref was not as bad as the infamous ones from Crystal Palace a couple of years ago or Brentford from a few years previous but was nearly. I don't think it's deliberate but refs just see us as a small team and no one will really make much of a fuss.

[hoolahoop]

Come on lads , yes it was disappointing to lose when in front by 2 goals but Dumbaya (our recent hero btw) is now at fault for our last 3 defeats. How soon our fans turn on a recent favourite eh ?
From what I've read and heard the main problems were a) a 'homer'referee b) a keeper who does not control his own penalty area c) a manager that made the wrong substitutions at the wrong times and d) a team against us who didn't want to give the game up as lost.

As for assertions that we are likely to be facing a relegation fight in the 2nd. half of the season..........absolute bloody nonsense! Get yersens to bed, you're all tired and fed up and rightly so.

Fact is we scored 3 goals away from home against an 'in form' team without the use of our main striker. There should be plenty of positives to be had there given a)-d) above...................bring on the 'WALL'.

[Al4475]

WELL SAID HOOLA!    

[gillinghamrover]

hoolahoop wrote:

From what I've read and heard the main problems were a) a 'homer'referee b) a keeper who does not control his own penalty area c) a manager that made the wrong substitutions at the wrong times

Agree there with your a & b. Started to go wrong with SOD`s substition of Oster and as for the referee, the less said the better, he was a complete spineless t**t, who gave decisions to Reading at every possible moment. Handball my ass!

[Surrey Rover]

hoolahoop wrote:

Come on lads , yes it was disappointing to lose when in front by 2 goals but Dumbaya (our recent hero btw) is now at fault for our last 3 defeats. How soon our fans turn on a recent favourite eh ?
From what I've read and heard the main problems were a) a 'homer'referee b) a keeper who does not control his own penalty area c) a manager that made the wrong substitutions at the wrong times and d) a team against us who didn't want to give the game up as lost.

As for assertions that we are likely to be facing a relegation fight in the 2nd. half of the season..........absolute bloody nonsense! Get yersens to bed, you're all tired and fed up and rightly so.

Fact is we scored 3 goals away from home against an 'in form' team without the use of our main striker. There should be plenty of positives to be had there given a)-d) above...................bring on the 'WALL'.

Do you include SOD's aftermatch analysis in your summary? He's as down as I've ever heard him and is not happy with the defending of his team which was without doubt the prime reason we lost, have a listen for yourself

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_div_1/9129194.stm

[hoolahoop]

The poor defending wasn't mentioned as it seemed blindingly obvious as was that of the Royals.

They love our no.4 btw on their forum, they are toasting Martis tonight in the pubs of deepest Berkshire.