01-03-2015, 16:43
Just Got Lucky?
We got lucky in that we caught Boro on a day where they didn't play like promotion contenders.
We were lucky they weren't given a pretty clear cut early penalty?
We were lucky that the referee saw & gave us the penalty.
We were lucky that the penalty went through the keeper's grasp into the net.
We were lucky that we created our one chance a couple of minutes later while Boro still had the red mist in front of their eyes.
We were lucky that Semedo wasn't sent off.
Having said all that, we were the better side and thoroughly deserved to win.
The first half was pretty much a non-event with the ball spending most of its time high in the air being thumped from one back four to the other. Boro were on top for the first 20 minutes but after that it was pretty even with neither side threatening to score. We gradually made a number of nice moves down the right with Palmer & Nuhui being prominent. Nuhui showed particularly neat skills on several occasions.
My view at half time was that the game had 0-0 written all over it unless we got a penalty.
Lo & behold, a penalty it was. The ball bobbled up & Omeruo palmed the ball away above his head. Clearly his hand was in an "unnatural position" and the referee (who had the same angle that I had) saw it & gave the penalty. Nuhui's previous penalties had all been unconvincing but successful. Again, he couldn't fool the keeper with direction but there was enough pace on the ball to force it home.
It was clear the Boro defenders had lost it and Omeruo brought down Maghoma as he was about to burst towards the box to give us a dangerous free kick. McGugan's ball in was perfect as Keane headed against the post but forced in the rebound.
The game was over provided we kept our discipline, Semedo stupidly got involved in an incident while waiting for a free kick to be taken. It appeared that he poked a Boro player in the face. In the end, two yellow cards were issued after a dozen players were involved in a shoving contest.
Neither keeper made a save of note though we were grateful to Palmer who got back to make a superb goal saving tackle on Kike when Westwood was beaten.
The last ten minutes seemed to last forever but it was the scoreboard that got stuck on 81 minutes. At the final whistle there was another melee involving Semedo, Leadbitter and others.
Westwood - 6 - an easy afternoon
Palmer - 8 - good all round game, goal saving tackle
Lees - 7 - calm and assured
Zayatte - 8 - total beast of a defender
Dielna - 6 - shaky first half, brilliant second half
Lee - 5 - disappointing
McGugan - 6 - poor first half, controlled it second half
Semedo - 7 - all over the pitch, bit ill disciplined but effective
Maghoma - 7 - grew as the match went on
Keane - 8 - class & a goal
Nuhui - 8 - quality hold up play, scored penalty
............................................................
Hutchinson - 6 - combative
Maguire - hardly involved
May - hardly involved
Boro showed us a lack of respect by resting a number of their best players - Friend, Leadbitter & Tomlin. It set the tone & they never played like a promotion chasing team. We gradually grew into the match and got stronger & stronger.
This was our best home performance this season by some distance. Boro didn't look good but we didn't let them get into any rhythm.
My question is why have we only really performed four or five times all season? We have shown against Boro twice and at Forest what we are capable of doing yet most matches we have played half heartedly with minimal effort and no apparent plan. I really think that we are only a couple of quality signings away from a promotion chasing squad of players. However, I have to question SG's ability to motivate them to play to their full potential every match and his ability to outwit the opposing manager tactically and make match changing tactical changes & substitutions. I guess we will find out more of our new owners thoughts this week.
It was nice to go into stoppage time in a home match with victory already assured and made for a far more pleasant journey home.
We got lucky in that we caught Boro on a day where they didn't play like promotion contenders.
We were lucky they weren't given a pretty clear cut early penalty?
We were lucky that the referee saw & gave us the penalty.
We were lucky that the penalty went through the keeper's grasp into the net.
We were lucky that we created our one chance a couple of minutes later while Boro still had the red mist in front of their eyes.
We were lucky that Semedo wasn't sent off.
Having said all that, we were the better side and thoroughly deserved to win.
The first half was pretty much a non-event with the ball spending most of its time high in the air being thumped from one back four to the other. Boro were on top for the first 20 minutes but after that it was pretty even with neither side threatening to score. We gradually made a number of nice moves down the right with Palmer & Nuhui being prominent. Nuhui showed particularly neat skills on several occasions.
My view at half time was that the game had 0-0 written all over it unless we got a penalty.
Lo & behold, a penalty it was. The ball bobbled up & Omeruo palmed the ball away above his head. Clearly his hand was in an "unnatural position" and the referee (who had the same angle that I had) saw it & gave the penalty. Nuhui's previous penalties had all been unconvincing but successful. Again, he couldn't fool the keeper with direction but there was enough pace on the ball to force it home.
It was clear the Boro defenders had lost it and Omeruo brought down Maghoma as he was about to burst towards the box to give us a dangerous free kick. McGugan's ball in was perfect as Keane headed against the post but forced in the rebound.
The game was over provided we kept our discipline, Semedo stupidly got involved in an incident while waiting for a free kick to be taken. It appeared that he poked a Boro player in the face. In the end, two yellow cards were issued after a dozen players were involved in a shoving contest.
Neither keeper made a save of note though we were grateful to Palmer who got back to make a superb goal saving tackle on Kike when Westwood was beaten.
The last ten minutes seemed to last forever but it was the scoreboard that got stuck on 81 minutes. At the final whistle there was another melee involving Semedo, Leadbitter and others.
Westwood - 6 - an easy afternoon
Palmer - 8 - good all round game, goal saving tackle
Lees - 7 - calm and assured
Zayatte - 8 - total beast of a defender
Dielna - 6 - shaky first half, brilliant second half
Lee - 5 - disappointing
McGugan - 6 - poor first half, controlled it second half
Semedo - 7 - all over the pitch, bit ill disciplined but effective
Maghoma - 7 - grew as the match went on
Keane - 8 - class & a goal
Nuhui - 8 - quality hold up play, scored penalty
............................................................
Hutchinson - 6 - combative
Maguire - hardly involved
May - hardly involved
Boro showed us a lack of respect by resting a number of their best players - Friend, Leadbitter & Tomlin. It set the tone & they never played like a promotion chasing team. We gradually grew into the match and got stronger & stronger.
This was our best home performance this season by some distance. Boro didn't look good but we didn't let them get into any rhythm.
My question is why have we only really performed four or five times all season? We have shown against Boro twice and at Forest what we are capable of doing yet most matches we have played half heartedly with minimal effort and no apparent plan. I really think that we are only a couple of quality signings away from a promotion chasing squad of players. However, I have to question SG's ability to motivate them to play to their full potential every match and his ability to outwit the opposing manager tactically and make match changing tactical changes & substitutions. I guess we will find out more of our new owners thoughts this week.
It was nice to go into stoppage time in a home match with victory already assured and made for a far more pleasant journey home.
The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.