[Devongone]

To say we were pants yesterday is an insult to pants. At least pants are functional. The first half was a vision of footballing purgatory. We only had three players. Clements looked like he'd seen full backs play before and was trying to do it. To his credit Colclough even managed to look vaguely dangerous. And Dobra was turning sharply and beating people, but his passing indicated an early appointment at Specsavers. The rest had peaked by managing to wear matching kit.

Second half we got slightly better and Maidstone took their cue to metamorphose into perennial losers. Dallas began inhabiting his own body and was fine. Clements continued to get crosses in and took his goal with a touch of class. Sadly Mandeville may be player of the year but wiry is becoming skeletal, he can play and produced one lovely pass, but he begins to look as though a puff of wind might deposit him on the Sheffield Road. Luckily King started to play and that means we improve in open play and become positively dangerous from dead balls. Our strange goalkeeper again achieved selection and inspired no confidence. Against a team which hadn't won in 21 games we again selected Jones so that restrained our attacking options, as did Oldaker's hair. Is there a barber's strike in Derbyshire?

But we're through to the semis. If we were against Boreham Wood or Bromley I can see the point of Dallas at centre forward, because lobbing balls in for McCallum or Quigley would be feeding their centre backs and helping them to another clean sheet. Dallas's pace would scare them if we can manage to play him in. Against Notts County (by some miracle) I'd go with a bigger option to keep their centre backs occupied and to stop them getting forward.

The bizarre thing is that there is some talent when Cookie decides to put it on the field and let it play. Akinola's energy would benefit us against any of the teams we might now play, but he has less chance of starting than Sheckleford or Horton ......... Notts County have several players capable of playing at a higher level, but they are also vulnerable, especially in defence and, like us, between the sticks. The play-offs are theirs to lose, but I can see ways they can achieve precisely that,

[Dancingwilldoit]

Dev, we won 4-0. Just accept it.
Didn't see the game as I am away somewhere where I can swim in the sea and sit on clean beaches. Listened to it and the first half seemed like so many games I have been to. Second half we played as well as we can and if we played like that for the next 2 games we would be back in the football league, but both you and I know, we won't.
The reason is that we are a non league team with mostly non league players.
They can't do that for 90 minutes and that's why we are so hit and miss. It's frustrating to watch at times and it's unfortunate that this season it's been more frustrating than entertaining but it's what it is.

[Devongone]

Dancing,
In the first half we weren't bad. We were nowhere near that good. Had we not been playing a team who couldn't believe what they were coming up against, and so failed to take advantage the game would have been lost by half time.

We weren't good in the second half, but at least half the team did start to play. Dallas and Colclough were dangerous. King particularly from dead balls looked like creating something or scoring. But the truth is that we were way below our own potential level. We were disjointed and slow. We looked as though we should have been playing against Maidstone, when the truth is our squad IS way better than them. We won 4-0 because Maidstone lost 4-0.

Last night I watched Boreham Wood and your old friend Nathan Ashmore was heroic. He played perhaps 85 minutes injured, because they had no sub keeper. And he played well in their 2-1 win. Wood look tired, but if Ashmore is fit and they can pull themselves together they could give County a shock in the semi. They are used to winning one-off games against essentially better teams. They are physical and organised and stop the opposition getting any rhythm. They stopped Langstaff scoring earlier in the season too. Trouble is that if everything isn't right for Wood then County might get on top and beat them easily.

I know we are just a non-league team, but I do expect us to look reasonable at the level we are, and to make sensible selections. Like what? Well Jones should never have been on the field against Maidstone, but I wouldn't argue with us playing him against Notts County. If Akinola is fit he has to get on the pitch ..........