Verdict from the cheap seats behind the goal .... Willy - don't rate him as anything other than a decent shotstopper but not quite the unmitigated disaster that some people have concluded from radio broadcasts. Should have done better with his angles on both goals I feel but there were other issues. Which were: Duffy - an absolute stinker of a game. Solely to blame for the second goal for allowing not only the striker free reign to retrieve a ball that should have been a 50-50 but also allowing said striker to run at him thus gaining momentum to strike. Not even pub level. Tate will play on his return and rightly so. Saying all that, Amankwaah looked even worse during his brief cameo. Attacking - bloody excellent, although the finishing wasn't quite there. Robinson had an absolute stormer and was assisted by an eager Trundle who covered his wing for him whenever he went awol (which was always, as usual). Trundle and Bayo both were excellent I thought and ably assisted by the midfield all busting a gut to support them. Not only that, but the defenders got in on the act - I was quite heartened to see both centre backs go looking for the ball in an attacking sense after passing to another player ... it created quite a few opportunities. Butler - excellent. Gave us the shape we've been lacking for so long and looked very sharp taking on the defence. One run in particular saw him take on the opposition team. Twice. Only matched by Snoop Dogg's cameo of taking on 4 or so Doncaster players before earning one of the 3 free kicks we were awarded all game. Defence - not great. Thought Painter was again excellent (what price he can play centre back?) but Izzy and Snoop in particular allowed too many opportunities. Maybe the latter wasn't helped by Duffy but this has been a recurring theme in recent weeks so maybe we need to look at alternatives there. Onto the biggest shock: Nugent - a rather promising debut I thought. I assume the aforementioned pass and movement was something he stressed as we've not seen it before. Our counter attacking was quite breathtaking and incisive today. Also, his substitutions were both proactive and timely. Of course, the most important thing was that he was actively seen to encourage his team by waving his arms and pointing which is all very good. Maybe the story I heard is true and that there were serious issues between his predecessor and himself regarding tactics and personnel (and given the source it could well be). PS I assume the Andy Ritchie for manager story has been done?

matt_the_jack Posted on 17/2 23:37

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Much better today

It's probably been said by many today but a much better performance today and a great game for the neutral to watch. Team spirit seems to be back as for both the goals (as we'll see on the highlights tomorrow) 10 players all huddled together and they all looked much more committed. Why they couldn't play like this for the past few weeks is anyone's guess but they looked more up for it. Trundle was back on form, terrorising the Doncaster defence - they couldn't touch him. But The Lord was working very hard on the right hand side. For a point of notice For our penalty Trundle tracked back and tackled the player, we then went up the other end and won a penalty - So praise to Trundle as many people comment on how he doesn't help the team out. I admit he hasn't been on top of his game but the weight seemed to be lifted today - for whatever reason. Other players to mention were Butler - Played really well, made some good runs, linked up well with the midfield and caused problems. Bayo also played well, tired as he usually does. Scored a cracking volley. Even Robinson played well in the second half today! Seemed to look better in centre midfield. They all did very well I felt, still dodgy defensivly but what's new? The players should have closed Heffernan down better for the 2nd Donny goal. Very promising