[JonInMiddleGA]

Sept 29, 2012 (morning)
Our U18s get a 1-1 draw vs Grimsby. We gave up a goal a 4', Kaine Sheppard drew us level at 82'. More notable than the result is the injury report. Laste Dombaxe will be out up to 2 months to recover from strained ankle ligaments.

Sept 29, 2012 (afternoon)
Blyth (1-5-4, 21st) vs Dag & Red (9-0-1, 2nd)
This could get ugly. They've got two players - MF's Matthew Saunders & Peter Gain - that have combined for 8 goals already. We have 7 for the season as a team. They've got 9 players with an avg rtg of 7.0 or better. We have none in the lineup today, only three on our entire roster & two of those (D'Laryea & Hands) have 3 appearances between them (Giddings is the third)

We still have to play the match regardless, we'll open 4-4-2 Counter. Since I have pretty much zero expectations here, we'll see some odd names in the lineup, with McDonald getting his first league start in goal & Hoy making his first team debut. I figure "why not?".

GK: McDonald
D: Kulsten, Jones, Hoy, Groves
MF: Slaughter, Matondo, White, O'Connor
F: Mole, Armstrong
Bench: (Sinclair, Richards, Chinthengah, Taylor, Knight)

22:00 - Only one official shot so far, that by D&R in the opening minutes
33:20 - McDonald makes a sliding save with his feet but the rebound is poke home by Talbot (0-1) The ball ricocheted off our defender Hoy otherwise we might have survived that unblemished

Halftime - Rather amazing that things are this close. Outshot 7-1, but with 47% poss. We're passing okay, heading okay, tackling better than they are ... so of course my coaches are outraged by our garbage play. WTF? Are they watching the same game I am? I just tell the club we can still win today. We shuffle the deck a bit, try to get Hoy (5.8) to be more productive. He goes to RD, Groves to CMF, Slaughter to LCD. We switch to Standard.

50:00- O'Connor takes a knock & needs to come off. Sub Sinclair on at DR. Hoy back to RCD, Slaughter to LMF, Groves to RMF

54:15 - Long throw-in by D&R into the area ... Groves takes it away from Talbot but can't control it ... Talbot steps into the loose ball & shoots [b](0-2)/b]

60:29 - Armstrong & White work the ol' give-and-go ... Armstrong is free in the area and shoots ... GOAL ! (1-2) A slight hint of life perhaps?

62:10 - Or not. Ilesammi with a long cross to Shroot ... his header easily beats McDonald (1-3)

72:00 - Sub Taylor for Mole (5.7), shift White to F, sub Richards for Hoy (5.3)
75:00 - Switch to Attacking

Fulltime - Hard to win with only 3 shots while giving up 15. Didn't complete a single cross all day. Coaches are gravely disappointed, I'm just surprised it wasn't worse. I cautiously express my unhappiness with the performance, but make sure to tell the strikers I thought they did well.

McDonald 6.5
Kulsten 6.7, Jones 6.1, Hoy 5.3, Groves 6.0
Slaughter 5.7, Matondo 6.0, White 7.1 & 1 assist, O'Connor 6.5
Mole 5.7, Armstrong 7.2 & 1 goal
Subs: Taylor 6.7, Richards 6.6, Sinclair 6.1

Sept 29, 2012 (postmatch)
The longest winless streak of my career continues, and with it our slide down the table. 22nd now, a point behind three clubs, only two points ahead of Braintree and three up on Ebbsfleet.
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O'Connor will be out 4-5 weeks with a pulled hamstring. Limits our ability to use the 4-4-1-1
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Lincoln has fired their manager