[JonInMiddleGA]

Aug 18, 2012 (morning)
Our U18s managed a 0-0 draw against Sheffield Utd youth. Considering we were outshot 7-3 I suppose a draw is the best we could hope for. D Callum Wilson (7.3, 11 interceptions) and D Theo Brown (7.3) were the highlights, MF Laste Dombaxe (6.2 & a yellow) and 2nd half sub ST Dennis Robson (6.1) were the lowlights.
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Aug 18, 2012 (afternoon)
Blyth (0-1-1, 20th) vs Forest Green (0-1-1, 21st)

Well this ought to be interesting ... or incredibly dull, one or the other. Neither club has scored this season, they've allowed four to our three. The Rovers are a Pick 'Em fave at Croft Park.

We're going 4-4-2 Standard here and we'll go with our best guess at a solid lineup. I initially planned to start Matondo & Groves in the MF but they're still a bit tired from the last match, so I adjust a little there.

GK: Knight
D: Giddings - Jones - Purvis - Sinclair
MF: Slaughter - Morrison - Whiteley - Vipond
F: O'Connor - Mole
Bench: (Matondo, Phillips, White, Sawyer, McDonald)

20:00 - We survive a corner thanks to a quick save by Knight ... but only for a moment as the rebound comes straight onto the head of Graham for a goal (0-1)

29:15 - Slaughter with a long throw into the area for O'Connor who loses a challenge ... Slaughter recovers the rebound and shoots ... off the near post

Halftime - We continue to struggle offensively, and the frustration is clearly getting to a number of players. Sinclair, Jones and O'Connor are "in danger of losing discpline" while Purvis & Vipond are "in danger of being booked". Meanwhile Whiteley & Morrison are both playing nervously. I tell the squad to show me something else in the 2nd half. I hope there's something different to see, being outshot 5-1 with only 33% poss. is pretty hard to watch. We have not handled their 5-4-1 at all, let's see how our own version of it fares.
Sub Matondo for Whiteley (knocked)

56:45 - Mole with a takeaway and a long run ... his shot is blocked & out for a corner .. Vipond hangs one up for Jones but his header is too high

61:00- Purvis loses the ball to Styche in our own end, Knight has to make a save to deny him

70:00 - Sub Phillips for Morrison (tired), White for Vipond (tired), switch to Attack strategy

81:15 - Matondo with a pass to Phillips at the left side of the arc ... he spots Mole across the area & feeds him ... holds off a defender & shoots ... GOAL (1-1) Finally, a shot to the far post ends our drought, despite the protests of the Rovers who claim Mole was offside, which upon viewing the replay I believe he was by about a step ... Switch to Standard

86:00 - Matondo is hurt & done for the day ... and we have no subs left so we'll have to try to survive this a man short .. go Defensive

89:00 - Three mins of extra time
91:00 - Switch to Contain

Fulltime - Eh, at least we got a point. And a goal, something I was starting to wonder about. I cautiously suggest to the team that we suffered a bit of bad luck today, certainly true on Slaughter's cracking shot. Outshot 9-4 and only 39% of poss tells me that our problems were considerably worse than "bad luck" but I'll keep that to myself for now. We did look better in the 2nd half after adjusting to match their 5-4-1.

GK: Knight 6.7
D: Giddings 6.8, Jones 7.1, Purvis 6.8, Sinclair 6.7
MF: Slaughter 6.3, Morrison 6.7, Whiteley 6.6, Vipond 6.0
F: O'Connor 6.6, Mole 7.2 & 1 goal
Subs: Phillps 6.9 & 1 assist, White 6.9, Matondo 6.8

Aug 18, 2012 (postmatch)
Nothing serious from the Matondo injury luckily