[JonInMiddleGA]

Sept 25, 2012
Blyth (1-5-3, 20th) at Bath (3-3-3, 13th)
They're 1:2 faves, we're 9:2 dogs. I'd love to see us end the winless streak right here, moreso because we aren't likely to do it in our next match against the unbeaten league leaders. Back to the 4-4-2, Counter strat to open

GK: Hartley
D: Martin, Jones, Sinclair, Purvis
MF: Phillips, White, Hands, Whiteley
F: O'Connor, Mole
Bench: (Slaughter, Matondo, Chinthengah, Loudon,McDonald)

3:15 - Hartley punches out a clear cut chance right on top of him
17:30 - Whiteley takes our first shot, a no-chance affair from long range
28:30 - O'Connor on a jaunt down the left side, feeds Mole just outside the box .. his half-volley misses. Blown chance right there
31:50 - We've picked up a couple of yellows already, one for Purvis & one for Hands ... they've picked up a couple, but the important thing is that they've both gone to Lee Phillips ... he's sent off & we've got a man advantage now. We switch to Standard.

Halftime - Outshot 3-2 but poss. is going our way (60%). Have to take advantage of the situation. We'll try Control for a bit

56:30 - Sinclair gets a yellow for tripping deep in our own end
59:00- Switch to Attack
61:30 - Fine save on a Sinclair header
78:00 - Whiteley shoots wide
Sub Matondo for Hands, Chinthengah for Whiteley (O'Connor to RMF)
80:00 - Chinthengah rattles on off the crossbar from long range
87:30 - A lob by Bath hits our crossbar, Purvis is there to clear the rebound
89:30 - Christie gets free in the area ... and scores (0-1)
90:00 - 3 mins added, switch to Overload

Fulltime - Unfrigging believable. That's our situation in a nutshell: even with a man advantage, we're not good enough offensively to score a damned goal. Meanwhile my assistants are ecstatic, apparently because we played a midtable side close. Umm, guys? We were up a man for over half the match.
Outshot 8-4 despite 58% poss. We coudn't cross, we didn't tackle well. Screw it, I just tell them they were unlucky & they seem happy enough with that. Me? I'm seething. I'm not real thrilled with our 6 yellow cards either.

Hartley 6.8
Martin 6.9, Jones (MOM) 7.5, Sinclair 6.6, Purvis 6.8
Phillips 6.7, White 6.5, Hands 6.8, Whiteley 6.8
O'Connor 6.8, Mole 6.8
Subs: Matondo/Chinthengah N/A

Sept 25, 2012 (postmatch)
The failure to get even a point here drops up back to 21st, now a point behind both Newport Co and Lincoln, tied with Stockport. Ebbsfleet are three back of us now, Braintree is 5 back in last & have fired their manager. Oh, and we've been fined $1.2k for failing to control our players during the match.