July 25, 2011
Andrew Peterson's proposed move to Blyth has been cancelled after the appeal for a work permit was turned down.
July 25, 2011 (PM)
Blythe v Linfield (Friendly)
Only three friendlies left before the season begins, this time it's a member of the Northern Ireland Premier Division. Should be a step up from our last opponent, Non-League Paper says "Linfield will win with ease". We shall see.
GK - Knight
D: Kendrick - Angus - Purvis - Osborne
MF: Slaughter - Groves - Vipond - Ferguson
F: Mole - Armstrong
0:10 - Armstrong gets warned after a careless trip, avoided a card though.
2:00 - I sure hope my crappy pre-match pep talk doesn't cause us to play below ability.
15:17 - Slaughter gets a nice run going on the left and is dragged down by Alan Morrison of Linfield ... That's going to be a penalty ... the youngster Ferguson will take it, strikes it smartly ... and it's off the woodwork to his left
18:00 - Vipond has suffered an injury, let's take him off & bring on Parr (have to make a decision on whether to offer him a contract soon)
20:30 - Armstrong with a nice run deep on the right but he's soon caught up in traffic ... Beattie sticks out a leg & catches him ... that's going to be another penalty .. No card, just a warning though .. Armstrong spot kick is a mile high over the bar
30:00 - Ferguson quickly to Armstrong in the box, another shot missed wide.
45:00+ - Cromie runs past Parr & gets off a shot, Knight punches it away & Angus clears it over the side.
46:49 - Too much possession allowed to Cromie & his mates, he finds Morrison in the box with a little room & Knight can't get to him in time
(0-1) ... Groves protests that he was offside but to no avail, looked close to me for sure.
Halftime - Shots equal at 3 but possession is 64% their way. Not sure what to think after two missed penalties, you'd think we'd have gotten at least one.
Then again, you'd think that I'd have managed not to have Ferguson playing up front with Mole stuck on the right side of the midfield too.
Sub Jones in for Angus who has been awful (5.8)
47:41 - Parr is down after fouling Dean McCann, have to sub in McCabe for Parr. Will also sub White in for Osborne (move Groves to RWB)
55:05 - Mole gets roughed up by Crawford, he's going to the side & we'll take no chances with him, on comes Taylor for our leading scorer
66:00 - Now White takes a knock, he can stay on but we'll get him out as soon as possible. Gallen on for White (Kendrick to LMF)
89:42 - Armstrong finds Ferguson at the point, he lets fly maybe our best chance of the night but Cairnduff makes the save against his body & holds on.
Fulltime - We outshot them 5-4 but allowed them to control far too much of the match (only 38% possession for us). Much more physical game than we've had thus far, got knocked around more than usual. Now we await the physio reports
Knight 6.7
Kendrick 6.7, Angus 5.8, Purvis 6.8, Osborne 6.0
Slaughter 6.8, Groves 6.8, Vipond 6.8, Ferguson 5.3
Mole 6.0, Armstrong 6.4
Subs: Parr/Gallen/Jones 6.8, McCabe 6.7, White 6.6, Taylor 6.4
July 25, 2011 (late PM)
Physio reports hit my office. Jason White suffered a pulled hamstring & will be out for 4-5 weeks while being treated by the club. Shaun Vipond suffered a damaged elbow after a heavy fall & will be out 2-3 weeks while being treated by the club physios.