[JonInMiddleGA]

Oct 16, 2012 (evening)
Blyth (2-5-6, 21st) at Salisbury (6-1-6, 9th)

With the winless streak finally broken, maybe we can at least get back to stealing a point here & there. Salisbury has won 2 of their last 3, not scoring a ton but keeping opponents in check (4-3 over 3 games). Their 4-5-1 formation concerns me a little bit, getting the ball might be a problem for us based on past experiences. I'm tempted to switch formations myself but decide to stick with the 4-4-2 & Counter to open. They're 1:2 faves, we're 9:2 dogs.

GK: Hartley
D: Giddings, Jones, Purvis, Sinclair
MF: Phillips, Sawyer, White, Groves
F: Armstrong, Mole
Bench: (Kulsten, Matondo, Hassan, Whiteley, McDonald)

*I notice here that they're going with a 4-4-2 today instead of the 4-5-1 I was worried about

1:50 - White with a great pass ahead to Mole, runs into the area deep ... shot gets turned round the post just barely

24:15 - Williams with a lightning quick centering pass to Stockley, Hartley had no chance there (0-1)

27:30 - Sawyer takes a big knock, need to sub so Whiteley on for Sawyer

Halftime - Staff is pissed at the "garbage" performance, I didn't think we were that terrible frankly. Outshot 6-3 but we have 52% poss & are doing just about everything else as well as they are. I tell them to keep going, we can still win this. Have to talk individually to several players who are either nervous or close to losing discipline, team is all over the play mentally/emotionally tonight. We'll switch to Standard to start the half, I think we've got a chance here honestly.

64:00 - Sub Matondo for Philips ... switch to Control (poss. is slipping away)
66:42 - Williams runs right past defenders onto a pass by Stockley, shoots from the arc and scores ... (0-2) Looked like Sinclair fell down before he could make a challenge & from there it was easy.

72:00 - Williams just weaves into the area past Jones & shoots (0-3) Awful excuse for effort defensively there.
77:00 - Sub Hassan for Armstrong, switch to Attacking
82:20 - Phillips with a corner to the far post ... Purvis is there for a header (1-3)

Fulltime - Decent first half turns into a dismal display in the second. Our back line played like crap all night, although the goal masks Purvis' rating. Outshot 11-8, we totally gave away the ball in the 2nd half, ending up with only 45% of total poss. I let the team know clearly that I'm far from pleased & they appear to mostly be motivated by that reaction.

Hartley 6.4
Giddings 6.1, Jones 5.7, Purvis 7.5 & 1 goal, Sinclair 6.3
Phillips 6.1, Sawyer 6.3, White 6.7, Groves 6.9 & 1 assist
Armstrong 6.0, Mole 6.7
Subs: Matondo 6.5, Whiteley 5.9, Hassan N/A

Oct 16, 2012 (postmatch)
The loss leaves us 2 points behind Welling to get out of the drop zone. Gee, think our next match will feel big?
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Sam Sawyer will miss 4-5 weeks while being treated for a pulled hamstring suffered early in the match.

Stockport has fired their manager, 22nd place isn't agreeing with them.