Balham Blade
S24SU Seer
The good thing about a visit to Peterborough is that it's home of Oakham Ales which means some cracking beers before the game. The bad thing is that it's Peterborough...
Anyway, the game:
We started really shakily. Simple passes going astray, hoofed clearances, static players; it wasn't pretty. The poor start came to a head when a long ball from Peterborough's defence bounced midway inside the United half. Howard rushed out but was beaten to the ball by the Boro forward who then skipped past Collins on the edge of the area before diving, looking for a penalty. Fortunately for him, the referee's decision was goal kick. The same forward then lashed a half volley well over the top in another let off for the Blades.
Down the other end, Davies' corner caused issues for the home side before Murphy skipped free and pulled the ball back for Alcock, who could only blast off target. Another let off for United then as Taylor hit the post but to be fair, Howard had it covered.
Given the complete lack of fluency shown before, it came as a bit of a surprise when United took the lead with a great move. Several players were involved before a one-two between Baxter and McNulty ended with an off balance Baxter finding the bottom left hand corner.
United still didn't look entirely confident and after McGahey's miscued clearance went out for a corner, Peterborough drew level with a near post header after Collins lost his man. Poor defending but on the balance of play a deserved leveller. Howard then was forced into an excellent stop at the feet of a Peterborough striker as the half drew to a close.
I don't know what Clough said to the players at half time but it seemed to have the desired effect. We kept our shape and used the ball much better. An excellent tackle from the referee led to a decent chance for the hosts before Basham fired wide from McNulty's cut back. McNulty then broke through but as he shaped to shoot he was foiled by an excellent last ditch tackle from a Peterborough defender, who injured himself in the process.
United did get the ball in the net through Basham but a late flag saw the 'goal' chalked off but Boro managed to hit the post again. Higdon and Flynn came on for McNulty and Baxter with Murphy going through the middle and as the game wound down, United scored the winner. A throw in by the corner flag found Higdon whose cross was deflected to the edge of the area where DAVIES took his time before leathering a shot into the bottom right corner. Cue delirium in the travelling ranks.
Four minutes of injury time came and went with little in the way of incident as United defended stoically in the face of a barrage of long balls from the Posh backline.
Overall - a solid away win. You could see the confidence growing back in the players as the game wore on and we fully deserved the three points. I expected more from Peterborough to be honest: they got desperate early on and ended up giving heading practice to our back line for most of the second half.
Ratings:
Howard 8: one very good stop at the feet of a Boro forward and solid handling. Distribution generally good too.
Alcock 8: solid game against his former club and linked up well with Davies on the flank.
McGahey 6: some good positional play but his passing was a bit hit and miss with some telegraphed through-balls being cut out by the first man. Promising player though.
Collins 6: lost a mark for losing his man for the equaliser in a really poor bit of defending. Still incapable of shepherding the ball out!
McEverley 8: I was surprised by the reaction on here to McEverley's signing. Didn't get forward much but was up against a pacey winger in Mendez-Liang. Personally thought he pushed Baxter hard for MOTM.
Davies 7: in the right place at the right time to score the winner but drifted in and out of play. His set pieces really are excellent though and we'll get a few goals that way.
Doyle 6: utterly dreadful in the first half; I'm not sure if he found a red and white shirt more than 50% of the time. Better in the second as he reverted to his holding role.
Basham 6: complete lack of composure with the ball at his feet but popped up in the box twice and was unlucky to not score (a legitimate goal!)
Murphy 7: showed glimpses of last season's form and a willingness to take on his man. That cost us once as he decided to try and beat the right back when we broke in the first half but it was good to see nonetheless.
Baxter 8: my MOTM. Clever link play between midfield and attack even if it didn't always click with McNulty. Did his fair share of defensive work too and was at the end of a great team move to put us 1-0 up.
McNulty 6: not sure he's at all suited to being a lone front man. Maybe should have scored when he was denied by a great last ditch tackle but it was on his weaker foot.
Subs:
Higdon (for McNulty): held the ball up well but we do look to go longer when he's on the pitch. Set up Davies' goal via a deflection
Flynn (for Baxter): took on his man and used the ball well, even if the OS didn't think he came on
Fans 9: great support from the travelling Blades.
Peterborough 5: lots of hoofball. Not pretty.
Anyway, the game:
We started really shakily. Simple passes going astray, hoofed clearances, static players; it wasn't pretty. The poor start came to a head when a long ball from Peterborough's defence bounced midway inside the United half. Howard rushed out but was beaten to the ball by the Boro forward who then skipped past Collins on the edge of the area before diving, looking for a penalty. Fortunately for him, the referee's decision was goal kick. The same forward then lashed a half volley well over the top in another let off for the Blades.
Down the other end, Davies' corner caused issues for the home side before Murphy skipped free and pulled the ball back for Alcock, who could only blast off target. Another let off for United then as Taylor hit the post but to be fair, Howard had it covered.
Given the complete lack of fluency shown before, it came as a bit of a surprise when United took the lead with a great move. Several players were involved before a one-two between Baxter and McNulty ended with an off balance Baxter finding the bottom left hand corner.
United still didn't look entirely confident and after McGahey's miscued clearance went out for a corner, Peterborough drew level with a near post header after Collins lost his man. Poor defending but on the balance of play a deserved leveller. Howard then was forced into an excellent stop at the feet of a Peterborough striker as the half drew to a close.
I don't know what Clough said to the players at half time but it seemed to have the desired effect. We kept our shape and used the ball much better. An excellent tackle from the referee led to a decent chance for the hosts before Basham fired wide from McNulty's cut back. McNulty then broke through but as he shaped to shoot he was foiled by an excellent last ditch tackle from a Peterborough defender, who injured himself in the process.
United did get the ball in the net through Basham but a late flag saw the 'goal' chalked off but Boro managed to hit the post again. Higdon and Flynn came on for McNulty and Baxter with Murphy going through the middle and as the game wound down, United scored the winner. A throw in by the corner flag found Higdon whose cross was deflected to the edge of the area where DAVIES took his time before leathering a shot into the bottom right corner. Cue delirium in the travelling ranks.
Four minutes of injury time came and went with little in the way of incident as United defended stoically in the face of a barrage of long balls from the Posh backline.
Overall - a solid away win. You could see the confidence growing back in the players as the game wore on and we fully deserved the three points. I expected more from Peterborough to be honest: they got desperate early on and ended up giving heading practice to our back line for most of the second half.
Ratings:
Howard 8: one very good stop at the feet of a Boro forward and solid handling. Distribution generally good too.
Alcock 8: solid game against his former club and linked up well with Davies on the flank.
McGahey 6: some good positional play but his passing was a bit hit and miss with some telegraphed through-balls being cut out by the first man. Promising player though.
Collins 6: lost a mark for losing his man for the equaliser in a really poor bit of defending. Still incapable of shepherding the ball out!
McEverley 8: I was surprised by the reaction on here to McEverley's signing. Didn't get forward much but was up against a pacey winger in Mendez-Liang. Personally thought he pushed Baxter hard for MOTM.
Davies 7: in the right place at the right time to score the winner but drifted in and out of play. His set pieces really are excellent though and we'll get a few goals that way.
Doyle 6: utterly dreadful in the first half; I'm not sure if he found a red and white shirt more than 50% of the time. Better in the second as he reverted to his holding role.
Basham 6: complete lack of composure with the ball at his feet but popped up in the box twice and was unlucky to not score (a legitimate goal!)
Murphy 7: showed glimpses of last season's form and a willingness to take on his man. That cost us once as he decided to try and beat the right back when we broke in the first half but it was good to see nonetheless.
Baxter 8: my MOTM. Clever link play between midfield and attack even if it didn't always click with McNulty. Did his fair share of defensive work too and was at the end of a great team move to put us 1-0 up.
McNulty 6: not sure he's at all suited to being a lone front man. Maybe should have scored when he was denied by a great last ditch tackle but it was on his weaker foot.
Subs:
Higdon (for McNulty): held the ball up well but we do look to go longer when he's on the pitch. Set up Davies' goal via a deflection
Flynn (for Baxter): took on his man and used the ball well, even if the OS didn't think he came on
Fans 9: great support from the travelling Blades.
Peterborough 5: lots of hoofball. Not pretty.
