Hughes had an excellent game today and has been the player we've really missed this season. Harriott was excelent also - just think where we might be if he had been playing all season like some of us have been suggesting, instead of Kerkar or Jordan Cook or whoever else has taken the wide left berth this season.
such a pity everybody else around us won - don't think 53 points will be enough so just neeed to bet Wolves & Bristol City and we'll be safe.
During the first half I said to my daughter, 'Where's that shouting coming from?' Eventually we worked out it was Andy Hughes. This was in the upper west. He has got a voice on him.
Shambles the whole first twenty minutes and could've been three or four before we had our first attempt at goal. Ngog and Sordell had the better of Morrison and Dervite and were turning them inside out for fun. We needed to keep them quiet early on and we didn't.
Captain Jacko gave us a chance though with that neat finish after a quick passing move on the edge of Bolton's box and we had a sniff of getting back into it. Bolton had no real wide right threat when Pratley kept drifting inside and that let Wiggins and Harriott (more on him later, what a talent) work on their right back and despite being assured, he was beaten twice and got two yellows for it. Changed the game.
Kermo thumped the resulting free-kick against the post and Dervite put in the rebound. Within 90 seconds, Bolton had gone from leading with 11 men down to 10 and surrendering the momentum. Within five minutes, Fuller won a penalty after winning the free kick and Kermo stepped up and thumped it into the net. No nerves from big Yann, thank god I wasn't taking it.
We saw it out relatively comfortably (Freedman taking off Sordell after the red helped us big time) but they flashed the ball across the goal a couple of times as we sat deeper and deeper. It didn't fall for the opposition this time though and it worked out. The second sending off was IMO harsh but then I was shocked that Dawson didn't get more than a yellow for pulling back Solly by his neck when he nicked the ball away and was through so swings and roundabouts I reckon. :-)
Special mentions today go to Solly, Harriott, Wiggins and (after a slow start) Jackson, Hughes and Fuller. Jackson and Hughes kept us going after going two down and I'm beginning to lose count of the amount of times our captain leads by example. Hughes was assured and kept the ball ticking over. Solly was top quality as ever and Wiggins is just getting back up to speed, we've missed him this season (Kerkar & Seaborne, what happened to them..?).
Jimmy Floyd Fuller is so lazy!!! Useless big lump! ...who won us the free kick for our second goal plus the penalty for our third. He gives our squad something that no-one else can and when he gives performances like he did in the second half today, I'm really glad he's on our side and not the opposition. I think he had treatment three times on his shoulder in the second half too. A true battler who definitely isn't here just to pick up a wage and not put in the hard yards.
Lastly, Harriott looks really really exciting. Didn't have it all his own way against Ricketts but won free kicks and corners all afternoon and gives us a dynamic and direct threat that we've desperately lacked. He's making a couple of poor decisions each game but you can see that he realises that as soon as he hits a shot that's not on or doesn't play the simple ball, he'll learn fast. He doesn't look lightweight either and I think he's ready to make the step up and become a regular starter next season.
Andy Hughes was my man of the match. Looked shakey for first 10 mins then settled down and took control of the midfield. He let Jackson push forward more, he broke up the play and was constantly encouraging everyone else. If only he was 25 not 35.
Overheard both our fans and boltons fans saying ref won it for us. Both of Ricketts yellows were correct, clear penalty as well. The second yellow for the second red was dubious but had no effect on the game.
Deserved the win in the end but not convinced by Dervite at all. His mistake for the first and was too deep at the start of the attack for the second goal. He always looks like a mistake in coming. Luckily the other 3 defenders were solid.
We need to start better on Tuesday but if we play like we did in the middle section of todays game then we will get goals and we will get something from the game.
What a game! I watched from the North Stand for a change - used my son's ticket.
It had everything: sendings off, injured ref, a penalty and the mighty reds coming back from 2 goals down. At the end of the game I saw the ref brandish another yellow before he left the pitch. He did seem to be a bit free and easy with his cards.
After their first goal I was afraid we were in for another miserable afternoon and possibly a rout - how wrong can you be? Great team performance. Yann was the man. Harriot was impressive again, but maybe he's a little too keen on the fancy stuff? Wasn't impressed with the defence initially and wondered where Cort was - not even on the bench?
It was the linesman (I know assistant referee!) that got injured to be replaced by the fourth official.
We need to start better on Tuesday but if we play like we did in the middle section of todays game then we will get goals and we will get something from the game.
You covered pretty much everything I'd say. Except that as soon as Jacko scored I was convinced that we could win this game. They were brittle at the back. Anyone who says Kettle won it for us is giving no credit whatsoever to a good performance from just about everyone. Bolton could have no complaints about his decisions. We were close to the Solly incident and Dawson was already walking, assuming the red card was coming.
Did people really leave after Bolton' s second? Hope they never return.
50 points is enough for heavens sake. But of course we will pick up more points from seven games. Honestly, I understand football pessimism, but sometimes people need to get a grip.
Feels good to be home in Eltham tonight with some proper beers to celebrate with.
What a game! I watched from the North Stand for a change - used my son's ticket.
It had everything: sendings off, injured ref, a penalty and the mighty reds coming back from 2 goals down. At the end of the game I saw the ref brandish another yellow before he left the pitch. He did seem to be a bit free and easy with his cards.
After their first goal I was afraid we were in for another miserable afternoon and possibly a rout - how wrong can you be? Great team performance. Yann was the man. Harriot was impressive again, but maybe he's a little too keen on the fancy stuff? Wasn't impressed with the defence initially and wondered where Cort was - not even on the bench?
Great win!
Kettle is know for dealing out cards. I still remember the game against Oldham last season, where 9 yellows were given, leading to 2 red cards, plus a direct red card, it was crazy!
I think 4 of theirs should have gone. Pritchard dragged back for what should have been a pen and straight red first half. Pulling a player back (Solly in 2nd half) by his neck is a sending off in any other ref's books!
What a game! I watched from the North Stand for a change - used my son's ticket.
It had everything: sendings off, injured ref, a penalty and the mighty reds coming back from 2 goals down. At the end of the game I saw the ref brandish another yellow before he left the pitch. He did seem to be a bit free and easy with his cards.
After their first goal I was afraid we were in for another miserable afternoon and possibly a rout - how wrong can you be? Great team performance. Yann was the man. Harriot was impressive again, but maybe he's a little too keen on the fancy stuff? Wasn't impressed with the defence initially and wondered where Cort was - not even on the bench?
It was the linesman (I know assistant referee!) that got injured to be replaced by the fourth official.
Ah - I thought Kettle went off, the linesman became the ref and the 4th official became the linesman. Couldn't really see from the North Stand (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it).
We were awful until we started to pass it around Hughes was the one who started to knock it about in the deck playing the simple ball and looking for space MOM by a mile! Second half we got at them and we deserved our win! I like Devitte in front of the back four but as CB he worries me! Hariot was great Pritch ran his legs off but gave it away and was caught in possession too much he's wasted on the wing!! Fuller put in a shift nice dive for the pen! Happy after the dire first 20 mins!
Really enjoyed the game today, In the 'liberal' with Henry, and other lifers, good to meet you.
I was impressed with Bolton , I thought they were going to tear us apart, thank god for the goal by Jackson, 'Saga Lout' come down to see me at half time, but as soon as it rained went back to his seat. He predicted a win, of course I thought a draw was all we could get from this game, so the third goal was a long awaited 'just desserts' to me?. Instead of getting on with it, Bolton seemed to loose it, they lost there shape , and indulged in stupid fouls. Thank god for a win, at home.
Hughes was first class, don't blame Hamer, not sure whether it was Pritch or Solly but neither of them closed the chap down for the second.Harriott a handful, but Powelly just needs to have a word about shooting from everywhere as opposed to getting a cross in once he has beaten a player. Liked the look of Gower very much, you can see he has been playing at Swansea, just wants to pass the ball which is a breath of fresh air. Fuller that's what you do, last time he played like that was Watford away. Didn't watch the pen or Dervite's once Kerm hit the post I remained seated and just watched the crowd. A little disappointed Yann dropped into midfield, this left their defenders to bring the ball out which cost us against Sheff Wed. Great to have a Saturday win but everyone else winning is a pain up the arris.
Posting without reading. Well it wasn't boring that's for sure. I would've taken a point at virtually any time in the match, but we got three lovely juicy ones. To me it was a game of shifts, changes, ebbs and flows. For example Harriott was unplayable in the first half but faded away (as indeed did Bolton), but Pritchard got better as the game progressed. You could say the same about Yann and Ricardo, and certainly Hamer, on the other hand I couldn't tell whether Andy Hughes was ebbing or flowing half the time! To me Bolton had the fragility that was their fatal flaw. N'gog and Sordell looked like they were going to rip us a new one, but perhaps once they went two up (too early?) they thought the job was done, but they reckoned without realising that for all our flaws we're a bunch of tryers. Jacko once again gave us the platform to perform with his first half goal, and then Bolton decided to more or less implode. To me nearly all of Kettles decisions were right, the sendings off, the free kick, the pen, the bookings after playing advantage, bringing play back when advantage didn't ensue, and if Bolton were going to offer us a way back, even via the refs decisions, we weren't going to refuse. Great great afternoon actually, and any neutrals would have enjoyed that, I certainly did.
Well I never saw that coming - which is why I have to admit our seats were empty today, fearing another afternoon of cloven-hoofed ineptitude. And when the 0-2 scoreline showed up on Twitter after 20 mins, I self-righteously told the rest of the family Ithat we had made the right decision, too!
Never so glad to have been wrong because if we had lost today we would have been two pts off the drop, with Old Gold, Posh and Wendies all winning,
It's now very hard to tell who will be going down with the Titties. Blackburn? Blackpool? Udders? But I'm now confident for the first time in recent weeks that it won't be us.
However, Prague Addick has miscalculated the arithmetic when he says 50 pts will be enough.
Wolves and Barnsley are in the drop zone on 44 and 45 pts with seven and eight matches to go respecitvely, so we're looking at the likelihood of two teams going down with 50 pts +. Happily, it's a reasonable expectation that we will be five pts clear of that.
The one thing you have to admire about this infuriating bunch of players is that they seem to be able to up their game when they're staring down the barrel of a gun.They remind me of the England cricket team on day five of the recent Test v NZ at Auckland. When they'e on their death bed, their Lazurus qualities miraculoulsy kick in!
Comments
such a pity everybody else around us won - don't think 53 points will be enough so just neeed to bet Wolves & Bristol City and we'll be safe.
Captain Jacko gave us a chance though with that neat finish after a quick passing move on the edge of Bolton's box and we had a sniff of getting back into it. Bolton had no real wide right threat when Pratley kept drifting inside and that let Wiggins and Harriott (more on him later, what a talent) work on their right back and despite being assured, he was beaten twice and got two yellows for it. Changed the game.
Kermo thumped the resulting free-kick against the post and Dervite put in the rebound. Within 90 seconds, Bolton had gone from leading with 11 men down to 10 and surrendering the momentum. Within five minutes, Fuller won a penalty after winning the free kick and Kermo stepped up and thumped it into the net. No nerves from big Yann, thank god I wasn't taking it.
We saw it out relatively comfortably (Freedman taking off Sordell after the red helped us big time) but they flashed the ball across the goal a couple of times as we sat deeper and deeper. It didn't fall for the opposition this time though and it worked out. The second sending off was IMO harsh but then I was shocked that Dawson didn't get more than a yellow for pulling back Solly by his neck when he nicked the ball away and was through so swings and roundabouts I reckon. :-)
Special mentions today go to Solly, Harriott, Wiggins and (after a slow start) Jackson, Hughes and Fuller. Jackson and Hughes kept us going after going two down and I'm beginning to lose count of the amount of times our captain leads by example. Hughes was assured and kept the ball ticking over. Solly was top quality as ever and Wiggins is just getting back up to speed, we've missed him this season (Kerkar & Seaborne, what happened to them..?).
Jimmy Floyd Fuller is so lazy!!! Useless big lump! ...who won us the free kick for our second goal plus the penalty for our third. He gives our squad something that no-one else can and when he gives performances like he did in the second half today, I'm really glad he's on our side and not the opposition. I think he had treatment three times on his shoulder in the second half too. A true battler who definitely isn't here just to pick up a wage and not put in the hard yards.
Lastly, Harriott looks really really exciting. Didn't have it all his own way against Ricketts but won free kicks and corners all afternoon and gives us a dynamic and direct threat that we've desperately lacked. He's making a couple of poor decisions each game but you can see that he realises that as soon as he hits a shot that's not on or doesn't play the simple ball, he'll learn fast. He doesn't look lightweight either and I think he's ready to make the step up and become a regular starter next season.
COYR, vital three points.
*goes upstairs to script sitcom*
You covered pretty much everything I'd say. Except that as soon as Jacko scored I was convinced that we could win this game. They were brittle at the back. Anyone who says Kettle won it for us is giving no credit whatsoever to a good performance from just about everyone. Bolton could have no complaints about his decisions. We were close to the Solly incident and Dawson was already walking, assuming the red card was coming.
Did people really leave after Bolton' s second? Hope they never return.
50 points is enough for heavens sake. But of course we will pick up more points from seven games. Honestly, I understand football pessimism, but sometimes people need to get a grip.
Feels good to be home in Eltham tonight with some proper beers to celebrate with.
Second half we got at them and we deserved our win! I like Devitte in front of the back four but as CB he worries me! Hariot was great Pritch ran his legs off but gave it away and was caught in possession too much he's wasted on the wing!! Fuller put in a shift nice dive for the pen!
Happy after the dire first 20 mins!
It all helps our cause!
EDIT: Full time. Udders lost.
I was impressed with Bolton , I thought they were going to tear us apart, thank god for the goal by Jackson, 'Saga Lout' come down to see me at half time, but as soon as it rained went back to his seat. He predicted a win, of course I thought a draw was all we could get from this game, so the third goal was a long awaited 'just desserts' to me?. Instead of getting on with it, Bolton seemed to loose it, they lost there shape , and indulged in stupid fouls. Thank god for a win, at home.
Well it wasn't boring that's for sure.
I would've taken a point at virtually any time in the match, but we got three lovely juicy ones.
To me it was a game of shifts, changes, ebbs and flows. For example Harriott was unplayable in the first half but faded away (as indeed did Bolton), but Pritchard got better as the game progressed.
You could say the same about Yann and Ricardo, and certainly Hamer, on the other hand I couldn't tell whether Andy Hughes was ebbing or flowing half the time!
To me Bolton had the fragility that was their fatal flaw. N'gog and Sordell looked like they were going to rip us a new one, but perhaps once they went two up (too early?) they thought the job was done, but they reckoned without realising that for all our flaws we're a bunch of tryers.
Jacko once again gave us the platform to perform with his first half goal, and then Bolton decided to more or less implode. To me nearly all of Kettles decisions were right, the sendings off, the free kick, the pen, the bookings after playing advantage, bringing play back when advantage didn't ensue, and if Bolton were going to offer us a way back, even via the refs decisions, we weren't going to refuse.
Great great afternoon actually, and any neutrals would have enjoyed that, I certainly did.
1 red card, the equaliser and the winner
Never so glad to have been wrong because if we had lost today we would have been two pts off the drop, with Old Gold, Posh and Wendies all winning,
It's now very hard to tell who will be going down with the Titties. Blackburn? Blackpool? Udders? But I'm now confident for the first time in recent weeks that it won't be us.
However, Prague Addick has miscalculated the arithmetic when he says 50 pts will be enough.
Wolves and Barnsley are in the drop zone on 44 and 45 pts with seven and eight matches to go respecitvely, so we're looking at the likelihood of two teams going down with 50 pts +. Happily, it's a reasonable expectation that we will be five pts clear of that.
The one thing you have to admire about this infuriating bunch of players is that they seem to be able to up their game when they're staring down the barrel of a gun.They remind me of the England cricket team on day five of the recent Test v NZ at Auckland. When they'e on their death bed, their Lazurus qualities miraculoulsy kick in!
Saw both the best and worst of Charlton but we came back into it well after they had three good chances in the first three minutes.
Two assists for Fuller plus won a red card and the free kick for DD's goal.
Gower I though did OK without being fantastic. Passed it first time to feet.
Harriot was a threat to them. I like it that he tries a shot AND put a cross or two in.
We still look fragile but so did Bolton.
Margins in this league are tiny.
On to Brighton.
Many thanks guys and girls
both of these 100%. Shows that we know shit all about the game, eh? ;-)