December 2008 - Posts
Right, I finally get to do my Boro round-up. Sorry for the lack of updates I caught the bug that everyone had this Christmas, so I was off all of last week.
I am pleased with the run of results we seem to have put together lately. We have drawn with Oxford away, which I think anyone would have taken before the game. It was a shame we didn’t get the 3 points, as we were leading but it is a step in the right direction.
Against Rushden, I thought the lads tried really hard. They worked their socks off, and I was really pleased for them. Boylan and Moro linked up quite well, and there is definitely potential there for a good partnership.
I am still getting over the first goal – I have never seen a keeper and a defender look so confused after clattering into each other. I think even Moro was confused as he just stood there with the ball at his feet before he realised he could score.
Rushden’s defence didn’t look very stable, and I think the result reflects that.
Yesterday’s game at Cambridge, well where do you start? Boylan and Moro were both out – Moro with a virus and Boylan had picked up a knock against Rushden. We conceded within minutes and we managed to equalise extremely late on with a Cole penalty after a foul on Bridges.
Credit to the lads, they kept battling yesterday and we grinded out another result, not only against one of our rivals but against a side that has been playing well this season.
Next up we have Rushden away on New Year ’s Day. I hope we can get another win, and kick start the new year with a bang. Our results have been good of late, so I hope the lads can keep the momentum going.
Come on the Boro!
Boro beat St Albans at the weekend in the FA Trophy 4-1. I was unable to attend the game, but from what I have gathered, we were pretty rubbish again in the first half and improved in the second.
From what I can understand the last few minutes of the game were pretty crazy, and their goalkeeper for some reason came up for a corner even though there were still quite a long time on the clock. Don’t you normally check with the manager first to see if you can come up? I don’t think he would have allowed it had he known. Or maybe he did. Either way it sounded quite amusing.
The draw for the second round has been made today and we have drawn either Wingate & Finchley or Farnborough away. Hopefully we can get another win there, as it can only help our confidence and boost morale.
I can’t believe what I witnessed last night. I try to look for the positives, I really do. But last night was something that has pushed me to my limits. I don’t understand why we looked so rubbish. And we were rubbish – I am not exaggerating.
I don’t think I have ever seen a game like that before. It was cold enough anyway, so for a lot of people it was a big effort to go to the game in the first place. But to witness a game like we witnessed yesterday is ridiculous.
We were not there, non existent. I am not being funny but if you can’t beat a team that when they get the ball all they do is whack it up field, then we have some serious issues.
I can’t really fault the defence last night. Luke was frustrating, as he did his usual not look up and hoof tactics, but we still looked relatively solid at the back. The front two were quiet, so I imagine some people will have a go at them, but what service did they get? Nothing. Apart from the penalty – but we can’t just rely on penalties can we?
I am sorry but I am going to blame the midfield. There was no effort. No running, no care. Mills was completely lost. He gave the majority of balls away, and to be honest, I was really beginning to lose my temper. My other half looked like he was about to boil over. I tried to see the positive in Mills being on the field last night. But I can’t. We would have been better with 10 men. I bet we would have played with more enthusiasm and flare, had he not been on the field.
I was actually praying Vincenti would come on for Mills last night. He did come on but somehow Mills managed 90 minutes. Are you kidding me? When Peter came on he made a tackle within 30 seconds of being on the pitch. He cared, he wanted to play. Why wasn’t there this desire from some of the other lads?
I know some people will probably start blaming Westley for everything that happened last night. But to be honest I am not. His players didn’t put in any effort. He has told them how to play, and they just looked like they didn’t want to be there or could be bothered. That is not Westley’s fault, that is the players for not taking responsibility for their actions. They only thing I don’t get was why Mills was not taken off. Laird was having a good game, and he took him off for Boylan. Everyone was so mad that Mills was still on the field, but in any other game that you are pushing for the win, you normally take a defender off as the midfield are supposed to help the strikers, but last night that was not the case.
As for Cole – did he even play? He might as well not have. I don’t know what is going on with him. He is supposed to be one of the best players in the league. He doesn’t run anymore, he just trots about looking lost. He has become really lazy. For someone that is supposed to be quite energetic, he has definitely lost that spark. Before the ball would come at his feet and he would run at players, or past it on and run forward for the overlap. Now he just passes backwards or never gets the ball. Yesterday he got the ball in a great area, and lost it, everyone went mental, and then he sprinted like never before to get the ball back, only to lose it again. Ok he lost the final ball, but why can’t he show that sort of effort and commitment all of the time?
One thing I would say about last night was that some players really gave their all. They were frustrated like we were and even they showed their anger at other players. So a special mention for Laird, Day, Wilson, Roberts, Vincenti and Morison. You guys looked like you cared, and for me that was at least something.
Boro have Grays at home tonight. It is going to be cold and horrible, but I hope it is made all the better by a good, solid performance by Boro and an emphatic win. I don’t ask for much do I?
I really hope we win tonight. I really really hope we win. To get two wins on the trot would boost the players no end. I think the team starting to come together, I can sort of predict the starting 11(finally).
Although Vincenti is definitely a contender for the starting 11 in my eyes. I haven’t really thought much of Mills and Peter seems to work so much harder.
If we win we could go eighth, if we lose we may slip lower than we already are depending how other fixtures go. If we draw we would move up one place. So basically I will take nothing less than a win!
Come on Boro!
I am back from a weekend away, and I can’t tell you how much it pleases me to find out that Boro got a win! We actually did it, a win, points on the board.
We left it late by the looks of things, but that doesn’t matter, we have three points, which will hopefully give us confidence into tonight’s game at Grays.
I have to admit I was a bit worried how well we would do. Confidence has been pretty low, and with it being an away game, my concerns were higher. I am so glad that they proved me wrong. They did the business, and that is all that matters.
For those of you who went to Lewes, I would be interested to find out how well we played on Saturday. I am glad that Peter got a goal. He seems to give his all every game, and considering my doubts about him in the first part of the season, he has really begun to prove me wrong.
I really hope Boro can get the win tonight, and hopefully we will be back on the good track.
So Boro have Lewes away at the weekend. Lewes are currently bottom of the league so this is definitely a must win game for us. We have to beat them, we just have to.
Lewes will be well and truly up for it, as at this time of the season, every point is vital for their survival in the league.
Arguably, we should win, and win quite well, but things haven’t been great at Boro at the moment. We lack confidence and unity and points!
In September we were ranked 3rd in the form guide, but since then we have slipped to 13th, 15th, and now 19th. This is relegation form.
Our last 4 fixtures in the league alone have seen us gain 1 point out of a possible 12. And that point was against Northwich!
Boro need to shape up and get back to their winning form. They have to put the work in and grind out the points. Simple football, not complicated stuff. No hoofs and so on. At this stage of the game we need points and results, not fancy stuff.
The league is still quite close but we are beginning to drop off quite a bit. We are 25 points behind Burton and 7 points behind Kiddi.
1 Burton Albion 21 13 43
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2 Histon 19 15 40
3 Torquay 20 13 38
4 Cambridge Utd 21 7 37
5 Kidderminster 20 10 36
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6 Crawley Town 21 11 35
7 Wrexham 19 11 33
8 Kettering 19 8 33
9 Rushden & D'monds 21 10 32
10 Weymouth 22 -1 31
11 Stevenage 21 -5 28
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21 Forest Green 19 -10 19
22 Northwich 21 -10 15
23 Grays Athletic 19 -12 15
24 Lewes 20 -23 14
It is going to be a big ask to get Boro back up to the top of that table. But we will take it week by week, game by game, starting with a big win at Lewes on Saturday.
So come on Boro!
What happened? Boro lost again, but this time to Ebbsfleet in the Setanta Shield last night, 3-0. I know it wasn’t our strongest squad but when you look at the team there was definitely potential there.
I didn’t go to the game but from reading the match report (http://www.thecomet.net/content/comet/sport/boro/default.aspx) it didn’t sound like we played well at all. We are lacking something, and it needs to be sorted fast.
I know it is only the Setanta Shield but a win would have really helped the team’s confidence and I am sure Boylan and Thomas would have loved to get on the score sheet.
Graham didn’t take control of the team last night, so I hope when he gets back for Saturday’s game he has a right go. We are a better team than we are showing right now, and teams are going to start believing they can beat us if we are not careful.
We are playing Lewes on Saturday, so the team now have to shape up and prepare for that. It’s away so it won’t be easy, but I hope the players give it their all and come back with the 3 points. We can’t come away with nothing again.
Boro are playing Ebbsfleet away tonight in the Setanta Shield. If you are not going to the game it is pretty hard to follow how well we are doing. They don’t even seem to have any recollection of the game on Setanta Sports News or on its website. I know it is a cup that most people think is pointless. But if Setanta don’t even take it seriously and actually show games or report on them, why should we take it seriously?
Having said that, for us, it is a chance for the team to get some goals in the back of the net, and help boost confidence etc. If it means winning a cup at the end of it, I suppose it is not all bad.
As a result I really hope we win tonight. We really need that confidence, and for any striker, it is important to get goals, as self belief is essential.
Ebbsfleet aren’t going to be a push over, and after taking our crown from the FA Trophy campaign last season, I am sure they are going to want to win more trophies like ourselves, and win games.
I expect a few changes, and the club has already said that they are likely to rest Day and Lawrie will be back.
To be honest, I sort of hope the team stays relatively the same. We need some stability so players can actually learn to read each other. Whether it be in the Setanta Shield or not they need to work as a team and the only way they can do that is to play with familiar faces and as a result read the team.
So hopefully they can carry their great performance against Wrexham through to tonight’s game. (But hopefully this time we win!)
I am absolutely gutted after Saturday. We played really well, and tried so hard throughout the game. We shouldn’t have lost that game, we should of had a point at least. Even as I was walking from the ground some Wrexham supporters were saying behind me that they didn’t deserve to win that game, but they felt unjust from the week before, as they shouldn’t have lost to Kiddy. That’s football I guess.
It was quite an eventful match watching it with a Wrexham fan. There was a lot of banter going back and forth, and he knew deep down that we deserved that win (even if he won’t admit it).
Obviously we went mental when we scored the equaliser much to his annoyance, especially as the goal from Calum was an absolute scorcher. When Wrexham scored the second it was like a kick in the teeth. We didn’t deserve it, it was a foul, and it shouldn’t have been a goal. I didn’t like how Louis came to the fans for their first goal either. A bit cocky I would say.
No matter how much we moaned about the result to each other, both sets of fans seemed to agree with one thing, the ref. He didn’t have the best of games to say the least. Mills was completely poleaxed on numerous occasions. He was black and blue by the game was finished. We were given free kicks that were not even free kicks. They were given a goal that shouldn’t have been a goal and so on…
Every week the ref seems a bit dodgy. I don’t know how the players deal with it. I know it is not an easy task to referee a game, but as our mate said, the drop in quality from league 2 is quite surprising. Every week decisions are made that could have been avoided. On Saturday the decision the ref took lost us a point that could prove crucial at the end of the season.
On a strange but brighter note, Boro moved up to eleventh place on Saturday despite the defeat because Altrincham lost by more goals. At least that is something eh?!