MATCHWATCH : Port Vale (h)

[Gunny Fishcake]

Important to get the first win but damn that was one of the worst games I've ever seen. Watched better quality games at Maidenhead and Woking than today.

Spot on, two teams who wouldn't have looked out of place playing at Prospect Park, the lack in skill on the pitch from both sides was breathtaking , thank god for Paddy Lane's top quality goal.

[windermereROYAL]

Big shout out to the Vale player that was through on goal and stayed on his feet despite getting dragged back by Burns, nailed on red if he goes down.

[Norfolk Royal]

That goal reminded me of the scene in Band of Brothers when Lt Ronald Spiers sprints through the German forces at Foy and the Germans are so surprised and astonished that they forget to shoot him and just look at him mouths agape.
The ball being Lt Spiers and the Germans being the Port Vale defenders.

[Brogue]

A very scrappy match low on quality from both teams. The Lane goal and the save low to his right by Pereira were the only bits of true quality in the game.

Pereira - Great save. Otherwise not much else to do. Kicked a couple needlessly into touch and put Ahmed into trouble with another he should've kicked long. 7

Ahmed - Great pass down the line to win an early corner. Excellent run and attempted cross that should have probably been converted. Needs to be a bit more wary of what is over his shoulder when crosses come in. Otherwise defended well and a couple of decent runs. 7 motm

Burns - He just makes these silly little mistakes. Got away with it today. 5

Williams - Solid if unspectacular again. Good signing 6

Jacob - He is so so bad. Constant misplaced passes, bad runs, wandering around like a competition winner. One good recovery tackle which he only had to make because he'd lost the ball. 4

Lane - Great finish which he did well to rescue as it was a pretty bad cross. A few other positive moments as well. Promising 7

Elliott - one to forget from the moment he slipped up and let them counter us from the early corner. Nothing went right for him. 4

Wing - Solid, but nothing really stood out. Just went about his business without a fuss. 6

Savage - A bit more like the Savage of old. Still not quite there, but hopefully back to his best after the international break. 6

Kyerewaa - When or if he develops a consistent final ball then he will be a real danger. Right now it's just promising runs with a disappointing conclusion apart from his hopeful ball in today that Lane managed to rescue spectacularly. 6

O'Mahoney - Just looks lost out there. He's trying, but it just isn't obvious how it's going to come off for him. 4

Subs:
Dorsett - Great goal saving block. 6
Marriott - promising but let the ball run across him once or twice and had the ball nicked from him putting is in trouble. 6
Fraser - Once again looked lost out of position. 5
Doyle - Had one good run, but failed pulled the trigger. Did better than Elliott. 5
Camara - one of his better performances. Almost scored on the back post but just got there a bit late. 6

Ahmed MOTM, is this a wind up???

Shut up dick.

[Hound]

Well I enjoyed it. High energy, direct. Running at them, created chances. Solid defending to see it out.

If you can't enjoy that after 5 games without a win, I don’t see the point in watching.

I did enjoy the game and great to get 3 points

I don’t think we were good though and PV matched us pretty much. They could easily have scored

[tidus_mi2]

I do hope we improve as the season goes because that just looked like two poor teams where we came out on top. Just hoping that it's gonna take a bit for all the new signings to gel.

[Half Horse]

Great performance, hanging on a bit at the end, but first win, first clean sheet.

Great press, great energy and pace. Lots of chances. Just need to start converting a few more.

Stick to being told inside info, you're not great at the match analysis.

Oh, the irony!

[Jinx]

A very scrappy match low on quality from both teams. The Lane goal and the save low to his right by Pereira were the only bits of true quality in the game.

Pereira - Great save. Otherwise not much else to do. Kicked a couple needlessly into touch and put Ahmed into trouble with another he should've kicked long. 7

Ahmed - Great pass down the line to win an early corner. Excellent run and attempted cross that should have probably been converted. Needs to be a bit more wary of what is over his shoulder when crosses come in. Otherwise defended well and a couple of decent runs. 7 motm

Burns - He just makes these silly little mistakes. Got away with it today. 5

Williams - Solid if unspectacular again. Good signing 6

Jacob - He is so so bad. Constant misplaced passes, bad runs, wandering around like a competition winner. One good recovery tackle which he only had to make because he'd lost the ball. 4

Lane - Great finish which he did well to rescue as it was a pretty bad cross. A few other positive moments as well. Promising 7

Elliott - one to forget from the moment he slipped up and let them counter us from the early corner. Nothing went right for him. 4

Wing - Solid, but nothing really stood out. Just went about his business without a fuss. 6

Savage - A bit more like the Savage of old. Still not quite there, but hopefully back to his best after the international break. 6

Kyerewaa - When or if he develops a consistent final ball then he will be a real danger. Right now it's just promising runs with a disappointing conclusion apart from his hopeful ball in today that Lane managed to rescue spectacularly. 6

O'Mahoney - Just looks lost out there. He's trying, but it just isn't obvious how it's going to come off for him. 4

Subs:
Dorsett - Great goal saving block. 6
Marriott - promising but let the ball run across him once or twice and had the ball nicked from him putting is in trouble. 6
Fraser - Once again looked lost out of position. 5
Doyle - Had one good run, but failed pulled the trigger. Did better than Elliott. 5
Camara - one of his better performances. Almost scored on the back post but just got there a bit late. 6

Ahmed MOTM, is this a wind up???

Shut up dick.

I'm with Windermere here, Ahmed was awful, should have been hooked 20 minutes earlier (even if it did mean Dorsett coming on)

[West F]

That goal reminded me of the scene in Band of Brothers when Lt Ronald Spiers sprints through the German forces at Foy and the Germans are so surprised and astonished that they forget to shoot him and just look at him mouths agape.
The ball being Lt Spiers and the Germans being the Port Vale defenders.

The ball from Kyerewaa to Doyle ended up being one of the best awful passes I have seen for a while. I think everyone was caught out until it fell perfectly for Lane, smiled at him and said, “Top bin please Paddy”.

[West F]

Big shout out to the Vale player that was through on goal and stayed on his feet despite getting dragged back by Burns, nailed on red if he goes down.

I thought that at the time. He should have scored afterwards. In the box and it would have been different. I will have to watch it back. Felt as though Burns let it bounce instead of clearing it.

[Royal Ginger]

Quick mention for the scouting team who correctly identified that the Vale keeper didn’t have the faintest clue how to deal with the ball at his feet under pressure. He made a good save but his distribution was beyond miserable.

[West F]

Ahmed MOTM, is this a wind up???

Shut up dick.

I'm with Windermere here, Ahmed was awful, should have been hooked 20 minutes earlier (even if it did mean Dorsett coming on)

I don’t really think anyone played that well. Quite a few jittery performances, some ok and others poor. But playing badly and winning is no bad thing.

[AthleticoSpizz]

No, that’s a good thing.

Sooooo….out of interest, who were you posting as before West F?

A sleeper account that has become very animated and active all of a sudden in the past six weeks

You are very welcome here, and you posts are interesting and credible….

[bakerlou]

The PV medical duo were excellent today, 30 seconds attention and a player seemingly at death's door would be right as rain again. I particularly enjoyed their first half cameo, three visits in a couple of minutes, without ever quite managing to get back to the Tech Area before having to come back on again.

I am struggling with dishing out the MotM award - I'm increasingly thinking that without a couple of top draw saves from Perreirererers we could have lost that.

The big pos for me today though (apart from actually winning) was seeing beginnings of familiarity between the players eg Wing and Jacobs trying to create space for Kyerewaa to exploit which seemed to be our principal tactic in the first half at least. Although I now also recall Lane giving Ahmed an on-field bollocking early on in the second half during a break in play, can't recall why mind.

[Orion1871]

Ahmed MOTM, is this a wind up???

Shut up dick.

I'm with Windermere here, Ahmed was awful, should have been hooked 20 minutes earlier (even if it did mean Dorsett coming on)

He certainly wasn't "awful". Whether you agree with me, or Mick Gooding who also picked him, choosing him as MOTM or not is a different matter.

He put the best cross in of the game that should have got him an assist, played a great ball down the line to win the early corner that Elliott screwed up, and made some good runs out of defence.

The only obvious mistake I can recall him making was when Pereira played a hospital pass to him with three Vale players surrounding him and he gave the ball away.

[LUX]

FWIW I thought Ahmed was good today too.

[leon]

+1

Ahmed looked ok. Always positive. Lots of energy. Strong and tenacious. Made some mistakes but always tried to rectify them. I liked what I saw.

I feel sorry for the boy up front he’s a kid and looks absolutely shell shocked. We’re asking him to do a role he plainly can’t. Sooner Marriot can lead the better- developmentally this loan will set him back.

[Hound]

+1

Ahmed looked ok. Always positive. Lots of energy. Strong and tenacious. Made some mistakes but always tried to rectify them. I liked what I saw.

I feel sorry for the boy up front he’s a kid and looks absolutely shell shocked. We’re asking him to do a role he plainly can’t. Sooner Marriot can lead the better- developmentally this loan will set him back.

Ahmed was great but then got tired and started making mistakes. Should have come off earlier

I thought MoM did ok. Shame he miskicked that chance as he did great to get in front of the defender. Marriott was certainly no better and I’m not sure what he’ll offer. Can see him sneaking a few goals but not a lot else

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that both Kelvin and MoM have looked poor in that forward role. They’re basically being asked to play target man but also as an old school number 10 as well as track back. And then get on the end of crosses into the box. Can’t see that suiting Marriott either

[Royal Ginger]

I agree that the ‘striker’ role they’re being asked to play seems far too deep, however I thought Marriott’s pace allowed him to be a bit more involved.

I tried to lay of O’Mahony a bit during his first few games but he just looks so heavy and slow.

[Hound]

I think Hunt is still setting up as if Smith was here, who could do that role asked as well as anyone in this division

Otherwise I think Wareham actually did the role pretty well. Better suited to it than the 3 we have now