Wembley? Wem-bleurgh, more like

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Kairdiff Exile
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Wembley? Wem-bleurgh, more like

Post by Kairdiff Exile »

Well, so much for that then. I guess we can't have too many complaints - on the balance of play, Barnsley probably deserved it, and we were as average in the second half as they had been in the first. But there were some good goals, some memorable moments and it was a decent day out. Well done to all the fans on both sides who made it a fun occasion (and evil looks to the small section of Barnsley fans who made no effort to be magnanimous in victory and the small section of Oxford fans who came all the way to Wembley, paid £30+ for a ticket and then spent most of the second half stood in the concourse area rather than enjoy the day).

So much depends on the next six games now - promotion and a Wembley final would be a good return on a season's endeavours; but to mess up promotion for a final we didn't even win...

Finally, if anyone has a spare programme they don't want, drop me a message. Yesterday was my boy's first game and I totally forgot to buy him one as a memento.
Isaac
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Re: Wembley? Wem-bleurgh, more like

Post by Isaac »

I enjoyed it, less stressful that the previous visit and both teams trying to score goals, playing some decent football (until everyone got tired last 10 minutes). A draw probably would have been a reasonable result, but no real complaints as Barnsley always looked dangerous.

My concern of the remainder of the season is that we look somewhat weak and inexperienced at the back, the two full backs are very young, if Skarz is out for the season then we're asking a lot of the loanees. I sort of like the fact that the team play with a naivete that means no matter the game situation, they'll play the same way, but on occasions I suspect we might prefer a more pragmatic approach. Still, 6 games, win 4 of them and I reckon we'll go up automatically.
Shoobedoo
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Re: Wembley? Wem-bleurgh, more like

Post by Shoobedoo »

Shame to lose the unbeaten Wembley record, but not too many complaints really (only that I thought Hylton looked to have been fouled at the start of the move that led to Hammill's excellent winning goal). Barnsley came out very strongly at the start of the second half, pressed us hard and stopped us playing. Deserved winners and congratulations to them.

Observations about us: Despite letting in three, I thought Benji had a very good game and looks to be growing in confidence. Jordan Evans had an excellent first half but tired under much more pressure in the second (actually you could say that about a lot of them). Ruffels did OK but has to work on his first touch. I do think we missed Lundstram. Danny was probably my man of the match, and it was a great moment to have One Of Our Own open the scoring.

Hey ho, I guess if you're going to lose at Wembley, best do it in the most meaningless competition out there. Was a good day out nonetheless. Now let's kick on and get ourselves out of the basement.
Dr Bob
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Re: Wembley? Wem-bleurgh, more like

Post by Dr Bob »

Why is there so much fuss being made about the Barnsley fans chant 'sing when you're rowing'? I first heard that at Saltergate about 20 years ago. Plagiarists.
Werthers Original
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Re: Wembley? Wem-bleurgh, more like

Post by Werthers Original »

I thought we were pretty great, going forward at least. Scoring two goals at Wembley is all that can be expected. Defensively we were maybe a bit weaker and I wonder if Wright would have made a difference?

Adam Hammill showed Roofe the standard he should be aspiring to
OUFC4eva
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Re: Wembley? Wem-bleurgh, more like

Post by OUFC4eva »

Werthers Original wrote:I thought we were pretty great, going forward at least. Scoring two goals at Wembley is all that can be expected. Defensively we were maybe a bit weaker and I wonder if Wright would have made a difference?

Adam Hammill showed Roofe the standard he should be aspiring to
I reckon we would have won it with
Lundstram in the team and possibly Skarz.

I thought Evans did well though and
possesses a great left foot.

Hugely enjoyable occasion and am proud of OUFC
and its supporters who turned up in great numbers.
We lost narrowly but there are lots of positives.
Kernow Yellow
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Re: Wembley? Wem-bleurgh, more like

Post by Kernow Yellow »

An entertaining game for sure, and not one I was too bothered about winning, but I couldn't help but be disappointed in the way we capitulated after the break. Hammill was certainly a cut above the other players on the pitch, but Liam Sercombe allowed him to run from his own half and then cut inside and get a shot away without any semblance of pressure on him. Barnsley had worked out that Roofe was our danger man and stayed tight to him all game, but we afforded Hammill the freedom of Wembley, as Sercs also made no effort to stop his cross which led to the first Reds goal. Basic defensive sloppiness.

I also thought that our substitutions significantly weakened our line-up, which was a shame as we were chasing the game, but I guess it was important to keep the better players fit for Saturday. Hylton, Roofe and Macdonald all played really well, and in the first half we won the midfield battle but got overrun there after the break. Evans also did well first half but went downhill as the game wore on. Benji always has the occasional rush of blood but the more I see of him the more I like him - I'm glad we seem to have settled on him as first choice keeper.

Barnsley seem a decent team and it was a great spectacle, but what on earth was Toney doing with that challenge in injury time? The ref bottled giving him the red card his stupidity deserved.
recordmeister
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Re: Wembley? Wem-bleurgh, more like

Post by recordmeister »

That's a good question KY: why was a Northampton Town player making such a reckless challenge on one of our key players, with just a few games left of the run-in...?
Hog
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Re: Wembley? Wem-bleurgh, more like

Post by Hog »

recordmeister wrote:That's a good question KY: why was a Northampton Town player making such a reckless challenge on one of our key players, with just a few games left of the run-in...?
But he's not a Northampton player is he? But if you want a conspiracy theory have you seen who Northampton are playing on Saturday? And their last game of the season?
Kernow Yellow
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Re: Wembley? Wem-bleurgh, more like

Post by Kernow Yellow »

I thought he was a Newcastle player? Assume he's on loan to Barnsley (but don't really care enough to check). Fortunately Cobblers still need a point or two to guarantee promotion. And fortunately our promotion chances are still in our hands. We need to make sure they stay that way...
GodalmingYellow
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Re: Wembley? Wem-bleurgh, more like

Post by GodalmingYellow »

I felt we were noticeably the better side in the first half, with Barnsley taking up that mantle in the second. Barnsley just shaded it on balance of play and goals scored, which is what you would expect from a team containing Premiership players, playing at a level one division higher than us and looking to be promoted therefrom.

Minor disappointment that we weren't able to get the scores level and take it to extra time, but I would happily sacrifice a Wembley result in favour of automatic promotion.

Buchel had a good game and only really came out once when he shouldn't have, the rest of the time he caught and punched well and controlled his 6 yard box well. He was not at fault for any of the goals against.

Dunks had a mediocre game and was badly at fault in at least 2 of their goals. I think Wright's experience would have made a big difference.

Jonjoe Kenny and Jordan Evans both played pretty well and Mullins was solid as ever most of the game. Is Skarz out for the season?

I agree that we missed the Lundstram in the centre. Ruffels is a reasonable League 2 midfielder, but nothing more, and he is very one paced.

I think Sercombe has looked out of sorts for several games now. Don't know if it is a fitness thing, or confidence, or whatever, but where were the lung busting runs and mazy dribbling that we've become used to?

O'Dowda had a very good game as did MacDonald. Both caused problems from width and through the centre.

Hylton was my MoM. He didn't give up all afternoon.

Roofe was brought down hard early on and that seemed to affect his play. I can understand that the ref didn't want to dish out cards to early on in a final, but the challenge deserved a yellow, and that might have persuaded Roofe to play with more confidence and without fear of getting hurt.

The subs did weaken us, but the players who went off had run themselves ragged, and as has been pointed out above, Crawley on Saturday is much more important, so I don't see what else Appleton could have done. I think Appleton got the maximum out of the resources he had available (with the possible exception of not playing Wright who might still be carrying a healing injury) and you can't ask for more than that.

Overall I thought the ref was pretty good too. He played advantage where he could, and got most of the decisions right, he kept up with play and ensured a free flowing game which was very entertaining with some good quality football on show.

I enjoyed my day out and met up with quite a few friends inside and outside the ground. My only gripe was the amount of time for the LRT coaches to get out of the car park. We finally left the car park at about 6:15pm and sat in a further 30 minutes of traffic once we were out. That isn't good enough for our National Football Stadium and those in authority need to give serious consideration to revised matchday traffic routing, similar to that done at Silverstone for the British Grand Prix.
Jimski
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Re: Wembley? Wem-bleurgh, more like

Post by Jimski »

Hog wrote:
recordmeister wrote:That's a good question KY: why was a Northampton Town player making such a reckless challenge on one of our key players, with just a few games left of the run-in...?
But he's not a Northampton player is he? But if you want a conspiracy theory have you seen who Northampton are playing on Saturday? And their last game of the season?
Let's hope they clinch promotion at the weekend by giving Rovers a good tonking.
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