Home Park comforts
Posted: Sun Nov 19, 2017 10:40 am
I had a good feeling about this one, partly because we have a great recent record in Plymouth against a team that tend to allow us space to play. We started brightly with some incisive passing, and when Wes got the wrong side of his man and appeared to be brought down, the penalty looked blatant from the other end of the ground. The ref pulled the red card out so quickly that many in the away end missed it, and I spoke to a few at half time that didn't realise we'd been playing against ten men for half an hour already! You can understand why, as for most of the rest of the first half we surrendered possession cheaply on numerous occasions and gave no impression of having numerical superiority.
Plymouth clearly had done their homework and pressed us hard and it was reaping rewards - they were unlucky with Carey's free kick that hit the post before ricocheting back onto the diving Eastwood and out to safety, but they also carved us open on several occasions down our left hand side, where Ricardinho was nowhere near the level I've seen him before and some of his teammates clearly were not impressed with his efforts.
From around the 35 minute mark we got our act together, however, and the rest of the match was a walk in the park. After the initial worries it was nice to see us take full advantage of the extra man very professionally, and some of our passing moves were a joy to watch. 4-0 doesn't flatter us, it could have been six or seven but for some better finishing as Thomas and Obika both missed the target when clean through. Wes however was a real star, working hard all afternoon to great effect, and he was rewarded with a goal before making way for Obika who looked less impressive it has to be said.
As for the rest of them, Payne really caught the eye with his footwork; Ledson and Ruffels in the middle pulled the strings nicely; Henry had more joy than Rothwell; Martin and Tiendalli both looked good - no complaints at all there; as already mentioned the other side of the back four looked much shakier, though Mousinho did some good things and seems a decent leader; Ricardinho to be fair came back more strongly in the second half but the pressure was really off by then. Neither Mowatt nor Xemi had any great input.
The match really turned on the early sending off, which was a shame for the contest but handy for a team struggling for form. I don't think we can read much into the result or performance for that reason, but the table doesn't lie and we're handily positioned for now. Tuesday will be a much sterner test though.
Also impressed that over 800 Of Us were in attendance after our recent run of results - glad that more Oxford fans are realising that Plymouth's a good place to come and watch football. The walk back to the station through Central Park with views over Plymouth Sound and the city below is worth the trip alone. Mind you that's easy for me to say with only a 50 minute train journey home...
Plymouth clearly had done their homework and pressed us hard and it was reaping rewards - they were unlucky with Carey's free kick that hit the post before ricocheting back onto the diving Eastwood and out to safety, but they also carved us open on several occasions down our left hand side, where Ricardinho was nowhere near the level I've seen him before and some of his teammates clearly were not impressed with his efforts.
From around the 35 minute mark we got our act together, however, and the rest of the match was a walk in the park. After the initial worries it was nice to see us take full advantage of the extra man very professionally, and some of our passing moves were a joy to watch. 4-0 doesn't flatter us, it could have been six or seven but for some better finishing as Thomas and Obika both missed the target when clean through. Wes however was a real star, working hard all afternoon to great effect, and he was rewarded with a goal before making way for Obika who looked less impressive it has to be said.
As for the rest of them, Payne really caught the eye with his footwork; Ledson and Ruffels in the middle pulled the strings nicely; Henry had more joy than Rothwell; Martin and Tiendalli both looked good - no complaints at all there; as already mentioned the other side of the back four looked much shakier, though Mousinho did some good things and seems a decent leader; Ricardinho to be fair came back more strongly in the second half but the pressure was really off by then. Neither Mowatt nor Xemi had any great input.
The match really turned on the early sending off, which was a shame for the contest but handy for a team struggling for form. I don't think we can read much into the result or performance for that reason, but the table doesn't lie and we're handily positioned for now. Tuesday will be a much sterner test though.
Also impressed that over 800 Of Us were in attendance after our recent run of results - glad that more Oxford fans are realising that Plymouth's a good place to come and watch football. The walk back to the station through Central Park with views over Plymouth Sound and the city below is worth the trip alone. Mind you that's easy for me to say with only a 50 minute train journey home...