Lucky Oxford
Posted: Sun Sep 29, 2019 3:24 pm
Having missed the last two games, I was really looking forward to seeing what the fuss was all about, hoping that they were not going to be assaulted to distraction by Evans' current charges. Well, what an excellent first half that was (was I too harsh in my criticism of Tranmere previously??). As much as the ref let their players get away with too much (an attack sufficient to see Rob Dickie needing to go off warranted proper action), it did not seem to put us off our game too much...and how often in the past have teams like that totally knocked us off our stride? A real positive sign that it did not faze us this time.
All three goals were excellent finishes, but also all rounded off really good team play. At the time (the last 15 minutes of the first half) I got a bit frustrated with Henry as too often he went looking for his hat-trick rather than pass to a team-mate in a better position, but in the end it mattered not a jot. Henry's pass to Taylor for his goal whilst sat on his arse was quality, but so was Taylor's ability to stay onside and time his run to perfection. Mackie offers a lot, but he does get caught offside too much. And credit to their keeper for saving Mous's header in the first half.
After a week like the one just gone (especially as the West Ham game was Wednesday rather than Tuesday), I could understand why we eased back on our attacking play in the second half. That said, what we then showed was a really good defensive performance, even if the opposition was not up to much. But what was Eastwood playing at? And it is not the first time he has done that, with a ball that was never going to roll into touch. I don't think it would have mattered had they scored from that, but at least their miss kept up this sequence of clean sheets.
Watching the EFL Goals on Quest, it was so funny how both the voiceover summariser and Colin Murray made fun of Evans' claim that some of our goals last week were lucky. Hah! And last night I got really antsy, just wanting the next match to come around, like, tomorrow. When was the last time I felt this excited about watching Oxford...
All three goals were excellent finishes, but also all rounded off really good team play. At the time (the last 15 minutes of the first half) I got a bit frustrated with Henry as too often he went looking for his hat-trick rather than pass to a team-mate in a better position, but in the end it mattered not a jot. Henry's pass to Taylor for his goal whilst sat on his arse was quality, but so was Taylor's ability to stay onside and time his run to perfection. Mackie offers a lot, but he does get caught offside too much. And credit to their keeper for saving Mous's header in the first half.
After a week like the one just gone (especially as the West Ham game was Wednesday rather than Tuesday), I could understand why we eased back on our attacking play in the second half. That said, what we then showed was a really good defensive performance, even if the opposition was not up to much. But what was Eastwood playing at? And it is not the first time he has done that, with a ball that was never going to roll into touch. I don't think it would have mattered had they scored from that, but at least their miss kept up this sequence of clean sheets.
Watching the EFL Goals on Quest, it was so funny how both the voiceover summariser and Colin Murray made fun of Evans' claim that some of our goals last week were lucky. Hah! And last night I got really antsy, just wanting the next match to come around, like, tomorrow. When was the last time I felt this excited about watching Oxford...