Owls
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GodalmingYellow
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Re: Owls
New ground for me tonight and very much looking forward to it.
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Kernow Yellow
- Grumpy old git
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Re: Owls
A bit far for a midweek trip from Cornwall sadly. I have very fond memories of our last trip there though, at the same stage of the same cup in 1996 when a late Paul Moody equaliser set us up for a 2nd leg victory over then Premier League Wednesday. Got back to Oxford at 5am the following day after a long afternoon/evening/night drinking and dancing in the pubs and clubs of Sheffield! Happy days...
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GodalmingYellow
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Re: Owls
A very enjoyable trip to Hillsborough. Really nice ground and well designed stands to keep the volume in, but why do they let the drummer in?
Very friendly stewarding and it was a good opportunity to see the Leppings Lane End and memorial to the 96 who lost their lives in 1989. RIP fellow supporters.
Whilst as you would expect, Wednesday were the better side, there wasn't that much between us and them. They were significantly better at set pieces, especially corners and looked dangerous on each one. Their forwards' movement was very good at the corners and they regularly got ahead of our defenders to the ball. They were also very quick on the break. But as a passing side, patient when necessary and incisive when possible, we matched them every step of the way.
Having said that, in the first half, our forwards of Taylor and Hoban were poor holding the ball up. Hoban rarely looked as though he could play at the required level and was behind the pace and barely touched the ball. Taylor was better in the second half, receiving the ball, holding it up and distributing it, and he and improved further when Hoban was replaced by Hylton, who was excellent. Had we started with Hylton, the result might have been different. Hoban for me is sadly not good enough.
Sam Long had a fabulous game until his injury, easily as good as Baldock and he saved us several times putting his body in the way of danger in the penalty area. For the injury, there was no fault of the Wednesday player. It looked as though his studs caught in the turf and he twisted as he fell. There was almost a collective wince from the crowd. It was horrible to see. He went off with oxygen and respect and applause from both sets of supporters and some nice "he's one of our own" songs from the Us fans.
Sercombe replaced Long and did a very good job at right back. He showed some nice dribbling skills on several occasions taking on a number of Wednesday players successfully.
O'Dowda was probably man of the match for the Us. Very skilful and pacey all night and many times, the only way Wednesday could stop him was by fouling, which drew several yellow cards for them.
Ruffels looked as you might expect from someone who has played little football. He covered a lot of ground, but was more about breaking up Wednesday play than contributing to our attacking play. Not really match fit in my view.
Lundstram was good too although he tired as the game wore on and was subbed for Rose. I think Lundstram will become an important signing for us.
Rose did ok, but gave the ball away too often around the half way line, resulting in 2 or 3 scrambling defensive moments. He was often involved in our build up play though.
Macdonald was excellent all night and constantly a thorn in the Wednesday side.
Mullins controlled the defence superbly and Chey Dunkley was a much improved player from that we have previously seen. The coaching staff have clearly been working wonders on him and he did not look at all out of place. Gone was the slight awkwardness and he was controlled and level headed against a decent Wednesday strike force. I don't remember Dunkley giving the ball away once all night either from long or short passes and I would be perfectly happy for him to be in the side in future on that display.
Onto Slocombe. Made a couple of good saves, though he saves with his feet too much for my liking. He spilled the ball a few times and was not strong enough commanding the 6 yard box. As regards their goal, I feel Clarke would have claimed the ball. It may have been a foul on Slocombe, but he was not strong enough in my view and was left stranded.
I miss Clarke in goal and in the words of New Model Army "Dear God what is this evil that we've gone and done".
Very friendly stewarding and it was a good opportunity to see the Leppings Lane End and memorial to the 96 who lost their lives in 1989. RIP fellow supporters.
Whilst as you would expect, Wednesday were the better side, there wasn't that much between us and them. They were significantly better at set pieces, especially corners and looked dangerous on each one. Their forwards' movement was very good at the corners and they regularly got ahead of our defenders to the ball. They were also very quick on the break. But as a passing side, patient when necessary and incisive when possible, we matched them every step of the way.
Having said that, in the first half, our forwards of Taylor and Hoban were poor holding the ball up. Hoban rarely looked as though he could play at the required level and was behind the pace and barely touched the ball. Taylor was better in the second half, receiving the ball, holding it up and distributing it, and he and improved further when Hoban was replaced by Hylton, who was excellent. Had we started with Hylton, the result might have been different. Hoban for me is sadly not good enough.
Sam Long had a fabulous game until his injury, easily as good as Baldock and he saved us several times putting his body in the way of danger in the penalty area. For the injury, there was no fault of the Wednesday player. It looked as though his studs caught in the turf and he twisted as he fell. There was almost a collective wince from the crowd. It was horrible to see. He went off with oxygen and respect and applause from both sets of supporters and some nice "he's one of our own" songs from the Us fans.
Sercombe replaced Long and did a very good job at right back. He showed some nice dribbling skills on several occasions taking on a number of Wednesday players successfully.
O'Dowda was probably man of the match for the Us. Very skilful and pacey all night and many times, the only way Wednesday could stop him was by fouling, which drew several yellow cards for them.
Ruffels looked as you might expect from someone who has played little football. He covered a lot of ground, but was more about breaking up Wednesday play than contributing to our attacking play. Not really match fit in my view.
Lundstram was good too although he tired as the game wore on and was subbed for Rose. I think Lundstram will become an important signing for us.
Rose did ok, but gave the ball away too often around the half way line, resulting in 2 or 3 scrambling defensive moments. He was often involved in our build up play though.
Macdonald was excellent all night and constantly a thorn in the Wednesday side.
Mullins controlled the defence superbly and Chey Dunkley was a much improved player from that we have previously seen. The coaching staff have clearly been working wonders on him and he did not look at all out of place. Gone was the slight awkwardness and he was controlled and level headed against a decent Wednesday strike force. I don't remember Dunkley giving the ball away once all night either from long or short passes and I would be perfectly happy for him to be in the side in future on that display.
Onto Slocombe. Made a couple of good saves, though he saves with his feet too much for my liking. He spilled the ball a few times and was not strong enough commanding the 6 yard box. As regards their goal, I feel Clarke would have claimed the ball. It may have been a foul on Slocombe, but he was not strong enough in my view and was left stranded.
I miss Clarke in goal and in the words of New Model Army "Dear God what is this evil that we've gone and done".
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GodalmingYellow
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Re: Owls
I've seen the replay as well, and it is a 50:50 ball that the striker is clearly entitled to go for. It wasn't a case of the keeper's feet being off the ground, or both jumping for the ball. Slocombe needs to be much stronger.SWA wrote:Saw the goal on SKY (as couldn't make the match) - looked like a clear foul on Slocombe. Not sure you can blame him for that one!!
Re: Owls
Well I think if I'd have made the trip up for a evening game I would have been quite annoyed about not leaving our best three players on the bench and missing out on a trip to St James. I really don't understand why we de-prioritise the league cup in this way especially after the feel good factor against Brentford.
It's good that the players that came in largely impressed but I would prefer for us to try and win such games than this concentrate on the legue business especially when we're only in August!
It's good that the players that came in largely impressed but I would prefer for us to try and win such games than this concentrate on the legue business especially when we're only in August!
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GodalmingYellow
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Re: Owls
In fairness, we have I believe 3 players who were nursing tightness and slight strains, and therefore potentially worse injuries. Plus, you have to give games to fringe players sometimes, so that they are more match ready when they need to be called upon. But I suppose 6 changes was a little excessive.ty cobb wrote:Well I think if I'd have made the trip up for a evening game I would have been quite annoyed about not leaving our best three players on the bench and missing out on a trip to St James. I really don't understand why we de-prioritise the league cup in this way especially after the feel good factor against Brentford.
It's good that the players that came in largely impressed but I would prefer for us to try and win such games than this concentrate on the legue business especially when we're only in August!
Re: Owls
going back to the Mansfield starting line up was totally justified by a 2-0 win which should have been at least a few goals more.GodalmingYellow wrote:In fairness, we have I believe 3 players who were nursing tightness and slight strains, and therefore potentially worse injuries. Plus, you have to give games to fringe players sometimes, so that they are more match ready when they need to be called upon. But I suppose 6 changes was a little excessive.ty cobb wrote:Well I think if I'd have made the trip up for a evening game I would have been quite annoyed about not leaving our best three players on the bench and missing out on a trip to St James. I really don't understand why we de-prioritise the league cup in this way especially after the feel good factor against Brentford.
It's good that the players that came in largely impressed but I would prefer for us to try and win such games than this concentrate on the legue business especially when we're only in August!