Didcot v MERTHYR

On today's game, we were awful. 1 point out of 9 is very unlike us this season and I perfectly understand the nerves floating around after we crumbled last season.

There certainly seems to be an issue with our defending of set pieces recently which is pretty concerning. That's something that needs to be looked at. I still think we'll do it but talk about making it difficult for ourselves!

The outcome of todays game revolved around the weather conditions and the referees failure to award a clear penalty.  We didn’t use the wind to our advantage in the first half and Didcot with their more direct style of play did and we were put under quite a bit of pressure albeit from lumps into our half from the Diddy defence and their midfield hardly saw the ball.
 
It was a nice surprise to see Leek get on the bus but Prosser was missing due to work commitments and presumably the same can be said for Williams (S).  For Diddy, their leading scorer, Mills, did start.  Our team was –
 
Bradley
Davies, Green, Rewbury & Wright
Harris, Williams & Leek
Morgan, McLaggon & Traylor
 
Subs – Evans, Summerfield, Bauza, Patten & Jenkins
 
We played with a strong breeze at our backs in the first half and straight from their kick off Diddy sent a long ball into our half which was headed clear by our left back for the day, Wright.  We retaliated with a long ball into the Diddy half which was headed on by McLaggon and Leek followed the ball towards goal but Foster, the Didcot keeper, saved well with his feet and the ball was cleared.  Rewbury took a knock near the halfway line but after Chubbsy’s ministrations he was fit enough to continue.
 
After the opening few minutes we were well on top but we rarely threatened the 18 yard area with Diddy defending well.  Leek did find Williams who pushed it wide right to Traylor who managed to get past Organ but Haysham got back and got the ball to Woodley who got the ball forward into the Merthyr half but it was headed left by Green to Wright but his ball forward was intercepted and cleared by the Diddy defence and that was the pattern of the half. 
 
Long balls into the Diddy half were being well cleared by the Diddy defenders and when we tried passing the ball forward and getting it wide we didn’t get much joy with that either as the 2 full backs were being well supported by midfielders and were snuffing out any danger.  Didcot were rarely in our half other than long balls out of defence and the majority of play was around the area between the halfway line and the Diddy 18 yard area.  Leek did pick up the ball in midfield and found Williams.  He pushed it back to Rewbury who sent it forward towards Williams who found McLaggon who held it up and gave it back to Leek on the centre circle in the Diddy half who ran forward towards goal and shot from about 30 yards which went wide of Foster’s left hand post.  Didcot did gain a free kick just inside the Merthyr half after a foul by Rewbury.  The kick went high towards our area and was headed on by Learoyd but Bradley made a good catch.
 
We were trying to pass the ball but were finding it difficult to make any headway and in a rare Diddy attack, from a throw in on the left, they gained the first corner of the game when Green put in a good tackle.  The corner came in high into our area and Bradley made a good catch on his 6 yard line.  A long ball into the Diddy half found McLaggon who seemed to be pushed by Learoyd but Mr Hollier saw nothing wrong and Ballard got the ball out of play for a throw which came to nothing.  Davies then got the ball on the Merthyr right and sent it into the Diddy area.  Carnell headed it down but only as far as Harris and his shot from about 25 yards brought a good save out of Foster who got down well and he pushed it wide of his left hand post for our first corner.  Williams took it high into the area and Green got his head to it but the ball looped over the Didcot bar.  Wright got in a similar header a few minutes later, when after a foul on McLaggon by Carnell, Williams sent in a free kick high into the area but Wright couldn’t get over it and again the ball went over.  Merthyr were passing the ball around a lot near the halfway line trying to tempt Diddy out and after a good passing move involving Morgan & Harris and Rewbury the ball was sent to Wright on the left.  He sent it forward to McLaggon who held it up and he got inside Carnell and ran into the area where he was brought down by Elkins but again the referee gave us nothing and waved play on and Diddy cleared into our half and the ball ran through to Bradley.  His long kick out was aimed at McLaggon and the referee adjudged that Carnell had fouled him in the air and gave us a free kick for an innocuous challenge in a nothing position, no doubt trying to make up for his error in not awarding us a penalty a few minutes earlier.  Williams sent the free kick high over the Diddy bar. 
 
We gained another corner on our right which was wasted by Williams as he failed to beat the first defender and Elkins cleared it away for a throw.  Leek took it and sent a long throw down to McLaggon near the byline but Learoyd nipped in and got it behind for another corner.  This time Williams got the ball into the area and Green went for it but was heavily challenged by Organ and the ball was cleared.  McLaggon was again fouled, this time by Learoyd, who also kicked the ball away but the referee took no action.  Williams again wasted the set piece by sending the ball high towards the area and straight into Foster’s arms.
 
McLaggon had obviously been targeted as our danger man and was coming in for some rough treatment and after picking up a pass from Morgan, McLaggon ran over the halfway line and was the victim of a poor tackle by Self who was correctly booked.  Rewbury’s kick found Traylor on the right and he got to the byline for the first time in the game and lifted a good cross into the area which was missed by McLaggon and Foster grabbed the ball. 
 
Didcot offered very little going forward but we had created little too and the referee brought a rather insipid half to an end with the score as we started at 0-0.   
 
The wind seemed to have abated slightly at the start of the half and the match carried on in a similar fashion to the first.  The breeze found a new lease of life and Diddy then tried to use it to their advantage by sending long balls forward from the back whenever they broke up our attacks.  McLaggon was the victim of yet another poor challenge, this time by Carnell, as he received a ball from Davies and Carnell had earned himself a yellow. 
 
Didcot gained a couple of corners and the first one was aimed at our far post but it was too long and went out for a goal kick.  A few minutes later after another long Diddy ball was defended away for a corner the ball was sent in perfectly towards our far post and Learoyd, all on his own, headed the ball into the back of our net and Diddy, rather against the run of possession, were ahead 1-0 after 10 minutes of the second half.
 
We tried to fight back but again we were passing the ball around well in deepish positions but when we tried to move the ball forward we were thwarted by the likes of Carnell & Learoyd.  Diddy were still playing the long ball forward and putting our defence under pressure.  Mclaggon was becoming more and more frustrated at the treatment he was receiving and was being punished for a few challenges on the opposition defenders in trying to get his own back.    
 
Shortly afterwards, Morgan & Harris were replaced by Jenkins and Bauza. 
 
After Diddy gained a free kick just inside their half a long free kick by Elkins went towards our area and the referee adjudged that Green had fouled a Diddy forward and a free kick was awarded to the left of the D.  Elkins came forward to take the kick and sent a low, hard shot towards Bradley who was only able to parry it out and Mills, one of two Diddy attackers who were following up all on their own, had the simple task of slotting it home into an unguarded net and Diddy were 2 up with about 20 minutes of the game to go.
 
We continued to press forward to rescue something out of the game and Wright picked the ball up on the left just inside the Diddy half and sent it down the line towards McLaggon.  He held it up and played it across to Leek halfway inside the Diddy half and he gave it to Bauza who sent it wide right towards Traylor.  Traylor did well to get inside Organ and got into the area and sent in a good cross which was again cleared by the Diddy defence but only out as far as Leek who found Rewbury who gave it back to Leek who ran towards the area and shot from about 25 yards but Foster made an excellent save going down to his right. 
 
Diddy were still looking dangerous on the break with their long balls and Mills got hold of one and found Baines whose shot rebounded up off Traylor and into the arms of Bradley.  Bradley got the ball up to the halfway line and found Williams who tried to find Jenkins but it was a poor ball and easily intercepted by Elkins who cleared.  From the halfway line Wright then sent a long ball towards Bauza who was now playing upfront alongside McLaggon but it ran straight through to Foster.  Wright had more success with his next pass which he sent down the left towards Bauza who held it and came inside Learoyd and ran towards the area and gave it back to Leek who played a one two with Traylor and ran towards the area and unleashed yet another powerful shot which brought a flying save out of Foster going to his left and the ball came out to Davies but his cross was well cleared by Carnell. 
 
Then, with about 10 minutes left, a good passing move down our left found Jenkins and he beat Baines and got to the byline and sent in a good low cross which found McLaggon on the left edge of the 6 yard area who turned well to beat Carnell but from about 5 yards he sent his shot across goal beating Foster but also the far post and our best chance of the game so far had gone astray. 
 
Diddy had a spell of pressure with Haysham and Mills prominent but we defended well and Bradley wasn’t troubled and we responded with an attack down our right involving Davies, Leek and McLaggon.  McLaggon seemed to have been fouled as he found Traylor on the touchline but as Traylor made his way down the line, the referee gave a sharp blast on his whistle and awarded a free kick to Didcot presumably because of something said to him by a clearly frustrated McLaggon.  The referee did have a word with him but didn’t produce a card. 
 
Bauza and Green combined well on the right and Bauza sent the ball across the 18 yard line where he found McLaggon who gave it back to Williams and Foster made a good save from Williams’s shot, going down to his right and getting it behind for a corner.  Williams took the corner high into the area which Wright failed to reach and it went through to Green who tried a volley a la his goal against Taunton but Foster got up well to make a good catch. 
 
Shortly afterwards, Patten replaced Davies and after a period of pressure, Patten lost the ball on the edge of the Diddy area and they broke clear and Mills got hold of the ball just inside the Merthyr half and he found Haysham.  Wright and Rewbury between them snuffed out the danger but Wright’s clearance only found Self on the halfway line.  He got it out right to Haysham who slid it back to Elkins who beat McLaggon and gave it to Baines on the edge of our area who cut inside and gave it back to Self and his good left footed shot from about 18 yards just cleared the Merthyr bar. 
 
Good play across the pitch led to Williams finding Jenkins whose good cross was well cleared by Carnell for a corner.  Williams took it and it found Bauza, who from about 10 yards, sent in a good low shot which was somehow cleared off the line by Self (# and it came back out to Williams who sent it back in towards Wright and it came out to Rewbury who sent in a volley which went wide to the Diddy left and Woodley broke forward and found Mills on the halfway line but he was felled by Leek and Diddy got a free kick and Leek got a yellow card. 
 
We applied more pressure in the dying minutes of the game but it was to no avail and the game rather subsided towards the final whistle with Didcot winning 2-0.
 
Well, it wasn’t the best of games played on a pitch which did cut up a little but it was certainly better than a number of pitches we’ve played on this year.  Again we were far from our best and defensively we are starting to leak goals from set pieces, our forward players seem to be making little headway against resolute defending and we’ve lost our way in the middle of the park with too many passes going astray and we seem unsure as to what type of game we are playing – long or short or a mixture of the both.  Leek had a good game and was my MOTM.  Bauza also did well when he came on giving us a bit of energy towards the final third of the pitch.  Apart from the goals we did defend well from open play and we were under pressure from long balls into our half but we were poor at set pieces.  Didcot looked all over the place in the first half.  They were lacking in confidence, were struggling to find their men and an early goal from us could very well have won us the game as they would have deflated even more.  The referee's decision not to award a penalty for a blatant foul on McLaggon could very well have cost us the game.


One of the lino's today was Frederico Ardiles, the son of the great Osvaldo but he gave us sod all!  I got Bauza to speak to him in his native tongue to get him on our side a bit but it clearly didn't work.

 
February has been a poor month for us with 1 win, a draw and 2 defeats but we can leave that behind us as we are now in March and we have 5 difficult away games with only 1 at home and what we need now is for everyone to get behind the boys and give them that extra bit of support to get the wheels back on our wagon.
 
We are still top despite our lapse in form which is a great position to be in.  We need to kick on now starting in Swindon on Tuesday and increase our lead and wrestle a bit of momentum away from Taunton and show the rest of the league who is the boss.
 
Onwards and Upwards, lads!

Good post OS and I agree totally lets not get the tag"you only sing when you're winning" and get behind the boys.We've tasted before what its like to fall at the last hurdle and we don't want it again!!!

Some images from Didcot on unofficial photos site

https://www.facebook.com/groups/526823250777329/

As for the game itself as one supporter commented the highlight was doing a crossword on the train and playing darts before kick off. Blustry conditions and a pitch more suited to the Royal Welsh show was never going to suit our passing game. We battled but came short, 2nd half we did create several chances but sadly Didcot looked like they wanted it a bit more. Lets keep the faith we can do it

I'm still confident that we'll finish on top. We haven't got through a blip as such this season so we were due one. Hopefully the last Month or so is a clear reminder that we are not invincible and that we are going to have to fight for it. March is crucial and I think a win against Swindon will settle the nerves a bit. Onwards we go!!