Brief Synopsis!!! (Cheltenham)

A scrappy game of football, but this team can grind out the wins & the points are all that matter.

Get in there! 5 on the bounce!

According to the comms, Garita was a real handful when he came on.
Look like a good loan signing.

Changed the game completely in my opinion, looks very good.

Emu":1uktplr1 said:

According to the comms, Garita was a real handful when he came on.
Look like a good loan signing.

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Garita looks the part , strong and powerful not afraid to shoot .
How their number 9 stayed on pitch is beyond me , 2 blatant elbows both unpunished .
Poor game , but 3 points, so who cares .
Donaldson ? Still have no idea what he brings .

A smash and grab win in a poor game in monsoon conditions

New lad from City had a big impact and at least got us up the pitch. Until then we were poor. Donaldson, Jervis. Songo and Smith shocking on the ball throughout as Cheltenhams midfield were constantly better on the ball.
Match turned when when they smashed a shot against our post late on with Luke motionless. 5 mins later Bradley thumped home a strong far post header and the points were ours.
Both our centre backs were strong throughout whilst Carey battled hard to make things happen. Harsh on Cheltenham but who cares.

An ugly late win and due punishment for all those who left early!

Very Brief Synopsis: Sh!t game, Great result.

A Sonny day at wet and windy Home Park!

It was a battle. Both teams had to battle each other, the heavy rain, the swirling wind and a poor referee and in the end we just edged it thanks to a late goal from Bradley.

We were not at our best but it's testament to the team that they dug in, showed some grit and determination and ground out the win. We struggled against a Cheltenham team who played with three centre-backs and two wing-backs tucking into midfield to outnumber us, number 7 for Cheltenham Pell was particularly good in midfield and pulled the strings.

The first half was ponderous with the terrible conditions playing a part, we played too many passes backwards and had no momentum but the introduction of Fox and especially Garita in the second half gave the team more options to go forward.

It's now four league wins in succession and we move into the top three in the league, a position we occupied for most of last season.

Adams started with the team that beat Blackpool last week except Purrington came in at left back for the injured Sawyer and stuck with the 4-2-1-3 formation.

There was an early substitution when Spencer pulled up with a leg injury and was replaced by Goodwillie in the seventh minute. I thought at the time that Goodwillie would struggle against the big Cheltenham centre-backs and so it proved, although when the ball was played to his feet he fared better.

The heavy rain continued to pour down and the new pitch handled it with no concerns.

We were very slow in our play, the two centre-backs and McCormick must have had the most touches of the ball during the whole game and play went either backwards or sideways as we struggled to break down a robust Cheltenham team.

Bradley had a header go wide and Jervis shot wide when he should have done better.
At the other end McCormick made a great save to keep the game at 0-0, that was about it for the first half apart from the rain easing from very heavy rain to just plain old heavy rain.

Adams kept the same formation and players for the start of the second half but became increasingly frustrated on the touchline as yet again the team showed no urgency.
After just eight minutes he had enough and replaced Jervis and the anonymous Donaldson for Fox and Garita and switched to a 4-4-2 formation - Carey went to the left, Smith to the right, Fox partnered Songo'o in midfield and Garita went up front alongside Goodwillie.

The move gave the team a targatman up front and suddenly Garita started to cause the Cheltenham centre-backs all sorts of problems.
The referee wanted to take centre-stage and instead of letting the game flow he pulled up every little incident without allowing for the wet conditions.

Goodwillie had two excellent chances, his first was well saved by Griffiths the Cheltenham keeper and his second shot was blocked but at least we were knocking on the door.

We ran out of steam after the initial enthusiasm of the subs and Cheltenham came back into the game with Pell again orchestrated the play, the long throws were cauing us problems but Bully and Bradley got their heads on the ball to clear it.
Cheltenham nearly took the lead when they hit the post.

Adams was again frustrated and after kicking the brand new dug-outs he changed formation again and put Carey in behind the two strikers and played a narrow three man midfield.

With three minutes of injury time announced the Son finally shined on Home Park. A deep cross from Threlkeld found Bradley at the far post and just like he does in defence and lept the highest and thumped in a towering header. 1-0 and what a great late goal!

The game was won and it's time to dry off!

The first half was one to forget, scrappy and slow and a reluctance to take the game to Cheltenham, for instance Threlkeld had a free-kick just inside the Argyle half and chose to pass backwards to Bulvitis when he should have gone forwards. There were too many backpasses to McCormick and we were just slow in everything we did although credit to Cheltenham who marked Carey out of the game and closed us down in midfield.

The second half was better, Garita was a willing runner and always looked to get away a shot, we might finally have a striker who has pace, height and strength to play the lone striker role, although today he had Goodwillie alongside him for help. It was disappointing that for 53 minutes we played one striker against three centre-backs in a home game.

Donaldson can play shape but needs to do more, Jervis is a confidence type of play and didn't look confident today.
Purrington gave away the ball several times but his tackling and covering was excellent. He and Threlkeld rarely crossed the halfway line in the first half.
The two centre-backs were our rock, Bradley was my Man of the Match even before he scored the winner.
Goodwillie was neat and tidy but is always going to struggle when asked to play as a lone striker.

Overall, a scrappy game but formation changes and determination won us the game.

Man of the match: Bradley.

McCormick 7, Threlkeld 6, Bulvitis 7, Bradley 8, Purrington 8, Songo'o 6, Smith 6, Carey 6, Donaldson 5, Jervis 5, Spencer n/a. Subs - Goodwillie 6, Garita 7, Fox 7.

Donaldson 6 and Fox 5........seriously??

Donaldson was 4 tops but thought Fox was excellent when he came on...7 for.

Think him and Carey could run games if they played together.

I think Fox can dictate play from deep allowing Carey to be more influential in the final third where he's most dangerous.

I've good vibes about this season. COYG

McCormick - 7
Threlkeld - 6
Bulvitis - 7
Bradley - 7
Purrington - 5
Songo'o - 6
Smith - 6
Jervis - 6
Carey - 7
Donaldson - 4
Spencer - N/A

Goodwillie - 6
Fox - 6
Garita - 7

An ugly late win and due punishment for all those who left early!

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I was glad to leave early, just sorry I was punished for turning up for the dreadful 1st half.

McCormick -7
Threlkeld - 6
Bulvitis - 6
Bradley - 7
Purrington - 5
Songo'o - 6
Smith - 5
Carey - 6
Donaldson - 5
Jervis - 5
Spencer - N\A

Goodwillie - 7
Garita - 8
Fox - 7

swendies":f802u1lk said:

An ugly late win and due punishment for all those who left early!

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I was glad to leave early, just sorry I was punished for turning up for the dreadful 1st half.

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So you're glad you missed a 93rd minute winner?

I'd say we just about deserved the win. The goal was reward for keeping going and not giving up.

We were obviously much better with two up front (surprise, surprise) and it will be VERY disappointing if we revert to a lone striker next Saturday.

It's early days, but I am struggling to see what Donaldson and Songo'o bring to the side. I would play Smith and Fox as the two central midfielders with Carey on the left and either Jervis or Tanner on the right.