On the whole, a very good performance and one that was a credit to League Two. Both sides played very well and quite simply one of them took their chances and the other did not. That doesn't mean we didn't play very well for most of the game and as Monkeywrench says, 95% of the time that performance from Argyle would have been enough to get a win. I've seen us play a LOT worse than we did today and win over my 12 years supporting us. Many times too. It's very harsh too to say that just because we apparently only had two shots on target then that apparently means that we didn't really have many clear chances A) That stat is false, I can remember Hourihane having one in each half and Gurrieri having one too B) We had many clear chances that weren't shots on target. Lewi's two that hit the post, Reid's header into the side netting, Blanchard's free header from the corner and Hourihane's other shot against the stanchion come to mind without even thinking. It's also wrong, imho, to say we were dominated in midfield. Both sides had spells where they broke through the others midfield and created chances- the only difference being that Scunny took two of them and we didn't take any. Finally, I also reject the criticism that subs should have been made. It's too easy to say with the benefit of hindsight. At the time, as I said to my mate at the game, we were playing well. Yes Scunthorpe were having a 5 minute spell before the goal but it was that kind of match. Each sides had 5 minute spells to various degrees and again it was only one of theirs that resulted in a goal. On the whole we were playing very well and could easily have nicked it without subs. Sometimes there isn't a great philosophical reason why we lost. Sometimes it's just a case of they took their easy chances and we didn't take ours. Ratings:
Cole-7. Generally did well and his command of area now compared to when he first arrived at the club is not recognisable. One very good save too and I'm not sure if the own goal was really his fault- seemed a bit of a fluke to me.
Blanchard-6. The usual fare from him. Very good in his actual defending but poor distribution.
Trotman-6. Another mixed bag game. Some very good commanding headers but some gaffes too which let them in too much. Passing perhaps better than normal.
Nelson-7. Another solid all round performance from him. Slowly turning into the complete defender. Did the dominant, positional and passing stuff pretty well today. One disastrous pass early on though which nearly cost us.
Berry-8. What happened to that player I used to think was poor?! Well, moving from full-back to wing-back is undoubtedly part of it. His ability to get up and down the line seems to focus him so much more. Covers so much ground out wide for us and much less mistake prone. His crossing has improved too and was much more involved in chance creation too. Got back to help the defence far better than his counterpart Parsons did.
Blizzard-6. Just too mediocre for me. He's SO slow. So slow that his positive attributes are nullified by it. For example one time in the first half where he dropped back into what was the perfect position to be in for him to pick up a loose ball. However in spite of having about a two yard head start, his slow reactions and movement stopped him from getting there. Not even remotely close to Cox and imo not as good as Wotton either. Wotton's speed of motion is also slow but his speed of reactions is so much better. Wotton would either have got to the ball before their man did or they would both have got to it at the same time- in which case Wotton would have won the tackle. Blizzard was however slightly improved in the second half when he didn't play like a bear with a sore head. Would still have Wotton back in for Tuesday.
Young-7. Decent display and once again showed off his superb passing range. A couple of his passes that went out for throw-ins were still very good, just that our wide attackers weren't quite sharp enough to notice it. Defensively questioned, got dispossed a couple of times.
Hourihane-8. Another excellent performance and one that proves surely beyond any remaining conceivable doubt that he's an attacking midfielder, not a defensive one and should be used as thus. His bounding forward with the ball through the defensive lines is a pleasure to watch, as is his high pressing. At times he reminds me of a League Two version of Yaya Toure. Take the shackles off him, let him play in this role permanently and we'll never see the timid player who passes sideways ever again. The only reason he only gets an 8 out of 10 is his finishing. Should have scored at least one if not two of his chances.
Parsons-5. After seeing excellent performances from him in his first few games at the club, this new incarnation seems a bit disappointing. He was very active getting up and down the line but so much of what he tried seemed to go mammaries up. Defensively suspect (he got back but didn't do his job well when he got back) and his crossing going forward was generally nowhere near as good as I've seen him do before. The one exception however being the absolute peach of a cross he put in for Alessandra the first time he hit the post. Generally an iffy game- what I don't accept however is the viewpoint that this means we should automatically shove Ben back in as first choice LB. Whilst Parsons has made mistakes, Ben made mistakes too which went unnoticed/unspoken. He was at least partially at fault for the goals in the Southend home game, Cheltenham home and one of York's goals in which he had an all round dire game. I like Purrington a lot and feel he has a big future but I think it's wrong how possibly due to his local status, his mistakes get a lot less scrutiny than Parsons' do.
Reid-7. Good all round centre-forwards performance. Won a lot of high balls with his back against the goal and flicked them on well to our runners. He was to thank for a lot of our possession in and around the 18 yard box.
Alessandra-8. He was an absolute menace for their defence today. Rarely have I ever seen a striker quite so full of energy and ability to move their centre-backs from their position with his absolute duracell bunny levels of stamina. Constant smart runs off the ball. As with Hourihane, he'd have got an even higher rating if not for the fact that he really should have scored. As excellent as he was today, and he really was good, I can't see that Lavery would have missed both of those chances.
Morgan-7. Looked bright and lively. If only the ref had penalised one or two of the blatant shirt pulls on him eh?
Obedayi-7. See above. Should really have shot when he had the chance in a good position though and instead tried to walk it into the net.
Gurrieri-7. Again similar. Should have done better with his chance.
Very gutting due to the way we lost but the performance was there. Just need to work on the finishing. I think we'll beat Chesterfield on Tuesday now. To have done so well but lost 2-0 will have put fire in their bellies, without a doubt.
Roll on Tuesday.
