Too much passing from the midfield players back to our defence.

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I don’t believe, except for 3 players, that the squad is quick enough or fit enough for this division

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V poor 1st half with midfield non existent.
Good to see JN but if Hawkins plays he must have better support.

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With nine changes it was always very unlikely that we were going to play coherently and the first half performance was diabolical. The midfield were not existent for most of the half. I don’t mind us playing from the back however Toto and McGuinness were the only ones willing to try and make a pass. Our full backs lacked the confidence to try anything with the ball and our midfield would receive the ball however always pass backwards. As a consequence our forward three were starved of the ball with only Bennett’s showing any real ability to do anything however would always get crowded out. Our goal was really well taken by Nolan however came out of the blue.

Second half performance was 100% better however why did they not play like that in the first half. I think the players have to take some of the blame however also Lambert for the number of changes made to the team. The midfield started making forward passes and as we became more of a threat Pompey were not able to apply as much pressure which allowed our defence to have a bit more time on the ball and deliver better passes. McGuinness in particular was very good with his distribution and winning of the ball. Bringing Norwood on made a big difference and he took his goal really well and looked a real threat. He definitely offered more that Hawkins who is good in the air and holds the ball up well and distributes it but does not run at defenders or seem to have that killer instinct in the box.

And now to the refereeing. Once again absolutely rubbish. Failed to send off one of their players for a two footed lunge, gave Pompey a clear offside goal, and failed to give us a penalty when Hawkins got bundled over in the box. We should have pushed harder for a third goal after going level however seemed to run out of ideas. In extra time Pompey found a new gear and we were flat for some strange reason - maybe because three quarters of the team who do not play regularly had run out of steam. McGavin was much better in the second half and Edward’s was a constant threat when he cam on. Lancaster did not get into the game at all which was a shame. Norwood was my MOM.

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Its no good weeping over spilt milk. We need to pick up and get on with getting Townexit done. Getting into the Championship is our priority and we have the excellent players to do it. We keep bleating about the poor quality of refereeing in this division which highlights the reasons to get out of it! Watched an excellent game on which was spoilt by poor decisions. Nolan was excellent and Norwood when he came on, so lets use the positives to go on. COYB

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