I thought we were better in the second period, but I won’t pretend it was scintillating. The best of our chances certainly came during the final 45 minutes (51 minutes in total), but Cheltenham also woke up, as much as a team with four efforts on goal in 90 minutes can be awake. Remember, their only chance in the first half came a couple of minutes before half time, and whilst they did show some attacking intent, they didn’t register their second effort at goal (on or off target) until 75 minutes. Much of that has to do with Paudie O’Connor, who won 87% of his aerial duels. He was a sure-fire candidate for Man of the Match, and a contributing factor in our resilience and refuse-to-lose attitude. Not that we ever looked like losing this game.
That’s where some of the frustration comes from, I get it. We should have had enough to beat Cheltenham last night, and MK Dons (twice), Forest Green and Cambridge in recent weeks. Those are five matches of our ten-game unbeaten run we could have won, and should have won at a canter, against poor sides, and didn’t. That would be an extra ten points on the board, enough to put us eighth in the table. Imagine, if we’d also won home games against Accrington, Forest Green and Fleetwood, three more we should have won, we’d have 16 more points and be on 61, tied with Derby in sixth and with games in hand. That’s the frustration for some – we’ve actually been in control of matches and not come away with the spoils our control deserves. Still, if my Grandma had wheels she’d be a bike, we are what we are and that’s just a reflection of either a division that isn’t as strong as we thought or our own efforts are actually better than lots of people in the stands give us credit for.
Why didn’t we penetrate last night? The wing backs are almost certainly one reason – Lasse has been strong in that position and he provided the pass for our best chance, but he’s not a Brooke Norton-Cuffy. Harry Boyes has slotted in and done okay but hasn’t shown a great deal of adventure down the flanks. Shodipo and Diamond both struggled and when they were replaced, Vernam and Mandroiu struggled as well. Our wingers don’t seem to have the ability to beat a man, and that is the sort of player who gets bums off seats. I feel a couple of our attacking players are on different wavelengths – you can forgive Shodipo that, he’s not been around long, but the others have had eight or nine months together and I feel a little more cohesion should be evident.
We’re conservative and hard to beat and that isn’t a bad thing, but not winning games does water down the actual level of our achievements. At the start of the season, the esteemed NTT20 podcast predicted we’d finish bottom. Our own predictions suggested that we were in for a relegation battle, but barring a momentous collapse, we’ll be safe by Easter at the very latest. Before the season, 95% of you would have taken that, probably without thinking about what the reality means – games like last night.
We could have scored – Lasse’s ball to Ben House saw our striker turn his man, open up his body and fire wide. I don’t begrudge him the shot, even if Danny Mandroiu was in a better position, as Ben had done the hard work. He’s usually good at decision-making and he’s got good technique, but on this occasion, both let him down. If he passed, we might have scored. If his technique had been on point, we might have scored. Either way, we didn’t. Ted hit the bar as well, seeking a way past the bank of seven presented by Cheltneham’s 3-4-1-2 formation. It was a speculative effort that looked to be going over the stands and down the M5 before it dropped onto the woodwork, a rare moment of excitement.
Cheltenham did finally get a shot on target, the only one of the game, whilst Matty Virtue got a shot at goal (blocked) in front of the travelling support towards the end. They were rare forays into the attacking third by both teams, with a point seemingly acceptable from the get-go. For us, it’s another step towards safety, and it maintains our good unbeaten run. It’s funny, the run is not unlike John Beck’s unbeaten 18-game spell in 1997/98 when we earned a promotion to the third tier. It included 0-0 draws with Rochdale, Barnet, Cambridge and Swansea, as well as underwhelming draws in the cup against Gainsborough and Emley. We also won some of those games by a single goal (Cardiff, Scunthorpe, Brighton, Orient and Colchester) in matches many felt were devoid of entertainment. Still, we kept clean sheets, and when we finally tried to go more attacking, we lost 5-1 at Peterborough, 5-3 at home to Notts County, 3-1 at home against Chester and drew 3-3 with Emley, losing on penalties. Beck lost his job.
I’ve amazed myself that I’ve got nearly 2000 words out of last night, but when what I perceive to be public opinion (not everyone’s) is at odds with my own beliefs, I feel I need to vehemently argue my point. Sure, we drew 0-0. Sure, we’re a work in progress, but if you appreciate that and look at the bigger picture, you’ll see improvement. Teams don’t like playing against us, opposition fans don’t like it when we’re on the fixture list and we keep grinding out points. We’re in a division where many teams have bigger budgets than us and some, like Oxford, Charlton and MK Dons, are some way behind us. Mark Kennedy has only been in charge for a few months and he’s corrected some of the problems we encountered last season. That’s important, we don’t concede goals now and as the clock winds down on a draw, I rarely think ‘we will lose this’, unlike last season.
I want to be entertained, of course I do, and when Sheffield Wednesday comes to the Bank, or Ipswich, or Derby, then I think we are. The energy levels get up and the whole ground comes alive. You don’t get that for visits from Barrow, Sutton or Harrogate, and to ensure we keep playing these big clubs and keep selling out certain games, we have to accept it won’t always be pretty. Mark Kennedy isn’t a fool – he will know where we need to be better, as will the recruitment team, and that is their job in the summer. However, for now at least, their primary job is almost done – keeping us in this division. In doing so they’ve defied the pundits, and proven a section of our own fanbase (me included) wrong, and that should be applauded.
Also, just five more draws to set a Football League record. How exciting.
You must be logged in to post a comment.