Things did get better in the second half, but it was still not a good afternoon at all. Dylan Duffy came off he’d been almost non-existent in the first 45, more to do with how the game had developed than anything he did wrong. We did see a little bit more of the ball, not much, and we did have a couple of shots, none on target, so things altered a little for the best.
However, if one team were going to win the game, it was only going to be the visitors. My concern was how simple they found it to pass through us, particularly for the goal. They start in their defensive right position, and within three passes Harvey Knibbs is through on goal. Lasse and Paudie might feel they could have done better in the build-up. but hand on heart, nobody could begrudge Reading their goal. In truth, they deserved to win the game, and it is through both luck and hard work they didn’t.
It’s going to be easy to criticise the Imps after yesterday’s game. It wasn’t good, and the fact that in the second half, all I’ve mentioned so far is their goal underlines that. We shuffled the pack, but it didn’t work. Jack Vale came on and did no more or less than Jovon. However, I don’t think the head’s dropped. They kept fighting, fruitlessly in the attacking areas but coming out on top defensively. We got more than we deserved on the balance of play and chances, but we could easily have collapsed after Reading’s goal. In fact, part of me wondered if once they scored, they felt a point was a good outcome because my perception was they dropped off once it got to 1-1.
We had the expected Ted Bishop injury scare, which is a worry, especially if Ethan Erhahon is out for any period of time. Ali Smith gave a decent account of himself in the second half, and whilst we just never clicked, we did at least fight for our point. I’m not going to tell you that was a good watch – it wasn’t. Some of our deficiencies were laid bare for all to see, but again, remember yesterday we had House, Hackett, Walker, Erhahon and Montsma out. Okay, Montsma might not be a shoo-in right now, but the other four? Three of those would have started yesterday. I know it’s not the only reason we were poor yesterday. I’m not making excuses, but it will never not be a reason.
There were talking points worth picking up – a red card for their manager for trying to delay us taking a quick throw-in. It wasn’t clear what had happened at first, but it was a moment of passion from a coach who clearly wanted to get things right but obviously got it wrong.
For us, I’ve got to mention TJ Eyoma, who I thought was excellent once again. One thing we are blessed with is good defenders, and with Alex Mitchell waiting to get into the team, there’s competition for places. TJ has certainly forced himself into the conversation, and Adam Jackson is also making himself undroppable. Maybe we should try six at the back like Burton did; probably the only ay we get our best fit players into the side!
Today’s write-up is a little shorter than normal. I didn’t think you’d get it at all – we were grabbing a Tipsy Imp just after the final whistle, and then went to Murphy’s Bar, the Treaty, Mailbox, Trebles, Walkabout and Popworld, trying hard not to talk about football. This morning, I felt like death, and it got progressively worse as the day went on. I’ve been in and out of bed all day, and only now, as darkness falls, have I managed to muster up the strength to not only sit and write but try to pick apart the rotting carcass of yesterday’s game.
To sum up – we weren’t at it, we still got a point, and we moved on. We are limping towards January in terms of fitness, but we gained a point on Blackpool above us and weren’t caught by Bristol Rovers and Charlton below us. We played badly against a team who have a false league position and came away with something. That’s another good point – I’ve seen people say we’re in a false position, but my honest opinion is we are not. This is an average league, and we have the potential to be a top-eight team within it.
You couldn’t see that yesterday, but we do.
In the meantime, we’ll look to January to help plaster over the cracks in the squad, and as we do, Christmas will come and go. The Stacey West won’t be having another night out (ever, if how I feel now remains in my brain), but we will be celebrating with our loved ones and hoping that our Nightmare Before Christmas, the one that brought us a point and consolidation of top ten spot, is the only one we suffer this festive period.
You said it all, Bro. I might add “men against boys”. The BBC report said “the visitors finally did get the goal they deserved….after that there looked to be only one winner…” Charlton and Bristol Rovers, just below us, have two games in hand. Carry on with a few performances like Saturday’s and rather than knocking on the door of the play-offs, we could be scrabbling amongst the amongst the no-hope herd.