Two Points Dropped But Some Positives

Sandwiched between the glamour Valley games against Birmingham and Wrexham (glamour? Birmingham? Wrexham? Really?) we had the small matter of a contest against budding League One upstarts Stockport. They’d surprised most I would guess with just one defeat in their opening nine games, conceding only seven in the process (and if you take out the 1-4 home defeat by Leyton Orient they’ve only conceded three in eight), while they boasted a pair with nine goals between them so far. Nobody was sure how this one might pan out or was pretending it might be easy – and it wasn’t. But it was a game we should have won and didn’t. 

The team/squad we knew would have changes due to at least Coventry and Kanu being unavailable. Perhaps the greater issue was whether Jones (the boss) would stick with the 4-4-2 that had worked so well against Birmingham or whether that would be a one-off for that opposition. In the event he did – and with the list of unavailables also including Jones (the defender), Aneke and Ahadme it was a case of who would be drafted into the slots and who added to the bench. In the event Gillesphey was chosen to partner Mitchell in central defence, with Edmonds-Green on the bench (Potts missing out), Taylor got his first game this season in midfield, alongside Anderson, Campbell(A) and Docherty, with Berry among the subs. Up front Campbell(T) returned to partner Godden, while accompanying Leaburn on the bench as forward options would be Mbick and Dixon.

The lesson from the first half was that what had worked very effectively against Birmingham was not right for today. While we were content in that game for our midfield to harry and strangle the opposition, conceding the bulk of possession, today there was less threat and we had 65% first-half possession but could do little with it. With a back four there is less chance of Ramsay and Edwards getting forward down the flanks and, whereas most teams with a midfield four have natural wide players involved, we did not. The result was a lot of stifled play and not much service to the front two. And to compound the problem we’d gone behind, the result of some muddled defending.

The early exchanges had been mixed, but before 10 minutes were up their goal had come. An aimless hoof forward was allowed to bounce and with Mitchell and Gillesphey backpeddling their forward was able to get in behind them. Mannion saw the danger late and came out to challenge for it, only for the ball to be touched on and for him to career into the forward. All clumsy more than anything else, but the ref probably had little option but to give the penalty (although given his erratic performance through the game with hindsight we might have got away with one). Mannion was wrongfooted with the penalty and we were chasing the game.

We did carve out good positions during the first half, helped by a step up in the quality of delivery from set pieces, Taylor sending in some excellent balls, but were unable to exploit any of them. Anderson intercepted a ball out and found Campbell(T) only for his rather tame effort to be turned around the post and from that corner Anderson had a header from close range saved. Then one Campbell found the other only for the opening to be closed off, then Campbell(T) cut inside only for his shot to be deflected wide.

At the other end Stockport seldom threatened and the half-time stats showed we had two shots, both on target, to their three and one. The truth is they would have been content, they were ahead and looking reasonably comfortable, we were looking rather frustrated. And to add to the problems Ramsay had had to go off, replaced by Edmonds-Green. He seemed to get a leg stuck and went down in a lot of pain, we just have to hope that it doesn’t prove to be serious.

Jones seemed to realise that the midfield combination wasn’t working and brought on Berry for Campbell(A), hopefully to provide more support for the front two. But it really wasn’t until the hour mark when the game changed, with Leaburn coming on for Docherty, Campbell(T) moving to a wide position. Helped by the fact that we equalised soon after the change, with a more classic forward pairing and more natural width we looked an altogether different proposition against opponent who seemed to wilt as the game progressed, prompting frequent substitutions and some extensive time-wasting.

We almost got on level terms thanks to a sliced attempted clearance from their defender, which ended up going only just over the bar. It mattered little as we scored from the corner. A low one was sent in for Campbell. His shot was saved but the rebound fell kindly for Edmonds-Green, who planted it firmly in the net.

With plenty of time it really was game on and we had plenty of close calls to take all three points. A good Taylor pass inside found Berry who in turn played in Leaburn, only for his shot to be deflected over. From that corner Godden had a free header but sent it wide, then Leaburn found space at the near post and when the cross was knocked out it fell for Anderson, who shot over from a good position. Godden was involved in other openings but nothing was falling his way.

With a few minutes of normal time left our hopes were lifted again as a late challenge on Godden produced a second yellow for their defender. Seven minutes were added on – and in truth it should have been a good deal more, given lengthy injuries, multiple substitutions, plus time-wasting. Dixon was introduced for a very tired Taylor and after a Mitchell header was saved he was involved in setting up Leaburn for the late chance which so nearly won us the game, the final shot going just wide. A final Berry free kick was palmed out and that was that.

We will look back on it as two points dropped as by any measure we had created enough to score more than one, while Mannion probably made just one save in the game (they did have threatening moments in the second half but created no real chances). It has to be said that Jones – who got the tactics and set-up so right for the Birmingham game – didn’t get them right today, at least not to start. If he gets touchy about criticism on that front (not the abuse, which sounds as if it was simply unacceptable) he would have to acknowledge that he made a change at half-time because his chosen formation wasn’t working. And while it is too soon for Leaburn to be looking to play a full game, and Aneke wasn’t available, we really only put them under the cosh when he came on.

Of the positives, Taylor slotted into Coventry’s role pretty well and his set piece delivery was so much better (with one exception). He managed almost the full game despite his time out. Dixon looked like something different in his brief cameo. And we did at least turn around a game which might have run away from us, getting something out of it despite having gone behind. We still give off the impression of being a work in progress, that we haven’t yet got the key partnerships working properly yet, nor the Plan A. It remains to be seen if we have dropped for good 3-5-2 but if Ramsay is out for a while the case for 4-4-2 is strengthened, especially if Jones is available again. But if it’s a midfield four it needs some natural width and some pace. So still plenty for Jones to be working on, even though the season is already a quarter over.