Far From Perfect But What An End

No doubts about this six-pointer: a win would be fantastic, a draw acceptable (depending on the circumstances of course), a defeat a serious setback to our play-off ambitions. We ended up getting the whole gamut of emotions. For the first 45 minutes it looked like we would get something, quite possibly a win, as we more than edged the first half; they had chances too, but we’d not converted the only glaring one. For the second 45 we were looking down the barrel of a defeat, as Leyton Orient from the start upped their effort and had us on the back foot, took the lead, and looked as capable of adding to it as we did of levelling things up, even though we had a second moment when it seemed we had surely scored. Then in what ended up being eight minutes of stoppage time we went from likely to defeat to getting away with a merited point, then utter delight as we won the game with a carbon copy of our first. Cue pandemonium, wherever you watched the game from, and the complete reversal for them and their fans.

It was a game in which there were so many half-chances, good openings, for both teams. The final stats showed 36 attempts on goal, more than one every three minutes, almost evenly split, with 14 on target (nine for us, five for them). But nearly all of them were wasted; both keepers did well (until one had a stoppage time to really forget) but their saves were ones you’d expect them to make, including those involved in our two golden chances. Instead we had them taking the lead with a wonder strike from distance and us winning it with two if not free then barely challenged headers at the far post from corners.

Did we deserve all three points? I suspect the neutrals would say a draw would have been a fair result. Of course if you play eight minutes of stoppage time against anyone, never mind a defence that, although depleted, ranks among the tightest in the division, you are going to score twice very few times. Of course we don’t care, but there are still some lessons to take from the game.

There was a decision for Jones to make when it came to team selection, namely whether or not to bring back available-again Docherty for Anderson, who had stepped up so well against Exeter. Jones I guess opted for the line that if the guy in possession of the shirt has done nothing wrong he keeps it. So Docherty would be on the bench, with Kanu losing out and still no place for Mitchell. Tough on both of them but something has to give and it would seem that Mitchell has, at least for now, fallen below McIntyre in the pecking order. At least this meant a balance among the replacements, with two defensive (including a wing-back), two midfield, and two attacking options.

Again, I don’t propose to go through all the game’s incidents, it’s a day after the event and there were just too many. Enough for whichever side lost to have pointed to their missed opportunities but with nobody to blame but themselves.

So the first lesson is surely that we have to be more clinical in converting good openings in open play into goals. Sure, Berry has to feel that if only he had directed his header to anywhere other than down at their prostrate keeper it would have been a goal. And just how the Docherty shot in the second half did not end up as a goal is still a mystery. There’s no legislating for those moments, but others that came and went were more problematic.

Campbell, who was again central to most of our attacks, was played in and we had numbers up, but the move ended with a weak effort easily blocked (he seemed to be trying to repeat the effort against Exeter but from a wider angle), while an early break saw Edwards clear in space but Campbell’s first touch let him down. Godden had a shot on the turn around the penalty spot after their keeper spilled a high ball, colliding with his own player, which he couldn’t get on top of, nor could Berry control one that rebounded to him (not the one off the bar) and hit it well over. Coventry shot over the bar, as did Gilbert late on, while Aneke tried to curl one in from inside the box but didn’t get the angles right.

Perhaps it was just one of those days when for most of it looked as though we would never score. We had been pretty clinical against Exeter and you can’t get it right all the time.

Second, what was wrong with the defence? Forget their goal. It actually came after we had blocked successive shots from much more dangerous positions, seemed like the danger had passed as the ball was well outside our box. As soon as their guy hit it though, you felt ‘oh merde, this doesn’t look good’. Rather you have to criticise aspects of our display as there were too many misplaced passes which put us in danger, an offside trap sprung in the second half resulting in a very good chance for them. Ramsay in particular had a wobbly afternoon, very unusual. Give Leyton Orient some credit here. They passed the ball well and were adept at creating space with intelligent runs going forward. They even managed to bring on a winger for the last 10 minutes or so who scared the life out of me and so nearly laid on a second, which surely would have killed off the game. But I don’t doubt Jones and his team will be taking a look at some of their openings and our mistakes. That we only conceded one was due primarily to their failings in front of goal.

Did Jones’ substitutions change the game? Yes and no. He waited until the 68th minute before changing anything, with Leaburn, Docherty and Gilbert on for Anderson, Berry and Edwards, him being sacrificed for a shift in the set-up. Then on 77 minutes Aneke entered the fray for Coventry, by which time we were getting back to basics and going longer and longer, for good reason. It all led to a very happy combination of circumstances, but was it accident/desperation or design? Something Napoleon said about lucky generals comes to mind. 

Their keeper had already dropped one cross, albeit impeded by his own player, and misread another, which saw Ramsay fail to put away with a clean header. But when it came to stoppage time we had Leaburn, Aneke, Jones, Gillesphey and Ramsay to target and with Gilbert someone who it seems can deliver quality balls in from set pieces. With the others causing mayhem and occupying their main defenders, first Gillesphey and then Ramsay were left relatively free to head home at the far post from close range, having manoeuvred to find themselves up against smaller opponents. Was that the plan? If so it worked to perfection, even though it did rely on us getting the corners in the first place.

Apparently we’ve now scored more goals in stoppage time (10) than any other team in England. That is not accidental but it is in stark contrast with recent seasons, when the opposition tended to bring on effective fresh legs for the closing stages while we couldn’t do the same – and paid the price. The matchday squad now gives us options, whether through a change in formation, fresh legs in like-for-like changes, and increased physical presence up front when we are chasing games.

We have to keep our fingers crossed for the run-in that we avoid injuries and suspensions. In addition to the 18 in the squad yesterday you can add Maynard-Brewer as and when fit, Mitchell, Kanu and Ahadme in terms of players who would (I hope) expect to be in or around the first team. That may be enough, but we can also draw on Hylton and if needed the youngsters – Laqeretabua and Enslin have at least had a taste of it.

Will it be enough? Nobody knows, but we’re still on a roll and we’ve put ourselves in one of the play-off spots. Barnsley at The Valley on Tuesday night and Stockport away on Saturday have to be negotiated before we can breathe a little easier. But isn’t it a good feeling after a match like yesterday’s to be looking at the table and thinking … ‘eight points behind Wycombe, is it possible … we still have to play them …’?