Just read Gazette and Herald report, and we give 2 penalties away, and appears Tindle was involved in both.  Did not go to the game and very little on the forum.  We need a decent centre back to play alongside Blackmore, but he appears very injury prone, came off during warm up. Tindle is not the answer, and we were undefeated, most if his enforced ban, until his return.

Not a good first half with only Griff up front battling against some good defenders. Very much on the back foot for most of the half with players only to willing to get rid of the ball as soon as passed to them. Poole seem to attack mostly down our right where we looked pretty shakey and that's where the first goal came from. First penalty bit unfortunate as from where we were standing it looked like Tindle slipped and Poole player went over his leg. Few minutes into second half Tovey taken off with Purnell going to right back and Knighton coming on. Looked better at the back and better going forward with support for Griff. Much more even in second half and deserved our goal. Poole missed one or two sitters which for the most part due to defensive errors but second penalty  a result of player going past Tindle and him holding players arm. See it time and again in premiership with nothing given but unfortunately still a foul.
Not over impressed with Poole given their position in the league and seen better footballing sides this season. But having said that fair result ( a win) but think a fairer reflection of the game would have been 2-1.

Poole really did look like a decent outfit at times, they were constructing incisive attacking moves, and they played with confidence.

Still... I wish we had looked more focused in the first half. Despite putting five players in the middle of the park, we didn't seem to be able to keep possession. Nor did the midfielders try to get stuck in and try to frustrate Poole. The ball always seemed to be pushed out onto the wings, or lofted up to Griffin who was completely alone with nobody making runs around him. The referee was a part of the problem though, giving a couple of fairly dubious free-kicks to Poole, whilst ignoring the fact they were often pushing and shoving our players.

The second half looked better. We always seem to perform better in the second half, these days, which is somewhat frustrating because if we had closed down on them so fiercely in the first half, things might have been a little different.
Joe and Guthers pulled off some good play on the flanks, as did Corey King when he came on for Guthers, Harley Purnell looked very good and energetic after he was moved to play at right-back after Tovey (Who seems to be ineffectual in the tackle, and the opposition knew it) went off, and Rob Dean started moving the ball around nicely. Knighton coming on seemed to give us a little bit more space, because their defence constantly had to accommodate to his dangerous runs, leaving space for people to start looking to get balls towards Griffin. The goal was nicely-taken.

As for the penalties we conceded, it's a shame that they ended up playing such a major role. I do empathise for the situation Tindle finds himself in back there, because the defence is packed with new and young players who haven't had time to gel yet, and part of forming a cohesive defence is knowing eachothers game and working as a unit. They really do put a brave and determined effort into their play. I like Beedon from what little I've seen of him, there's someone to watch out for over the coming matches.

As for the ground at Poole... That one has to be the worst I've visited, in this league. They'd better have some funding available if they want to upgrade that to Conference South standard, at any point!

Last edited by CodeBluebird (01/12/2013 3:46 PM)