| Notts County yesterday - Durham's view 11:30 - Mar 30 with 605 views | durham_exile |
Make no mistake, if people thought that we were not in a relegation battle (again) then we are now.
I had the pleasure of sitting with Gerry at Meadow Lane yesterday and as he wryly remarked “we (the faithful) turned up the team didn't.”
I left Durham in the late morning with misty conditions and a degree of murk only to find that as I journeyed south the weather improved and so did the temperature. A balmy 17.5 degrees at Nottingham with real warmth in the Spring sunshine. Gerry was located enjoying a caffeine rush in the refreshments area; he was feeling the cold after enjoying 35 plus degrees in Penang!
We took our seats in the upper reaches of the Jimmy Sirrel stand with the 209 faithful who were enjoying the sunshine and in good voice amongst a crowd of 5,230.
Now County had obviously prepared the pitch to make us feel at home, plenty of sand and water!
The teams took to the field with Elmer Bernstein’s theme to the Great Escape ringing in their ears. Sean Derry the County manager had fashioned two wins in a week to leave the Magpies just inside the relegation places.
Now JD before the match had opined that the County result was not a massive six pointer, but it has allowed them to retain momentum whilst we have slipped to within 3 points of the relegation zone.
JD made some changes to the team. Brian Wilson was back whilst Marcus Bean and Freddie sears were preferred to Craig Eastmond and Gavin Massey. The team lined up:
Walker
Wilson Magnus Eastman Dickson
Bean Wright
Vose Gilbey Sears
Ibehre
Subs:
Cousins, Olufemi, Sesay, Eastmond, Massey, Szmodics, Morrison
Now the U’s are gaining a reputation as slow starters and they allowed County to score early doors. Poor Tom Eastman got tangled up on the right hand flank and was dispossessed by the bright Ronan Murray who struck a confident and assured finish low to Walker’s right for 1-0 after 4 minutes.
Now rather than inspire County and their partisan fans, the goal allowed Colchester to dominate proceedings. Bean, Vose, Sears and Gilbey all had decent chances to equalise.
Gerry is not Sam Walker’s number one fan and he sat motionless as several kicks were misdirected from the Colchester shot stopper.
Gilbey then fired over when well placed and Freddie Sears had another spat with the wood work, his 19th minute shot cannoning back in to play to be cleared.
Dickson hit the angle of post and bar; it looked as though home keeper Bialkowski managed to get a touch which deflected it onto the woodwork.
And that was as good as it got. The faithful sang and grew more and more restless as half time approached.
Brian Wilson committed a free kick on the right hand side about 25 yards out. He was booked which certainly looked very harsh. Unfortunately for the U’s worse was to come, Sheehan’s cross was glanced into the net by Hollis. The defence had gone missing and Hollis was allowed the freedom of the penalty area. So 2-0 down at half time which has a familiar ring to it these days.
Time for a shot of caffeine to restore spirits (a little). The ground staff applied more water, via the sprinklers, at the end that we were supposed to be attacking in the second half.
The faithful looked anxious and angry in equal measure.
The 2nd half was but a couple of minutes old when the energetic Murray brought a fine save from Sam Walker. As much a County failed to score a third, we couldn’t register one despite having 24 shots and 5 on target.
Sears missed from close range, at the other end Murray blasted over the bar.
JD range the changes, the splendid Marcus Bean made way for Gavin Massey on 55 minutes. His pace was obvious but he failed to bother the County defence.
The ineffectual Dominic Vose made way for Clinton Morrison on 61 minutes. One of the faithful, who was sitting not far from us, vented his obvious displeasure at Morrison’s arrival. The language was directed towards Morrison who happened to be close to the touchline and they exchanged words and gestures in a heated but brief few seconds. Other members of the faithful immediately sang words of encouragement to the unfortunate Morrison. Now I know that he has only scored three goals in over 50 appearances but he normally inspires the players around him with his positive approach. Yesterday was an exception sadly.
Alex Gilbey was replaced by Craig Eastmond on 77 minutes as JD introduced his third and final substitution.
Dickson hit a free kick which Bialkowski backpedalled to reach and tip over the bar.
Craig Eastmond hit a superb shot from 30 yards which was straight down Bialkowski’s throat and our last chance had gone. 4 additional minutes passed without further chances.
The result meant that County had closed to within 3 points of us and had won 3 consecutive games in one week.
I met the Colchester supporter (Clinton’s biggest fan) outside the ground and reminded him that as bad as it gets, when you have endured over 40 years it becomes almost routine!
So we are 18th with 43 points. The team are demoralised, playing without confidence and some players look shattered and unfit.
The 8 teams now scrapping to avoid the drop are:
Oldham 40 -12 44
COLCHESTER 39 -9 43
Notts Co 40 -15 40
Tranmere 39 -22 40
------------------------
Carlisle 39 -22 40
Crewe 40 -28 40
Shrewsbury 40 -14 38
Stevenage 39 -20 38
Our remaining fixtures are:
Peterbore A
Tranmere H
Stevenage A
Oldham H
Crewe A
Brentford H
Walsall A
After our victory at Carlisle and with games in hand, I felt that we could still achieve a top ten finish at the very least. A wretched run of results and the evaporation of the games in hand have left us teetering on the brink.
We play 4 fellow relegation scrappers!
Make no mistake; we need three more wins to reach 52 points.
This could be another last game survival at the Bescot!
Oh and yesterday's man of the match was Jamal Campbell Ryce (remember him from 2006, the man who was promoted twice) he ran his legs into the ground and made our defence look rather ordinary.
We need Sanchez Watt back and quick.
Up the U’s
 [Post edited 30 Mar 2014 11:33]
|  |
| |  |
| Notts County yesterday - Durham's view on 13:22 - Mar 30 with 580 views | RSCOSWORTH |
Christ! It must be getting bad if Durham thinks we can't make the Play Offs!
I wasn't at the game yesterday but it sounds as though we had our fair share of chances and it was two individual errors that led to their goals. Admittedly in football you can't always get away with mistakes and you have to take your chances but at least it wasn't a totally desperate performance.
And as for Sanchez Watt he hasn't looked interested since his red card. If we need scrappers to keep us up he's best left on the bench.
Personally I'm still 100% sure that we'll stay up, Noah told me so! |  |
| |
| Notts County yesterday - Durham's view on 22:08 - Mar 30 with 534 views | gerry_us |
A well scribed report Durham.
I should report that my pre match sausage roll was exceptional: after that it was downhill all the way, except for your company obviously.  |  | | |
| |
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.
