Week 8 Results

Basingstoke Town 2-1 Southend United

Goals (Assists)
Basingstoke Town – Ramsey (No assist - ball rebounded off the post only for Ramsey to hit the target)
Southend United – Sturridge (Ox-Chamberlain)
Basingstoke Town – Vilhena (Ramsey)

MOTM – Carvalho (Basingstoke Town)


Having wined and dined the fruity the night before the match, Tippy could and should have expected far more in return than being given this glass of water thrown in his face (I’ll give you a complimentary <hump> later on to help get you over this Tippy) Fruity

In reality a super close match as two former champions compared well and produced a hard fought and competitive match.

I really liked Basingstoke Town’s use of Vilhena and Ramsey in their midfield and likewise Southend’s use of Pjanic and Onazi stood out for very similar reasons.

Wisdom was another who shone and to his credit, Boetius had little choice but to attack centrally or down the right to get any change from the Southend defence.

At the other end Sturridge of course always a threat and added to his tally again today.

Finally Carvalho really stood out for Basingstoke and whilst Ramsey often takes the plaudits it was Carvalho today who was crucial to allowing his team’s tactics to work well.

Basingstoke Town
Yusef Mersin, Johnson, Zouma, Rekik, Kurzawa (Grimaldo), Carvalho, Vilhena (Kramer), Ramsey, Quintero, Austin, Boetius
Subs: Cropper, Bellerin, Kallstrom, Kramer, Grimaldo
Yusef Mersin, Rekik, Grimaldo, Vilhena

Southend United
BUFFON, WISDOM, MUSTAFI, LUCARELLI, BIJKER, GEIS, PJANIC, ONAZI (ASSOMBALONGA), MARKOVIC, STURRIDGE, OX-CHAMBERLAIN
SUBS: FLANAGAN, ASSOMBALONGA, RABIOT, DUDZIAK, WARD
BUFFON, MARKOVIC, LUCARELLI
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Blyth Spartans 0-0 FC Pride

MOTM – FC Pride (Omerou)

Considering some difficult injuries/suspensions for Blyth Spartans this week it speaks volumes that he was able to put out a strong team, although using Robben as target practice has been many a team’s downfall.

Blyth’s use of de Jong was excellent and he would relish the opportunity to lock horns with Mascherano.

The first thing that struck me when I saw FC Pride’s line up was “Christmas Tree" I presume this was Rap’s suggestion as Pride’s newly appointed ‘Number 2’?

However, upon closer inspection I’m as equally impressed with Pride’s squad strength as I was with Tino’s as he also had his fair share of injuries also. to you both for impressive depth

In terms of tactics; almost the opposite of what you would expect, with Pride playing a lot more cautious than usual, whilst Tino playing a less cautious style than I have become accustomed too.

I think a low scoring draw was fair here. Both managers showed that they could adapt their styles and cancelled each other out in the event.


Blyth Spartans
Howard, Maggio, Barzagli, Rugani, Robertson, De Jong, Gauld, Cristante, Berardi (Neilton), Destro (Dongou), Insigne
Subs: Rubinho, Souttar, Palombo, Dongou, Neilton
Neilton, Berardi


FC Pride
Enyeama, Janko, Luisao, Omerou, Oczipka, Kouyate, Mascherano, Pirlo, Robben, T.Hazard (Lingard), Immobile
Subs: Abidal, Rosicky, Lawrence, Green, Lingard
Enyeama, Immobile, Pirlo

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Notts County 2-1 Taiwan

Goals (Assists)
Notts County – Meyer (Depay)
Notts County – Depay (Thiago)
Taiwan – Brandt (Ward-Prowse)

MOTM – Depay (Notts County)


Difficult injuries at the back for Notts County this week but well covered by Mex; whilst the last thing that Ludy’s Taiwan needed after their unlucky winless run was a horrendous list of suspended players that included their first choice centre back partnership missing amongst other first teamers, with Can dropped into the backline where he has played in the past.

I think to sum this match up, despite the excellent potential of both Hendrix and Can whom I rate highly, the loss of Musacchio and Laporte hurt Taiwan, and whilst the game was well fought out in the midfield area, Notts County took advantage.

Notts County’s front 4 were clinical on the break today and credit must go to the way that Mex set up for this game; whilst an excellent finish from Brandt at the death gave Ludy some reason to cheer.

Depay in particular was a joy to watch today.


Notts County
Scuffet, Yedlin, Manolas, Stones, Bernat, Januzaj (Ibe), Iturraspe, Thiago, Depay, Meyer, Alcacer
Subs: Romagnoli, Aranguiz, Ibe, Diaz, Totti
Thiago, Bernat


Taiwan
Navas, Coleman, Hendrix, Can, Shaw, Tielemans (Dembele), Ward-Prowse, Promes, Barkley, Brandt, Toni
SUBS: De Santis, Sama, Teixeira, Iheanacho, Dembele
Promes, Dembele
#LudyYouWillWinSoon