Dpl v Crawley

Creepies 1-3 Rovers
Marquis to score, if not playing Williams.
Crowd 2,543

C'mon Rovers

2-1 Rovers
Rowe to Score if not playing him Marquis to Score
Crowd 2525

3-1 rovers
marquis if not playing then Williams
crowd of 2547

Another missed pen

I was sitting just below the Crawley Player HD commentator who stood up when he was commentating which seemed somehow wrong. But he was very competent, pretty even handed and unlike some, had learned all the names of our players. At one stage he praised our defence for calmly clearing the ball with some excellent passing, but the fact was that they were under very little pressure at the time. This contrasted with the majority of the match when Crawley were on top of us as soon as we got the ball and most of our players could not cope with the harrassment.

The penalty was a bit of a repeat of Tuesday’s incidents. It was something of a gift from the ref and a miss to match that of Cambridge.

Crawley were sharp and well organised exposing the inability of some of our players to control the ball quickly and pass it accurately. Their front-man Collins was not easy to contain and Butler’s lack of finesse was often exposed. Out wide Alcock was often unable to contain their right winger and nothing was really built from the back. Indeed, cohesion and possibly even confidence (after realising what they were up against) was decidedly lacking throughout.

Once again Copps was an exception and May too has the close control skills that are needed to break through this kind of defence and he actually “scored” from a very tight position in a crowded box but was apparently marginally off-side.

In the first half we did have Crawley on the back foot, but when we were close to finding a goal the vital touch was not quite there.

Once again though after the break things turned in favour of the home side and they continued to compete for every ball. The close control we needed to retain possession and the passing accuracy needed to work openings just was not present. The fact is that we were not really the better team and there were some very narrow escapes on the Lawlor goal as they broke quickly in contrast to some of our more laborious build-ups.

Marquis was well marked today and given no room in which to operate. Blair covered at the back rather than attacking up the flank and needed to. The standard substitutions were made and my suggestion that McSheffery would be a suitable replacement for Copps was proved totally wrong.

I came away thinking that the way the team played today may well be good enough to get results from teams that defend more deeply. However the inability to deal with this type of well-drilled hardworking side, eager to challenge for the ball non-stop is not unlike many in the league above. Whilst we should escape to League 1, it does put the ambition of a meaningful challenge for another promotion next season somewhat in doubt. And we still have some general defensive weaknesses to remedy.

Donaldo, thanks for a very detailed report. I love Fergie for his optimism and positive outlook, but reality has to come in. As you say, we may get out of L2, but do we have it to get out of L1?
I remain very positive 5000 miles away, but having been there for over 65 years, I do not take anything for granted.

Again our inability to play for the full game had potentially cost us 2 points. Marquis penalty was poor and not as well put in the corner like his one on Tuesday. Crawley didn't have a shot until around 50mins due to our dominance in the first half.

However another game unbeaten and another game scratched off. Pompeys surprising defeat maybe be opening the door for Luton to join the promotion party.

Our inability to covert a pen is ridiculous.

Don, thanks for that match report, very comprehensive.
I was out yesterday afternoon and had to rely on the BBC text service but they had us as being in control for the first half then Crawley coming back into the game for the second period.
This thing about missing pens is frustrating but certainly anyone who has taken one in a pressure situation will know that it isn't a foregone conclusion that you will score.
I read a post by a Rovers fan yesterday which said that a professional footballer should always be able to score from 12 yards.

Well there is a professional keeper trying to keep the shot out of goal and it is a guessing game.
If the keeper goes the right way he very often has a good chance of making a save.
If the keeper had gone to his right yesterday the JM's pen would have looked very good.
We have had 13 pens this season which is probably more than any other team in the league and indeed we should have had plenty more in reality.
We more than likely have won so many because of the close control ability of our forward players.
I suppose we are bound to miss some but i would have thought we should have possibly converted more than the seven we have done.
Hey ho, we are still the top scorers in the division and our position at the top after two consecutive away games has improved from where it was before them.
Also there are only 11 games to go now.

Maybe time for an experienced pro to step up and show the how to stay cool and take control and show how its done from 12 yards.
Ermm ?