Darlington FC V FC U Manchester

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al_quaker
Posts: 5942
Joined: Sat Jul 11, 2009 2:51 pm
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Darlington FC V FC U Manchester

Post by al_quaker » Thu Sep 14, 2017 8:54 am

poppyfield wrote:I heard the problem with the pitch was a blocked drain, so hopefully that should now be sorted.
Looked like it would be something like that, as the rest of the pitch was in great condition!

The affected section didn't actually cut up that much, which was a bit of a surprise considering how wet it was. Hopefully it can be easily fixed (and it would also be ideal if it is fixed soon so the amount of football and particularly rugby played on the damaged section is minimised, although that of course is fixture list dependent). It'd be pretty demoralising to see our expensive new pitch damaged by the middle of September because of a drainage issue.

en passant
Posts: 527
Joined: Wed Nov 11, 2015 10:17 pm
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Darlington FC V FC U Manchester

Post by en passant » Thu Sep 14, 2017 9:00 am

Although we had a brighter first half than on Saturday I thought that we were still lacking the killer punch in front of goal. Several chances presented themselves but the lack of goals in recent games seems to have sapped that conviction that a good striker requires to make the best of his chances. A couple of headers that would have gone in on a better run of form, just missed the target or found the goalkeeper. We also had a goal ruled out which may on another day, have stood. Fine margins.
On the bookings/sending offs I thought that the Manchester team were their own worst enemy. I wondered at some of the reckless tackling that began quite early in the game and was surprised that the guy who tackled Beck from behind was only booked (although he was later sent off for giving away the penalty). Cartman was also sent flying several times with the ref often being quite lenient. So it was something of a surprise, although a fairly common circumstance, that after letting some of the worst of Manchester pass by that he sent Burgess off. I was too far away to claim that I could gauge the severity of the tackle, but it did seem to be partly awarded on the reaction of the Manchester players.
This latter point came back to mind in the second half when I was stood near the well-fuelled Manchester supporters who were very offensively verbal towards the Darlo bench when their second player was sent off for an elbow in the face. They seemed to think that the very natural reaction of Gray and others was instrumental in getting their guy a second yellow card. But the bench reaction was no more than that of all the supports around me that the offence would have been an automatic red card on any other pitch in the land and they could have no complaints. Indeed it was a wonder that it had taken so long for them to have a second man sent off. I don't think the 8 yellow cards handed out to them was out of order with the way they approached the match, and had the ref been more on it in the first half it could have been more.
As to the game itself, a good victory with fine performances from many players. Stand out was, as others have mentioned, young Wheatley, who had a great game. Cartman also deserved plaudits, not only for the goal, but being a general menace to their defence that certainly created more space for others to exploit. And for those who wonder what Syers brings to the midfield, yesterday was a perfect response. He grafted when he came on and helped make up for the missing man in midfield.
Of course this was just one game, and but for a few good saves, a goal line clearance and the chance of a bad reaction to the sending off the game could have turned out very differently. I thought that going forward Manchester had their moments and could have scored a few goals themselves. But so much is about the confidence that goals and wins make and once Darlo got ahead the game looked so much easier and the passes began to stick. Hope this is a corner turned and that Saturday will confirm that we are back on song.

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D_F_C
Posts: 2054
Joined: Sat Mar 27, 2010 8:43 am
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Darlington FC V FC U Manchester

Post by D_F_C » Thu Sep 14, 2017 11:33 am

Even though it was a bad moment, when Burgess seemed to get sent off, it seemed to lighten up the mood of the players. They were all over the pitch, closing down (which we don't usually do), hassling, getting on the ball. The work rate was excellent. Even when down to 10 I don't remember Bartlett having to make a decent save.

I hope this reminds the team they can play this well when they have 11

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