Alfreton V Darlington

Open now for discussion of all things Darlo!

Moderators: mikkyx, uncovered

Darlopartisan
Posts: 1738
Joined: Sat Jul 22, 2017 12:49 pm
Team Supported: Darlington

Alfreton V Darlington

Post by Darlopartisan » Sat Apr 09, 2022 5:24 am

Big game today, it will be a tough test for the lads this afternoon, come on Darlo :thumbup:

darlocity
Posts: 54
Joined: Fri Mar 02, 2012 11:56 am
Team Supported: Darlington-Man City
Location: Rotherham, South Yorks

Re: Alfreton V Darlington

Post by darlocity » Sat Apr 09, 2022 10:30 am

Looking forward to it. Hopefully keep the Run going. Be good to see a big turnout, hopefully upto 300 fans. Only 25 miles for me. C'mon Darlo.

Old Git
Posts: 3215
Joined: Tue Nov 12, 2019 9:09 am
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Alfreton V Darlington

Post by Old Git » Sat Apr 09, 2022 12:03 pm

Another big game today and some interesting selection decisions for AA. Assuming everyone is fit.
Full Backs 2/3 Hedley Griffiths Smith
Central Defenders 2/3 Wheater Lawlor Ellis
Midfielders 2/3 Rose Moke Purver
Wingers 2/3 Lambert Rivers KDS
Strikers 2/3 Cassidy Mondal Thompson.
My guess would be as follows.

Taylor
Hedley Wheater Lawlor Smith
KDS Moke Rose Lambert
Cassidy Mondal
Subs. Griffiths Ellis Purver Rivers Thompson.

That is without Storey Lowe McHale and O’Neill. This has to be the strongest and well balanced squad we have had in the last 10 years.

Darlopartisan
Posts: 1738
Joined: Sat Jul 22, 2017 12:49 pm
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Alfreton V Darlington

Post by Darlopartisan » Sat Apr 09, 2022 1:47 pm

Old Git wrote:
Sat Apr 09, 2022 12:03 pm
Another big game today and some interesting selection decisions for AA. Assuming everyone is fit.
Full Backs 2/3 Hedley Griffiths Smith
Central Defenders 2/3 Wheater Lawlor Ellis
Midfielders 2/3 Rose Moke Purver
Wingers 2/3 Lambert Rivers KDS
Strikers 2/3 Cassidy Mondal Thompson.
My guess would be as follows.

Taylor
Hedley Wheater Lawlor Smith
KDS Moke Rose Lambert

Out of the mix go,
Wheater Ellis Rose Thompson, must still be carrying knocks.

Looks like,

Taylor,
Griffiths Story Lawlor Hedley,
KDS Moke Purver Lambert,
Cassidy Mondal.

Old Git
Posts: 3215
Joined: Tue Nov 12, 2019 9:09 am
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Alfreton V Darlington

Post by Old Git » Sat Apr 09, 2022 2:58 pm

Halftime 0-0. Cassidy had a penalty saved just before the interval. That is 3 in a row missed by 3 different players, Hatfield, KDS and Cassidy. Could prove costly.

Darlogramps
Posts: 6025
Joined: Sun Sep 05, 2010 10:47 am
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Alfreton V Darlington

Post by Darlogramps » Sat Apr 09, 2022 3:33 pm

And another missed penalty! Mondal this time. This has become a serious problem.

Four missed penalties in a row and the constant rotation of anyone who misses means we’ll have no one with any confidence about taking spot kicks.

Hope we don’t have a penalty shootout any time soon.
If ever you're bored or miserable:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlZohZoadGY

tdk1
Posts: 2479
Joined: Wed Jul 22, 2009 6:21 pm
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Alfreton V Darlington

Post by tdk1 » Sat Apr 09, 2022 3:38 pm

Results going our way elsewhere at the moment too makes it particularly frustrating

50 years
Posts: 626
Joined: Sun Jul 30, 2017 12:02 pm
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Alfreton V Darlington

Post by 50 years » Sat Apr 09, 2022 3:59 pm

It is a question, why when we have lost our 2 main penalty takers do we not know who is best to take them, 3 different players last 3, one assumes not a practice area as all have hit soft ones as keeper made the saves, not something we practice clearly?

Old Git
Posts: 3215
Joined: Tue Nov 12, 2019 9:09 am
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Alfreton V Darlington

Post by Old Git » Sat Apr 09, 2022 4:03 pm

Up to 7th but feels like an opportunity spurned.

onewayup
Posts: 2851
Joined: Fri Jul 31, 2009 6:02 pm
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Alfreton V Darlington

Post by onewayup » Sat Apr 09, 2022 4:18 pm

We had striker on the bench but again alun won't change it, is that an indication that playoffs are not on ,or is the player situation not what we believe it to be, strange very strange, no one saying anything, but I want to see the team in the playoffs that is what football for me is all about, getting as far as you can, :thumbup:

Darlo_Rob
Posts: 617
Joined: Sat Jul 11, 2009 8:23 pm
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Alfreton V Darlington

Post by Darlo_Rob » Sat Apr 09, 2022 4:39 pm

Well you are clearly saying something. O’Neill was injured last week and we we already had several out so maybe AA didn’t want to risk him. Also I suspect he kept Cassidy on because Alfreton only play one way. I’m not saying anything like, oh hang on maybe I am.

Darlogramps
Posts: 6025
Joined: Sun Sep 05, 2010 10:47 am
Team Supported: Darlington

Alfreton V Darlington

Post by Darlogramps » Sat Apr 09, 2022 4:40 pm

Feels like a bit of a weird one today.

On the face of it, there are quite a few positives from that result:

- Into the play-off places;

- Just one defeat in 11, five games unbeaten;

- A clean sheet without Wheater or Ellis, against a side who’ve won away to two top 10 sides in their last couple of games.

But those two penalty misses make it feel like a big missed opportunity.
Last edited by Darlogramps on Sat Apr 09, 2022 4:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.
If ever you're bored or miserable:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlZohZoadGY

joejaques
Posts: 3057
Joined: Fri Apr 16, 2010 10:36 am
Team Supported: Darlington
Location: Milford Haven

Re: Alfreton V Darlington

Post by joejaques » Sat Apr 09, 2022 4:57 pm

Darlogramps wrote:
Sat Apr 09, 2022 3:33 pm
Saving up all our scoring penalties for the play-offs?
Image

User avatar
don'tbuythesun
Posts: 2397
Joined: Mon Sep 13, 2010 12:24 pm
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Alfreton V Darlington

Post by don'tbuythesun » Sat Apr 09, 2022 5:11 pm

Shame about today's result-we managed to score 4 out of 5 penalties at Southport, oh for one of them today. I still can't believe after all the doom and gloom we're in the play off places and fingers crossed we can stay there!

DARLODAH
Posts: 98
Joined: Tue Oct 30, 2018 10:41 pm
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Alfreton V Darlington

Post by DARLODAH » Sat Apr 09, 2022 5:45 pm

Just about the right result today. Apart from 2 missed penalties and Cassidiy hitting the post, we struggled against their long throws and set pieces.

User avatar
theoriginalfatcat
Posts: 6717
Joined: Wed Jul 15, 2009 7:40 pm
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Alfreton V Darlington

Post by theoriginalfatcat » Sat Apr 09, 2022 6:09 pm

I’ve been reliably told that the odds/stats for missing 4 penalties in a row are roughly 500/1.
Profile pic ↗️
Feethams the Panda. 28 Jan 2012.
Now extinct!

User avatar
TKOA
Posts: 946
Joined: Fri Jul 31, 2009 11:59 am
Team Supported: Darlington
Location: Manchester

Re: Alfreton V Darlington

Post by TKOA » Sat Apr 09, 2022 6:32 pm

I was very disappointed that we missed two penalties but absolutely over the moon to find out that we’re sat in a playoff place. Obviously the teams below us have games in hand but after the awful start to the year I never thought we’d be anywhere near at this stage.

Well done to Alun the lads and the fantastic support today! Alfretons biggest attendance before today was 668 against Hereford. Heard there was 800+ today so must have been 3/400 of us today? Hopefully get a good crowd in next Friday and if results go our way we stay in the playoffs!

User avatar
Quaker85
Posts: 1028
Joined: Sat Apr 07, 2018 7:38 am
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Alfreton V Darlington

Post by Quaker85 » Sat Apr 09, 2022 6:50 pm

theoriginalfatcat wrote:I’ve been reliably told that the odds/stats for missing 4 penalties in a row are roughly 500/1.
Yeah it’s approx 78% chance of scoring so 22% multiplied out 4 times does indeed roughly translate to 500/1 Image


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

lo36789
Posts: 10927
Joined: Wed Apr 27, 2011 10:58 pm
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Alfreton V Darlington

Post by lo36789 » Sun Apr 10, 2022 6:58 am

Every team around us plays the top 5 at least twice.

Fylde's have Southport, Boston, Kettering and York
Brackley have Boston and us
Gateshead have Kettering, Southport, Chorley and us
Kidderminster have Kettering and us
Chorley have York

Us and Kettering have the harder run, and York probably the easiest.

We will all lose points though - and we are starting from a playoff position.

If we are saying we have to take maximum points when we aren't playing the top 5 sides, so does everybody else.

PolamLane
Posts: 19
Joined: Wed Jun 19, 2019 1:44 pm
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Alfreton V Darlington

Post by PolamLane » Sun Apr 10, 2022 7:51 am

A view from an exile...a hard slightly bobbly pitch made it a game of mis-controlled touches and stray passes with it becoming at times a game of giant head tennis. Alfreton generally coped better with this by playing a somewhat direct game however when Darlo tried a passing game they looked good but this was only in short spells. Lawlor is a class act with the back four coping fairly well overall although they went very close a couple of times from set pieces. Darlo lacked the ability to hold the ball up in the Alfreton half and i thought Tyrone would have been an obvious solution...much more mobile than Cassidy but poss carrying an injury? The pen at the away end looked soft as in the ball was just about out of play but both pens lacked conviction. Lambert drifted out of the game for long spells so no surprise when he was substituted. Overall a fitful performance with an opportunity missed but with results going our way who knows...but they will have to play much better on Friday. Old school ground with decent looking food, poor programme though imho...great Darlo support.

User avatar
theoriginalfatcat
Posts: 6717
Joined: Wed Jul 15, 2009 7:40 pm
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Alfreton V Darlington

Post by theoriginalfatcat » Sun Apr 10, 2022 8:07 am

It was good to get out for an away game, a game that actually meant something, but I have to say that if I had to watch Alfreton every week then my interest in football would disappear. What a one dimensional bunch of cloggers they are!

We should have won but there you go. Re the second penalty, the Echo report states that contact was debatable but we had a good view of this and Mondal was chopped down.
Profile pic ↗️
Feethams the Panda. 28 Jan 2012.
Now extinct!

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

Re: Alfreton V Darlington

Post by en passant » Sun Apr 10, 2022 8:16 am

A further benefit of yesterday's results is that we are now mathematically safe from being relegated! So, along with gaining a spot in the playoffs, there is much to celebrate.
Not scoring and getting the three points, given our current momentum, was less than was expected, but things never quite go to plan, and certainly not when you are a Darlo fan. We may have considered that Alfreton was a must win game when looking at the remaining fixtures, but we might get those points back in one of the games we might be expected to lose.
There is, of course, the nagging doubt that we are short of a go to player for penalties and a reliable goalscorer who will carry days, like yesterday, when chances are few and you are not quite getting the rub of the green. But stopping conceding goals does create the platform for nicking a goal and holding out for unlikely wins.
Far more interest in how the season will end than might have seemed likely in January.

JE93
Posts: 1855
Joined: Sun Nov 29, 2009 2:48 pm
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Alfreton V Darlington

Post by JE93 » Sun Apr 10, 2022 8:43 am

Slightly disappointed not to win yesterday after Cassidy sounded like he had a good chance from open play and then missing 2 penalties. But going to remain philosophical about it. I thought before yesterday we'd need 65 points for a playoff spot, and I still do, so the task now becomes 14 points from 6 games. 4 wins and 2 draws or 5 wins and a defeat. We have a team that's capable and if we can get players back from injury we're even better than the team the created enough chances to win yesterday. Can only look forward to Curzon now. Hopefully we can dismantle them like Boston did today and give ourselves a boost going into a tough away game on Easter Monday.

Looking around the league, another fairly decent day of result for us yesterday. York, Kettering and Southport all have to play 3 games in 6 days this coming week (Tuesday, Friday, Monday) so maybe some tired legs for each of them may come into play in their games over the bank holiday weekend.

Quakerlad
Posts: 639
Joined: Mon Apr 28, 2014 7:54 am
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Alfreton V Darlington

Post by Quakerlad » Sun Apr 10, 2022 8:43 am

If someone had said, 2 months ago that we would be in a play off position with just a few games to go I would have laughed, probably did! I was one who thought AA could not turn it around so credit to him for sure.
It’s often been Wheater and Ellis who get the credit but there is no way without Lawlor that we would have kept clean sheets in recent games. Wasn’t totally convinced when he first arrived but think he has made a huge difference. Plays with a different partner most games yet has been very solid. Would like to think he will stay, certain AA is trying to persuade him but equally sure he will have plenty of offers in summer.
Still an outside chance but great to have the season still alive in April!

Old Git
Posts: 3215
Joined: Tue Nov 12, 2019 9:09 am
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Alfreton V Darlington

Post by Old Git » Sun Apr 10, 2022 9:13 am

Quakerlad wrote:
Sun Apr 10, 2022 8:43 am
If someone had said, 2 months ago that we would be in a play off position with just a few games to go I would have laughed, probably did! I was one who thought AA could not turn it around so credit to him for sure.
It’s often been Wheater and Ellis who get the credit but there is no way without Lawlor that we would have kept clean sheets in recent games. Wasn’t totally convinced when he first arrived but think he has made a huge difference. Plays with a different partner most games yet has been very solid. Would like to think he will stay, certain AA is trying to persuade him but equally sure he will have plenty of offers in summer.
Still an outside chance but great to have the season still alive in April!
Echo all of your comments and delighted to be proven wrong by AA. Hopefully 6 cup finals for us to play still, and that would be great preparation for the playoffs.

onewayup
Posts: 2851
Joined: Fri Jul 31, 2009 6:02 pm
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Alfreton V Darlington

Post by onewayup » Sun Apr 10, 2022 10:20 am

Hopefully a bigger than usual crowd for Friday's game, would be a great boost for the team for the remaining games, really looking forward to getting a good display from the team to enhance their playoffs credentials, and hopefully retain some of the extra fans for future games.

darlo2001uk
Posts: 1413
Joined: Fri Jul 10, 2009 4:10 pm
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Alfreton V Darlington

Post by darlo2001uk » Sun Apr 10, 2022 11:14 am

An interesting note from their chairman in yesterday's programme.

He said he had tabled a question through the members structure of the club:

Should the club, although solvent with no debts, consider applying for relegation?

It seems like it is annual question as part of the club's structure.

He wrote that feedback was mixed but a majority confirmed they would not wish to seek relegation, therefore no request has been made to the FA or the league.

User avatar
theoriginalfatcat
Posts: 6717
Joined: Wed Jul 15, 2009 7:40 pm
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Alfreton V Darlington

Post by theoriginalfatcat » Sun Apr 10, 2022 11:27 am

Thompson was missed yesterday, I think he would have given us more skill and more drive through the middle.

Also, I would give the penalty duties to him too. Tell him it's his job and get him on an intense practicing regime.
Profile pic ↗️
Feethams the Panda. 28 Jan 2012.
Now extinct!

jjljks
Posts: 3014
Joined: Thu Oct 29, 2015 10:25 am
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Alfreton V Darlington

Post by jjljks » Sun Apr 10, 2022 11:31 am

darlo2001uk wrote:
Sun Apr 10, 2022 11:14 am
An interesting note from their chairman in yesterday's programme.

He said he had tabled a question through the members structure of the club:

Should the club, although solvent with no debts, consider applying for relegation?

It seems like it is annual question as part of the club's structure.

He wrote that feedback was mixed but a majority confirmed they would not wish to seek relegation, therefore no request has been made to the FA or the league.
How bizarre! Bit like do turkeys vote for Christmas?

LoidLucan
Posts: 4536
Joined: Sun Jul 19, 2009 11:29 am
Team Supported: Darlington

Re: Alfreton V Darlington

Post by LoidLucan » Sun Apr 10, 2022 12:34 pm

Billy bemoans refereeing "injustices"....

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=b6ouaThNiwo

As far as penalty takers go maybe we had the solution in our own hands all along...

Northern League Division 1

Billingham Town 1 (Beeden (pen) Crook Town 3 (Thomas 3) :D

https://twitter.com/i/status/1512803142123020293

Post Reply