Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United 4-1 Aldershot Town

[nick12]

Wow what a turn around in the 2nd half. After my anger at giving them a goal and should have been 2 in the first half we were immense after the break

So often a sending off galvanises a team with 10 men but we took full advantage and made Aldershot look very poor. Hard to pick out a MOM but Crowther, Cards, JB had very good games but a very special shout out for JD who never fails to give anything but 100%

Left the Hall very happy this afternoon and with less fear of the dreaded relegation battle that we were sliding in to.

UTB

 

[Jai]

I did notice a big difference between the two teams in the first half.

We did our usual slow, pass from the keeper to Ollie K who then passed both sideways and forward , all short passes,-- all giving the oppos every chance to plan their defence and try to intercept our passes.
Aldershot often played the long ball from their dynamic keeper up to their three or four forwards putting us under intense pressure instantly. Using this method they were causing problems for our defence.

It just seems to me that playing 10-12 passes to try and get forward gives the oppos lots of chance to break down attack, especially if our passes put team-mates under extreme pressure.

There's nothing wrong with the way we try and play the game. The issue is when confidence is fragile, people start taking too long with their passes, overfocusing on their first touch, and playing the safe ball. This is where we are at the moment. That sending off might well not only have changed the game but our season in that respect. Goals for Cardwell, Wood and Dackers will do them all the world of good and winning 4-1 against a promotion contender is going to give all the players a lift.

The way we won the game today was fortunate, but everyone needs a break every now and again and after hitting the woodwork so often in the last three or four weeks, we were certainly overdue a bit of good fortune.

 

[dusterman]

Wood has serious talent. See what JS saw in him. Hopefully Kev keeps nurturing him into a massive player for us. Was great how we used him today.

4-1 from a deficit at half time.

Don’t get better that.

Slainte.

 

[leeblue]

Jack Wood is fast becoming my favourite player.

I've been pushing for his inclusion of late....adding that cut and thrust from midfield

 

[kentblues]

Without wishing to take anything away from Wood (he was excellent), there's a very big difference between coming on wide against 10-men chasing the game, and playing in a 10 role trying to break down a low block. I think it's worth a try, but I don't think you can compare the situations. He's also more of a winger than a 10.

He has always been a central midfielder? The fact that (to a degree due circumstances) we have stuck him elsewhere doesn’t change that. Let’s hope we find out what he can do in his natural attacking MF role. Because first half, as is usual, our midfield three looked more likely to win the lottery than scoring or getting in the box…

 

[duncan bulgaria]

First half we were out hustled and worked , we will always see a lot of the ball at this level as we do have some very tidy players at our disposal , the difference was in the second half we upped the tempo and intensity, we started playing forward and at a high tempo and we got our reward with Wood taking the game to the shots.

The sending off defo was the turning point and the sloppy goal knocked the wind out of Aldershot sails - I know we have the quality in the squad and barring Chesterfield we should never look second best in this league

That is the frustration of late

 

[Fitz]

Thought Ralph was awesome today our best player by a long stretch.

Crowther looks a great signing and I think there is a lot of potential in Danny Waldron.

Midfield was poor today..Nor out of form…Miley got hussled especially first half and Morton looked a little lightweight at times.

Great to see Wood play well…definitely a player there, although so much easier against a 10 man team chasing the game.

Ref was shocking…but that was exactly what we needed

Onwards and upwards

 

[Maldon Shrimper]

Just finished reading Aldershot forum and has you would imagine they thought the ref wasn't great,why he did give a free kick for the foul on Stokes and at best it was a yellow card not a red for their defender.Whilst I have some sympathy with their predicament we have come up against some pretty awful decisions by some referees this season and deserved some fortune this time around.

 

[* ORM *]

A lesson for Aldershot: don’t cheat.

They had been in complete control before their last man attempted to haul back Waldron. There was no question it was a foul but Waldron was drifting wide. Aldershot fans will no doubt be aggrieved and say he was heading away from goal and should only have been yellow but he’d gotten in front of his man and his next touch would have likely have straightened his run before shooting at goal. The ref deemed it a red - a decision I don’t think we’d have got away from home - and from the resulting freekick their keeper fumbled it to Cardwell for his first goal since his injury at which point their heads dropped as they knew this wasn’t going to be their day.

Cardwell deserved his goal after a disastrous injury and haircut. With his hair growing back he was more like the Cardwell of old using his pace to close them down and make life uncomfortable. He’s a horrible player to play against with that size and pace and workrate.

Minutes later Ollie Kensdale marked his 100th appearance by finding himself alone and unmarked six yards out (playing v 10 men is fun!) and the game had been turned on its head before Aldershot even managed to react to the sending off with a sub.

It was an extraordinary turnaround because up until then we’d failed to beat Aldershot’s press, were losing the ball in midfield and they were picking us off on the counter. They took the lead and it could have been two when they smacked the woodwork. But once we had a man advantage they could no longer press man to man.

Even with a lead Maher responded by bringing on Jack Wood for Morton to try and hit them on the break. Wood went on the right wing with Ralph pushing further out to the left with more of a back four shape. The idea was to stretch the 10 men by pulling them wide. We ended up losing some fluency but after Kensdale kept up our streak of hitting the woodwork, Dackers and Fonguck came on for Cardwell and the injured Kensdale and we made it count in the 9 minutes of injury time. First Wood took a pass from Dackers and drifted inside, dropped his shoulder and stroked it into the net for a very well taken goal. Then Wood returned the compliment playing in Dackers who finished powerfully into the top corner. Two very well taken goals that should boost the confidence of our squad players and eerily reminiscent to the opening day of the season when our subs added a third and fourth with quality finishes in injury time against opponents reduced to 10 men.

Gotten? Gotten!

You’ve had too much McD and Bux.

Nice report though

 

[shrimperjon]

A game of two halves if we’ve ever seen one. First half we started well but then lost our way. Two or three mistakes inside 5 minutes eventually cost us giving away a sloppy goal. We rode our luck with Aldershot hitting the crossbar and then missing an open goal. One thing i would never criticise this team for is effort and that wasn’t the issue first half, we worked well box to box but too slowly and Aldershot coped with us easily.

Second half we came out fighting and got on the front foot. Was it a red card, could have gone either way but I certainly wasn’t gutted when the lad got sent off. Thereafter we controlled the game and apart from a short spell late on we took hold of the game and what a joy it was to score four goals. Massive goal for Cardwell who needed that, Ollie on his 100th game, a cracking finish by Dackers who did well when he came on and the best of the lot was Jack Wood. A messi type goal/finish. So composed and didn’t panic

Ref was awful but tbf for both sides but the red card Aldershot got they can argue he was against them more

Colin- made some good saves first half, second half mostly untroubled. Kicking very good today

JD- rolled back the years and got forward well

Bridge- started by getting crosses in quicker like Tuesday then reverted back to norm. More direct again second half and an assist for the first goal

Kensdale- shaky first half but much better second and good to see him score. Seems like he will be ok for Tuesday

Crowther- where has the guy been, such a good player, solid and good on the ball

Ralph- like others a bit shaky first half but got forward well and worked hard supporting Bridge second half especially

Morton- tough afternoon for him. But he is a good player, keeps things simple but also has a good passing range. The main issue is that he is too much like Miley the way they are playing at the moment so don’t think we function well with both in the side. Gave the ball away for the Aldershot goal

Miley- another not at his best first half but much better second half

Husin- frustrating game at times. In spells he was excellent at other times slowed the game down. When he is progressive on the ball he and we look so much better. Just wish he would shoot when he has a clear opening

Cardwell- slowly getting back to his best. Won a lot of headers and linked well with Waldron at times. Glad he finally got on the score sheet and hopefully will give him the confidence to push on again. Took his goal well, very similar to his equaliser at their place

Waldron- MOM for me. Excellent movement and intelligent runs. Looking quicker and sharper with every game. Only thing missing was a goal today and he would have deserved one had he scored. Keeper made some decent saves from him today. But importantly you can see what he brings to the side and offers something different.

Dackers- really impressed today as he did with his previous sub appearances. Involved in the wood goal and a brilliant finish for his goal

Wood- many been saying he should be given a run in the side and today we could see what he has to offer. His goal was Messi like, calm, composed and deadly finish

Wes- or long on but did ok

So all in all 3 pts are 3 pts. Would we have won without the red card we will never know but that’s irrelevant now. That’s back to back wins and Altrincham Tuesday who lost at home today after losing last week. After their SM nonsense from a few weeks ago we owe this lot.

Have we turned a corner? Tuesday and Saturday at Oldham will give us the answers we need

 

[amsemp]

That would’ve done the lads the world of good today. Don’t think they can have any complaints about the red, it looked pretty clear to me.

Great to see Wood and Dackers amongst the goals which will be great for their confidence. Wood’s goal was absolutely class. Not a goal you expect to see in non-league. He has these moments of absolute magic where he looks like he’ll be a serious player. Hopefully he has more of a chance now and can show it more often.

Man of the match for me though was Danny Waldron. They couldn’t handle him today. Ran and ran and ran all game and caused them all sorts of problems. Did everything but score. Looks a really, really good signing.

 

[gatecrasher]

Woods definitely needs to he used more before the season is our- if he gets a few more goals and assists he needs to be tied down - he's definitely got potential star quality, his technique and drive is something different. Composure for the goal was flawless.

Dackers, while I think him and Caldwell together are duds, I do think he can be a useful alternative to Cards. If he can find some Confidence, I think he'd be worth keeping on - there is definitely something there, whether he can capitalise on it remains to be seen.

 

[leeblue]

He has always been a central midfielder? The fact that (to a degree due circumstances) we have stuck him elsewhere doesn’t change that. Let’s hope we find out what he can do in his natural attacking MF role. Because first half, as is usual, our midfield three looked more likely to win the lottery than scoring or getting in the box…

This 100. Wood is every inch that attacking midfield player. Let him operate behind the front two, he's mobile, quick and full of attacking intent.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

Why does thinking that we can beat Altrincham and Oldham mean that I think we can make the playoffs? I think us being less than 10 points off the playoffs is realistic come the end of the season but it would be a miracle to actually get into them.

You're free to dream.Sorry to say it but the Shots will be in the playoffs ;SUFC won't.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

If we need any pessimism on here after the last two results, guess who is likely to brings it first.

Losing 3 on the spin (2 at home)(then winning 2 consecutive games 1 at home is not exacly great form.

 

[Evening Echo]

SOUTHEND United boss Kevin Maher hailed the impact made by substitutes Jack Wood and Marcus Dackers in Saturday’s win against Aldershot.

Read more on this story


Help with Echo links

 

[Shrimperjohn]

Technically we have 51 points now without the deduction, so no reason to fear either of those sides. We are on par with them this season. And we had far more to deal with than either of those sides too.

No we have 41 points.

 

[Evening Echo]

SOUTHEND United fans have their say on Saturday's 4-1 win against Aldershot Town.

Read more on this story


Help with Echo links

 

[bazzashrimper]

The ref was hopeless. It was a coin toss whether he would give a foul for clear fouls (trips, shirt pulls, handballs). The first half we didn’t work this out but Aldershot did. Second half we “fouled” as much as they did. For a nice change we were on the right side of a key decision (should have had a penalty later on of course).

Anyway - once we worked the ref out and stopped sulking, we played well - and they started sulking.

Waldron was excellent, as were wood and dackers cameos. Miley awful first half (never said that before) but better in the second. Great to get 3 points closer to safety

 

[rigsby]

You're free to dream.Sorry to say it but the Shots will be in the playoffs ;SUFC won't.

Losing 3 on the spin (2 at home)(then winning 2 consecutive games 1 at home is not exacly great form.

You're free to come on here and repeat the same whinge every week.....Even after a 4-1 win