Hong Kong Blue
Guest
My ratings
Flahavan 6.5 - came for crosses in his 6 yard box and generally looked compotent, other than spilling one shot leading to lots of dodgy keeper chants from the Donny fans. One well-timed tackle after a woeful Hunt back-pass
Hunt 5 - seemed to get repeatedly confused by the fact that the touchlines were so far inside from the edge of the grass pitch. Had a good chance to score but his shot was as Broughtonesque as his boots.
Wilson 6 - shows how bad we were when everyone else dropped down to his level
Barrett 6 - quiet game, last season he would have tried to have woken the team up with a few barnstorming runs, but at the higher level has his hands full dealing with the defensive side of his game
Edwards 6 - a typical steady Eagle performance. Not so much "if in doubt, put it out", as "have no doubt, he'll put it out"
Bentley 5 - with Benno off form, we again struggled, showing how important he is to the team.
Maher 6.5 - our best player for the early part of the game, getting stuck in and winning lots of ball, before fading in influence and losing his rag
Guttridge 6.5 - anonymous for 25 minutes, it was no coincedence that our best spell was when he was at his most influential, but ultimately Donny by-passed the midfield and Gutts was unable to exert much control
Cole 6 - promised more than he delivered, before being subbed having made little second half impact
Goater 5 - not given much service, but not helped by his inability/unwillingness to go for any ball not straight where he wants it
Gray 5 - he has such good physical attributes that he can look like a world beater at times, sadly he lacks the mental attributes to back up the physical aspect and he looked bereft of confidence (the result of being subbed the previous Sunday despite playing well?). He might as well have been subbed after 20 minutes on saturday, because he spent the game moping about and even when put clear dithered and allowed the keeper to save.
Subs
Eastwood 6 - at least tried to make things happen even if it never came off
JCR 4 - played about 10 minutes and didn't once find a Southend shirt
Lawson 7 - only played a couple of minutes but was the only one who didn't look lethargic. Looked full of running and showed a willingness to anticipate and not merely react - if only the starting XI had done likewise
Away support - 4. If the player's performances were lethargic/complacent so was the crowd. Even before the game the atmosphere was flat. Open terraces may not be ideal for singing, but at least we could try. The atmosphere on the terraces was like we felt that we only had to turn up to collect another 3 points and that complacency found its way onto the pitch. We need to get behind the team and try and inspire them, rather than sitting back waiting to be entertained. The closest we got to any sustained singing was probably a rendition of "duh, duh, duh, Freddy Eastwood" when he was warming up. That probably helped Wayne Gray's confidence no end.
Flahavan 6.5 - came for crosses in his 6 yard box and generally looked compotent, other than spilling one shot leading to lots of dodgy keeper chants from the Donny fans. One well-timed tackle after a woeful Hunt back-pass
Hunt 5 - seemed to get repeatedly confused by the fact that the touchlines were so far inside from the edge of the grass pitch. Had a good chance to score but his shot was as Broughtonesque as his boots.
Wilson 6 - shows how bad we were when everyone else dropped down to his level
Barrett 6 - quiet game, last season he would have tried to have woken the team up with a few barnstorming runs, but at the higher level has his hands full dealing with the defensive side of his game
Edwards 6 - a typical steady Eagle performance. Not so much "if in doubt, put it out", as "have no doubt, he'll put it out"
Bentley 5 - with Benno off form, we again struggled, showing how important he is to the team.
Maher 6.5 - our best player for the early part of the game, getting stuck in and winning lots of ball, before fading in influence and losing his rag
Guttridge 6.5 - anonymous for 25 minutes, it was no coincedence that our best spell was when he was at his most influential, but ultimately Donny by-passed the midfield and Gutts was unable to exert much control
Cole 6 - promised more than he delivered, before being subbed having made little second half impact
Goater 5 - not given much service, but not helped by his inability/unwillingness to go for any ball not straight where he wants it
Gray 5 - he has such good physical attributes that he can look like a world beater at times, sadly he lacks the mental attributes to back up the physical aspect and he looked bereft of confidence (the result of being subbed the previous Sunday despite playing well?). He might as well have been subbed after 20 minutes on saturday, because he spent the game moping about and even when put clear dithered and allowed the keeper to save.
Subs
Eastwood 6 - at least tried to make things happen even if it never came off
JCR 4 - played about 10 minutes and didn't once find a Southend shirt
Lawson 7 - only played a couple of minutes but was the only one who didn't look lethargic. Looked full of running and showed a willingness to anticipate and not merely react - if only the starting XI had done likewise
Away support - 4. If the player's performances were lethargic/complacent so was the crowd. Even before the game the atmosphere was flat. Open terraces may not be ideal for singing, but at least we could try. The atmosphere on the terraces was like we felt that we only had to turn up to collect another 3 points and that complacency found its way onto the pitch. We need to get behind the team and try and inspire them, rather than sitting back waiting to be entertained. The closest we got to any sustained singing was probably a rendition of "duh, duh, duh, Freddy Eastwood" when he was warming up. That probably helped Wayne Gray's confidence no end.
