Post-Match Thread and Ratings Newport County AFC 0 -1 Southend Utd

[wivs]

Oxley 8 MOTM
Bwomono 7
White 7
Hobson 7
Clifford 8
Dieng 7
Demetriou 6
Ferguson 6
RHF 7
Halford 6
ANG 8

Akinola 7
Cordner 6

Hard working solid away performance. Oxley won us the game at the end and was dependable all game. ANG had great feet for the pitch, good close control can turn either way. Clifford great game and fancied him to score the free kick. Same again Saturday please, no stand out teams in this league. UTB

I know its all about opinions but Newport had 1 shot on target, admittedly a vital save at the end by Oxley but how that makes him motm, hmmmm?

 

[in the know]

I don't know if Newport are usually that poor. Obviously players missing but maybe they were just making the most of a rather dismal home ground and pitch. Not an inspiring place to go and play.
Hobson was reborn again tonight I thought in his more comfortable position. Put himself in the way lots to block them and the ball.
Stamina sapping conditions and other than halford (did what was asked to do) I think our fitness levels looked good
I don't think that pitch is of good enough standard for league football. Even the rugby lines left on so prominently just seemed poor.
Not sure how much ox knew about the save but positioning and being big played a huge part and great to see him taking balls on the edge of his area.
Really encouraging to think there are some additions getting nearer match fit to strengthen us, and who knows, we might get another 60 mins out of Macca sometime in a few weeks.
Mellis, ranger, hart, halford, cordner is a very good bench and they can force themselves into starting over the coming weeks

 

[CM2 Blue]

A really determined performance tonight- low on quality maybe but high on effort. Well played Blues.

 

[gatecrasher]

4 at the back so not overrun in Midfield....

Ox - couple of massive saves which very much helped with the win -8
Elvis - gets a lot of stick, played ok today, hates a first time cross -7
Clifford - really really like him, could be our left back for years but I think he will get snapped up. Solid defensively, calm as you like and a threat taking set pieces -8
Hobsonbauer - strong, can ping a ball aswell as launch it and made up on a few mistakes -7
White - Back to basics and a solid game -7
Ferguson - looks a decent addition, did little wrong and kept ball moving well - 7
Demi - Think his days here are all but over, mislaid passes, poor decisions, just looks very very flat -5
Dieng - not a spectacular game but very much like Ferguson today - pitch helped neither -7
ANG - clearly gifted but end product today as other games lacking , does create a spark though-7
Fairchild - Didn't really do it today, clearly needs a decent pitch for his play to be effective -6
Halford - Erm....well was starved of service but is so lacking in mobility he couldn't create anything either-5

Akinola - great little find, I think with the right partner he will be really great. Works hard, quick and strong when he come on-7

Overall a solid team performance, we out Hoofed them on what has to be the worst playing conditions since the Xmas Day truce of 1914

 

[flangejackrabbit]

Don’t underestimate the job Halford was asked to do , wear them out for an hour then bring on Akinola to run at them!
Same starting 11 for me next game

Yes, this was blatantly the gameplan and it worked well.

 

[Jay_SUFC]

Hobson was reborn again tonight I thought in his more comfortable position. Put himself in the way lots to block them and the ball.

This is why I have an issue with 5 at the back; players such as Elvis and Hobson do not look comfortable with it; it might look ok in training, but you haven't got a opposition to deal with!

Yes, we won't win all our games playing 4 at the back, but I still think it works better than 5.

 

[wiggy]

Ox saved us at the end....they were no better than us, especially second half so nothing to worry about in this Mickey Mouse League.
Some nice potential on the field so lets from now on use it to our advantage!
Ferguson looked big and capable, Hackett F showed great skill at times, ANG great on the ball
Halford as a striker no better than the tree.
Great Ref and wholehearted performance even if not great to watch....still rather that than the Premiership prima donna's...well done M.M...certainly not expecting that result with that starting line up!

 

[in the know]

Ox saved us at the end....they were no better than us, especially second half so nothing to worry about in this Mickey Mouse League.
Some nice potential on the field so lets from now on use it to our advantage!
Ferguson looked big and capable, Hackett F showed great skill at times, ANG great on the ball
Halford as a striker no better than the tree.
Great Ref and wholehearted performance even if not great to watch....still rather that than the Premiership prima donna's...well done M.M...certainly not expecting that result with that starting line up!

Good point about the ref. No one else has really mentioned him which sort of validates he was competent. Now you mention it, he was a good one.

 

[Barry.C]

I don't know if Newport are usually that poor. Obviously players missing but maybe they were just making the most of a rather dismal home ground and pitch. Not an inspiring place to go and play.
Hobson was reborn again tonight I thought in his more comfortable position. Put himself in the way lots to block them and the ball.
Stamina sapping conditions and other than halford (did what was asked to do) I think our fitness levels looked good
I don't think that pitch is of good enough standard for league football. Even the rugby lines left on so prominently just seemed poor.
Not sure how much ox knew about the save but positioning and being big played a huge part and great to see him taking balls on the edge of his area.
Really encouraging to think there are some additions getting nearer match fit to strengthen us, and who knows, we might get another 60 mins out of Macca sometime in a few weeks.
Mellis, ranger, hart, halford, cordner is a very good bench and they can force themselves into starting over the coming weeks

Agree -- getting stronger

Do we know why after 2 good cameos from Walsh he was not on the bench again?

 

[OllieSteph44]

Demi - Think his days here are all but over, mislaid passes, poor decisions, just looks very very flat

Funny how we all see a game....Demi played more passes than any Southend player!! 43 passes at 67.4% complete also made him the highest no of completed passes for Southend too.

 

[duncan bulgaria]

Ox - 10 for that save
Back 4 all done well
ANG really is a lovely footballer but seems to be missing the thought process to make the right decision after he has skipped beautifully past a few players .
Akinola made the difference , an outlet , a willing runner and pulled their back line across the pitch .
Halford for me is a passenger I’m afraid , offers very little , I’m sure Holmes can add that bit of creative spark and will surely be able to cover the ground better than Halford

Terrible spectacle but superb result

 

[duncan bulgaria]

Funny how we all see a game....Demi played more passes than any Southend player!! 43 passes at 67.4% complete also made him the highest no of completed passes for Southend too.

I agree he did well tonight but the vast majority were 2 or 3 yard passes , which he done very well , where he struggles is when he tries to drive forward or play a cross field pass .

I appreciate what he does in the centre of the park but do feel he’s still best suited as a full back

 

[Maroon Blue]

I know its all about opinions but Newport had 1 shot on target, admittedly a vital save at the end by Oxley but how that makes him motm, hmmmm?

Just to clarify was not just the save at the end, although that was the biggest moment for Ox. His handling, picking out crosses, reading of the game, dealing with long through balls (including a header), distribution (cannot remember a kick hitting touch as a few do normally). Did not put a foot wrong on a tricky pitch. Shaded MOTM for me from Clifford & ANG for a complete performance.

 

[davewebbsbrain]

Funny how we all see a game....Demi played more passes than any Southend player!! 43 passes at 67.4% complete also made him the highest no of completed passes for Southend too.

You can't let the facts get in the way of the agenda ?

 

[Evening Echo]

TOM Clifford bagged the winning goal on his 22nd birthday to fire Southend United to a 1-0 win at promotion chasing Newport County tonight.

Read more on this story


Help with Echo links

 

[davewebbsbrain]

Good point about the ref. No one else has really mentioned him which sort of validates he was competent. Now you mention it, he was a good one.

I mentioned the ref on the match thread. Best ref I have seen in a fair while. Can't remember him getting a decision wrong and he let the game flow

 

[Jai]

Raging to find out they are 5th!!!!! I can only assume the entire team is isolating and that was their U23's?! They were utter ****

Great win! Proper ugly. Off the bottom and something well and truly to fight for now UTB

We made them look ****. Clearly we had set up to pressure Sheehan and it worked. Pleased we reverted to 5 in midfield, I think probably the increased options in midfield made that possible. Halford starting up top was a worry but obviously MM felt nobody else was fit enough to do the lions share of the game up there, and his remit was to defend from the front, we kept it tight and were able to open up once the game did late on and Akinola gave us more mobility up there.

We didn't really believe in ourselves until the second half (you could clearly hear MM constantly yelling at them to get up and not drop too deep), but I credit Dieng with changing the game. Around 60 minutes he did one or two fantastic bits of play and it lifted everyone, sometimes you need to see your team mates do that when you're in a rut. Coupled with the well-timed substitution of Akinola and it paid dividends. We were the better side for the rest of the game.

An excellent team performance, I believe we are only the second team to win there all season. Conditions made it a terrible spectacle but we still needed to work hard and do the job, which we did. Fantastic.

 

[geoffmundo]

Well there’s 3 of them suspended for red cards in their previous 3 games and their leading goal scorer went back to Swindon at the start of January. We couldn’t have had a better time to play them.

Exactly this. Prior to KO a lot were hoping for the game to be called off, but I thought this was a good a time as any to play them given that they had played much of Saturday with 10 men and we had a just had a 10 day break.

 

[fbm]

Awful pitch, thought we were playing with one of those super bouncy balls for a while. The first half was as poor a half as I have witnessed. Dreadful, but we were level.

The first 15 of the second half I thought we would be blown away as Newport were so dominant, but the defence held firm. Then on came Akinola and without him doing a great deal, all of a sudden we were the better side. The free kick was our third chance in that spell and just for once we scored when we were on top.

Then we held firm in a very nervy last 15 mins and Oxley made two excellent saves. All game they got around the back of us but failed to do much with it. But that's their issue... it's nice for once to talk about a win instead of an embarrassing defeat.

A word about the Ox... who was this keeper who came out and collected crosses, looked for quick distribution and effectively made the saves that won us the points? Superb performance.

 

[Austin the Shrimper]

Absolutely buzzing after that. Was a dire game but we grew into it in the second half and deserved the win. Hope we can get confidence from this and couple of the new lads will add some more bite up top.
Clifford left back from now on. Hart LM when he plays. 4 at the back. Lovely Jubly