The fbm report - Dagenham - JPT

[fbm]

SOUTHEND PAY PENALTY AS DAGGERS PROGRESS

Exactly a week after Southend claimed the Championship scalp of Watford in the Carling Cup, they were slain by league 2 newcomers Dagenham and Redbridge in the Johnstones Paint Trophy at Roots Hall.
In truth Southend had more than enough chances to win and were beaten 7-6 on penalties, Lewis Hunt and Alan McCormack being the culprits.
The game started with Dagenham looking more lively and it took Southend time to settle. But for all their pressure, no goalbound efforts for the visitors were recorded as the new look defence of Collis, Hunt, Clarke and Barrett looked strong and firm.
Going forward Southend looked a class above and on 20 minutes a sublime 6 man move saw Bailey set Foran free in the box and the ex-Motherwell man took his time before finding the bottom corner.
Soon after Southend had a goal disallowed and they began to boss the game. A long range shot from Barrett was followed up by new loanee Odhiambo and then by Harrold, veteran keeper Tony Roberts foling them on every occasion. Odhiambo had another good chance that was deflected for a corner and then a header that went over the bar. Half time arrived with Blues 1-0 to the good but the dangers of not taking your chances were illustrated after 48 minutes with one of the best goals I have seen at the Hll. There seemed no danger with the ball on the far right hand side of the box and only 7 yards in from the bye line when Sam Saunders performed an acrobatic overhead kick that nestled in the far corner leaving Collis with no chance whatsoever.
This was a cue for Blues to up the tempo but they didn’t really break through until a swift counter after an hour saw Black set McCormack free in the box and his finish was clinical.
It was all Blues now as Black put in some wicked delivery that Harrold and Odhiambo just failed to get on the end of. A third goal seemed inevitable as the Dagenham goal was peppered. The visitors were down to 10 men when they had made all three substitutions and then lost a player to injury. On 72 minutes Harrold and Odhiambo were replaced by MacDonald and Hooper and almost immediately it paid dividends. Hooper shot and although this was saved the follow up caused chaos. The ball never really cleared and MacDonald rounded the keeper only to see his effort cleared off the line by a defender who looked like he had used his hand.
Bailey and Black were linking up superbly and the visitors were struggling to cope. However, there was a further sting in the tail when, with 5 minutes to go, Chris Moore equalised again for the vistors. There was no meaningful chance to win it after that but the shot count of 21 for Southend (15 on target) against 5 for Dagenham (2 on target) is pehaps indicative of the fact that they should have been more clinical.
At the end of normal time the penalty shoot out was a lottery. McCormack needed to score the 5th penalty to put Blues through but hit the North Bank scoreboard. Hunt missed in sudden death but we should have never needed to have got to that stage. We simply cannot play handicap football. Scoring goals is not a problem it seems – but conceding them is.

Oh well – we can always concentrate on the league.

Ratings –

Collis – 6.5 – No chance with either goal. Handling not as ssured as it should be.
Hunt – 6.5 – Average performance. Didn’t do anything spectacular.
Clarke – 7 – Some interesting distribution but defended with his life as usual.
Richards – 7.5 – I like him. Adds much needed height to the back line.
Barrett – 7 – Filled in at left back and looked good at times, especially going forward. Not a left back though but we got away with it for the most part.
Black – 8 - MOM – Used the ball well and his off the ball work is phenomenal.
Bailey – 7.5 – I like him twinned with McCormack in the middle. Starting to use the ball well.
McCormack – 7 – Wasn’t as noticeableas usual although took his goal well.
Foran – 7.5 – Tired near the end but good first half and took his goal well.
Harrold – 7.5 – Looked more of a threat today and fired off a few shots that were blocked. Again plenty of effort.
Odhiambo – 7 – Promising debut, unlucky not to score although sometimes he needs to be more aware of where his teammates are.

Subs –
Hooper – 7 – Looked more lively than he has done
MacDonald – 7 – Unlucky not to score and was a menace

The ref – Mr Ward – 7 – Very good – hardly noticed him. No option on the bookings really.

 

[A Century United]

Another excellent report, fbm - thanks.

 

[Up the Shrimpers]

SOUTHEND PAY PENALTY AS DAGGERS PROGRESS



The ref – Mr Ward – 7 – Very good – hardly noticed him. No option on the bookings really.

Yep, how the hell did Bailey think that he did not deserve a booking for kicking the ball out from near the half-way line over the top of the South Stand. One of the D&R players also booked for kicking the ball away towards the end. Very needless bookings.

By the way how many balls went out the ground today must have been 5 or 6?

 

[Benfleet Blue]

Funny how some people see games differently.

Although Foran scored, I personally thought he did very little else and really adds nothing to the squad.

Black really is a good player, I like hime immensely, but thought he had a relatively quiet game today.

I also think that Lewis Hunt had a great game. I must confess that I like Lewis Hunt, but quite honestly he is far more composed than anyone gives him credit for and reads the game far better.

Odhiambo looked what he is. A 18 year old with very little experience. Certainly on last nights showing, not the answer.

If only we had 11 Adam Barrett's. His passion and desire puts many to shame.

Last night also showed how much we miss Kevin Maher whatever anyone thinks. We had no composure in the centre of the park.

Personally think that Richards and Black should definitely start on Saturday but guaranteed they won't.

When it came to Penalties I was more impressed with the way D & R handled things. They huddled with the manager geeing them up and looked far more of a unit than our lot with players all over the place, some sitting, some standing and Tilly and Brush not appearing to fire them up at all.

 

[leeblue]

Spot on at the end, if we keep conceding we wont win.

 

[SUFCEssex]

I thought the best site of the night was between ten to fifteen kids watching the game at the South East corner when the game was free to get in.

 

[Cliff Pavilion]

Thanks, wasn't able to go last night, so appreciate the report. Particularly pleased to hear encouraging reports of Richards. Doesn't sound like Collis did enough to oust Daryll on Saturday although this must be strong in Tilly's mind.

Also seems strange that Francis didn't play?

 

[Boreham Shrimper]

Also seems strange that Francis didn't play?

Yes I thought that. I don't think there's anything sinister about it but I think he deserves to be in the side as, similar to Barrett, he adds a lot of tenacity and likes to go forward.

 

[Davros]

i was quite impressed with Odhiambo.

When he actually got control of the ball, he seemed a good player, what he needs to do is cut the flicks out of his game. Very very pacey, and caused a guy twice his size some problems. much potential IMO

 

[cockles is back]

for me foran was fantastic, looked the forward that we have all been looking for Made Harrold look the shiit he is, and basically what a real striker can do, even though he was played on the wing, I would personnaly start with the 4 strikers that finished the game, Foran Black McDonald and Hooper, all looked extremely lively

 

[Flinty]

Funny how everyone see's the game differently and i think it depends where you sit in the ground. Sitting in the East at almost pitch level gave a different view fromn that i usually get 3/4 og the way up in the West. However from my viewpoint:

Collis - rooted to the line for most things and thought he played better against Cheltenham

Hunt - I quiet like him as a player and think he is under rated by many people on here, solid last night

Richards - Again nothing special but was solid

Clarke - I though was poor, got turned easy in the final few minutes spend a lot of time moaning at the ref / lino

Barrett - Pick of the back 4 did well and enjoyed his little comeo's forward

Black - looked creative and direct as the 2nd goal showed

Bailey - wasn't sure when i 1st saw him but is growing in stature

Macca - was a little disappointed with him, not a great game by his standards

Foran - worked hard and took his goal well, still not sure about him being a wide midfielder though

Adyettgttytby - i liked the look of this lad considering he has only been with us a short time thought he looked quiet dangerous.

Harrold - i though was shocking for the 1st 20 minutes, got better but didn't win headers, they came off his shoulder, neck , their defender....however looked a lot better 2nd half.....but he was at the other end of the ground to me....:p

Hooper - contrary to other posts thought he looked poor and guilty of a couple of poor misses, perhaps sitting at the wrong end of the ground and at low level didn't help.

Macdonald - again missed a couple of good chances to finish the game


Just one more thing which was quiet alarming, i particularly watched thier corners in the 1st half and on 2 occassions thay managed to have a man attacking the ball completely unmarked. Their nr20 spun off his marker and ran unapposed into the box, thought we would have sorted this out by now.....it has only been 1 season of conceeding goals in this manner!!!