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fbm

Blue tinted optimist⭐
Joined
Oct 28, 2003
Messages
10,024
Location
Cloud cuckoo land
ST.VALENTINES DAY MASSACRE AS BEES BASH BLUES


Southends unbeaten run came to an abrupt end at Griffin Park as Brentford exacted revenge for the 4-1 drubbing dished out to them at the Hall a few weeks back.

That scintillating performance seemed a million miles away as Southend were second best in all departments and can have no complaints at the result.

Yet it could have been so different.  Mark Gower had the first chance of the evening on 4 minutes, cutting in from the right and hitting a piledriver that Nelson could only parry but there was no forward following up.

After that it was all Brentford as Southend were forced to endure immense pressure playing into a stiff wind.  Brentford were quicker to the ball and the visiting midfield were all subdued, leaving the back four to take the strain.  A Jupp error allowed the ball to be played into the box and Rankine should have scored but his miscued shot bounced up and hit Gayle on the arm.

Just when it seemed Southend had weathered the storm, disaster struck.  Sodje, Jupp and Barrett were passing it across the back, looking for options.  No-one was making themselves available, and Barrett was caught in possession on the halfway line by Pratley who laid the ball into the box for Rankine.  Again he miscued, but his shot (which was going wide) hit first Barrett and then Jupp to end up in the net, Duncan being credited with the own goal.

Southend failed to inject more urgency in their game and were now really under the cosh.  Flahavan made one exceptional save onto the crossbar, and some sterling blocking and tackling stopped Brentford increasing their lead.  Sam Sodje headed goalwards from a long throw and Flahavan acrobatically tipped over.  There then followed a spell of 3 consecutive corners before the final one saw Gayle head home at the near post from a very good delivery indeed.  2-0.

Blues held out until half time but did have a goal disallowed, when Guttridge and Eastwood combined but Freddy was offside.

The second half saw Southend now with the wind at their backs and almost immediately they forced their first corner.  However, the delivery was poor and, as on so many other occasions, it failed to beat the first man.  Brentford contained Southend fairly easily as the visitors were not allowed any time on the ball at all.  It was only with about 15 minutes to go that Southend showed any real urgency, when Guttridge finished a fine move by shooting into the side netting but was ruled offside.

Goater won his first ball all evening and flicked on for Freddy Eastwood with 10 left, but Eastwoods shot from 12 yards hit the post.

Mitchell Cole, who had come on for the totally ineffective Bentley, flattered to deceive and again his delivery failed to beat the first man on several occasions.

The match started to get niggly and the ref booked Guttridge, Prior and Eastwood. In truth, how Maher stayed out of the book is a mystery as he angrily clattered one of their midfield having made no attempt to play the ball.

Despite all the huff and puff, a Blues goal never looked likely and it was Brentford who came closest to a third when a cleverly worked free kick thudded against the bar from 25 yards.

In short, Brentford made us look as poor as we made them look a few weeks back.  We deserved nothing from the game and ended up with just that.

Finally, the crowd.  The Brentford support was phenomenal from all 3 sides - vocal, loud and passionate.  In contrast, and most unusually, the Southend contingent was not so much quiet as silent.  The very few attempts to get something going were half-hearted and petered out quickly.  All in all, not a good night whatever way you look at it, except for the fact that some of the other results went our way so it could have been so much worse.


Ratings -

Flahavan - 8 - MOM - Couldn't be faulted for either goal and made 3 or 4 excellent saves

Jupp - 6 - Was unlucky with the own goal but made a few other errors as well
Barrett - 5 - His mistake cost the first goal.  Looked uncomfortable at left back
Prior - 6 - Generally solid but a comedy moment late on when he fell over the ball and then was lucky to stay onthe pitch when he brought the attacker down
Sodje - 6.5 - Possibly the pick of a poor defence

Gower - 7 - Pick of the midfield
Maher - 6.5 - Lucky to remain on pitch and allowed frustrations to get the better of him
Guttridge - 6.5 - Tried hard but couldn't get anything going
Bentley - 4 - Totally anonymous - worst performance since he joined

Goater - 5 - Very poor and a shadow of his first half v Rotherham
Eastwood - 7.5 - Battled hard and worked his socks off, woodwork denied him a goal. One of very few to come out with any credit.

Subs -

Cole - 6 - Got into some good positions but cannot cross
Bradbury - 6 - Tough game to come into and had little impact


The ref - 5 - Gave us very little and in first 80 mins evry marginal decision went against us


The Southend crowd - 4 - So quiet we made the 1700-odd sound like 17.  I've not come across such a subdued atmosphere before.

The Brentford crowd - 10 - all 3 sides made masses of noise and acted as a 12th man for them.  Phenomenal support.


The floodlights - 2 - bloody appalling.  The pitch was covered in dark patches and I'd love to know what it felt like to play in such an uneven light
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (fbm @ Feb. 15 2006,02:41)]Cole - 6 - Got into some good positions but cannot cross
That's slightly unfair! He can cross, but only if the ball ain't moving!
 
If Bentley was that bad, How come it took 70 minutes for Tilly to replace him? Once again, The only bad side to Tilson bites us...
 
Whilst I agree that the crowd were pretty aweful last night and were not really getting involved at all, it is hard to blame them when there is an open terrasse and any song that was breaking out was completely drowned out by the lack of a roof and the fact that we were so far away from the opposition fans. I actually thought the crowd were pretty good and were making far more noise than the Brentford fans until just after the second goal went in when it became clear that the team simply was not firing today.

The icing on the cake was when we got to half time and Tilson did not make the changes that he needed to, Barrett being a shining example of someone who looked out of place and was lucky to get away without a yellow card.
 
The crowd were silent for most of the game, although all the chants we were trying to start fizzled out into the open air most of the time.... I think the inept performance also didn't help - we didn't exactly have much to cheer about.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (chrisblore @ Feb. 15 2006,09:22)]I actually thought the crowd were pretty good and were making far more noise than the Brentford fans
You are joking, surely?

Gillingham has an open terrace and the crowd was pretty good then.

Admittedly the team failed to spark the crowd into life, but can the crowd not sometimes spark the team?
 
We were simply second to everything last night. Brentford wanted it more than us and it really showed, we weren't seemingly prepared for what the wanted to throw at us.

They were not a good footballing side - in fact their style is very similar to Col u's - where they just like to land the ball in the box.

I sense they watered their pitch heavily to stop us playing - after all before last night (after the game) it hasn't actually rained for ages!

Still, they fully deserved it, but hopefully it'll give us a kick up the rear. We haven't been playing that well recently IMO, despite getting the right results, so hopefully we'll pick up our game.

Firstly though, we need to make some changes. Adam Barrett isn't a left back, just as Mark Bentley isn't a winger, and either lee Bradbury or James Lawson, I feel, should take Shaun Goater's place on Saturday.

I'd like to see Barrett move back intoi the centre of defence ahead of Prior, especially after his last minute performance where he trod on the ball, and then stuck his leg in the air to stop Lloyd Owusu going through!

All-in-all, must do better
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (fbm @ Feb. 15 2006,02:41)]ST.VALENTINES DAY MASSACRE AS BEES BASH BLUES


Southends unbeaten run came to an abrupt end at Griffin Park as Brentford exacted revenge for the 4-1 drubbing dished out to them at the Hall a few weeks back.

That scintillating performance seemed a million miles away as Southend were second best in all departments and can have no complaints at the result.

Yet it could have been so different.  Mark Gower had the first chance of the evening on 4 minutes, cutting in from the right and hitting a piledriver that Nelson could only parry but there was no forward following up.

After that it was all Brentford as Southend were forced to endure immense pressure playing into a stiff wind.  Brentford were quicker to the ball and the visiting midfield were all subdued, leaving the back four to take the strain.  A Jupp error allowed the ball to be played into the box and Rankine should have scored but his miscued shot bounced up and hit Gayle on the arm.

Just when it seemed Southend had weathered the storm, disaster struck.  Sodje, Jupp and Barrett were passing it across the back, looking for options.  No-one was making themselves available, and Barrett was caught in possession on the halfway line by Pratley who laid the ball into the box for Rankine.  Again he miscued, but his shot (which was going wide) hit first Barrett and then Jupp to end up in the net, Duncan being credited with the own goal.

Southend failed to inject more urgency in their game and were now really under the cosh.  Flahavan made one exceptional save onto the crossbar, and some sterling blocking and tackling stopped Brentford increasing their lead.  Sam Sodje headed goalwards from a long throw and Flahavan acrobatically tipped over.  There then followed a spell of 3 consecutive corners before the final one saw Gayle head home at the near post from a very good delivery indeed.  2-0.

Blues held out until half time but did have a goal disallowed, when Guttridge and Eastwood combined but Freddy was offside.

The second half saw Southend now with the wind at their backs and almost immediately they forced their first corner.  However, the delivery was poor and, as on so many other occasions, it failed to beat the first man.  Brentford contained Southend fairly easily as the visitors were not allowed any time on the ball at all.  It was only with about 15 minutes to go that Southend showed any real urgency, when Guttridge finished a fine move by shooting into the side netting but was ruled offside.

Goater won his first ball all evening and flicked on for Freddy Eastwood with 10 left, but Eastwoods shot from 12 yards hit the post.

Mitchell Cole, who had come on for the totally ineffective Bentley, flattered to deceive and again his delivery failed to beat the first man on several occasions.

The match started to get niggly and the ref booked Guttridge, Prior and Eastwood. In truth, how Maher stayed out of the book is a mystery as he angrily clattered one of their midfield having made no attempt to play the ball.

Despite all the huff and puff, a Blues goal never looked likely and it was Brentford who came closest to a third when a cleverly worked free kick thudded against the bar from 25 yards.

In short, Brentford made us look as poor as we made them look a few weeks back.  We deserved nothing from the game and ended up with just that.

Finally, the crowd.  The Brentford support was phenomenal from all 3 sides - vocal, loud and passionate.  In contrast, and most unusually, the Southend contingent was not so much quiet as silent.  The very few attempts to get something going were half-hearted and petered out quickly.  All in all, not a good night whatever way you look at it, except for the fact that some of the other results went our way so it could have been so much worse.


Ratings -

Flahavan - 8 - MOM - Couldn't be faulted for either goal and made 3 or 4 excellent saves

Jupp - 6 - Was unlucky with the own goal but made a few other errors as well
Barrett - 5 - His mistake cost the first goal.  Looked uncomfortable at left back
Prior - 6 - Generally solid but a comedy moment late on when he fell over the ball and then was lucky to stay onthe pitch when he brought the attacker down
Sodje - 6.5 - Possibly the pick of a poor defence

Gower - 7 - Pick of the midfield
Maher - 6.5 - Lucky to remain on pitch and allowed frustrations to get the better of him
Guttridge - 6.5 - Tried hard but couldn't get anything going
Bentley - 4 - Totally anonymous - worst performance since he joined

Goater - 5 - Very poor and a shadow of his first half v Rotherham
Eastwood - 7.5 - Battled hard and worked his socks off, woodwork denied him a goal.  One of very few to come out with any credit.

Subs -

Cole - 6 - Got into some good positions but cannot cross
Bradbury - 6 - Tough game to come into and had little impact


The ref - 5 - Gave us very little and in first 80 mins evry marginal decision went against us


The Southend crowd - 4 - So quiet we made the 1700-odd sound like 17.  I've not come across such a subdued atmosphere before.

The Brentford crowd - 10 - all 3 sides made masses of noise and acted as a 12th man for them.  Phenomenal support.


The floodlights - 2 - bloody appalling.  The pitch was covered in dark patches and I'd love to know what it felt like to play in such an uneven light
Nice report FBM - thanks.
 
Excellent report FBM, completely agree with everything you said. The crowd was disappointing but didn't exactly have much to cheer about. Brentford were probably the loudest home fans I've ever heard. A mention to the nutter in the stand to the right of the terrace, too, who kept dancing and waving flowers at us.

After we thrashed them 4-1, Martin Allen said we had hunger, passion and pace and that's exactly what his side had last night. He clearly got them up for it and they were winning all the 2nd balls and headers. Their defence was strong, especially Sodje who I was very impressed with, and in attack they had 2 very dangerous midfielders in Tabb and Pratley and up front Rankin caused us lots of problems.

I think the only players who can come out of yesterday's game with their heads held high are Gower, Flavs and Eastwood. Gower was our best player in the 1st half and the only player who looked capably of actually creating something. Unfortunately he was a lot quieter in the 2nd half but that's mainly because no one was passing to him. Flavs made a few great saves to keep the score down and Eastwood was our man of the match. In the 2nd half at times it seemed as if he was doing everything, even defending. He looked like our only goal threat because Goater was rubbish. As for the defence, they were surprisingly poor. I don't think I've seen us defend that badly all season. Prior and Jupp were especially poor. As fbm said, Sodje was the best in a poor defence.

Maldon Blues I think you're being a bit harsh on Bentley. He had a poor game last night but he's played well on the wing this season and I think he can play there. I agree about Barrett though, get him back in central defence and get Che back at left back. Spinner's not good enough. He does deserve a mention for cleverly tripping up Owusu when he fell over, though.

Oh, and the ref was awful.
tounge.gif
 
Depends where you were in the terrace I suppose, I was in the back row right behind the goal and the atmos certainly wasn't "awful" in that part of the away end. To be fair though the performance was a poor one and there were very few occasions where we had anything to shout about. It was good to see the players getting a rather generous round of applause from most at the end - more recognition of what they have so far achieved this season overall than for this particular performance, this was certainly true in my case. From the position I was in though we were vocal to the end, perhaps more so in the latter stages when the game had already gone.

As for the game Goater (after 2 decent performances) gave his worst display in a Blues shirt. Prior was an absolute liability at the back - the sooner Barrett and Sodje are re-united in the middle and Che is brought back in at LB the better as it cost us last night. The only players in my view to come out of the game with any credit are Freddy who for me was the best player on the pitch - he ran at defenders, showed a great touch, looked dangerous every time he was on the ball and was very unlucky not to score when he hit the post. Other than him Gower had a half-decent game and Efe did OK at a push, although the defence looked shaky with Prior awful and Barrett looking a bit lost at LB. Also (and wiggy ain't gonna like this) the 2nd goal was definitely down to Flavs I'm sorry to say - any corner that comes in 3 yards out in the centre of goal HAS to be the keepers responsibility, it's as simple as that.

I was conerned about this game before travelling - how many times have we seen sides exact revenge against us after we've given them a good tonking in the reverse fixture?

The bit that made the trip worthwhile? Spinner treading on the ball and stacking it was a fine comedy moment - "leading to cries of "that's why we're top o' the league, thats why we're top o' the league....." in Chelsea-style from the Shrimpers faithful
biggrin.gif
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Angell Delight @ Feb. 15 2006,14:03)]Also (and wiggy ain't gonna like this) but the 2nd goal was definitely down to Flavs I'm sorry to say - any corner that comes in 3 yards out in the centre of goal HAS to be the keepers responsibility, it's as simple as that.
Was not wanting to raise the point myself but I thought that exact thing too. And thought there were a few other occasions where he could have eased the pressure by coming for a few crosses (just the ones in the six yard box).
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (fbm @ Feb. 15 2006,02:41)]ST.VALENTINES DAY MASSACRE AS BEES BASH BLUES


Southends unbeaten run came to an abrupt end at Griffin Park as Brentford exacted revenge for the 4-1 drubbing dished out to them at the Hall a few weeks back.

That scintillating performance seemed a million miles away as Southend were second best in all departments and can have no complaints at the result.

Yet it could have been so different.  Mark Gower had the first chance of the evening on 4 minutes, cutting in from the right and hitting a piledriver that Nelson could only parry but there was no forward following up.

After that it was all Brentford as Southend were forced to endure immense pressure playing into a stiff wind.  Brentford were quicker to the ball and the visiting midfield were all subdued, leaving the back four to take the strain.  A Jupp error allowed the ball to be played into the box and Rankine should have scored but his miscued shot bounced up and hit Gayle on the arm.

Just when it seemed Southend had weathered the storm, disaster struck.  Sodje, Jupp and Barrett were passing it across the back, looking for options.  No-one was making themselves available, and Barrett was caught in possession on the halfway line by Pratley who laid the ball into the box for Rankine.  Again he miscued, but his shot (which was going wide) hit first Barrett and then Jupp to end up in the net, Duncan being credited with the own goal.

Southend failed to inject more urgency in their game and were now really under the cosh.  Flahavan made one exceptional save onto the crossbar, and some sterling blocking and tackling stopped Brentford increasing their lead.  Sam Sodje headed goalwards from a long throw and Flahavan acrobatically tipped over.  There then followed a spell of 3 consecutive corners before the final one saw Gayle head home at the near post from a very good delivery indeed.  2-0.

Blues held out until half time but did have a goal disallowed, when Guttridge and Eastwood combined but Freddy was offside.

The second half saw Southend now with the wind at their backs and almost immediately they forced their first corner.  However, the delivery was poor and, as on so many other occasions, it failed to beat the first man.  Brentford contained Southend fairly easily as the visitors were not allowed any time on the ball at all.  It was only with about 15 minutes to go that Southend showed any real urgency, when Guttridge finished a fine move by shooting into the side netting but was ruled offside.

Goater won his first ball all evening and flicked on for Freddy Eastwood with 10 left, but Eastwoods shot from 12 yards hit the post.

Mitchell Cole, who had come on for the totally ineffective Bentley, flattered to deceive and again his delivery failed to beat the first man on several occasions.

The match started to get niggly and the ref booked Guttridge, Prior and Eastwood. In truth, how Maher stayed out of the book is a mystery as he angrily clattered one of their midfield having made no attempt to play the ball.

Despite all the huff and puff, a Blues goal never looked likely and it was Brentford who came closest to a third when a cleverly worked free kick thudded against the bar from 25 yards.

In short, Brentford made us look as poor as we made them look a few weeks back.  We deserved nothing from the game and ended up with just that.

Finally, the crowd.  The Brentford support was phenomenal from all 3 sides - vocal, loud and passionate.  In contrast, and most unusually, the Southend contingent was not so much quiet as silent.  The very few attempts to get something going were half-hearted and petered out quickly.  All in all, not a good night whatever way you look at it, except for the fact that some of the other results went our way so it could have been so much worse.


Ratings -

Flahavan - 8 - MOM - Couldn't be faulted for either goal and made 3 or 4 excellent saves

Jupp - 6 - Was unlucky with the own goal but made a few other errors as well
Barrett - 5 - His mistake cost the first goal.  Looked uncomfortable at left back
Prior - 6 - Generally solid but a comedy moment late on when he fell over the ball and then was lucky to stay onthe pitch when he brought the attacker down
Sodje - 6.5 - Possibly the pick of a poor defence

Gower - 7 - Pick of the midfield
Maher - 6.5 - Lucky to remain on pitch and allowed frustrations to get the better of him
Guttridge - 6.5 - Tried hard but couldn't get anything going
Bentley - 4 - Totally anonymous - worst performance since he joined

Goater - 5 - Very poor and a shadow of his first half v Rotherham
Eastwood - 7.5 - Battled hard and worked his socks off, woodwork denied him a goal.  One of very few to come out with any credit.

Subs -

Cole - 6 - Got into some good positions but cannot cross
Bradbury - 6 - Tough game to come into and had little impact


The ref - 5 - Gave us very little and in first 80 mins evry marginal decision went against us


The Southend crowd - 4 - So quiet we made the 1700-odd sound like 17.  I've not come across such a subdued atmosphere before.

The Brentford crowd - 10 - all 3 sides made masses of noise and acted as a 12th man for them.  Phenomenal support.


The floodlights - 2 - bloody appalling.  The pitch was covered in dark patches and I'd love to know what it felt like to play in such an uneven light
Agree with all of that.

PS, i too agree Bentley was useless last night, didn't do a thing!
 
Also forgot to mention about the "lovers tiff" (well it was Valentine's
wink.gif
) that happened between Spinner and the Goat before the corner that led to their 2nd goal. Whilst we'd have all rather not seen it as it came about through incompetence in the defence it does show the players do care which should be reassuring to all of us.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Angell Delight @ Feb. 15 2006,14:03)]Also (and wiggy ain't gonna like this) the 2nd goal was definitely down to Flavs I'm sorry to say - any corner that comes in 3 yards out in the centre of goal HAS to be the keepers responsibility, it's as simple as that.
That perspective was probably down to your positioning AD. I was about level with the 18 yard box in between the right hand post and corner flag, and Gayles header was near post. The delivery was with pace and there's no way any keeper could or even should have got anywhere near it.
 
my players ratings:

flavs: 6.5
barrett: 5.5
prior: 5.5
sodje: 6
jupp: 6
gower: 6
maher: 5.5
gutts: 5.5
benno: 6
goater: 4
freddy: 6.5

bradbury: 7
cole: 6.5
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (fbm @ Feb. 15 2006,02:41)]Finally, the crowd.  The Brentford support was phenomenal from all 3 sides - vocal, loud and passionate.  

The Brentford crowd - 10 - all 3 sides made masses of noise and acted as a 12th man for them.  Phenomenal support.
Really? They were quiet as mice until the goal. Loud enough after that, but I didn't hear a peep for the first 23mins.

Excellent match report though....
 
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