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Blue tinted optimist⭐
Tilly said it wouldn't be pretty.
Bentley said it would be ugly.
Neither were lying.
Chester have to be the most cynical side I have ever seen at the Hall. I would hate to have to watch that rubbish every week and they started time-wasting in the first few minutes. Every time they got the ball the sole aim was to put as much distance between it and their goal as possible. Dreadful, dreadful stuff.
I have to say that I didn't think they were particularly dirty, but they were a strong, physical side that stifled our midfield at every opportunity and tried to beat us at hoofball.
As the second half wore on they took the mickey time and time again out of the officials, the crowning moment culminating in the substitution of Ben Davies, who took nearly a full minute to walk off the pitch, getting slower and slower all the time, pausing to applaud the 50 visiting fans on two or three occasions as he went, and incensing the crowd. What did the ref do?
Nothing.
Which, thankfully, was precisely what Chester ended up getting out of the game. And it was exactly what they deserved.
I personally had a bad feeling about this match and the weather didn't help. Blues started the match kicking into a strong wind towards the North Bank and Chester set their stall out very early. It was immediately obvious that there was only one football team out there, as Southend started the brighter and created what chances there were. However, after 8 minutes, the game had been stopped twice - one comedy moment where the ref engaged in conversation with a Chester player for 30 seconds or so before the visiting player had to leave the field to change his shorts, and then a few minutes later when a defender received a minute or two's worth of attention on the pitch for what looked like a foot injury while we were waiting to take a corner. Shortly afterwards Fredy broke clear into the right hand side of the box and hammered an effort narrowly over.
After 15 minutes Mark Gower, who had looked very good, turned ex-Shrimper Andy Harris inside out, cut in from the right and struck a Gower special curler against the post and it rebounded to safety.
At this point it was a question of "when" rather than "if" we would score, but as the half went on Blues ran out of ideas and Chester dragged Southend down to their level. Blues played too many long balls up to Gray and Eastwood who battled manfully away but got little change out of a strong defence. The game degenerated into a string of petty fouls and challenges, a lot of huff and puff with very little quality on display.
Then, after 38 minutes, Southend played the best football of the half and created two gilt eged chances. The first saw Pettefer break out of defence and charge downfield, running a full 60 yards before laying the ball left to Gower who only had the keeper to beat, but his shot was tame and straight at him. A minute later some lovely passing on the right saw Bentley beat the offside trap and square the ball to an unmarked Gray who sidefooted again straight at the grateful Chester keeper form 6 yards out with the goal at his mercy.
At that point most fans probably considered that this wasn't going to be Southend's day. We would have been worth a half time lead and Chester really had very little to offer as an attacking force. Half time came as a welcome respite and bring on the Blue Belles in their Santa minis - must have been bloody cold out there! Still, it warmed me up...
Onto the second half and Southend came out all guns firing, and won a corner in the opening minute. However, Mahers delivery was poor - one of four or five flag kicks that were easily claimed by the keeper, much to the frustration of the crowd.
After the first 5 frantic minutes of the second half when Chester were hanging on a bit it was almost as if Southend had decided they had given it their best shot and failed.
The team basically ran out of ideas and started shooting from 30-35 yards out. Pettefer was constantly in space but for some reason or another the ball never got to him, and Gower and Eastwood tried to be far too casual and flashy with their distribution. This was a night for blood, thunder, sheer endeavour and determination. However, Chester started to come into it and broke through after an hour, with Davies forcing a superb save out of Griemink. Bartman keeps us in the game again!
At last Tilly decided to mix it up and replaced the deteriorating Gower with Bramble, who offered a stronger option and something different for the Chester rearguard to think about. But we still didn't look like scoring and another substitution was made 5 minutes later with a disappointing Eastwood making way for an eager-to-please Dudfield. Chester had by now comfortably settled for a point and were practically non-existent as an attacking force, and then they recruited two more members to their team, namely the ref and one of the assistants who made some extremely dubious decisions. One of these consisted of booking Bentley for questioning a linos decision (taking the ball 10 yards further forward in the process) yet doing absolutely nothing to stop the most balatant timewasting I have ever witnessed on a football pitch.
Still, the real drama was still to come as Blues suddenly learned a lesson in the 88th minute that should have been learned much earlier in the game. They actually kept the ball on the deck and passed it around the Chester players instead of trying to go through them. As a result Southend worked their way down the pitch and started to look threatening. Cue some assistance from Southend's Man of the match, visiting full back and ex-Blue Andy Harris. He must have a real soft spot for the club because he did his level best to make sure we won it with a string of misplaced passes, wayward crosses, missed tackles and bad control. After our decent move, the ball was played into the Chester half and towards the right touchline. Andy Harris put in a 40 yard clearance, but instead of going down the line it went up into the air. For some inexplicable reason the keeper retreated to his line instead of coming to try and claim the ball. Duds kept his eye on it, blew the snow off it as it landed, killed the ball with a sublime first touch that brought it immediately under his control and slotted it into the bottom corner of the net to the keepers left.
Wild celebrations erupted around the Hall, and with this came the realisation was that Chester were going to get their just desserts. I personally thought they would come at us frantically in the last few minutes but they didn't; it seemed they were unable to up their tempo at all. They are just a very poor side.
Let us look at the last 2 games. By and large we have not played well, but then we have to expect that in this division. When you are high in the table, the opposition will try and stifle you and stop you playing. In the past we would have lost or drawn tonight and also last Saturday at Bury. But what has happened? Bart saves an injury time penalty to get us the points and we nick a very late winner tonight. That's 6 points instead of what could have been only 2 and this is what separates the wheat from the chaff. It is when you come through games like this with a win that the players will really start to believe they can do it; and once our lot have the self belief, then anything is possible.
Ratings
Griemink - 8 - Great save when we needed it, confident handling and I think the dodgy kicks were more down to the conditions as their keeper struggled as well.
Hunt - 7 - Did fairly well tonight but in fairness Chester posed no wide threat so he didn't have much to do defensively
Barrett - 7 - Tough game, got caught a couple of times but made some good tackles too
Prior - 7 - Won the aerial battles against the giant Cortez Belle
Wilson - 7 - Same as Hunt to be fair.
Pettefer - 8 - Made lots of great interceptions and found an awful lot of space but for some reason either his team mates didn't want to pass to him or the ball was intercepted
Maher - 6 - Not the greatest game - dead ball delivery very poor.
Bentley - 7 - kept going and going but struggled in a stifled midfield to make any real impression, with the exception of 2 or 3 occasions
Gower - 7 - Very bright opening 40 minutes and then went off the pace. Resorted to long range efforts rather than trying to create something. Still doesn't look fit to me.
Gray - 7 - Missed a couple of good chances that would have gone in on another day. Usual 100% effort
Eastwood - 5 - Sorry Fredy, very poor. When he is not scoring he doesn't offer much. Needs to warm the bench and give Duds his chance
Subs
Bramble - 7 - Did well when he came on and vastly improved over the Orient display
Dudfield - 8 - Great winner with supreme skill just prior to tucking it away.
Southend MOM - Chester full back Andy Harris - 9. He gave us everything, created the goal, and basically was a complete pile of poo. It is rare I have seen an ex-player (he is only 27 and should be in his prime) come down here and perform so badly. Cheers Andy - you have reminded me why I haven't missed you.
Bentley said it would be ugly.
Neither were lying.
Chester have to be the most cynical side I have ever seen at the Hall. I would hate to have to watch that rubbish every week and they started time-wasting in the first few minutes. Every time they got the ball the sole aim was to put as much distance between it and their goal as possible. Dreadful, dreadful stuff.
I have to say that I didn't think they were particularly dirty, but they were a strong, physical side that stifled our midfield at every opportunity and tried to beat us at hoofball.
As the second half wore on they took the mickey time and time again out of the officials, the crowning moment culminating in the substitution of Ben Davies, who took nearly a full minute to walk off the pitch, getting slower and slower all the time, pausing to applaud the 50 visiting fans on two or three occasions as he went, and incensing the crowd. What did the ref do?
Nothing.
Which, thankfully, was precisely what Chester ended up getting out of the game. And it was exactly what they deserved.
I personally had a bad feeling about this match and the weather didn't help. Blues started the match kicking into a strong wind towards the North Bank and Chester set their stall out very early. It was immediately obvious that there was only one football team out there, as Southend started the brighter and created what chances there were. However, after 8 minutes, the game had been stopped twice - one comedy moment where the ref engaged in conversation with a Chester player for 30 seconds or so before the visiting player had to leave the field to change his shorts, and then a few minutes later when a defender received a minute or two's worth of attention on the pitch for what looked like a foot injury while we were waiting to take a corner. Shortly afterwards Fredy broke clear into the right hand side of the box and hammered an effort narrowly over.
After 15 minutes Mark Gower, who had looked very good, turned ex-Shrimper Andy Harris inside out, cut in from the right and struck a Gower special curler against the post and it rebounded to safety.
At this point it was a question of "when" rather than "if" we would score, but as the half went on Blues ran out of ideas and Chester dragged Southend down to their level. Blues played too many long balls up to Gray and Eastwood who battled manfully away but got little change out of a strong defence. The game degenerated into a string of petty fouls and challenges, a lot of huff and puff with very little quality on display.
Then, after 38 minutes, Southend played the best football of the half and created two gilt eged chances. The first saw Pettefer break out of defence and charge downfield, running a full 60 yards before laying the ball left to Gower who only had the keeper to beat, but his shot was tame and straight at him. A minute later some lovely passing on the right saw Bentley beat the offside trap and square the ball to an unmarked Gray who sidefooted again straight at the grateful Chester keeper form 6 yards out with the goal at his mercy.
At that point most fans probably considered that this wasn't going to be Southend's day. We would have been worth a half time lead and Chester really had very little to offer as an attacking force. Half time came as a welcome respite and bring on the Blue Belles in their Santa minis - must have been bloody cold out there! Still, it warmed me up...
Onto the second half and Southend came out all guns firing, and won a corner in the opening minute. However, Mahers delivery was poor - one of four or five flag kicks that were easily claimed by the keeper, much to the frustration of the crowd.
After the first 5 frantic minutes of the second half when Chester were hanging on a bit it was almost as if Southend had decided they had given it their best shot and failed.
The team basically ran out of ideas and started shooting from 30-35 yards out. Pettefer was constantly in space but for some reason or another the ball never got to him, and Gower and Eastwood tried to be far too casual and flashy with their distribution. This was a night for blood, thunder, sheer endeavour and determination. However, Chester started to come into it and broke through after an hour, with Davies forcing a superb save out of Griemink. Bartman keeps us in the game again!
At last Tilly decided to mix it up and replaced the deteriorating Gower with Bramble, who offered a stronger option and something different for the Chester rearguard to think about. But we still didn't look like scoring and another substitution was made 5 minutes later with a disappointing Eastwood making way for an eager-to-please Dudfield. Chester had by now comfortably settled for a point and were practically non-existent as an attacking force, and then they recruited two more members to their team, namely the ref and one of the assistants who made some extremely dubious decisions. One of these consisted of booking Bentley for questioning a linos decision (taking the ball 10 yards further forward in the process) yet doing absolutely nothing to stop the most balatant timewasting I have ever witnessed on a football pitch.
Still, the real drama was still to come as Blues suddenly learned a lesson in the 88th minute that should have been learned much earlier in the game. They actually kept the ball on the deck and passed it around the Chester players instead of trying to go through them. As a result Southend worked their way down the pitch and started to look threatening. Cue some assistance from Southend's Man of the match, visiting full back and ex-Blue Andy Harris. He must have a real soft spot for the club because he did his level best to make sure we won it with a string of misplaced passes, wayward crosses, missed tackles and bad control. After our decent move, the ball was played into the Chester half and towards the right touchline. Andy Harris put in a 40 yard clearance, but instead of going down the line it went up into the air. For some inexplicable reason the keeper retreated to his line instead of coming to try and claim the ball. Duds kept his eye on it, blew the snow off it as it landed, killed the ball with a sublime first touch that brought it immediately under his control and slotted it into the bottom corner of the net to the keepers left.
Wild celebrations erupted around the Hall, and with this came the realisation was that Chester were going to get their just desserts. I personally thought they would come at us frantically in the last few minutes but they didn't; it seemed they were unable to up their tempo at all. They are just a very poor side.
Let us look at the last 2 games. By and large we have not played well, but then we have to expect that in this division. When you are high in the table, the opposition will try and stifle you and stop you playing. In the past we would have lost or drawn tonight and also last Saturday at Bury. But what has happened? Bart saves an injury time penalty to get us the points and we nick a very late winner tonight. That's 6 points instead of what could have been only 2 and this is what separates the wheat from the chaff. It is when you come through games like this with a win that the players will really start to believe they can do it; and once our lot have the self belief, then anything is possible.
Ratings
Griemink - 8 - Great save when we needed it, confident handling and I think the dodgy kicks were more down to the conditions as their keeper struggled as well.
Hunt - 7 - Did fairly well tonight but in fairness Chester posed no wide threat so he didn't have much to do defensively
Barrett - 7 - Tough game, got caught a couple of times but made some good tackles too
Prior - 7 - Won the aerial battles against the giant Cortez Belle
Wilson - 7 - Same as Hunt to be fair.
Pettefer - 8 - Made lots of great interceptions and found an awful lot of space but for some reason either his team mates didn't want to pass to him or the ball was intercepted
Maher - 6 - Not the greatest game - dead ball delivery very poor.
Bentley - 7 - kept going and going but struggled in a stifled midfield to make any real impression, with the exception of 2 or 3 occasions
Gower - 7 - Very bright opening 40 minutes and then went off the pace. Resorted to long range efforts rather than trying to create something. Still doesn't look fit to me.
Gray - 7 - Missed a couple of good chances that would have gone in on another day. Usual 100% effort
Eastwood - 5 - Sorry Fredy, very poor. When he is not scoring he doesn't offer much. Needs to warm the bench and give Duds his chance
Subs
Bramble - 7 - Did well when he came on and vastly improved over the Orient display
Dudfield - 8 - Great winner with supreme skill just prior to tucking it away.
Southend MOM - Chester full back Andy Harris - 9. He gave us everything, created the goal, and basically was a complete pile of poo. It is rare I have seen an ex-player (he is only 27 and should be in his prime) come down here and perform so badly. Cheers Andy - you have reminded me why I haven't missed you.
