Don't get let out much nowadays - Care in the Community isn't what it used to be - but will be at The IronmongeryDirect Stadium (I kid you not!) tomorrow for a peek at our U23's. Last Braintree "crowd" for PreSF v Barnet was 160, so I'm not expecting any trouble parking!
Will post a (very brief) write-up on Sunday, with a couple of pics.
Braintree U23
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AthleticoSpizz
- Hob Nob Legend
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- Joined: 15 Apr 2004 19:49
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Will look forward to it Strap
Used to spend some time in Cressing Road
Used to spend some time in Cressing Road
Just back from a rainy Cressing Road after a brief sojourn at Halsted's Prezzo, (crab cakes followed by Spag Carbonara if you're interested).
Not really sure what to make of this game if I am honest. Braintree seem to have a completely new team this year so I wasn't expecting much from them, although I read they liked to knock the ball around on the deck as we do. As for us, I hadn't seen a RFC U23 game, well ever, so had little idea what to expect from us either.
Well we started off as perhaps one would expect, lots of possession, crisp passing but not really doing anything with the ball in an attacking sense. The grass had been left deliberately long, and it seemed as though this slowed passing down a tad, and before long the stronger, bigger Braintree side started bossing things, without really threatening Legg's goal. However, as the half went on, Legg really had to show his skills, and at one point made a fantastic double save that frankly defied belief. Jaakkola has a real battle for the backup spot if this is Legg's normal game. Legg really did keep us in the game in the first half, and aside from a Teddy Howe (I think) shot expertly tipped round the post on 15 by their keeper, we had little to offer up front. Aside from Legg, no one else really stood out.
It started to rain quite heavily in the second half (and throughout thereafter), and actually made the ball skip off the turf nicely, so our passing game looked far more effective. Almost from the restart, Josh Barrett had a real Jimmy Quinnesque looping shot from way out on the right (about 30 yds out) that just went past the left hand post, but then Braintree took the lead following a long punt upfield form their keeper. View obscured by the dugouts, but in all honesty it was a lead pretty much deserved. Silly goal to concede, long ball to right wing from their keeper, beat his man, (Medford Smith?) and scored low to the keeper's left.
TBF, RFC continued their passing game as we would expect, and gradually came back in to the game and Barrett had another drive just wide of the post 12 mins after the restart. Play was becoming end to end a bit, althoughgwe didn't make too many clear cut shots on target. Ryan East caught the eye with a couple of good runs from deep, (a la Liam Kelly), and whilst he is TINY, he doesn't shirk a challenge.
Teddy Howe had been moved to RFB at h/t when Jack Nolan cam on for Jake Sheppard, and sadly I don't think he's a full back. Another ball over the top caught him napping a bit, and a push on the back of a Braintree player resulted in a soft penalty being conceded on 80. Not sure it was necessary as the ball was heading away form the goal, but as I said, my view was obscured by the dugouts so I could well be wrong. Anyway, the penalty was expertly put away to Legg's right as he dived to the left.
So a 0-2 defeat, and to be fair, we didn't create enough to make the scoreline false. One thing I would say was the intensity was excellent for a Pre-season friendly. There was bite in the tackle (the ref had stern words with players from both sides on a number of accasions), and plenty of pressure from both sides. I would say both teams benefited from a good work-out. We looked solid-ish in defence, aside from RFB, but the same frailties as the 1st XI were clearly evident - just who will score our goals? I actually thought we were better in the 2nd half, despite conceding 2 goals. Big plus for me was the performance of George Legg. Needs to be a bit more dominant in his box - and really treat it as HIS domain, but shot stopping , positional play and distribution all good. Jaakkola you have a job on your hands young man!!
We played an unfamiliar 4-4-2 in the first half, but in the second were more 4-5-1 when they had the ball and perhaps a 3-5-2 when we had it.
Team:
George Legg 8 - Excellent shoit stopping in the 2st half, can't really be faulted for either goal
Jake Sheppard 6 - Often beaten by their nr 11 (a brute of a guy who was quick and quite handy on the ball) but never say die attitiude good.
Gabriel Osho 6 - Seemed always calm and collected, tidy on the ball, seemed to be the one in commad of the back line
Axel Andreasson 6 - A lot bigger than I assumed, a mountain compoared to somne of our side. He is not as commanding as his size would suggest, but he was comfortable on the ball and made a couple of excellent long range raking passes right to left (40 yarders).
Ramarni Medford-Smith 5 - Was impressed with him at times, but when things didn't go as he'd planned, his head did tend to drop a bit. If he had the confidence to just let the mistakes go and concentrate on making sure the next situation was better, he'd be a good player. Got forward a bit more in the 2nd half and certainly has potential - just believe in yourself a bit more chap!
Teddy Howe 5 - OK in the first half as right midfield, but as a RFB? No thanks! conceded the pen when perhaps it wasn't necessary.
Josh Barrett 7 - Strong in midfield, and put himself about a bit. Couple of shots but maybe needs to bring others into play a bit more and be a bit less selfish? Possibily harsh as you have to be selfish to score goals regularly.
Jordan Holsgrove 6 - (yes, Paul's son, and without wishing to be harsh I think Jordan will turn out better than Paul!). Professional performace without being spectacular. Similar possition to his father, bit I would say better at doing the hard "unseen" work.
Ryan East - 7 This young man could make the grade. He worked tirelessly and especially in the 2n dhalf would take the ball form teh back 4 and bring it forward 20/30/40 yards. Absolute minute, but reminds me of Liam Kelly a bit.
Ben House - 6 Bit of a promotion for him as he is in the U18 squad (I think). Not out of his depth, a biug lad for 18/19, held the ball up well but aside from one chance didnm;t raely crate anything as you would expect from a nr 9. Still, this would have been a good work out for hiom, and Braintree;s 2 centre halves were big, muscular and mobile, so no compaints.
Conor Davis - 7 Very good prosect. Made a few good runs and whilst another small guy, still pretty impressive.
Subs :
Jack Nolan came on for Jake Sheppard at h/t - 6 Played wide left and made himself available all the time. Drifted inside on occasion and Gilksy clearly rates him as he was constantly giving him advice from the dugout.
Shamar Morre on for Conor Davis on 70 - Played wide right and certainly put himself about a bit, although he was on the far side so difficult to see all his good work.
Was fortunate enough to meet up with Richard Wickson and we had a good chat for half an hour up to h/t. Michael Gilks was the man in charge for this game, and was barking out orders the entire game! If truth be told, maybe he was too vociferous. Whilst I accept the young lads need instruction from the touchlilne, it did seem as though he was on to them constantly. At times they appeared confused as to his sometimes contradictory instructions - but then Gilksy is a legend so who the hell am I to question his methods!!
A very pleasant afternoon watching a high intensity encounter, meeting up with a couple of old friends, so what's not to like? Oh, word about a couple of the non-playing subs. I tentatively approached Ade Shokundi and Gabe Rosario during the 2nd half to ask about the names for the subs etc. They were perfectly pleasant young man and were more than happy to help an old git get the spelling of the subs and who thay came on for correct, and there was absolute;y no "billy big bollox" about them. Credit to them and the club for instilling a sense of perspective in that regard. Will be looking out for them in the future. Nice guys.
The IronmongeryDirect stadium is something to behold!! Anyone been to Underhill at Barnet? Well that looks like Wembley compared to Cressing Road!! Check out the pics below!! (Apologies, TinyPics is screwing things up at present so some may not come out).
Their first home game of the Vanarama National League South is next Tuesday v Dartford, (older readers may remember this is another of my old haunts - I may just go along for a laugh!).
A more prefessional report courtesy of the famous Briatree and Whitam TImes!
http://www.braintreeandwithamtimes.co.u ... t_Reading/
The Braintree "South Bank" equivalent
The Reading crew. No idea who they are but respect! I think there were actually 6 payong RFC fans present. Those 3, plus Josh Barrett's Dad and friend and your truly.
The teams emerge for KO
A nonchalant Gilksy in charge
Elm Park South Bank revisited! Gutters no longer attached to drains - and we all get wet under cover?! Oh yes, and Bradling Security put my house alarm in 10 years ago! Still works!
Ryan East's cultured left foot - sadly the pass is backwards, or at least square - he did pass forawrd to good effect too!
A good workout in the end if not a good score line.
Not really sure what to make of this game if I am honest. Braintree seem to have a completely new team this year so I wasn't expecting much from them, although I read they liked to knock the ball around on the deck as we do. As for us, I hadn't seen a RFC U23 game, well ever, so had little idea what to expect from us either.
Well we started off as perhaps one would expect, lots of possession, crisp passing but not really doing anything with the ball in an attacking sense. The grass had been left deliberately long, and it seemed as though this slowed passing down a tad, and before long the stronger, bigger Braintree side started bossing things, without really threatening Legg's goal. However, as the half went on, Legg really had to show his skills, and at one point made a fantastic double save that frankly defied belief. Jaakkola has a real battle for the backup spot if this is Legg's normal game. Legg really did keep us in the game in the first half, and aside from a Teddy Howe (I think) shot expertly tipped round the post on 15 by their keeper, we had little to offer up front. Aside from Legg, no one else really stood out.
It started to rain quite heavily in the second half (and throughout thereafter), and actually made the ball skip off the turf nicely, so our passing game looked far more effective. Almost from the restart, Josh Barrett had a real Jimmy Quinnesque looping shot from way out on the right (about 30 yds out) that just went past the left hand post, but then Braintree took the lead following a long punt upfield form their keeper. View obscured by the dugouts, but in all honesty it was a lead pretty much deserved. Silly goal to concede, long ball to right wing from their keeper, beat his man, (Medford Smith?) and scored low to the keeper's left.
TBF, RFC continued their passing game as we would expect, and gradually came back in to the game and Barrett had another drive just wide of the post 12 mins after the restart. Play was becoming end to end a bit, althoughgwe didn't make too many clear cut shots on target. Ryan East caught the eye with a couple of good runs from deep, (a la Liam Kelly), and whilst he is TINY, he doesn't shirk a challenge.
Teddy Howe had been moved to RFB at h/t when Jack Nolan cam on for Jake Sheppard, and sadly I don't think he's a full back. Another ball over the top caught him napping a bit, and a push on the back of a Braintree player resulted in a soft penalty being conceded on 80. Not sure it was necessary as the ball was heading away form the goal, but as I said, my view was obscured by the dugouts so I could well be wrong. Anyway, the penalty was expertly put away to Legg's right as he dived to the left.
So a 0-2 defeat, and to be fair, we didn't create enough to make the scoreline false. One thing I would say was the intensity was excellent for a Pre-season friendly. There was bite in the tackle (the ref had stern words with players from both sides on a number of accasions), and plenty of pressure from both sides. I would say both teams benefited from a good work-out. We looked solid-ish in defence, aside from RFB, but the same frailties as the 1st XI were clearly evident - just who will score our goals? I actually thought we were better in the 2nd half, despite conceding 2 goals. Big plus for me was the performance of George Legg. Needs to be a bit more dominant in his box - and really treat it as HIS domain, but shot stopping , positional play and distribution all good. Jaakkola you have a job on your hands young man!!
We played an unfamiliar 4-4-2 in the first half, but in the second were more 4-5-1 when they had the ball and perhaps a 3-5-2 when we had it.
Team:
George Legg 8 - Excellent shoit stopping in the 2st half, can't really be faulted for either goal
Jake Sheppard 6 - Often beaten by their nr 11 (a brute of a guy who was quick and quite handy on the ball) but never say die attitiude good.
Gabriel Osho 6 - Seemed always calm and collected, tidy on the ball, seemed to be the one in commad of the back line
Axel Andreasson 6 - A lot bigger than I assumed, a mountain compoared to somne of our side. He is not as commanding as his size would suggest, but he was comfortable on the ball and made a couple of excellent long range raking passes right to left (40 yarders).
Ramarni Medford-Smith 5 - Was impressed with him at times, but when things didn't go as he'd planned, his head did tend to drop a bit. If he had the confidence to just let the mistakes go and concentrate on making sure the next situation was better, he'd be a good player. Got forward a bit more in the 2nd half and certainly has potential - just believe in yourself a bit more chap!
Teddy Howe 5 - OK in the first half as right midfield, but as a RFB? No thanks! conceded the pen when perhaps it wasn't necessary.
Josh Barrett 7 - Strong in midfield, and put himself about a bit. Couple of shots but maybe needs to bring others into play a bit more and be a bit less selfish? Possibily harsh as you have to be selfish to score goals regularly.
Jordan Holsgrove 6 - (yes, Paul's son, and without wishing to be harsh I think Jordan will turn out better than Paul!). Professional performace without being spectacular. Similar possition to his father, bit I would say better at doing the hard "unseen" work.
Ryan East - 7 This young man could make the grade. He worked tirelessly and especially in the 2n dhalf would take the ball form teh back 4 and bring it forward 20/30/40 yards. Absolute minute, but reminds me of Liam Kelly a bit.
Ben House - 6 Bit of a promotion for him as he is in the U18 squad (I think). Not out of his depth, a biug lad for 18/19, held the ball up well but aside from one chance didnm;t raely crate anything as you would expect from a nr 9. Still, this would have been a good work out for hiom, and Braintree;s 2 centre halves were big, muscular and mobile, so no compaints.
Conor Davis - 7 Very good prosect. Made a few good runs and whilst another small guy, still pretty impressive.
Subs :
Jack Nolan came on for Jake Sheppard at h/t - 6 Played wide left and made himself available all the time. Drifted inside on occasion and Gilksy clearly rates him as he was constantly giving him advice from the dugout.
Shamar Morre on for Conor Davis on 70 - Played wide right and certainly put himself about a bit, although he was on the far side so difficult to see all his good work.
Was fortunate enough to meet up with Richard Wickson and we had a good chat for half an hour up to h/t. Michael Gilks was the man in charge for this game, and was barking out orders the entire game! If truth be told, maybe he was too vociferous. Whilst I accept the young lads need instruction from the touchlilne, it did seem as though he was on to them constantly. At times they appeared confused as to his sometimes contradictory instructions - but then Gilksy is a legend so who the hell am I to question his methods!!
A very pleasant afternoon watching a high intensity encounter, meeting up with a couple of old friends, so what's not to like? Oh, word about a couple of the non-playing subs. I tentatively approached Ade Shokundi and Gabe Rosario during the 2nd half to ask about the names for the subs etc. They were perfectly pleasant young man and were more than happy to help an old git get the spelling of the subs and who thay came on for correct, and there was absolute;y no "billy big bollox" about them. Credit to them and the club for instilling a sense of perspective in that regard. Will be looking out for them in the future. Nice guys.
The IronmongeryDirect stadium is something to behold!! Anyone been to Underhill at Barnet? Well that looks like Wembley compared to Cressing Road!! Check out the pics below!! (Apologies, TinyPics is screwing things up at present so some may not come out).
Their first home game of the Vanarama National League South is next Tuesday v Dartford, (older readers may remember this is another of my old haunts - I may just go along for a laugh!).
A more prefessional report courtesy of the famous Briatree and Whitam TImes!
http://www.braintreeandwithamtimes.co.u ... t_Reading/
The Braintree "South Bank" equivalent
The Reading crew. No idea who they are but respect! I think there were actually 6 payong RFC fans present. Those 3, plus Josh Barrett's Dad and friend and your truly.
The teams emerge for KO
A nonchalant Gilksy in charge
Elm Park South Bank revisited! Gutters no longer attached to drains - and we all get wet under cover?! Oh yes, and Bradling Security put my house alarm in 10 years ago! Still works!
Ryan East's cultured left foot - sadly the pass is backwards, or at least square - he did pass forawrd to good effect too!
A good workout in the end if not a good score line.
Cheers, interesting write up
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AthleticoSpizz
- Hob Nob Legend
- Posts: 25880
- Joined: 15 Apr 2004 19:49
- Location: A Hicks Hoof from Coley Park
That's one brilliant match report Strap....probably wasted on just me 
Obviously, George Legg was getting rave reviews last season at Hungerford...just hope that he can kick-on and maintain his upwards trajectory.
Hope you didn't get too wet and the A120 was kind to you.
Braintree, from experience is one miserable place to be.
Obviously, George Legg was getting rave reviews last season at Hungerford...just hope that he can kick-on and maintain his upwards trajectory.
Hope you didn't get too wet and the A120 was kind to you.
Braintree, from experience is one miserable place to be.
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Lower West
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Hob Nob Subscriber
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- Location: Out on the Ridgeway
With Rinomhota, Richards, Smith and Loader in the first team squad at Adams Park. A weakened U23's line up ?
Suspect SMith and Loader will score plenty for the U23 along with Frost and Barrett.
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