County 0 Gillingham 0
š¶ Weāll score again, donāt know where, donāt know when, but I know weāll score again, some sunny day š¶
Wednesday 8 March 2023
I hold my hands up, wheeling out the old Vera Lynn song might be a little unfair, with County sitting in sixth place. But itās the first thing that popped in my head today, and it is concerning the fact we havenāt scored for over five hours now, especially at this stage of the season. In recent weeks, Gillingham conceded twice against Bradford; Doncaster let in four at Mansfield; and Barrow were hit for five at Carlisle. I appreciate every football match is different, but our promotion rivals are comfortably finding ways to score goals against teams weāre not troubling. Next up for County is a long trip to Essex on Saturday. Has anyone got a spare copy of Big Kevās 100 Great Goals for Challinor to stick in the video player on the team coach for a bit of inspiration?
I hadnāt found a Gillingham fan to pencil in for the match report until late yesterday afternoon, when the following photo popped up on Twitter.
The lad in question is Harry Kinslow, who was en route to Stockport on his 20th birthday, to watch his 99th consecutive Gillingham game, before getting a lift on the coach home. In the early hours of this morning, he posted this.
After only a couple of hours in bed, heād still managed to type up the match report for us by lunchtime today. I mean, understandably he took some shit for his choice of beverages on the journey north, but heās a sound lad, exactly the sort we like to speak to at The Scarf My Father Wore. Weāve got another top bloke joining us for the County verdict as well, as Steve Parfett joins us for the first time. Another dedicated lower league supporter, Steve drove back to Stockport early from a holiday in Wales, and yes, probably wishes he hadnāt.
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Des Junior
Yesterdayās match in one word:
Steve - Disappointing.
Harry - Boring.
Pre-match thoughts:
Steve - Having been to the Barrow loss and missed the Doncaster 0-0, I was hoping for a win to jump-start our run-in. As a result I made a three-hour journey back to Stockport and only missed the first five minutes of the game.
Harry - I would have taken a point, especially after seeing our line-up. I thought we could get something out of the game due to Countyās indifferent form.
Post-match thoughts:
Steve - Frozen feet and a lacklustre performance. At the start of the season I'm sure we would have taken our current position as a successful consolidation and an opportunity to build further. But as things stand, it feels hugely disappointing.
Harry - From a result point of view, very happy with a point against a good side. The only frustrating thing is that Iāve just watched two back-to-back 0-0 draws away from home which from an entertainment point of view has left a lot to be desired. I would have liked us to give it more of a go in the last 20 minutes, but if anything we became more defensive.
Verdict on County:
Steve - Another failure to deal with a side happy to play for a draw and shithouse their way to doing so. Last night felt like a Rusk, not a Challinor performance. Once we clicked into gear after our dismal start to the season we were playing outstanding football and looked as good as any side in this division. We have lost the energy and commitment to really press as we were doing. Other sides have sussed out our weaknesses and exploit them. We continually tried the same thing and predictably with the same outcome. Far too much possession football, passing backwards and across the back three. Almost all our crosses were diagonal from Byrne in midfield and nobody was prepared to run to the by-line and cross the ball. All our balls into the box involved lofted passes with no variation or playing to feet. We seem unable to find a way to play to Tanto's strengths. All our dead ball plays were one dimensional. Challinor's substitutions were at least decisive, Croasdale and Madden improved the options so the second half was an improvement on the first but not by enough margin. Hippolyte at his best would have run at the defence more effectively.
Harry - I was quite impressed with Countyās general play, with some very good players, but they just couldnāt find that final ball or half a yard to break us down. I think our keeper has only made one real save. Iām sure County will look at that result as two points dropped.
Verdict on Gillingham:
Steve - Set out to frustrate and succeeded.
Harry - I think Gillinghamās performance was excellent for the game plan. As I say, we had little to no attacking threat, but our defence and midfield in particular did everything we asked of them. As mentioned I was disappointed that we never tried to steal the win and stayed content with the point but I can understand why.
Top Hatter:
Steve - Knoyle, but with an honourable mention for the 13 minutes Stretton had.
Harry - I was quite impressed with Hussey. I thought he was a big reason that Gillingham had no threat in attack, and was very good at bringing the ball out of defence.
Top Gill:
Steve - Probably Morris the keeper although he was not tested nearly enough. Can I have a worst player? Tutonda the number 3 spent the whole night committing fouls and only eventually received a card for time wasting.
Harry - Iām going to go for Ethan Coleman. It was his first start for us and he really put himself about, always in the right area to break up play.
Atmosphere:
Steve - Good crowd and really got behind the team right from the start. Got increasingly frustrated but continued to support the boys.
Harry - I thought the atmosphere was decent from both sets of fans. I was impressed with Countyās home support, which is better than most others in League Two. For us Gills, considering we had little to cheer or shout about, I thought it was a decent atmosphere and much better than the one against Harrogate on Saturday. I was also very intrigued by the ground setup, the fact we entered on the opposite side to where we were seated. I canāt remember ever doing this at another ground and I liked it - very niche.
Hopes for the rest of the season:
Steve - At best play-offs, and on current form that is by no means certain. A top half finish and consolidation at this level would not be a disaster but at our best we are as good as anyone in this league. It would be good to get back to playing our best football and give the fans and team a platform for having a real go next term.
Harry - I think our season is done. I think weāve had the run of form to keep us up, and Iām almost certain there are going to be two worse teams than us by May, regardless of how many points we can pick up. Iām expecting wholesale changes to the playing squad in the summer and hoping we can push for at least the play-offs next season.
The British Library receives a copy of every single book published in the UK. In the same fashion, Des Junior believes a detailed record of every County game should be preserved for the history books. So hereās the full story of our 0-0 draw at home to Gillingham on Tuesday 7 March 2023, as told from his three County-related WhatsApp groupsā¦
6.45pm: Byrne in for Wright. Surprised Madden isnāt starting. I was expecting changes but not in defence.
7.49pm: Good to see we still go for the hoof up the left touchline to kick off. It hasn't worked for 30 years, but that is no reason to change it.
8.08pm: We can carry on like this all night and not even have a shot. Need to mix it up.
8.27pm: Why canāt we just twat it once in a while rather than passing it on the edge of the box.
8.28pm: Twat it? Thatās not in the UEFA pro coaching manual.
8.29pm: Usually when we twat it, it goes nowhere near.
8.35pm: Crap first half hour. Slightly less crap last 15 minutes. Feel like there was a penalty out there as well.
8.49pm: Hippo, Madden and Croasdale ready to come on.
8.50pm: No messing about. Good. Feel like Challinor has waited too long recently to make subs so this is refreshing.
9.12pm: Collar twatted it. Goal kick.
9.13pm: To be fair, Will Collar has earned himself a few twats from outside the box.
9.32pm: I canāt bear this. Third successive game without a goal and every time we get the ball we fuck about with it for a minute and then just pass it backwards anyway. Iām sorry, but itās just not good enough.
9.54pm: Fuck me that was cold.
9.55pm: It still is for those walking back to Davenport, not Edgeley!
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