by DandyRoyal »
06 Nov 2025 22:21
06 Nov 2025 22:21
First game I've watched this season other than highlights, and the #1 word that came to mind was "solid".
I thought the CB's were dominant in their duels and also played smart positionally - they didn't get pulled out, and they played to their strengths; great in the air, physically strong, and experienced in lots of little moments when playing out.
The movement, quick passing, and interchanging from the front 5 in the first half was class. We absolutely bossed the first 35 minutes and were unlucky not to score a 2nd. Impressed with Kelv E - there's a lot of debate about whether he is better advanced out wide or playing through the middle, and I'm not sure, but that was a good lone striker performance - he bullied at times, he laid off well, he made great runs, and he created a lot of space for the rest of the front 5.
The slight negative was that in the 2nd half it felt like that if Stevenage really put a good move together, we would concede - the performance levels dropped a bit. However Stevenage never quite did; that's how it goes. Pereira is a quality keeper - at this level, you feel that when he is in goal, the opposition has to put together a really good move to score. They didn't, and he saved everything that he had a right to save. The only chance I would never expect him to save was the back pass (so a mistake) that their striker hit off the bar - we got lucky there.
I think we deserved to win - shame we couldn't go 2 up when we were on top, but job done.