MATCHWATCH : Stevenage (h)

[DandyRoyal]

I honestly think that the Ref rescinded the Red Card is because he was worried that if he didn't, he would be perceived as being racist, because there would be a debate that he had gotten the 2 black players mixed up.

I don't think it was a card at all, it was a foul, but not a card.

[info@farwayhideaway]

Kinda like Abrefa but feel he does have that mistake in him. That was a good dynamic performance. Real bite in the 1st half. There's some good signs. 1 defeat in 8 in league I believe.

[Snowflake Royal]

Pereira dog shit distribution. Thank goodness he’s a good shot stopper.

Every silver lining has a cloud, eh Brogue.

[Armadillo Roadkill]

Unusual for a referee to change their mind - well done to the assistant. Maybe the presence of the TV cameras helped persuade the ref to take his assistant’s advice.

Savage and Wing were less dominant, not because they weren’t involved, but that others were, particularly Kyerewaa and Doyle.

The back four were really solid, organised, calm on the ball. I have no problem with Lane and don’t understand the criticism of him. Kelvin E seems to be getting to grips with his role.

Overall, that was a game you just feel we would not have won under Hunt. It gets vital points on the board. It feels like there a top half of the table team gelling. Let’s hope so.

[Clyde1998]

Attendance was 9,233 with 285 Stevenage fans - so 8,948 home fans. Very comparable to Northampton.

[SouthDownsRoyal]

I honestly think that the Ref rescinded the Red Card is because he was worried that if he didn't, he would be perceived as being racist, because there would be a debate that he had gotten the 2 black players mixed up.

I don't think it was a card at all, it was a foul, but not a card.

Ok

[Clyde1998]

Unusual for a referee to change their mind - well done to the assistant. Maybe the presence of the TV cameras helped persuade the ref to take his assistant’s advice.

Savage and Wing were less dominant, not because they weren’t involved, but that others were, particularly Kyerewaa and Doyle.

The back four were really solid, organised, calm on the ball. I have no problem with Lane and don’t understand the criticism of him. Kelvin E seems to be getting to grips with his role.

Overall, that was a game you just feel we would not have won under Hunt. It gets vital points on the board. It feels like there a top half of the table team gelling. Let’s hope so.

We were lucky to win tonight, tbh. Certainly did help having our best goalkeeper and centre-back options available.

Had that Stevenage player not hit the bar after going past Pereira, in what was easily the best chance either side had in the game, it would've been interesting to see how we'd reacted; Pereira made a couple of good saves I'm not convinced Stevens would've made either.

[Royal Rother]

That was so much better.

I’ve just put £5 on Reading to get promoted at 45/1.

I can’t believe those odds!

[Vision]

Dare I say it but a lot of times tonight that looked like a version of Selles’ 4-2-2-2.

Lane played centrally alongside Doyle when we had the ball or we pressed them at the back. DK played more like a foil for Kelvin E than a winger. From what I’ve seen Kelvin E wins a fair bit in the air but we never have anyone close enough to benefit. Tonight we did. Also had players around him to lay off too as well.

Defensively if the press was beaten then Lane and DK were very quick to spread back out to cover the full backs. I’m not surprised they looked a bit leggy because that’s a hell of a lot to ask. Good thing though is that hopefully the more they work at it, the better they’ll get and won’t need to cover so much ground.

Not sure I saw Wing really play any further forward as some are saying but there were certainly fewer times when he dropped near the centre halves.

Thought Abrefa was outstanding. Hopefully the more 90 minutes he plays the fewer mental blips happen because I do believe there is lot of upside with him.

[Hound]

One thing that DK has impressed with is his fitness - with so many others dropping out he’s been available all season and works hard

It seems to have take LR all of one game to find him a role which he can perform in. He just can’t/doesn’t cross so that more central role in attack could just be the answer. Him and Kelvin worked better together in the game than any forwards have all season

[Hound]

I think our record when D Williams starts is 4 wins, 3 draws, 1 defeat (Cardiff). Paudie would be second in the whoscored ratings if he’d played enough games to qualify

Along with JP there’s no doubt who are our most impt players. If those 3 can play the vast majority of games til end of season, play offs isn’t out of the question

[Snowflake Royal]

I think our record when D Williams starts is 4 wins, 3 draws, 1 defeat (Cardiff). Paudie would be second in the whoscored ratings if he’d played enough games to qualify

Along with JP there’s no doubt who are our most impt players. If those 3 can play the vast majority of games til end of season, play offs isn’t out of the question

It's almost like whilst Hunt wasn't doing a stellar job, results were crippled by injuries to key players, and getting those players fit massively improves us.

[Hound]

I think our record when D Williams starts is 4 wins, 3 draws, 1 defeat (Cardiff). Paudie would be second in the whoscored ratings if he’d played enough games to qualify

Along with JP there’s no doubt who are our most impt players. If those 3 can play the vast majority of games til end of season, play offs isn’t out of the question

It's almost like whilst Hunt wasn't doing a stellar job, results were crippled by injuries to key players, and getting those players fit massively improves us.

Of course the key question is how much responsibility does Hunt have for those injuries? Esp in the context of so many other injuries

If those 3, and I’d also argue Kelvin earlier in the year, had stayed fit then no doubts at all we’d be a lot higher than we were when he got axed

Interesting to see what LR can do now they are all back. I think there are very encouraging signs

[The Cap]

Why on earth did Ritchie decide to pick up his fourth yellow card of the season for what was, basically, pissing about with the ball? If I was Richardson, I'd have been fuming with that. It was fully deserved and I mean seriously Ritchie, wtf?

[Hendo]

First game of the season last night for me and it was very enjoyable, first half especially.

Very impressed with PoC & DW as a partnership.

Lane was busy without really producing anything, certainly a player in there though.

Was right behind Savage's shot and knew it was in as soon as it left his foot, great goal.

El Gato was solid as ever, couple of excellent saves, although kicking was very off - looked like he was getting as frustrated with it as everyone else.

Good cameo from R Williams as well - encouraging.

[windermereROYAL]

Absolutely nothing outstanding in this division that I`ve seen so far, we`re 7 points off the play-off as it stands. it won`t take that much of an improvement to get into the mix.
Stevenage 4th, bang average from what we saw last night if that`s the benchmark there`s no reason we can`t get there.

[West F]

It does highlight how little there is between the sides in this league. That was a side that could have gone top with a win against us, and at no point did they look like a side capable of doing that. As far as visible changes to the team goes, there were a few as far as I could see.
There was generally more bite about the team. The players closed down all over the pitch, not just the front three. It was a workrate victory. We went more direct which was helped by Ehibhatiomhan’s performance, he worked all night and was an issue for their back line. There was a return to unnatural width, with Lane operating from the right and Kyerewaa from the left. Doing so seemed to be a deliberate ploy for Lane to come inside and create space for Abrefa to attack. It left Lane out of the game in comparison to recent matches, as his best position is going to always be playing down the left flank. Playing this way by design means that there are far fewer crosses going into the box, and also means it is very hard to break a defence down when they are set in shape and not retreating in transition.
Doyle played like he had six or seven pints before the game. So many bad touches and passes that are not like him at all. The centre backs were very solid dealing with the very league two attacking approach from Stevenage.
Abrefa shaded my MOM. He had a job to do, which was to negate Campbell. Seeing as he did this so well, with Campbell being hooked early, and the Cafu attacking runs, I will forgive the mistake he made from feeling to comfortable.
Randell came on and looked like a player who would very much like a permanent contract. Dorset was defensively good and solid. Wing and Savage worked as hard as anyone. A deserved win all round.

[South Coast Royal]

A combination of a very good first 40 minutes and the bit of luck that some fans think we never get.

The lucky bits:-

For our goal the ball might have been out of play twice
Their striker managing to hit the bar from about 10 yards
Most refs would have been too proud to change their minds over the Dorsett red card

The good bits:
Sound centre-back pairing
Great goalkeeping
Danny K actually creating real chances
Best of all, after 100 games (?) Big Kelvin at last looked like a centre-forward

In his post match interview Wing said that there had been a lot of talking and meetings since the new manager arrived so maybe Beattie has spent time with Kelvin telling him how to play through the middle.

Agree with the other poster, Ritchie has picked up 4 cards from about 120 minutes of playing time-a poor example from a senior pro brought in by Hunt to be one of his captains on the pitch.
Now we have a proper manager with a proper coaching staff he might find that he doesn't get much game time as the emphasis from an attacking perspective looks to be on pace going forward.

Although we have now played one game more than everyone else it is refreshing to look at the table this morning but I won't join the play-off speculation until we have won a few away games-Wigan and Rotherham games will tell us a bit more about this team.

[RoyalBlue]

I honestly think that the Ref rescinded the Red Card is because he was worried that if he didn't, he would be perceived as being racist, because there would be a debate that he had gotten the 2 black players mixed up.

I don't think it was a card at all, it was a foul, but not a card.

Ok

To be fair to DandyRoyal both Steve Evans (you can't get much more Stevenage than him) and Jobi said the same.

[PieEater]

The first 30mins is as well as we have played all season, slightly better than Cardiff. It was a pity we couldn't get a second goal but we dominated a team who were second in the table before the game - quite how I'm not sure as they offered nothing except to pounce on the mistake from Abrefa.

It was great to have Periera back, his save was the difference. With Stevens we draw or lose that game.

The ref was terrible, officious, inconsistent and card happy. I'm still bemused why he gave a free kick to the keeper when we tried to close him down taking a kick - the ball was in open play and there was no contact.