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Match Day Thread - Millwall v PNE - 23/02/2019 - KO15:00 - Championship

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ernest said:
lots of happy North Ender's
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Just start by being pedantic and saying that apostrophe was inserted by the autospell on my phone. Now for the match I was going to say in my little report at half-time that if they got one back we might well find ourselves with a lot of work to do - though if we had got a fourth it could have become a rout - and so it proved. Our opponents are tough cookies and it did not surprise me that they came out fighting in the second half - remember that they have beaten Premiership opposition at their place this season so in its way our second half performance was still commendable.
As I said at half-time it would be wrong to say we were brilliant in the first half - we were composed with bursts of energy and ruthless finishing against a side who apart from a brief spell at 2-0 were woeful which was all that was necessary. In the second half we found ourselves doing what lots of teams have to do at our opponents today - dig deep and fight hard which we did. If they had got a second we might really have found ourselves having to dig even deeper but that did not happen and Potts forced their keeper into a good save which would otherwise have finished the game off. Pearson was our best player and his booking for kicking the ball away came after he had been repeatedly kicked by their players and barracked by their crowd. Maguire played well and Storey was rock-solid in defence - I said this lad was going to be good even in pre-season.
I went along with a friend who is an astute judge of players and he commented that Potts is not fast, which is true though what he is good at is hitting the target when he gets the chance. The player who disappointed me today was Barkhuizen. Yes he nearly scored in the first minute and put in one really good low cross in the first half when he got a couple of yards clear of their left-back. But in the second half there were two or three occasions when he had the opportunity to run hard at the opposition and just pulled back and instead just passed the ball lamely. I still think he has some sort of confidence issue that needs to be dealt with. In mitigation he was being played way out wide on the right which is not his best position. Everyone else did their bit in a massive win that keeps alive that hope of yet turning this season into something special.

Player ratings:

Rudd 7 - generally competent failed to hold a shot from distance that nearly led to a second for them but made a brilliant punch out when under pressure.
Clarke7 - scored but when they pressured us in the second half it was generally down our right flank with Clarke not having the legs to keep up. In truth he probably needs to thought of now purely as a central defender but he does bring strength of character to the side.
Storey 8 - this lad is getting better by the game absolutely rock-solid.
Davies 8 - composed and assured.
Hughes 7 - competent and hard-working.
Pearson 9 - yes the booking was stupid but he ran the game.
Gallagher 8 - yes the pass that led to Maguire's goal was good but his defensive contribution is improving as are his corner kicks.
Barkhuizen 6 - don't want to be negative but you have you to be honest and though he contributed some flashes of skill Barkhuizen did not consistently impose himself and as I said pulled back from promising positions in the second half.
Browne 7 - didn't get into the game much but you can see the class he has when he does get the ball.
Potts 6/7 can't quite decide - nearly wrapped the game up with a superb shot on the run but needs to get involved more when we are defending.
Maguire 8 - very good in the first half worked hard and held the ball up lovely finish for goal but seemed to tire over the final quarter of the game.
 
ernest said:
Just start by being pedantic and saying that apostrophe was inserted by the autospell on my phone. Now for the match I was going to say in my little report at half-time that if they got one back we might well find ourselves with a lot of work to do - though if we had got a fourth it could have become a rout - and so it proved. Our opponents are tough cookies and it did not surprise me that they came out fighting in the second half - remember that they have beaten Premiership opposition at their place this season so in its way our second half performance was still commendable.
As I said at half-time it would be wrong to say we were brilliant in the first half - we were composed with bursts of energy and ruthless finishing against a side who apart from a brief spell at 2-0 were woeful which was all that was necessary. In the second half we found ourselves doing what lots of teams have to do at our opponents today - dig deep and fight hard which we did. If they had got a second we might really have found ourselves having to dig even deeper but that did not happen and Potts forced their keeper into a good save which would otherwise have finished the game off. Pearson was our best player and his booking for kicking the ball away came after he had been repeatedly kicked by their players and barracked by their crowd. Maguire played well and Storey was rock-solid in defence - I said this lad was going to be good even in pre-season.
I went along with a friend who is an astute judge of players and he commented that Potts is not fast, which is true though what he is good at is hitting the target when he gets the chance. The player who disappointed me today was Barkhuizen. Yes he nearly scored in the first minute and put in one really good low cross in the first half when he got a couple of yards clear of their left-back. But in the second half there were two or three occasions when he had the opportunity to run hard at the opposition and just pulled back and instead just passed the ball lamely. I still think he has some sort of confidence issue that needs to be dealt with. In mitigation he was being played way out wide on the right which is not his best position. Everyone else did their bit in a massive win that keeps alive that hope of yet turning this season into something special.

Clarke7 - scored but when they pressured us in the second half it was generally down our right flank with Clarke not having the legs to keep up. In truth he probably needs to thought of now purely as a central defender but he does bring strength of character to the side.
Barkhuizen 6 - don't want to be negative but you have you to be honest and though he contributed some flashes of skill Barkhuizen did not consistently impose himself and as I said pulled back from promising positions in the second half.
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You’re trying to have it both ways. Barkhuizen going forward especially first half was immense. Second half he got a couple of decisions as to when to try to beat the fullback wrong, but he protected Clarke all game and put a good shift in.

Pearson was superb but how can you give him a 9 after such a stupid booking, knowing what it costs us. Gally MoM for me
 
Another Win !

Pearo nearly made it to the end of the game and the fuse finally blew. Cumulative frustration by the look of it.

Ledson to come in as DM, as he did immediately after Christmas.
 
PNEinGranby said:
You’re trying to have it both ways. Barkhuizen going forward especially first half was immense. Second half he got a couple of decisions as to when to try to beat the fullback wrong, but he protected Clarke all game and put a good shift in.

Pearson was superb but how can you give him a 9 after such a stupid booking, knowing what it costs us. Gally MoM for me
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Im not sure ernest watched the same game as me.

We were outstanding, that first half and Barkhuizen absolutely tore their defender a new one. So much so they took him off for the 2nd.

Again we saw the 2 faces of PNE, both in their own ways quite superb.. 1st half our passing football was brilliant, 2nd half our defensive abilities were first class.

Its time this team of ours started to get the credit they really deserve.
 
Barkhuizen was class in the first half. All their fans on twitter were saying about how much he terrorised their left back (who subsequently got taken off), and they were right.

Also, that's probably the best I've seen Maguire play for us for quite some time.
 
PNEinGranby said:
Second half he got a couple of decisions as to when to try to beat the fullback wrong,
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The point I am trying to make is that there are times when a forward run is needed but Barkhuizen backs off - the incident in the second half when that neat backheel by Pearson gave him the opportunity to head for the byeline but he stayed put typifies what I mean. I know Barkhuizen puts a shift in - and when he was struggling earlier in the season and being written off by some here I defended him so I am not anti the fellow - but there just seen to be times when as an attacker he should be bolder and more aggressive. He has the ability but for some reason at times self-belief seems to elude him.
 
[QUOTE="PNEinGranby, post: 3436610, member: 917"

Pearson was superb but how can you give him a 9 after such a stupid booking, knowing what it costs us. Gally MoM for me
[/QUOTE]

Pearson ran the game. Yes he was stupid though as I said earlier he was constantly fouled and everyone has a limit.
 
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