So on the Bank Holiday Monday just gone we were provided with the opportunity to pick up our first maximum points at home with the visit of Eastbourne Borough, who had surprisingly won 2 of their opening 3 games going into the fixture.
I've got to say I'm really not a fan of bank holiday football and never have been. The majority of people have work the following day so nobody is drinking and/or the financial and physical effects are still wearing off from the weekend just gone. They're a pain in the arse to be honest, if it was up to me then I would change bank holiday dates to Friday from Monday, as Bank Holiday Monday's always just end up feeling like another Sunday.
But I'll quit whinging now because it will be the way for as long as we're non-league.
I left Herne Bay to catch the train at Midday to Dover which included a 60 second dash to change over platforms at Faversham thanks to Southeastern's inconsiderate timetabling which serious needs reconsidering. Even with all my weight though there is nothing stopping me from missing a train and I managed to do it in absolute style. (IE by sweating like Michael Jackson in a playground and desperately searching for my deodorant and asthma pump).
Russell hopped on the train at Aylesham and sadly this game marked his last one in a very long while as he is moving to Spain for a year because of his university course. I sure you will be grieving for me at your keyboards as I have to make do without one of my best football mates for the rest of the season. (Russ, I know you're reading this. Just to let you know we all love you and we're going to miss you very much. I know the lifestyle, weather and culture in Spain is dreadful so if you ever feel the need to come back then don't be scared or afraid, there will always be a space for you on the Riverend Terrace.)
I only had just over £4 to my name so I wasn't planning on any pre-match drinking. But needless to say there was plenty of time to stop in the Old Endeavour, where there was a Carribean Day being held thanks to the local annoying Rasta that is named Dunston. Plenty of Carribean grub was being served including Jerk Ribs and Goat Curry, none of which I sampled due to lack of funds, desire and my piss-poor mood, with the latter increasing with everyone still discussing what happened at Hornchurch.
The Fosters tasted even more like piss than fosters usually does and I had to neck most of it with Bryan Hall offering everyone a lift to the ground in his van. So about 15 of us piled into it as it becoming a new pre-match ritual and it was even more cramped and squashed than usual. Russ, bless his little cottons, made a surprisingly good pun to Bryan asking him if usually has this many Slovaks in his van. (Bryan was infamously caught trafficking some foreigners back in 2007).
Its amazing how bad Oranjeboom tastes when you're sober - even worse than usual. Lucky then that I could only afford the one (although I did neck the majority of Fish's). The CS was unsurprisingly pretty empty so the pre match excitement wasn't building, even with the presence of some very special looking opposing fans in the bar. T'was so dull in there that we were out onto the Dover Port terrace earlier than we have been in baaaaaaaaare time.
Right onto the game. This blog is shit so far so I'll get onto talking about the soccer.
I was pretty unhappy to see us line up in a 4-5-1 formation, which saw Ricky Modeste start his first game for us after finishing his suspension, with Chris Sessegnon going out to the other wing. Willock started the game as the lone striker. Not only was such a formation ineffective when we played Sutton last week but its pretty negative to have 5 in the middle at home to one of the less fancied sides. A few people around me were saying its only a few movements away from being a 4-3-3, but that was rarely the case as Modeste and Sess rarely saw any of the ball. (Although when they did, we threatened, particularly in Ricky's case).
Indeed, it was a very dull first half spectacle as we never really found any solutions to their stubborn backline, who were well marshalled by the impressive ex Daggers captain Anwar Uddin throughout. Willock, who I am really starting to feel sorry for, was completely isolated and struggled to play the lone man role with Uddin often getting the better of him. He did manage to have our best chance when he headed wide from a Modeste cross, but chances in the first half period were at a premium, leaving me realising why I don't watch non-league football sober.
The game wasn't helped by a flag happy linesman and a very fussy referee, who early on Kingy was singing the praises of for being so lenient when we played Eastleigh last season (Kingy keeps a whole dossier of every referee in non-league). But neither were we helping ourselves. Simpemba and Watt are a solid no nonsense pairing but they're hardly the most cultured of defenders. Our full-backs were also responsible for aimless long punts down the centre and we never really got a grip of the game.
Eastbourne weren't much better themselves but had the pick of the chances with Mitchell Walker having to be very alert and he looked pretty solid throughout. Ex Dover flop James Walker had the best of their chances but somehow failed to score the uninevitable (yes I made that word up) goal against us, scooping his close range shot over the bar after the ball broke loose in the box.
The second half started in similar vein to the first. Dull, uninspiring and devoid of any real chances. Eastbourne had a few non-threatening half chances with ancient ex Brighton Buddy of Forster, Gary Hart, shooting just over the bar on the turn.
The game only sparked into life when Forster made some much needed changes, albeit probably a lot later than he should have done, when he brought himself and Ben May on in place of Sessegnon and Willock in the 68th minute. Soon after the two nearly combined to give us the lead when May headed down a Modeste cross across the goal. Sadly Forster's boot was just inches away from connecting and the ball stayed out.
This was a 15 minute spell where we were firmly on top and should have found a way to get 3 points. Forster was unlucky to see his fierce shot from a tight angle just go over the bar, and manic defending in the area saw Bazza Cogan's shot blocked in a goal-mouth melee.
But that period was put to a halt once Modeste lost possession and seemed to injure himself in the process, meaning he had to be replaced by Bricknell. With Ricky being out most creative source by far, other than Barry Cogan's free-kicks, which were well dealt with by their Uddin-led defence, we failed to really threaten in the closing stages of the game.
In fact the visitors had chances to seize the initiative but failed to. With the attention seeking referee finding 5 minutes injury time from somewhere, Eastbourne had a few injury time corners. After the first one was cleared for another corner, they decided to play the ball short in the corner and see the game out. A totally pathetic tinpot attitude that infuriated me, even though I was worried that they might nick all 3 points. Four games into the season and they're blatantly time wasting for a DRAW against a beatable side. We've won 3 league games in 2012 I think, yet they still feel like Dover is some massive scalp.
I should find it flattering, but the blatant negative style some teams bring to Crabble is utterly ridiculous, with that being the clearest example ever. I'd be furious if I was an Eastbourne fan, even though they played relatively well and were good value for a draw.
No excuses though, we must start trying to find solutions at home to sides that come to play for a draw, Nicky Forster has had a whole year to sort out home form and on that basis it won't be improving any time soon. Too negative, too long ball, and we need to take initiative to make changes sooner when its clearly not working. Had May and Forster came on ten minutes earlier I could be dressing up this report right now with excitement over how inspired substitutions won us the game.
I agree with Neil Moors, we need to take more gambles at home. It seems like NF is quite scared by defeat to the extent where winning is a second priority. It shouldn't be. A win and a loss are worth more than 2 draws, which we now find ourselves with from our opening 2 home games. With attendances dwindling over the past few seasons, dull spectacles like that will not convince many to return. We needed to come out of the blocks at home but now we have already dropped four points at home versus two sides who any promotion challenger should be expecting to beat, no disrespect to Farnborough and Eastbourne (who in the latter case I think will do much better than I predicted them to this season).
On the flip side it is early days, the team still need to time to fully click and gel and there are some promising performances by some of the new boys. We do have a side that look tough to beat and we are unbeaten in the opening four matches. But I'd be lying if I said I don't already have concerns about our tactics and some of our selections so far.
4-5-1 is a good formation when it works but I don't think its for us. I'd much rather we had a proper strike partnership, and we have a good selection to pick from. I would probably revert to a 4-4-2 with one of Cogan or Rance being dropped to the bench, probably the inconsistent Rance as Cogan's set pieces look like they're going to be a constant threat this season. That said Cogan can play on the right but I'd much rather use recognised wingers.
And try to play the ball out as much as possible, get the ball to Modeste. He's going to be a player that is frustrating but he'll run at players, create things and win penalties/free-kicks. He only needs to provide a few moments a game to turn us into match-winners.
Still, Forster knows more about his squad than me and it is early days so I guess its down to us to trust in his ability.
Its amazing these days that I now consider any crowd over 800 as good turnout and I was actually pleased with the 825 that turned up. I guess its not too bad when you consider its still the holiday season (Only 550 odd home fans turned up on the same day for Ebbsfleet hosting Luton!) so its not too bad and with the departure of Woking+Dartford, we now top the attendance chart. Time to wave our willies, even if its by default?
Jokes aside if we find that winning formula then hopefully we should get back up to that 1,000 mark. I have nothing against Eastbourne as a club but 50ish away supporters for a match of close proximity is pretty poor, especially when you consider their fanbase size is not too far away from ours. It was a pretty poor, dull atmosphere throughout.
Its quite annoying that we have to visit the league favourites Eastleigh up next. They beat Havant 3-0 convincingly at Westleigh Park on Monday, so will be in-form for our visit. Its the kind of game that we'd be happy to get a draw at but considering we've dropped 6 points already, it will be more ideal to get maximum points (no shit sherlock, I know).
Not forgetting its a shit ground, shit town and a generally poor away day but you can bet your mortgage that I'll be there, being the sad cunt that I am. I've made a promise to myself that I will remain sober for it, cue laughter from you all. Whether I actually remain true to it will be interesting to find out, as the idea of travelling 4 hours each way to watch non-league football at a cess-pit ground isn't one that appeals to me in the slightest.
YOLO
| Monday 27 Aug 2012 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basingstoke | 2 | - | 2 | Hayes & Yeading | |
 Sills (31) Holder-Spooner (05) |  Kalama (76) Cox (91) Wishart (91) |  406 | |||
| Billericay | 1 | - | 1 | AFC Hornchurch | |
| Lechmere (13) | McKenzie (68) | 647 | |||
| Boreham Wood | 0 | - | 0 | Chelmsford | |
| Cook (73) | 372 | ||||
| Bromley | 1 | - | 1 | Tonbridge Angels | |
| (87) | Piper (70) Suarez (09) | 805 | |||
| Dorchester | 2 | - | 1 | Bath City | |
| Walker (61) Martin (64) | (14) | 559 | |||
| Dover | 0 | - | 0 | Eastbourne Borough | |
| 825 | |||||
| Havant and W | 0 | - | 3 | Eastleigh | |
| (33) Williams (56) McAllister (63) | 903 | ||||
| Maidenhead Utd | 1 | - | 1 | Staines Town | |
| Pratt (39) | Weir (34) | 386 | |||
| Salisbury | 1 | - | 0 | Farnborough | |
| Fitchett (91) | 776 | ||||
| Welling | 2 | - | 2 | Sutton Utd | |
 Healy (52) Main (72) | Beautyman (05) Vassell (84) | 644 | |||
| Weston-S-Mare | 0 | - | 2 | Truro City | |
| Moore (31) Yetton (68) | 870 | ||||
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Salisbury City | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 10 |
| 2 | | Boreham Wood | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 8 |
| 3 |  | Bath City | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| 4 | | Eastleigh | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| 5 | | Eastbourne Borough | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 7 |
| 6 | | Dorchester | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 7 |
| 7 | | Welling United | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 6 |
| 8 | | Dover | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 6 |
| 9 | | Hayes & Yeading | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 5 |
| 10 | | Truro City | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 5 |
| 11 | | Basingstoke Town | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| 12 | | Staines Town | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| 13 | | Chelmsford | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 5 |
| 14 | | Maidenhead United | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 5 |
| 15 | | Farnborough | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| 16 | | Billericay Town | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 8 | -2 | 4 |
| 17 | | Sutton United | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 7 | -1 | 3 |
| 18 | | Hornchurch | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | -2 | 2 |
| 19 | | Tonbridge Angels | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 7 | -3 | 2 |
| 20 | | Bromley | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 | -4 | 2 |
| 21 | | Havant and Waterlooville | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 9 | -5 | 2 |
| 22 | | Weston-S-Mare | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 8 | -6 | 1 |
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