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Leeds United (H) League 1 Saturday 15/12/07.

Reports and reaction from the 2007-08 season as Walsall finished 12th in League 1
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Dave Gittins
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Sat Dec 15, 2007 6:16 pm

So much for us having to be frightened of the 'mighty' Leeds. Just how many saves did Clayton have to make during the entire match? Our defence were solid yet again and I was gutted when that free kick got deflected in right at the end.

Man of the match for me was Gerrard, hardly put a foot wrong all game.

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Kiansmom
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Sat Dec 15, 2007 6:18 pm

Dave Gittins wrote:So much for us having to be frightened of the 'mighty' Leeds. Just how many saves did Clayton have to make during the entire match? Our defence were solid yet again and I was gutted when that free kick got deflected in right at the end.

Man of the match for me was Gerrard, hardly put a foot wrong all game.


Absolutely solid today, should have got MOTM! :twisted:

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Plastic Hawk
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Sat Dec 15, 2007 6:19 pm

Awesome performance today. Best of the season by far against what was, in fairness, a very accomplished Leeds side. Just a shame that the deflected goal in the last minute (from a free kick I thought should have gone our way if there was a foul in there at all) left a bitter taste.

Once again our back four was immense. Definitely the best I've seen in this division this season. Gerrard was man of the match by a country mile for me. Him and Dann had Beckford and Constantine in their pockets throughout (did Leeds actually have a shot on target all game? - I'm assuming the free kick was missing before it deflected). In front of them Wrack rolled back the years to give a performance that would have done him proud in his prime. Sweeney was excellent on the left wing, retaining possession well and putting some decent balls in as well as tackling back to help out Fox. Bradley once again looked totally comfortable at this level - you'd have thought he was an experienced League 1 player, not a 19-year-old who's been a regular for less than three months. Deeney fitted in well on the right too - I'd start him ahead of Sonko next week. Up front I thought Ricketts and (especially) Mooney did a decent job holding the ball up and bringing others into play too.

In short, a fantastic performance all round and more like that will see us climbing further up the table. All we need now, is to add the ability to break down teams who don't come to play an open game like Leeds did today.

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Burnside
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Sat Dec 15, 2007 6:29 pm

A near perfect performance against a strong physical side.

When we put Leeds under pressure they did what 90% of lower league teams do

and Launched the ball up to the big guys.

Dann, Fox, Gerrard and Bradley - Young lads really coming of age and what's best is that they haven't peaked yet.

Wracky is not a natural CM but he is growing in to that role, i think him and Dobbo could be good competition for each other.

Mooney and Ricketts, a good forward line. I do feel that adding a cutting edge speed merchant to that front line would make us top 6 contenders, rather than the top 10 contenders we are now.

Pleased today though, no team is really troubling us now (has been the same since October time) a cutting edge short of wins this and last week.

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Whitti Steve
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Sat Dec 15, 2007 6:51 pm

Good "tough" game, we possibly edged it and were unlucky to only get the point. The Leeds fans in our group said we were the better team. I would have settled for a point before so I am a relatively happy man tonight. Personally I thought Gerrard was MOTM and was immense today.

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Willy Nilly
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Sat Dec 15, 2007 7:04 pm

Guest wrote:

Unfortunately, Carlisle's away. But I should get to the Yeovil home game as well.


The Yeovil game now falls into the 'TBA' category.

We'll be playing Millwall in the 3rd round of t'cup on the day we should have played Yeovil.

Kick-off's been brought forward an hour at the request of the police too.

Codsall Saddler
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Sat Dec 15, 2007 7:26 pm

Result was a travesty as we were much the better team, especially in the second half. how the mighty have fallen as Leeds looked a decent League 1 team at best. They equalised with their second shot on target.

Some great performances from the back 4 yet again plus Bradley, Sweeney and Wrack.

Good game, great performance, good atmosphere, good support - an enjoyable football experience.

Lets hope people come back next week.

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tape66
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Sat Dec 15, 2007 7:36 pm

Codsall Saddler wrote:Result was a travesty as we were much the better team, especially in the second half. how the mighty have fallen as Leeds looked a decent League 1 team at best. They equalised with their second shot on target.

Some great performances from the back 4 yet again plus Bradley, Sweeney and Wrack.

Good game, great performance, good atmosphere, good support - an enjoyable football experience.

Lets hope people come back next week.


yes lets hope.

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Duke
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Sat Dec 15, 2007 9:01 pm

I walked away from the stadium today feeling robbed by an inept referee , having given myself time to calm down and reflect i can't help but feel very hard done by,

We matched Leeds in the first half , and dominated the second if they are the best team in league 1 we have nothing to fear.
Its very difficult to pick out any individual from what was a superb team performance , but i have to say Gerrard was simply outstanding he won everything in the air never put a foot wrong on the deck.

We have a team we can be proud of , we can play football as good as any i've seen in this league we can also battle scarp and grind out results when required. we deserved 3 points today but the unbeaten run continues.

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Sat Dec 15, 2007 9:12 pm

Interesting take on the game from the Leeds site ...

http://www.leedsunited.com/page/NewsroomDetail/0,,10273~1191464,00.html

'Just Rewards' :roll:

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Sat Dec 15, 2007 9:31 pm

supersaddler08 wrote:Interesting take on the game from the Leeds site ...

http://www.leedsunited.com/page/NewsroomDetail/0,,10273~1191464,00.html

'Just Rewards' :roll:


Dont worrie about them they talk bolls!

Most leeds fan dont even go on there!

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Sat Dec 15, 2007 9:42 pm

spot on, agree with every last word.
Plastic Hawk wrote:Awesome performance today. Best of the season by far against what was, in fairness, a very accomplished Leeds side. Just a shame that the deflected goal in the last minute (from a free kick I thought should have gone our way if there was a foul in there at all) left a bitter taste.

Once again our back four was immense. Definitely the best I've seen in this division this season. Gerrard was man of the match by a country mile for me. Him and Dann had Beckford and Constantine in their pockets throughout (did Leeds actually have a shot on target all game? - I'm assuming the free kick was missing before it deflected). In front of them Wrack rolled back the years to give a performance that would have done him proud in his prime. Sweeney was excellent on the left wing, retaining possession well and putting some decent balls in as well as tackling back to help out Fox. Bradley once again looked totally comfortable at this level - you'd have thought he was an experienced League 1 player, not a 19-year-old who's been a regular for less than three months. Deeney fitted in well on the right too - I'd start him ahead of Sonko next week. Up front I thought Ricketts and (especially) Mooney did a decent job holding the ball up and bringing others into play too.

In short, a fantastic performance all round and more like that will see us climbing further up the table. All we need now, is to add the ability to break down teams who don't come to play an open game like Leeds did today.

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priestley_saddler
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Sat Dec 15, 2007 10:27 pm

Can only really echo what's already been said. I know we've beaten Forest and thrashed Huddersfield already this season, but I think that was the best performance. It's been a long time since I came out the ground that gutted that we haven't got what we deserve.

Ince didn't have a worthwhile effor to save all match which was a testimant to our back four. Gerrard was an absolute collossus and should have walked away with MOTM. Bradley and Wrack as a midfield combination seems to really be gelling. I was concerned that a side as good as Leeds would overrun us in midfield but both of them were a credit to the club. I don't agree with people that say Leeds weren't very good because they were. We were just brilliant and more than matched them all over the pitch.

I don't understand the chants for Ishy to come on. To bring him on would have meant taking Sweeney off or changing the shape, I don't think their was really the opportunity, or the justification, for introducing him.

The only two negatives were Sonko when he came on, I think he was weaker than Deeney and other than the one volley he didn't do a lot. The only other one is, according to DD on WM, Fox has picked up his 5th booking and will now miss a match.

I've got sympathy for their player carried off at the end (Douglas I think it was), nobody's leg should point at that angle and I wish him a speedy recovery.

Overall though, it's really difficult to keep your feet on the ground after a performance like that. I feel we've set the benchmark now and if we play like that week on week then the top 6 is well within our grasp.

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PT
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Sat Dec 15, 2007 10:46 pm

Nearly didn't go today due to a right sod of a cold. However, I wrapped up like a brave little soldier and how I'm glad I did. I nearly got three Leeds supporting friends to agree that they were lucky but they couldn't quite manage it - lucky to get a point at little old Walsall would only compound the realisation that they are where they belong.

Our players were magnificent today. Anthony Gerrard was absolute class.

Well done everyone.

Fish
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Sat Dec 15, 2007 11:31 pm

I think that today has confirmed that we are serious promtion contenders. The team has a really solid look about them and I do not doubt that we have the ability to reach the play-offs. Two or three good signings or loans would cement this or even make us automatic promotion candidates in my view. Well done DD.

Leeds I thought were pretty good, but the important thing is that we were better.

Gerrard was outstanding today with Mooney not far behind.... and the rest not far behind them.

Great atmosphere also.

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Manchester Saddler
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Sat Dec 15, 2007 11:40 pm

I'd like to see if Leeds can maintain their momentum to be honest - from reading what people have said above, they are no great shakes and I suspect that they will fade away. Today's resut clearly tells me two things:

(1) Walsall are a very difficult team to beat at the moment.
(2) It's all hype with Leeds (and I still hope they crash and burn).

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Guest
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Sun Dec 16, 2007 2:22 am

Willy Nilly wrote:
Guest wrote:

Unfortunately, Carlisle's away. But I should get to the Yeovil home game as well.


The Yeovil game now falls into the 'TBA' category.

We'll be playing Millwall in the 3rd round of t'cup on the day we should have played Yeovil.

Kick-off's been brought forward an hour at the request of the police too.


Walsall v Yeovil on 9 February? I think I'm OK there - unless it's snowed/frozen off, of course....

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Guest
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Sun Dec 16, 2007 2:36 am

Willy Nilly wrote:
Guest wrote:

Unfortunately, Carlisle's away. But I should get to the Yeovil home game as well.


The Yeovil game now falls into the 'TBA' category.

We'll be playing Millwall in the 3rd round of t'cup on the day we should have played Yeovil.

Kick-off's been brought forward an hour at the request of the police too.


Thanks. That's useful to know - means I can get to bed an hour earlier. KO is 10pm Hong Kong time.
(Hope Saddlers World is working :roll: )

We-ARE-Walsall
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Sun Dec 16, 2007 9:42 am

Football, what a cruel game it is sometimes. The ref had got 'big club' syndrome. Every decision went their way. It reminded me of watching Man United

Leeds wouldn't have scored any other way, if they had still been playing now, a cruel blow, that left me feeling a little sick

Thats the bad news, the good news is, we were fantastic all over the pitch. Mooney got motm, i'm not arguing with it, even if the excellent Gerrard should have got it, Mooney gave everything he had got , and more, as he always does. Bradley wouldn't have been far behind for my choice. He goes about his job, neat and tidy. Yet covers every blade of grass. He can also tackle, which is a rare thing for a midfielder these days. Not to mention his shot that oh so deserved a goal.

Play offs is the least this team should be aiming for, Walsall that is. Had we not give the rest of the pack a 5 game start, I would say they should be aiming for automatic promotion. As it is, the future looks bright , not just for this season, but for years to come.

Not taking anything away from the lads, yesterday, or over the past un beaten months, just an observation, that could improve us a lot. We lack something in the last 3rd. Not sure if it is a creative player, or a goal poacher, or something else, but we are actually dominating spells of games, without actually looking like scoring. Fix that problem, and off we go

Up th Saddlers

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Chomper
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Sun Dec 16, 2007 9:45 am

ANOTHER good performance yesterday. I'm dissapointed to only get a point as I felt we controled most of the game. Pre match, the thought of trying to stop a very good attacking side in Leeds was a tough one, but our defence was absolutely superb, backed up by the impressive Wrack. If we can keep that sort of consistency I cannot see us conceding many goals. The Play offs are now a very real possibility and this team is slowly starting to believe that they aren't half bad.

The organisation and solidity as a unit were unbelievable, especially for those so young.

MOM was a hard choice as any of the back 4 could have won it, but Gerrard would have been my choice. A man mountain! Bradley was everywhere and also played well alongside Wrack.

One thing I was really impressed with was our crossing. Weston in particular supported Deeney and Sonko well and I thought he put 3 or 4 good balls into the box.

Someone needs to teach Ricketts the offside rule. What is he - a girl! :P

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Duke
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Sun Dec 16, 2007 10:37 am

Chomper wrote:ANOTHER good performance yesterday. I'm dissapointed to only get a point as I felt we controled most of the game. Pre match, the thought of trying to stop a very good attacking side in Leeds was a tough one, but our defence was absolutely superb, backed up by the impressive Wrack. If we can keep that sort of consistency I cannot see us conceding many goals. The Play offs are now a very real possibility and this team is slowly starting to believe that they aren't half bad.

The organisation and solidity as a unit were unbelievable, especially for those so young.

MOM was a hard choice as any of the back 4 could have won it, but Gerrard would have been my choice. A man mountain! Bradley was everywhere and also played well alongside Wrack.

One thing I was really impressed with was our crossing. Weston in particular supported Deeney and Sonko well and I thought he put 3 or 4 good balls into the box.

Someone needs to teach Ricketts the offside rule. What is he - a girl! :P


to be fair a lot of those decisions were 50/50 and could have gone either way . no doubt in my mind the ref favoured the big club.
agreed what Blazing says about Bradley , what a player he's becoming , runs his socks offs .

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YGA Saddler
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Sun Dec 16, 2007 12:18 pm

Irrespective of the last minute fluke, I am so proud of those boys.

We MUST start to believe the play-offs should be our target, even with a squad as thin as ours.

Gerrard, Dann, Fox and Bradley OUTSTANDING!

This reminds me of the Graydon era, the passion is back on the terrace, the togetherness is back throughout the club and we are very hard to beat, however tis time around we have very few foreigners and the average age of the squad is around 24/25 opposed to 34! :lol:

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Geordiesaddler
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Sun Dec 16, 2007 12:52 pm

Well its fantastic to read all of these positive views, I just hope some of the fans who went along yesterday who don't normally will start to turn up week in week out.

I'm extremely disappointed not to hear from our "Boresall" correspondent.
Funny how some people only surface when its time to moan, carp, and to say "I told you so".

You would never get me doing that! :lol:

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Duke
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Sun Dec 16, 2007 12:53 pm

Geordiesaddler wrote:Well its fantastic to read all of these positive views, I just hope some of the fans who went along yesterday who don't normally will start to turn up week in week out.

I'm extremely disappointed not to hear from our "Boresall" correspondent.
Funny how some people only surface when its time to moan, carp, and to say "I told you so".

You would never get me doing that! :lol:


:lol: :lol:

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Four Oaks Saddler
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Sun Dec 16, 2007 1:02 pm

Duke wrote:
Chomper wrote:ANOTHER good performance yesterday. I'm dissapointed to only get a point as I felt we controled most of the game. Pre match, the thought of trying to stop a very good attacking side in Leeds was a tough one, but our defence was absolutely superb, backed up by the impressive Wrack. If we can keep that sort of consistency I cannot see us conceding many goals. The Play offs are now a very real possibility and this team is slowly starting to believe that they aren't half bad.

The organisation and solidity as a unit were unbelievable, especially for those so young.

MOM was a hard choice as any of the back 4 could have won it, but Gerrard would have been my choice. A man mountain! Bradley was everywhere and also played well alongside Wrack.

One thing I was really impressed with was our crossing. Weston in particular supported Deeney and Sonko well and I thought he put 3 or 4 good balls into the box.

Someone needs to teach Ricketts the offside rule. What is he - a girl! :P


to be fair a lot of those decisions were 50/50 and could have gone either way . no doubt in my mind the ref favoured the big club.
agreed what Blazing says about Bradley , what a player he's becoming , runs his socks offs .


Even the 50-50 challenges were going Leeds way, while blatant fouls were frequently missed / ignored. I can tolerate refs that are inept for both teams (and let's face it, there's a lot of them around), but there's no doubt Leeds were getting more than the rub of the green. It's just a shame that (for me), one of the best Walsall performances under Money has been over-shadowed by the performance of the officials. (Rant over).

Great performance again by the lads, shame about the result. I'd have taken the point before the game, but looking back now, there's no doubt we deserved all three. The defence (inc. Ince) were again were immense. Fox, Dann and Gerrard again put in the performances we're coming to expect while Weston is rapidly starting to match them.

I must admit, I thought the midfield were going to struggle, but i'd say, in the end, we more than matched them. Deeney came in and did well, and I was fairly surprised when he was taken off. His main weakness is his final ball when getting to the by-line, but, you couldn't really say that that improved when Sonko came on. Wrack is really growing into his holding role (despite his inability to tackle) and Bradley continues to flourish. I also think Sweeney would be a useful, full-time addition. He's the kind of player I was expecting when we signed Kevin Cooper last season.

Mooney did what Mooney does, and got the goal his performance deserved. And Ricketts, for all his faults, really seems up for it too.

I said last Saturday that it goes to show how far we've come when we're disappointed with a point, and I think today backs that up. Onwards and upwards, I say.

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moaning saddler
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Sun Dec 16, 2007 3:09 pm

A glowing report from the Yorkshire Evening Post :

http://www.mysporttoday.co.uk/ViewArtic ... tcode=leed

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WFC_Rob
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Sun Dec 16, 2007 4:16 pm

Like others have said, emotions after yesterdays game felt closer to those after a defeat than a win.
I thought we looked rushed, anxious and over-awed at times from the first whistle but grew in confidence, led by Mooney and Ricketts up front and 'big game' Gerrard at the back who had the game of his life.

There isn't really a lot to say because yesterday was no different to the previous five or so league games. As Money said after the game, many will look at that result and think we worked flat out to scrape a point against the 'mighty' Leeds, but that was far from the case.

If we're going to nit-pick a bit, I'd argue that Deeney looked out of place on the right of midfield, as you'd expect bearing in mind the fact that he's a centre forward. He worked hard and was probably a better option than Sonko, but I felt sorry for him and Weston behind him because Deeney didn't know what to do a lot of the time. Hopefully he'll learn from the experience though and become a better player for it.

Yet again, the younger members of the squad proved just how much progress they have made. Dann, Fox and Bradley followed Gerrard's lead and played well enough never to look out of place against a side with plenty of International, European, Premiership and Championship experience. I worry that people are getting a bit carried away with Bradley as he seems to be the one being singled out as exceptional every week. I actually thought he struggled with the pace of the game for the first 45 minutes yesterday and didn't have one of his better games. As I say though, the fact that he looked far from out of place is to his credit.

I really hope we can keep this run going and add to the team. If we can get a player of a similar ilk to Sweeney to play on the right, I think we'll attack much more convincingly. I really think that at the moment, that's the only position requiring strengthening.

BathSaddler
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Sun Dec 16, 2007 4:17 pm

Superb performance yesterday, even if considerably disappointed at the end by an equaliser that, on balance, they did'nt deserve.

The back four were excellent, they played the Leeds forward line out of the game. Either that, or Leeds are not as good as they, or the rest of the league, think they are. Gerrard and Dann were immense though and we look so difficult to break down. The midfield, with Wrack sitting deep, were much more effective than I thought they would be, and Bradley must be the find of the season. Dare I say, the box-to-box midfielder we are looking for? A Frecklington/Mattis type figure in January would still be nice though.

Mooney. What a hero. As a good display as I've seen from a Saddler upfront - his footballing brain at times reminded me of Teddy Sheringham, but with more grit and determination, and considerably less hair. He seemed one step ahead of his coleagues at times.

The only disappointment: Sonko. What has happened to him? A pile driver of a shot, but other than that he seems not sure what he is doing. Can we not ask DD to bring Ramadan forward a bit - I mean he seems to be able to do everything else?

Overall, very proud. On that performance, I see no reason why we can't aim for the top 6, particularly if, and it is a big if, we strengthen.

Well done DD. Well done the lads.

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philthesaddler
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Sun Dec 16, 2007 5:27 pm

Really good performance, completely different from Forest and Northampton at home...

We outplayed Leeds, who I thought looked average and surprisingly toothless upfront.

Thought the ref was poor, didn't really control the game well enough, and the linesman on the Bankss stand side was poor, no way was Ricketts offside every single time.

We've shown we can mix it with the big boys in this League, we just don't score enough goals - in the last 9 league games we've only scored 8, so we averaging just under a goal a game, I think to continue this push for the playoffs that figure needs to be around the 1.5/1.7 goals per game mark.

philthesaddler
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Sun Dec 16, 2007 5:31 pm

Oh, and a word for Rhys Weston, who's gone from being a complete donkey, to putting in a very good performance yesterday, Bradley also impressed me.

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