Post-Match Thread and Ratings Southend United vs Cheltenham Town

[Ricey]

Please post all reports and ratings in here.

 

[prawntobewild]

Got ourselves in front perhaps underservedly , couldn't find a second goal , looked like we'd held on then disaster.
We battled hard again today but lacked a bit of pace & guile at times. The defence generally did well - Midfield to a man were up & down with Laird still not quite fit IMO. Upfront Bazza did his usual grafting with nothing to show for it.
Looked like defo handball to me but seemed to be well after the 4 mins added time.
Bentley again did well -but for a change i'd give MOM to Whitey over Timlin.

 

[Pak Power]

can't argue with any of the above

 

[Lord Football]

Penalty was 20 seconds within the 4 minutes.

Lucky to get a point. Seemed to think that turning up was enough.

A game to forget.

 

[prawntobewild]

Penalty was 20 seconds within the 4 minutes.

Lucky to get a point. Seemed to think that turning up was enough.

A game to forget.

Oakie doke - wasn't timing it myself but both guys either side of me thought it was over the 4 mins.

 

[Murkey_Mouse]

Maybe that explain why Ron Martin storm to the pitch, at least he care lol

 

[davewebbsbrain]

Corr fouled at every opportunity, given offside at least 3 times wrongly in the second half. Booked for scoring after the whistle but the Chelts player wasn't when he did the same.

Atkinson booked for god knows what.

Straker booked for standing by the ball when it was being taken out of position.

Straker pushed in the box and the ball hits his hand. Kettle wasn't even properly sighted.

Ron Martin on the pitch trying to get to Kettle at the end. Kettle is the biggest tosser on this earth.

 

[Shrimper]

Don't see how it was a penalty. Two points dropped regardless.

 

[essexshrimper]

Bentley 7,
white 8 MOTM, Keirion 6.5 Prosser 7, Coker 6.5
Hurst 7, Atkinson 7, Laird 7, Timlin 6.5 Straker 6.5
Corr 7

i timed the extra time, always do, dunno why, Kettle blew for Penalty at 95.03, didnt see Ron Martin but did see Prosser & White having a "CHAT" with Mr Kettle at the end

 

[Southampton Shrimper]

What today's result does mean though is that we haven't lost a League match in November for four years.

 

[Sandbach Shrimper]

First game I've seen since Wycombe away. Well, first let's get the rant at Trevor Kettle out of the way first. I've had a bit of time to calm down. How is this man still refereeing at a professional level? I know they have a hard job but he is consistently diabolical. I didn't really see the penalty incident, there were lots of bodies in there, and I do think it was just about within the stoppage time as refs aren't meant to blow the whistle when it looks like there might be a goalscoring chance. It was just his overall performance and inconsistency. For example, booking Corr for kicking the ball away when one of their players did the same thing in the first half. Falling for Cheltenham's diving. Also Cheltenham could arguably have had someone sent off in the 2nd half, think it was number 16 who made a lunging tackle on Prosser. Luckily didn't catch him but intent was there and it was dangerous.

Anyway, I think Cheltenham would've been disappointed if they'd come away with nothing as they dominated the early part of the first half and the whole of the second half. Their attackers caused us some problems but they were a bit wasteful in the final third. Could see them maybe sneaking a play-off place. It wasn't our best performance but we seem capable of grinding out results which is a good trait to have. Thought Cheltenham dominated the midfield, Timlin and Atkinson were quiet. Laird and Taylor had a good old battle in the middle of the park. We didn't create many chances but thought we defended well, Prosser in particular was outstanding. We've scored a few last-minute winners this season so can't complain too much I guess, still in the top three but it is so tight in the table. Crowd got behind the team well in the second half. Ratings:

Bentley 8 - Didn't put a foot wrong. Made a few smart saves early on and was confident and dominant at set-pieces. Looked like he might have picked up an injury near the end though which is worrying. He's improved a lot as the season's gone on.

White 7 - Dealt fairly well with the threat of McGlashan and his diagonal first-time cross to Straker in the 2nd half was sublime. Got forward at the right times, good performance from the skipper.

Prosser 9 - MOTM. Won everything in the air, brave, no nonsense, held firm when Cheltenham were putting on the pressure.

Kiernan 7 - First time I've seen him. He was good in the air but sometimes took risks with the ball at his feet. Could have a bright future in the game.

Coker 6 - Didn't really notice him much, didn't get forward as much as usual but stuck to his task defensively.

Hurst 6 - Good composure for the goal but his delivery wasn't at its best.

Laird 6 - Got stuck in but lost the ball a few times.

Atkinson 6 - Reminds me a bit of James Milner. Doesn't appear to do a lot but he's a good hard-working team player.

Timlin 7 - Did his job reasonably well, popped up with some important tackles and interceptions.

Straker 6 - Typical Straker, some good bits some bad. Not the brightest is he?

Corr 8 - Prominent role in the first half, lots of knock-downs and set up the goal. 2nd half he was very isolated but ran his nuts off, I'm surprised Brown didn't take him off for Reid cos he must have been knackered.

 

[Chaucer]

Thought it was a clear penalty, why straker had his hands so far up in the air is beyond me. Cheltenham deserved the point.

Bentley 9, Corr 7, everyone else 5 or 6, bar Straker who gets a 4 for being the most frustrating player I have seen - he goes from the sublime to the ridiculous. Second half typified by a fantastic through ball to Corr half way through to then consistently losing the ball to then conceding the penalty at the end.

 

[RobM]

I thought White got roasted by McGlashan so no 8 from me.

 

[IloveShrimp]

I agree with most of the above, although I think our manager should perhaps take the blame for this not being a win. In my opinion once we got ahead he should have put two up front and taken the game to Cheltenham.

 

[shrimpled]

Poor game. Poor performance. Poor refereeing display.

I thought Straker was pushed before it hit his hand. The most forgettable game I've seen this season but a point gained.

 

[fbm]

First game I've seen since Wycombe away. Well, first let's get the rant at Trevor Kettle out of the way first. I've had a bit of time to calm down. How is this man still refereeing at a professional level? He is consistently diabolical. I didn't really see the penalty incident, there were lots of bodies in there, and I do think it was just about within the stoppage time as refs aren't meant to blow the whistle when it looks like there might be a goalscoring chance. It was just his overall performance and inconsistency. For example, booking Corr for kicking the ball away when one of their players did the same thing in the first half. Falling for Cheltenham's diving. Also Cheltenham could arguably have had someone sent off in the 2nd half, think it was number 16 who made a lunging tackle on Prosser. Luckily didn't catch him but intent was there and it was dangerous.

Anyway, I think Cheltenham would've been disappointed if they'd come away with nothing as they dominated the early part of the first half and the whole of the second half. Their attackers caused us some problems but they were a bit wasteful in the final third. Could see them maybe sneaking a play-off place. It wasn't our best performance but we seem capable of grinding out results which is a good trait to have. Thought Cheltenham dominated the midfield, Timlin and Atkinson were quiet. Laird and Taylor had a good old battle in the middle of the park. We didn't create many chances but thought we defended well, Prosser in particular was outstanding. We've scored a few last-minute winners this season so can't complain too much I guess, still in the top three but it is so tight in the table. Crowd got behind the team well in the second half. Ratings:

Bentley 8 - Didn't put a foot wrong. Made a few smart saves early on and was confident and dominant at set-pieces. Looked like he might have picked up an injury near the end though which is worrying. He's improved a lot as the season's gone on.

White 8 - Dealt well with the threat of McGlashan and his diagonal first-time cross to Straker in the 2nd half was sublime. Got forward at the right times, good performance from the skipper.

Prosser 9 - MOTM. Won everything in the air, brave, no nonsense, held firm when Cheltenham were putting on the pressure.

Kiernan 7 - First time I've seen him. He was good in the air but sometimes took risks with the ball at his feet. Could have a bright future in the game.

Coker 6 - Didn't really notice him much, didn't get forward as much as usual but stuck to his task defensively.

Hurst 6 - Good composure for the goal but his delivery wasn't at its best.

Laird 6 - Got stuck in but lost the ball a few times.

Atkinson 6 - Reminds me a bit of James Milner. Doesn't appear to do a lot but he's a good hard-working team player.

Timlin 7 - Did his job reasonably well, popped up with some important tackles and interceptions.

Straker 6 - Typical Straker, some good bits some bad.

Corr 8 - Prominent role in the first half, lots of knock-downs and set up the goal. 2nd half he was very isolated but ran his nuts off, I'm surprised Brown didn't take him off for Reid cos he must have been knackered.

Very generous marks there. We were pretty dire today, with only Bentley and Corr coming out with much credit.

Prosser and Kiernan both made a few mistakes in the first half and especially the first 20 mins when we were under the cosh a bit. White was roasted by McGlashan and Coker seemed to be a shadow of the player who has been so good recently.

In the midfield, Hursts delivery was poor all game, either overhit or never got past the first man and Straker was Straker. Not anywhere near as bad as some think, but gave away the penalty.

Too many cooks spoil the broth is how I would describe playing Laird, Timlin and Atkinson in the same midfield. They are too similar. We should have had the extra man in midfield but it was always them who came out with the ball.
How many saves did Bentley make? Loads. How many did their keeper make? Errr... can't think of one. They comfortably won the corner count and we had no spell of pressure in the game at all. We were lucky to get a point in my opinion.

Ratings

Bentley - 8.5 - MOM

White - 6
Prosser - 6.5
Kiernan - 6.5
Coker 6 -

Atkinson - 5
Timlin - 5
Laird - 5
Straker - 5
Hurst - 6

Corr - 8

 

[South Bank Hank]

Just seen the highlights on SSNews - a penalty all day long, Straker jumping to compete with a couple of players, but with his arms above his head and the ball hitting his hand. He may have been under pressure but his hand should have been nowhere near that area. We'd have screamed for that had it gone the other way. Talking of hands, frustratingly (and I'm a fan of his generally), Straker was almost single-handedly responsible for the added time, running away from the throw-in that really ****ed off the ref and getting the booking for delaying the free-kick. Time wasting is part of the game but you've got to be cute about it!!

MOM? Prosser dominant again, but I'd give it to Barry Corr for his leadership up front, his knock-down for the opening goal, and for running off a broken foot in the second half.

Bentley just seems to be getting better and better - great distribution (for the most part), a couple of smart saves and excellent command of his box today.

 

[united we stand]

I agree with most of the above, although I think our manager should perhaps take the blame for this not being a win. In my opinion once we got ahead he should have put two up front and taken the game to Cheltenham.

100% agree. Brown invited them to attack us. To add insult to injury to be it was obvious to take straker off earlier and bring on fresh attacking legs and I said that before the goal

 

[dannypav]

We were very flat today , but hey we were due an off day.
Draw was about right - we certainly didn't deserve any more than that.
Thought Prosser MOM once again , followed closely by Bentley.
Corr put in a lot of effort.
Straker is frustrating , but the only source of pace we have , so without him we don't have that 'out' ball.

A few points on the ref.
Yes he is frustrating , but he certainly didn't get as much wrong as other have said.
Why do we have to moan at the 'injustice' rather than just accept we were poorish.
Stop looking for excuses.

1. It was a definate penalty.
2. It was within the 4 mins added time.
3. Straker stopped them taking a free kick quickly - booking.
4. Corr played on when he clearly knew the whistle had gone - booking.
( yes their player did the same and he should have been booked ).

 

[bazzashrimper]

Definite penalty was my thought when I saw it at the time. That said, the ref made a few other howlers, most noticeably the 2 footed lunge on Prosser which was a red every day of the week. Prosser didn't help us by shaking the guys hand, the modern day player should have been rolling on the floor.

Back to the game, Prosser, Bentley, white, corr impressed. Timlin and keirnan were ok. The rest were below par