Goodson shot from the edge of the box goes just wide 68' 0-2

GOOOAAAL! O'Hanlon crosses for Goodson to score at the far post 71' 1-2

UPDATE 21:23
Barwell 2 Ilkeston Town 1
Kings Langley 2 Bedford Town 0
Redditch United 0 Stratford Town 2

Coleshill Town 2 Gresley Rovers 0 
Liverpool 1 Crystal Palace 1

UPDATE 21:27
Barwell 2 Ilkeston Town 1
Kings Langley 2 Bedford Town 1
Redditch United 1 Stratford Town 2

Coleshill Town 2 Gresley Rovers 0 
Liverpool 1 Crystal Palace 1

UPDATE 21:36
Barwell 2 Ilkeston Town 1
Kings Langley 2 Bedford Town 1
Redditch United 2 Stratford Town 2

Coleshill Town 2 Gresley Rovers 0 
Liverpool 1 Crystal Palace 1

Not the start we wanted. No wins in our first three matches. 

Tonight we're 17th in the table and after tomorrow night's matches we'll be even lower

Last edited by Matchman (15/8/2022 8:50 PM)

UPDATE 21:46
Barwell 2 Ilkeston Town 1 ft
Kings Langley 3 Bedford Town 1 ft
Redditch United 2 Stratford Town 2 ft

Coleshill Town 2 Gresley Rovers 0 ft
Liverpool 1 Crystal Palace 1 85'

2 shots 2 goals. To much of a gap between the back 4 and midfield.

The pressure is on and we haven't played well since chapman left

It’s football, it’s sport and your team won’t win every week, that’s the way it works; you only really appreciate the good stuff after you’ve been through the bad stuff. And we’ve been really lucky over the last 5 years – there’s been lots of good stuff. Yeh, ok, there’s a ‘but’ coming …
 
For me, that was another poor performance. Performances like that eventually get a manager the sack. And this isn’t a this-season thing either, we were poor for the last 9 games of last season and we were generally poor in pre-season, and we’ve been poor in most part for the 3 games this season. No wonder Martin Carruthers is ranting and raving on the touchline, he’s under severe pressure.
 
I thought Leiston looked a good team, but Barwell are a limited side, we should have beaten them.
 
We got caught out by pace (again). Another number 7 – Enoru (?) who flew past O’Hanlon like he wasn’t there. 1 down after 3 minutes.
 
All our moves forward are positively pedestrian. By the time we’ve got the ball out to a winger, the opposition have got half a dozen defenders in place. And time and time again we cross the ball into the box and you’ve got Gibson or Campbell (and neither is the biggest) on their own trying to win a header surrounded by defenders. Goodson will occasionally try and get in the box (as he did for his goal) but nobody else will. Ward won’t and none of our midfielders will, and they should be busting a gut to get in the box for crosses just to give us extra bodies in there and give us a chance of winning the ball.  
 
For me, the balance of the team is wrong. Thomas, Bird, and Bradley are too much of a muchness. We need a rampaging player like Morgan at Stamford has been for the last couple of seasons, or a player like Finlay Barnes (Leiston’s number 7) or Barwell’s Enoru. We need more players who can chip in with a few goals.
 
Someone please tell me why we signed O’Grady. And while you’re at it, please tell me what position he’s supposed to be playing. Last night, the front 6 were Bird, Thomas, Goodson, O’Grady, Gibson, and Ward. What was the midfield? Thomas and Bird?
 
You have to say Ward has contributed very little thus far. Goodson was a little better last night and missed an absolute sitter just before half-time that would have us going in level.
 
I appreciate we have problems with injuries, and I appreciate, Troke, Bradley, and Wakefield might have made a difference last night, but they weren’t available so you just get on with it with what you’ve got.  
 
If you look at how our defence has changed over the 3 games thus far …
 
Tamworth – Thomas (K), Bradley, Fenton, OBH (followed by Thomas (J), Thomas (K), Fenton, OBH)
Leiston – Thomas (K), Daly, Fenton, OBH
Barwell – Bennett, Turner, Fenton, O’Hanlon
 
And the midfield has probably changed just as much over the 3 games. How can you build up any sort of understanding, fluidity, and rhythm when you have those amount of changes?
 
You’ve got a good right-back on the bench in Tom Hilton, so why is Billy Bennett playing right-back? Why not play Billy left-midfield, the role he played so successfully at Stamford last season?  
 
A bit worryingly last night, you started to see forwards (I saw 3 separate players) just stopping after losing the ball or losing a challenge and not chasing back. Not always, but sometimes.
 
It’s a poor start, but there’s time to fix this. I’m sure Martin Carruthers is starting to see that the summer recruitment wasn’t the best. One of two fewer ageing has-beens and one or two more dynamic youngsters perhaps.
 

Last edited by Trowell Nicky (16/8/2022 3:59 PM)

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DATE: TUE 16 AUG 2022    BY STEVE WHITNEY

Kings Langley Go Top of Fledgling Table

Kings Langley didn’t feature very highly in bookmakers or pundits` choices as one of the favourites for promotion in the Pitching In Southern League Premier Division Central.

Monday night’s 3-1 win at the Orbital Fasteners Stadium against newly promoted Bedford Town sees Chris Cummins` side on top of the fledgling table, with two wins and a draw from their first three matches.

In front of a crowd of 347, it took Kings only 7 minutes to take the lead when Alex Lefleur finished a Jamie Jellis cross neatly at the neat post. The hosts held that lead until half-time. But just 9 minutes after the restart, Kings were reduced to ten-men when summer signing from Hartley Wintney, Ryan Case, was shown a straight red card for what the referee deemed to be a reckless challenge on Joe Butterworth.Then on 63 minutes, sub Cain Keller headed the hosts into a 2-0 lead, albeit against the run of play. Eleven minutes later, Hugh Albon Jones pulled the Eagles back into the game from a corner and embarked on an assault on the home defence, who stood firm.In the first minute of time added on at the end of the game, Kings sealed a hard-earned win when Keller scored his second with a terrific solo run and finish.

If Kings Langley weren’t fancied much by the bookies, another newly promoted side, Ilkeston Town, certainly were. However, a 2-1 defeat at the UK FLOORING DIRECT Stadium against a Barwell side who had lost their first two games, sees Martin Carruthers` Robins yet to win, having drawn their previous matches. And the Canaries could barely have got a better start when they were awarded a penalty inside the opening 2 minutes after Ben O’Hanlon had tripped Beck-Ray Enoru. The normally reliable Brady Hickey duly dispatched the spot-kick home. In front of a crowd of 455 boosted by a healthy number of travelling Robins` supporters, the home side held that one-goal advantage at the break. Then on 63 minutes, Barwell went two-up with a goal from Deen Master. Eight minutes later, Ilkeston were back in the game when Zak Goodson slotted home a O’Hanlon cross. But the Canaries held firm to record their first points of 2022/23.

The evening’s other game saw Redditch United, who had lost on Saturday at the Trico Stadium to Kings Langley after winning their opener at Hednesford Town, share a 2-2 draw with a Stratford Town outfit who had shared the spoils with Bedford on the opening day, only to suffer a 5-0 battering at St Ives Town last weekend. It was 0-0 at half-time and then the visiting Bards broke the deadlock after 68 minutes when a deflected effort fell kindly for Josh Hawker to fire past Kieron Boucher in the Reds` goal. And 6 minutes later, Stratford went two ahead when Will Grocutt’s free-kick somehow found its way into the far corner of the net. The home side reduced the deficit with 6 minutes to go with a close-range finish from Bernard Mensah. And then as stoppage time ticked in, recent signing Max Sheaf fired home Redditch’s equaliser to earn a share of the points.