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If anybody wants to see how NOT to defend watch this !!

What the hell was Aaron Downes thinking ???!!!!

Well that was painful viewing.

Shocking defending all round.

I can only assume that Downes had a massive rush of blood to the head, because that tackle was horrific. Looks bad in real time, and looks worse in slow motion.

Well, scrappy goals all around (including ours).

Ricey, who has been brilliant for us all season, clearly at fault for at least the first and third goals and his reluctance to come for crosses may have also been partly responsible for the second and fourth goals too! As far as the rest of the defence was concerned, it seemed to me that it was Ryan Bowman who missed a couple of headers for a couple of the goals rather than our centre halves. Best goal of the day was (Angus) MacDonald''s flying header.

Hopefully, just a one off .....

Rice was the reason we lost that game pure and simple. He was an absolute embarassment - that might be harsh but on that performance there are better goalkeepers in the North Devon league. He is clearly at fault for the first three goals. The third goal was a routine tip over the bar - pathetic.
He just doesn't come off his line at set pieces.
If there was a half capable keeper in goal we would have won that game easily 3-1.
Incidentally the Telford keeper didn't look any better - no wonder we were scoring goals from corners - he was rooted to his line as well.
I thought the Ajala sending off was harsh - I thought he tried to get the ball. It was the reaction of the Telford player and their bench which got him sent off, the bloke wasn't injured at all.
I don't even think the Downes foul was as bad as was made out. It was rash but he has actually hooked his leg around the player trying to get at the ball. He didn't actually go straight through the player.
Their defender has then run ten yards and started pushing Downes in the chest, which apparently is allowed.
Maybe its about time we wised up and started using the same sort of gamesmanship that other teams seem to employ and benefit from.
The Telford coach is clearly seen pointing at the dressing room after the foul by Ajala which is ridiculous. Maybe its time our players started rolling around the the floor like we've been shot.

Before Ajala got sent off, Cameron was warming up, and we assumed he would be coming on for Ajala, because Toby had already booked and looked at risk.

The sending off, in part, was down to the fouls Ajala made after his booking....on reflection the sum of all the fouls mean that a red card was justified.

I am sure CH will not agree with my comments on one of his golden boys...and that is part of the discipline problem, as I said on an earlier post, the team needs to see key players suspended before things will change

Agree with the post above. Wasn't at the game but spoke to someone who was at HT. They actually said that they would take Ajala off because he was definitely going to get another booking and get sent off - he had already been given his last warning before the break. In the circumstances Ajala was stupid to attempt the challenge. Not like the bloke is bearing down on goal.

As for Rice, I and a few others have consistently mentioned the fact that he is below the required standard. It was a matter of time before a performance like this would happen - for all his decent shot stopping the signs have been there this year and last. No point moaning about it though, it's not like it's a surprise. In his defence I will mention that my friend at the game apportioned no blame to rice for the first goal, so maybe the shot was trickier than it looked from the replays, however the rest of them are just embarrassing.

Also agree that Bowman got beaten too easily for two of their goals - however he has defended well at previous set pieces this season so hopefully that is a blip and not a habit.

Felt sorry for Arron downes.
His desperation to get the ball and go for an equaliser led to that tackle.
He was frustrated by his mis kick just prior to the tackle.
Don't be to hard on him!

Hargreaves is no mug and I doubt whether Rice will be here next season to be honest. Whether anyone was at the game or not is irrelevant - he has thrown a weak shot straight at the feet of their forward, was clearly at fault for the second goal and has made an even worse howler for the third.
I will be the first to say that he has done alot better than I thought he would but I would seriously worry if his confidence has been affected by saturday.
Forest Green have some big players and I would be loading it into the six yard box if I was them.
I have not seen Seabright at all but Rice is going to have to do alot better than he did on saturday - he has gifted the game to Telford pure and simple.
Hargreaves said that if we score three away from home we should win the game but if you have Calamity Jane in goal what do you expect?
Even more galling to have lost having seen the highlights. Even having two players sent off we would still have won it if it hadn't been for Rice.

I tweeted after about 20 minutes of the match that the referee would be the difference between the sides. We have only ourselves to blame, because we could all see what was happening and we gave the official all the excuse he needed. It's not a tough ask. If the players can see that they are facing a side which likes to go down at every opportunity and roll around as if in great agony, then the tactic is to stay on your feet, don't give their guys a chance to go down. They're Telford United (or whatever they're calling themselves this week), if we give them enough time, they'll **** it up all on their own. We don't need to be diving in to tackles to win the ball back. Downes was dumb to get frustrated. Ajala was dumb to dive in against that sort of opposition, with that sort of referee while already on a booking.

I can't bring myself to watch the highlights. Having been at the Woking match, which goes in my little black book as one of the best footballing nights of my life, I feel absolutely the opposite about Saturday. A horrible game against horrible opposition (in a nice enough ground) with a horrible referee and plenty of horrible defending.

Matt.

Thats probably easier said than done though. I was the first to criticise Downes and Ajala without having seen the match. For me Ajala has made a genuine attempt to get the ball. We have to compete though surely. Its not Ajala's fault that it happened right in front of the Telford dugout and the referee seemed intent on taking instructions from the Telford bench and players.
Their reaction is way over the top, their players reaction is ludicrous - but thats what the ref is supposed to be there for - to see thru that sort of tripe.
The Downes incident was a foul but he has tried to hook his leg around the player to get the ball. Again it is the Telford players reaction which makes it look ten times worse than it actually was.

Phipsy wrote:Felt sorry for Arron downes.
His desperation to get the ball and go for an equaliser led to that tackle.
He was frustrated by his mis kick just prior to the tackle.
Don't be to hard on him!

It's hard to feel sorry for Downes when he charges into the guy from behind. He was never going to win the ball and being one of the more experienced players in the team should know better. The worst thing about the tackle is that he had time to think about what he was doing - it wasn't a knee-jerk reaction. It didn't affect the result but now he's going to be banned for three games and will probably struggle to regain his place which is a shame because he has been outstanding this season.

As for the Telford players surrounding the referee and trying to get our players sent off, we reacted the same at Lincoln. All teams do it including ourselves.

Well that was just embarrassing to watch. Woeful defending on pretty much every goal.

The sending offs, I thought, were justified. Downes can't be making challenges like that but let's be honest, he's related to a convict so that side of him obviously shone through momentarily!

As for Telford, it seemed like they dug in well, took the opportunity to win and grabbed it with both hands. Well done to them. Their stadium also looks pretty good, Certainly good for a part-time team.

That was uncomfortable to watch - for me the Telford 3rd goal should go down as an OG against Rice as he seemed to flap it into his own net!

Listened to the game and watched the highlights. Not great viewing. However lets hope we learn the lessons now and quickly. We dont need to get involved in stupid tackles. We are a good enough side to outplay any side in this league home or away.
Downes has made a complete arse of himself and imo will struggle to get back in the side if Pearce plays to anything like we know he can.
It was an extremely poor performance all round, lets learn from it and move on.

We were at the game, our defence was shocking. At half time I wanted Ajala replaced with Cameron (who does not look fit by the way). The left side was so open I have no idea why we persevered on the right. The Downes tackle was stupid, but he was trying to get the ball desperate for one last attack, I can forgive him for that.
Poku was a real menace and deserved a second yellow on multiple occasions, if I was Richards I would have not been able to calm down.

A quick note on Luke Young, his performance as a Captain today was much improved upon that at Lincoln, room to improve but he definitely helped Richards stay on the pitch.

What's important is that CH sees what was happening and adapts for games from here, Forest Green will be a mighty test and hopefully the boys will redeem themselves. I'll be at Alfreton in a couple of weeks, hope to see a better performance. Step up Mr Pearce.