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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2016 17:59:11 GMT
A fantastic 2nd half performance from the boys and a well deserved 3 points. Ryan and Ross up front could well be a potent partnership that ensures we create and score plenty goals this season, the team as a whole proved how good they can be and hopefully the confidence that a result like this brings can get us on the move up the league.Having said a few things about Ross in goals the last couple of games i feel it's only fair to say that I thought he had a good game and he looked as if he had more confidence in himself today for whatever reason so this also bodes well going forward in our league campaign.Also like to say our shape in the second half was a lot better and it certainly seemed to play to our strengths.
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Post by charlestheoptimist on Sept 10, 2016 19:11:03 GMT
Great all round team performance - the second half was Alloa in reverse - even an own goal to boot ! The way we got persistently behind the Stenhousemuir defence was very encouraging and in the end we could have got 10 - it is beginning to shape up well for the Airdrie game !
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Post by d7 on Sept 10, 2016 20:21:28 GMT
If we could play Stenny every week then we’d be world champions. We were good today, not much better than merely ‘good’ right enough, and certainly fully deserved our victory. Stenny were okay for the first half but as soon as we scored they crumbled and were in fact absolutely terrible thereafter.
I walked up from the turnstiles to the pitch today only to find that the Rovers were warming up at the Airdrie end. How did that happen? Did Stenny come out and ‘baggy’ our usual end before we could come out and claim it? A minor thing really but it fair interrupted my Karma. Strange things happen when you mess with the system – and so it proved to be with us running out 4-0 winners as opposed to losing (yet another) home game! I know which end we should be warming up in from now on!
When the teams came out for the start of the match it was the same – we lined up at the Airdrie end – seriously, what is that all about?!? First thing to notice was the Stenny goalkeepers strip – pink it was. Very pink actually. No really, it was pink as pink could be. Ross in our goal was resplendent in blue – I prefer that to the green keeper’s kit but in a clear display of solidarity with his Stenny colleague he had bright pink boots on. Must have borrowed them from Fish. And by the way what is all that about getting married in the middle of the season FFS? I know its part time football but come on. Anyway, congratulations to the newlyweds.
Mick still had his bandage on and after his goal scoring exploits last week maybe the Vardy comparisons aren’t that wide of the mark? It doesn’t seem to affect how he plays which is good news for us.
The game kicked off and within a minute we could have been a goal down with the Stenny forward breaking clear and firing high over the bar from a good position. A couple of minutes later and Stenny had another clear cut chance with a header fizzing just over – once again a ball into the box not being dealt with. Then we really started to motor and created chance after chance. Wallace danced past a couple of tackles before getting a cross into Willis who fired over. Then from a free kick Mick squared the ball across the face of the goal. The ball ended up in the back of the net back the ball seemed to just go out of play before Mick got to it so the ‘goal’ was chalked off. After that it was back to Stenny with their new number 7 Furtado giving Kyle a bit of a roasting before getting a shot away which Ross did well to save.
Our best player (by far) even this early in the season is Boyd. He was immense from start to finish today and at the heart of everything we created. After a few step overs Boydy crossed for Ferry who had a decent shot blocked. Boyd then went on a mazy run with the ball being knocked behind for a Rovers corner. Then a great chip from Ferry fell to Ryan Wallace whose volley brought out a great save from the Stenny keeper. Wallace then turned provider when he went on a great run before squaring for Boydy. Boyd took a touch and then turned the defender inside out before firing a decent shot over.
At this point it was beginning to look like one of those days where we weren’t going to find a goal. The half time whistle went and over the piece 0-0 at half time was a fair-ish reflection of the first half. Both sides had chances, we had the better ones and more of them; but it was fairly even.
Just a word then about the Rovers formation in the first half – could anyone work out what it was? We had 4 at the back and pretty much 4 up front which probably means it was a good old-fashioned 4-2-4 a la Brazil of the 1970’s. Whatever it was it was fairly shambolic. There was no discernible midfield and for lengthy spells in the first half Stenny controlled the midfield. We’ve definitely changed the way we play compared to the last 2 years. Previously we have been much more of a passing team, playing some really nice stuff. Now you don’t see anywhere near as much of that. It’s much more direct – and who am I to argue with a 4-0 victory today. It just doesn’t look very organised and better teams will destroy us in the middle of the park – like Alloa did last time out.
Something else that seems to have disappeared too is the half time scores – what happened to them? The stadium announcer today was a riot too, couldn’t quite get to grips with who was coming off and who was coming on as a replacement. When he finally did get one of the substitutes names right – announcing Connor Shields arrival – it got the biggest cheer of the day!
Into the second half and we continued to create chances. Striker Ross Stewart latched onto a long clearance from keeper Ross Stewart and set up Ryan whose shot was blocked. But we weren’t to be denied for long. After some decent play a good shot from the edge of the box was pushed away by the keeper but landed straight at the feet of our very own Boydyhimovic who tapped in from close range.
We didn’t have long to wait for goal number 2 and what a goal it was. Boydychenko received the ball in the centre circle and turned his marker inside out with ease. He passed to Wallace who galloped away before crossing low and hard for Willis to tap in. 2-0 and after that there was only going to be one winner.
Then it was Ryan’s turn. Ryan started the move, catching the Stenny defender in possession. He strode forward and seemed to take forever to get his shot away which the keeper saved. The ball broke to Stewart who also seemed to take an eternity to sort himself our before shooting – with his shot being blocked on the line! Wallace pounced and this time made no mistake from close range – 3-0.
Goal number 4 followed a good run by Ross Stewart before he sent in a great low cross which seemed to me to go in off the defender for an own goal. So 4-0 and we were really on easy street at that point. To be fair to Stenny they didn’t give up. In the last few minutes they had a goal chalked off for offside and Furtado continued to cause us problems with some direct running. But 4-0 it finished.
What a difference a few weeks makes then. Apart from our rather obvious lack of shape and more direct style of play, we played well and deserved to win. It wasn’t too pretty but it sure was effective. Boydynaldo was man of the match and that was thoroughly deserved. He was my man of the match after about 10 minutes. We’ve really uncovered a gem there and well done to Darren for seeing the potential in him. He’ll be man of the match most weeks, unless Ross Davidson’s mum and dad are the match sponsors of course.
Crowd was 301 today although it could have been 201, it wasn’t that easy to make out what the announcer was saying and with the way his day was going it really could have been anything. 301 looked about right. A pity really because it was a cracking game and a great day for football.
As for Stenny, well they matched us pretty much in the first half. After that they were quite dire. We definitely seem to have the hex over them and I’m sure they could start with Neuer in goal and Messi up front and we would still beat them. So hopefully a guaranteed 12 points from Stenny and another 12 from QP should see us just about safe in this league, but there is a long way to go.
A good day for the Cliftonhill faithful and that was a real morale boost today – for the fans as much as the players. No sign of the wee dug today, perhaps still in talks with another League 1 club not too far away from us – we’ll find out in a few weeks.
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Post by Prof on Sept 10, 2016 20:31:05 GMT
It was indeed Brian - but for bad luck and poor finishing we could've won by even more!!
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Post by Prof on Sept 10, 2016 20:40:01 GMT
Great to read all the positive comments re today's game. The first half was frustrating as we proved we were the best team and created chances but just weren't capable of finishing them. However the guys proved that they're a very good team in the 2nd half. From the minute we scored the confidence seemed to surge through the team(and support!) and we proved that we are easily a better team than Stenny.
Superb performance and result and the players deserve great credit.
ONWARDS AND UPWARDS!!!
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Post by fineen on Sept 10, 2016 21:27:03 GMT
I actually thought the game was pretty dire until the first goal, which seemed to inspire our boys and then we (not "we", actually, I wasn't playing) looked for a while as if we could score every time we got the ball. It could well have been even more convincing which would have flattered us somewhat, but the result is just what we needed to generate a bit of belief. We have a more than decent bunch of players, and if we can get everyone fit (and not suspended or getting married) should finish in a healthy position, perhaps even replicate last season's flirting with the play-off places. If all this seems a bit grudging - well done, lads.
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Post by arfcdm on Sept 10, 2016 21:40:19 GMT
I agree with fineen, thought the first hour of that game today was awful. More than pleased though to have won and especially with a score of 4-0. A word of warning though for the uber optimists. Stenhousemuir in my opinion are shockingly bad, and if we have an easier game the rest of the season I'll be surprised. That's not to take away from the last 30 minutes where we gave ourselves lots of chances and scored some of them. But far bigger tests to come.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2016 23:16:12 GMT
Great to get our first 3 points at home and also to get a clean sheet.That must give a wee bit of confidence to the defence.
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Post by d7 on Sept 11, 2016 7:34:15 GMT
I must have been reading too many of Prof's perfectly profound positive posts but I thought the first half was quite entertaining. There were more chances created at both ends of the pitch than you see in many of our games. Certainly the quality was pretty much non-existent but that's not really anything new. And although our pretty passing game has disappeared I quite enjoyed it yesterday.
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Post by thelaird70 on Sept 11, 2016 10:14:38 GMT
Have to agree with all that's been said. However can anyone explain to me why one of the tallest men on the pitch TAKES, and not always successfully, the corners?? Also, as I've said before, why do we have to wait for Reidy or Kyle to take the throw ins when often we have men clear if someone else took them. Yesterday by the time we took the throw in everyone was covered and inevitably we lost possession. Confusing !!
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Post by stewmelrover on Sept 11, 2016 11:13:22 GMT
Superb second half by Rovers: could have been 7 or 8 nil by the end. All the more encouraging, given that we were missing Fisher and Davidson in midfield.
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Post by Rovergrant on Sept 12, 2016 16:53:20 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2016 18:00:25 GMT
Cheers Rovergrant.......2nd half was a really good display from the team. Once the first goal went in, confidence grew. The simple passing for the last goal was a treat to watch!!! The long ball doesn't always work (well...it did for the 3rd?) but we can always play a bit fitba' when we need to. Maybe as the season progresses and the team gels this will happen. Great stuff!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2016 18:02:17 GMT
Got to remember this is their highlights.....we had one chalked off in the 1st half.
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Post by d7 on Sept 12, 2016 19:03:21 GMT
At the Alloa game one of their supporters asked me if I knew the wifi password at the stadium. Does anyone know what it is and can they let me know please? Didn't want to start a separate thread aka couldn't be bothered starting a new thread.........
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