W 2-1 vs Swindon Town (A) - League Two - Mon 26th Dec, 3pm

I’ll stick something similar on the match thread when it appears but if you’re looking to get Stockport (h) tickets then getting them beforehand is definitely the right choice.

Not because we’ll sell out (unfortunately), it is just that Stockport sold out a week or so ago and we’ve told those who want to pay on the day to rock up at our ticket office. Their fans are guessing there will be quite a lot rocking up at our ticket office on the evening.

Excellent away support so far this season. Can only see it getting better! :grinning:

Well we do like cats :grinning: :grinning: Another point on sticking to a back 3 is that Gordon and Allen were signed to play the left wing back roles so I think a change in system is highly unlikely. I hope Bennett stays but it is unlikely in my view.

Brilliant performance. I really love this team.

At no point did we deserve to lose that game, Swindon had periods of possession, but never really threatened thanks to our discipline and our immense centre halves. It wasn’t a pretty game, but that’s testament to the fact Swindon were a good side too.

Credit to Daniels, Monthe and, most importantly White who’s been quietly superb recently. With those three, we rarely look like conceding too many, if at all.

Tommy Knowles is turning in to a really good player at this level and I hope he continues to improve.

I do worry that losing Bennett and Johnson in January could rip a big hole in this team, but I’m quietly confident neither would want to leave us at this point of the season whilst on such a good run.

Personally I don’t think our midfield played that well yesterday, Earing, Hutch and Kinsella I’d give a 7, 6, 7 respectively, but we still won.

2 home games on the bounce now and a chance to properly solidify a top 6 position going in to 2023 - what a job Flynn is doing. Fair play.

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It was just a comment that i thought that semmed low

Our away support has been excellent particulary given the quality of some of the football

And id agree also there seems far more than 400 plus. Maybe swindon cant count

Onwards and upwards

We need to try and keep that centre back pairing together as in my opinion they are easily League 1 standard

The rest of the team. Goalkeeping, fullbacks / wide players, midfield an upfront we would need to strengthen in League 1

I would even suggest putting Kins in as rwb and comely in kins place, the back 3 is a rock and we cannot change that.

Maddox made a difference when he came on for us. I would give Maddox a start on Thursday.

When we scored the winner, both teams were down to ten.
The farce of the referee not allowing Wilko back on the pitch after changing his shorts. Why?
As the team celebrated, Wilko turned to the fourth official to ask if he could go on the pitch to join them? :grinning:

Also, what was DJ booked for after the equaliser?

No thank you, lets not start putting square pegs in round holes.

I think our away support has been solid rather than spectacular, tbh, given we are geograpically convenient for most places in comparison to many clubs ( a controversial view perhaps). Our away support has been:

Newport - 857
Barrow - 268
Gillingham - 333
Bradford - 422
Leyton Orient - 367
Stockport - 1,252
Mansfield - 796
Sutton - 349
Carlisle - 317
Donny - 609
Swindon - 465 ( we sold 435 pre-match, I can’t believe we only sold 30 on the day)

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@Thanatos feels he is better suited to this position if I remember correctly :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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We have won 3 of the last 4 away games after winning just 2 of the previous 22 away games :smile:

100 pct agree. I like maddox. Has that bit of composure and quality which makes a big difference at this level

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I call it as it pal.

I honestly didn’t see this turn of form occurring - and certainly more so to the extent - and I don’t think anyone else did either. The change is really quite remarkable.

I’ll hold my hands up - not afraid to do that - and I didn’t see a promotion charge with Kinsella anchoring in the midfield. To be fair, he’s been really great since the turn in form - and I think it’s helping playing with better players. I don’t think he’s sort of ‘player of the season’ level (as in previous years, which wasn’t hard - as I mentioned many times) but he’s certainly a starter in that midfield - a 3 man midfield - which to be fair to myself, I have always said suits him better.

I couldn’t be happier if I was wrong about Kinsella - he deserves it.

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Only pulling your leg bud.

Like you say, I think most fans would be happy to see Kins performing well in a successful team. I also agree with your comment regarding the upturn in form, but long may it continue. I just hope fans remain realistic and don’t jump on the teams back should we hit a rough patch of form.

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It was actually a pretty poor game. However in our defence that comes off the back of, back to back cancelled games, terrible weather which left us unable to train regularly or properly, a players Xmas party (mid spell of no games or reduced training!) and well documented illness in the camp.

Given those circumstances it’s fair to say a lethargic or ‘rusty’ performance would be expected.

I felt we got better as the game went on while Swindon didn’t which was where the swing in game domination came from.

Defensively we always look strong and yesterday was no different. White, Daniels and Monthe were almost faultless. Owen Evens made two brilliant saves (albeit one resulted in the goal) and Kinsella was the stand out midfield player.

Elsewhere it was out attacking / in possession play where we struggled. That’s usual when rusty and it was our match winning players who looked a little off it relative to their usual levels.

Earring was really poor first half and improved very slightly, while Hutchinson had a good first half found it hard to get into second half. I’d have taken Earring off personally but the call to bring Maddox on was the right one at the right time as we’re starting to get on top and fresh legs at that time pushed momentum further.

DJ looked off his usual levels and Really should’ve scored and Knowles looked full of running but very lacking in quality.

Where we struggled to build our play was both wing backs were really off the pace with their attacking work. They didn’t offer much in possession at all and lacked quality with the ball and therefore we had very few outlets until Wilkinson came on and gave us more of a target to play through the middle too. Something Maddox in particular benefitted from.

A brilliant three points in a tough away fixture. I’d take 4 from the next two games now and then we’re halfway through probably the toughest run of fixtures anyone will get in this league in good shape.

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Well luckily for you, you almost always are :joy:

Massive kudos to Flynn for turning this around, because a little under 12 months ago the decline looked irreversible.

There was quite a large group in the middle of the Arkells stand about level with where I was who were jumping up and down and cheering at the final whistle.
They were either our fans or had a big accie come up.

Have to say I’m excited to see where this goes with Jacob.He clearly has potential going on where he began his career and with us having a decent history as being a club that rejuvenates careers he could work out to be a very good signing indeed.

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