Hemel Hempstead (H) - 11/8

[Nobby2]

i know its early days and we have 7 from 9 points but i cant see what issac or philpot bring to the team,issac just either gives the ball away or just its up without looking just like shin used to and philpot say no more.a very boring game with no width but we have wingers on the bench,oh how i miss ryno

[DA Mikey]

I’d agree with Nobby2 about Isaac and JamPot. Some sturdy performances from the back five and Noble got us around a pretty weak display. Driver started poorly, losing possession a couple of times but came into the game. Yesterday was the first I’ve seen of Simon Mensah and wasn’t impressed.
Still, we have only conceded one in three and are unbeaten, so a good start nevertheless.

[Kebabus]

Was excited to see PP and the match yesterday and intrigued to see the new team in action after 2 wins straight. Wow what a let down, tight game, Hemel looked like they were going to win it but defensively we are excellent. Missed creativity didn’t we? Ben Green.... is a good player, no doubt but he over did it in places, Issac and Philpot are rough diamonds. Noble was our best midfielder.

Now the penalty, ref gave it then 1 player should have taken responsibility, that was ugly and unprofessional to say the least, the guy who eventually took it never looked confident and was one of the worst.

That moment summed it up, highlight for me was catching up with the boys and happy to report the banter still there, I’m off to fing some Lionel Ritchie....

[dorset dart]

Anyone know why Elliot was missing yesterday?

My first game of the season and was interested to see how we would set up under the new management team. They obviously have a different style and vision for how they want the team to play. Defensively we looked quite solid and Tom B shaded the MOTM from my perspective, but going forward, after so many years of Ryno magic out on the right wing, I found it difficult to come to terms with the more narrow approach we now seem to adopt. To be fair, if Elliot had been playing it might have been a lot different, but as it was we lacked creativity, and with 3 games gone we have yet to score a goal from outfield play. I may just have to get used to a little less exciting wing play, as joint 2nd (ignoring goal difference) and unbeaten, is a pretty decent start to 2018/19.

[DA Mikey]

Anyone know why Elliot was missing yesterday?

Think he was at a wedding. To be honest, the team looked a husk of it’s former self without him, but as Kebabus (somehow I missed you yesterday!?) noted, at least defensively we are resolute.

[Aprouddart]

Hemel looked a good side and will be up there at the end of the season. Having missed the penalty it almost
seemed like a loss but in truth we didn't deserve anymore than a draw and never looked like scoring from open play.
Penalty taker, very unprofessional either from the management for not giving clear instructions or for players over ruling
and deciding amongst themselves. Philpot having wrestled the ball from DSY has to score, embarrassing. Hope Elliot
was just unavailable rather than injured as he was badly missed.

[Ozymandias]

F**king awful performance from both sides and as said 'After the Lord Mayor's Show'. Hemel must be kicking themselves at not wrapping up the game in the first 45.
We were totally disorganised throughout with just above average performances from Noble, Vint and Bonner. Deren probably deserves the MOTM by the two early saves alone.
After Tuesday's performance Greenhaugh and Issac failed to turn up for this one. Total waste. If we'd known that Issac was playing for Hemel I would have been tempted to have started with Billy in midfield. The entire first half was played over the other side of the pitch away from the Princes road side. Greenhaugh went missing for long periods and deserved his booking for 'diving'. And as for the well organised defence of Tuesday night well, at times they were being run ragged.
Again, how I wish we had Pughie up front with Sam-Yorke, because Del can't do it all himself. For the reporter in the NLP to say Jamie tried an 'audacious' lob of the keeper is beyond me, I don't think he had a clue what to do with it.
A shoddy performance enhanced by a HH side who were playing for a draw before 60 minutes were up.
A total crap game and a waste of my money.
I sincerely hope we can pull something out of the bag for Tuesday because based on 'that performance' we are in for a shellacking.
All my opinion of course.
Kudus was my MOTM.

[Ozymandias]

Sorry Keb, if you think that was a good defensive performance and that Greenhaugh is a good player based on your viewing of the game. Well, 1, the defence was all over the place at times and it was only HH's inability to get the ball into the net perhaps made the defence look good. And 2, as For Greenhaugh's rating at being a good player on yesterdays performance. You really should have been at Tuesday's match. It really was like Jekyll and Hyde.

[Lincoln exile]

As everyone has said, a terribly disappointing match and performance after the very encouraging last hour on Tuesday night. We do have to allow for the fact that six of the ten outfield players were new to the club this year and two of them barely featured in the pre-season games, but that doesn't explain why we went backwards in terms of cohesion and pattern from Tuesday to Saturday. I'm not sure Elliot's absence was the real difference either, although we are undoubtedly going to miss him when he has other commitments during the season. I haven't yet seen the strengths of Chez and Jamie, although the former must be capable of better than we have seen to have played at a higher level for a significant period.
The argument over the penalty was amazing. I have seen something similar before, but on that occasion the players were eleven year-olds playing in a school Under-12 team. At Dartford's level it was totallu unacceptable.

[babylon]

Thought we did ok,it is early days but one of two of our new lads
look a bit overawed to me.
The penalty was fortunate but Philpots effort from the spot was awful.
Defence looks good and the midfield will be fine when Brad is back
Up front looks a bit lightweight to me apart from DSY but we will see how
they shape up by the end of september.