Dartford v Taunton Town Sat 24 Feb 2024

[Stumpy]

Billy's distribution of the ball yesterday was excellent but the lad is looking vulnerable with a stuttering defence in front of him.

Strange thing to say after arguably his best effort for the club. He looked strong, yesterday. Any goalkeeper would look vulnerable with a weak defence in front of him.

He can't do it all.

[Park Life]

I was surprised and disappointed at yesterdays performance after we put in a good display away to Slough on Tuesday when we played with a decent tempo and looked good going forward. I really believe if we had played anywhere near that level yesterday we would have come away with a win but unfortunately we didn't so never took the game to Taunton and apart from the goal, i can only recall about a two or three efforts on target.
TB changed the formation yesterday going with two up presumable because he wanted to press Taunton but this never materialised and has now given him food for thought for Tuesdays team selection. Felt the substitutions were too late yesterday as we posed hardly any goal threat all game so changing it sooner would only have had a positive effect, as seen by Walls two late efforts on goal.
Olly Box debate is an interesting one, TB knows him better than any of us so must have had his reasons but when he came on he gave us a spark and raised hopes.

I thought Rooney and Terrell had solid games, Clifford looks decent at LB but MOTM for me was Coulson. Again showed what a quality player he is and always likely to make something happen for us.

Good to hear that some players are getting close to fitness again as with so many games coming up they will be needed.

Tuesday will be tough and i wonder whether will will go with the 4-4-2 again or revert to 4-5-1. Personally i would go with 4-5-1 and start with:-

Terrell
Statham, Nembhard (if suspended Adebowale), Rooney, Clifford
Shomotun, Wynter, Coulson, Smith, Box
Romain or Wall

[rambo]

A poor game to watch and glad of the point as it’s better than none. We are on a knife edge and hopefully Tony’s influence will allow us to regularly pick up points to stave off relegation.
Even though it was no spectacle I didn’t think we would ever lose. Pre Tony we would have laid down and died.
I made Clifford motm due to his willingness to drive forward and link up with Coulson. Crosses could have been better from both
No pressure but if we get nothing from the next two home games our chances of staying up will look a little bleak

[old git]

First game for a while, and felt sad to watch how far our team has fallen. Feel sorry for TB, he has some job on his plate. Too many poor players, and could do with more height. When Wall came on, he looked like a giant compared to most of the others. I thought Rooney and the keeper were the best of a bad bunch. Coulson ok but crosses into the box could have been better. Lets hope for a huge improvement for the run in.

[Stumpy]

MotM, Billy for me.
Nice high starting position to sweep up behind the back 4, catches, punches, vital saves, and phenomenal distribution.

Rooney came strong second half, Clifford very good both defensively and going forward. Coulson - run lots, saw the ball lots but apart from the goal, end product not great.

[Tony H]

TB will be forced into making at least one change on Tuesday night as Joash will be suspended! Adebowale should start.

Olly must start. I’d like to see Luke in the number 10 role behind Elliott.

[KentC]

There’s a post mortem to be had and the end of the season where there has to be some quarters admitting their roles in how we’ve come to this and why it’s not getting and better now. Opinions on players from who’s giving everything to who’s not, or who’s doing well or just not good enough.
This will come but for now let’s stick together.

I thought Billy was brilliant, everything about him, his handing, his technicals, his positioning to keep sweeping up, his coming out and reading of the game was superb. Nothing fancy dan just a brilliant all round display.

I thought Coulson was very good and Clifford too.

Box is clearly talented but didn’t have too much time and I trust TB to make the decisions he needs to, he knows the lads fitness and mental state.

Wall did well for the short period he was on.

We didn’t play well we know but stick together, the shit bits can be looked at after the season is over.

[ozymandias]

Stumpy, in answer to my remarks about Billy. Didn't you repeat what I said? Or did I read you wrongly as you so obviously read mine.
I hope I made that clear, or we could be here for the rest of the day.

[Stumpy]

Actually, thinking about it, you're right, I did. My bad

[Lars Resort]

As regards Billy's positioning it had to be spot on as on a couple of occasions he had to be out of his goal quicker. If he hadn't Rooney and Nembhart were struggling to catch the forward through on goal.

[Pedro]

Having 6 minutes of highlights says it all really. Looked like a pen on Shomotun and bad to give away a pen at the other end. We witness shooting at the practice goal every game at PP but very few shots on goal in games - though Olly has been a bit more and the shot from Wall must have hurt the keeper's hands/arms.

Anyway, keep plugging away and we will pick up enough points for a mid table finish - whether we have a new manager before the end of season or not.

COYD

[Spike]

I think a "mid-table finish" is a bit of a stretch Pedro, I'd bite your hand off for 5th from bottom right now. I was a little surprised by Tony Burman's reasonably upbeat assessment of the game as I was bitterly disappointed with both the result and that we created so little against a makeshift team that are in complete disarray at the moment. Our recent performances have deserved better outcomes, but yesterday I saw very little in the performance to be pleased about. Taunton haven't won since Dec 9th and whilst we always say "there are no easy games", let's just say that all our remaining fixtures are likely to be considerably more difficult than this one should have been. It's a shame, because the previous two games showed so much promise and I felt that had we played anything like we did at Slough and Dover, we would have had a much happier outcome yesterday. Playing Coulson in the more central role, with Olly and Fumnaya either side, seemed to have given us a lot more of a cutting edge up front so I was disappointed we didn't stick with this yesterday. I understand all the stuff about keeping Olly's feet on the ground and not putting too much pressure on him, but if he's our best hope of a goal then we can't afford to leave him out. In any case, Akanbi had very little impact on the game and barely touched the ball. To be fair, he may need a few games to get in the groove, but I'm not sure we have the time for that, we need things to work right NOW!

Looking for the positives, we did at least get a point and we showed some character in coming from behind. Young Billy performed well in goal and Rooney did a pretty good job at the back. MOTM for me though was Luke Coulson.

Aveley will pose a much bigger threat on Tuesday, so hopefully we will revert to Romaine as the lone striker with Coulson in the central role behind him and Olly and Fumnaya out wide. On the face of it, playing the lone striker does sound more defensive, but if the evidence of the Dover and Slough games are anything to go by, it actually gives us so much more punch up front. We might still be shaky at the back, but at least it will be fun to watch and we might even outscore our opponents. Whatever side we put out though, it's important that we all stick together and get behind the team. As someone on here has already said, we just need to scramble enough points to stay up and we can hold the inquests after the season ends.

Keep the faith.
COYD

[Park Life]

[Lars Resort]

I get that Rooney ended the game with praise but he does have a one speed gear box. He is much better pushing forward from midfield than from the back as he did against the french and on occasion yesterday. If only we had a good couple of center backs to rely on, which would mean Paul in midfield. But not seeing Manny with Joash alongside him I wouldn't know if that is a good combination.
We are stretched throughout.

[Tall Dart]

After watching the highlights, it would seem clear that our claim for a pen was inside the box, from behind the goal defender took his leg after being turned inside.

I didn't count an attempt on goal besides Alex walls volley and free kick, which needs to change. I thought Elliot put in a good shift, I forgot he had that aggression, which if used wisely can be handy, but maybe we needed to rethink the tactics of high crosses? as others have mentioned we had no height about the box today, so low and hard instead?!

I'm sure in training they are scoring, so we need the players to have the confidence to take a chance when it presents itself. There were a fair few occasions when we took one to many touches or passes.

Despite the fact we did not live up to expectations, we came from behind and hung on just for a point. I do now believe that a better version of ourselves will turn up in the next game, to try and evenge this performance, something I couldn't have said till TB has been at the helm.

I can't make the next one and I am a bit gutted, glad to feel that little buzz again.

COYDs

[PeteSamson]

Really great to be back at PP and thoroughly enjoyed catching up with so many faces during my visit. Delighted to have the opportunity to meet Will Bass at his commentary point. Also to meet up again and have a chat with John Morton, our 1974 keeper at Wembley.

I also took the opportunity to take up the kit sponsorship of Ollie Box to the end of the season, seeing as he was showing as not being sponsored in the match programme. And also in time to hand over cash to Micky Austen for the forthcoming Race Night.

As to the match itself, it gave me first hand experience as to how the team is suffering at the hands of poor refereeing decisions. I have waited to post until after the highlights were posted in order to see the penalty incident and clearly their was a foul which was within the penalty area. Equally, right at the end, 3 minutes of additional time was announced, and play stopped right on the 3 minutes showing on the scoreboard. However, there were 2 lengthy stoppages added within stoppage time which should have been added, but weren't. They could have been a gamechanger has they been added, especially as Wall had just put his thunderous shot in, drawing an excellent save from their keeper and Taunton going down to 10 men.

Like Tall Dart, I felt we didn't take advantage of the low sun shining into their keepers eyes during the 2nd half, and the Darts didn't reach the improving levels of previous recent games, so a draw was probably the disapponting right outcome, as those 3 points would have been so welcolm.

So very difficult for TB, with injuries mounting and having to change the team to suit availability. We are definitely in a relegation battle, and Tuesday night sees games between teams below us, so somebody will be gaining points, which makes the Aveley game on Tuesday so very important.

Hope to be down again before the end of the season, and hope by then, our place has been secured. Just looking back to last season, 3 teams finished on 48 points, Weymouth and Dover surviving, and Dulwich Hamlet being relegated. We know what's needed. As usual, I will be tuning in for the commentary.

COYD