|
|
Post by Auldnick on Aug 12, 2015 23:07:43 GMT 1
Was more luck than bad defending for their first goal, came off White and landed perfectly for Stewart, they got the break of the ball. We were pushing for a goal and Raith got in behind us a few times before they scored their 3rd, doubt that would've happened had we not been chasing the game after a combination of bad finishing on our part and lucky breaks on theirs. Wasn't our best defending with Cole playing RB first half though, that didn't work well at all. No one closed the opposition players down & the defence was static, that is poor defending in my book. I know it was a fleeting glimpse of the game but those goals were a sad reminder of last season's darkest days IMO. |
|
|
|
Post by Auldnick on Aug 12, 2015 23:20:10 GMT 1
As I recall the first goal was from a free kick that should never have been; that being said why have a forward doing critical defending; basically there were three other defenders around that could have dealt with it; White was just in the way. Had no idea what the penalty was awarded for at the time; now it appears that it was a handball by Sives but not sure I would really classify his arm as being in an "unnatural position". But there you go; these things happen. For the third it seemed like we had been besieging their goal for ages, they did score as a result of a goal-kick but I think our guys heads were still up the pitch and some weren't quick enough in getting back. Its a shame really as the goals package shows a good performance by Raith and a poor one by us; goals aside I would say it was precisely the opposite. Raith were pretty poor but defended in depth; player for player we were better in most departments but couldn't put the ball in the net. For me that is a bit more worrying than if we'd just had a bad day. My complaint about the 1st goal is that the free kick is played across the front of the box, it isn't a fizzing pass but ok it looked like he was going to send it into the box...but none of our guys even attempt to close down the recipient of the pass; ok someone slips in the box but they all just stand like statues; at least White tried to clear it but couldn't do so but Cole shoves his hand in the air for offside despite the fact that he was playing most of them onside. The penalty...body language speaks volumes, Raith did not claim the pen but played on & looked as confused as our guys did over the award. Third goal, all our players appear to be in position when they come in to shot, no one is still making his way back; admittedly we were not all in our own half but Cuthbert has been known to kick poorly in the past. There is a token challenge by Sives (I think) but after that is statues again. They need to get back to what they were doing in the last 6 weeks of the season or they will find themselves in the same hole as last season. |
|
|
|
Post by jonsnow on Aug 13, 2015 22:43:01 GMT 1
As I recall the first goal was from a free kick that should never have been; that being said why have a forward doing critical defending; basically there were three other defenders around that could have dealt with it; White was just in the way. Had no idea what the penalty was awarded for at the time; now it appears that it was a handball by Sives but not sure I would really classify his arm as being in an "unnatural position". But there you go; these things happen. For the third it seemed like we had been besieging their goal for ages, they did score as a result of a goal-kick but I think our guys heads were still up the pitch and some weren't quick enough in getting back. Its a shame really as the goals package shows a good performance by Raith and a poor one by us; goals aside I would say it was precisely the opposite. Raith were pretty poor but defended in depth; player for player we were better in most departments but couldn't put the ball in the net. For me that is a bit more worrying than if we'd just had a bad day. My complaint about the 1st goal is that the free kick is played across the front of the box, it isn't a fizzing pass but ok it looked like he was going to send it into the box...but none of our guys even attempt to close down the recipient of the pass; ok someone slips in the box but they all just stand like statues; at least White tried to clear it but couldn't do so but Cole shoves his hand in the air for offside despite the fact that he was playing most of them onside. The penalty...body language speaks volumes, Raith did not claim the pen but played on & looked as confused as our guys did over the award. Third goal, all our players appear to be in position when they come in to shot, no one is still making his way back; admittedly we were not all in our own half but Cuthbert has been known to kick poorly in the past. There is a token challenge by Sives (I think) but after that is statues again. They need to get back to what they were doing in the last 6 weeks of the season or they will find themselves in the same hole as last season. They still got lucky for the 1st goal though. What I did notice when Raith defended and we didn't was they just cleared their lines, no fancy stuff trying to play it out of defence, just a straight boot up the park. Suppose it was easy for them in the 2nd half being 2-0 up and all they were bothered about was getting the ball away from their goals but it made it difficult for us to break them down as they just stuck a foot through the ball every chance they got and cleared the ball away. Wasn't pretty but they didn't take any chances and it paid off.
I'm not too concerned about our defence, once Gordon is back in next week we will be a lot better. |
|
|
|
Post by Auldnick on Aug 13, 2015 23:23:03 GMT 1
But you have to ask why they got lucky & why we got unlucky (which if they got lucky has to be the case)?
Answer...they made their own luck by moving, we were the architects of our own downfall by standing still.
|
|
|
|
Post by orco on Aug 13, 2015 23:35:14 GMT 1
They got the break of the ball for the first against the run of play. The ball pinged about and fell to one of their players who took full advantage and put it away. The second was due to one man - Sives, stupidly putting his arm towards a nothing ball in the box. Their guy took the penalty well. The third at the death was a kick up the park which they won and went on to score a decent goal. In between all that we played decently but could not break down a stubborn defence that was able to sit tight on a two goal lead.
Not our day.
|
|
|
|
Post by jonsnow on Aug 14, 2015 1:58:51 GMT 1
But you have to ask why they got lucky & why we got unlucky (which if they got lucky has to be the case)? Answer...they made their own luck by moving, we were the architects of our own downfall by standing still. Did us hitting the bar twice count as unlucky or did we make our own bad luck? Sometimes games just go like that, falls for them doesn't for us. I'd agree with you if that continues to happen like it did last season, then it isn't just down to luck, it's because you aren't good enough. Right now though with one game gone in the league I'm not accepting Raith made their luck by a fluke landing right in front of a player to hit it into our net. |
|
|
|
Post by Auldnick on Aug 15, 2015 10:34:16 GMT 1
I could argue that hitting the woodwork, while often described as unlucky, is actually just a shot that doesn't go in & a miss is as good as a mile after all...but we never say that a shot that went a couple of yards wide was unlucky & yet if the player had connected properly it could have flown into the net, therefore his mistiming was just as "unlucky" as the mistiming that meant the shot cannoned off the woodwork. By the same token are we then saying that every shot that goes in is ultimately down to good luck? Football is more about hard work & skill than it is about luck but that won't stop us (me included) from describing things as lucky/unlucky. The guy who scored the first for Raith made his own "luck" by working harder than our defence. Had Cole timed his shot slightly better it may have gone in, that type of timing comes with practice (hard work).
|
|
