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Post by pwoodstone on Feb 25, 2023 15:58:05 GMT
Could be three nil up, could be 3-0 down, especially if their shooting was as good as pre-match. Jack so unlucky following up a shot off the bar, then an own goal, then a couple of other chances and penalty shouts. However the officials are giving us sod all and it is feeling like another one of those days. Quite why Alabi is still on the pitch, I have no idea. He contributes nothing. We'd be better off having Mersin at centre forward. At least he is tall and strong enough. * Hadler
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Post by 61666 on Feb 25, 2023 17:36:00 GMT
Not the worst game and we made a good fight of it. Shame about the ref and the hopeless Riverside linesman - on another day we might have had two more goals but for them. Great to see Rafe back, but not at the expense of JB-W getting injured. He looked good though. Bone put a huge shift in and Sol looked good - even better when he finally went centre forward instead of Alabi, so shame he went off as well. It wasn't difficult for Marshall and Walters to do far more than Alabi in a quarter of the time. Why George keeps playing him, I have no idea. He has no place in this league or the one below. Spent the second half near our 'dugout' and saw far more involvement than in Hak's time. The attendance was wildly optimistic at over 2000, but we know why. 14-1500 would be more accurate, but if we keep playing like this then maybe a few more will come back.
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Post by Benny on Feb 25, 2023 18:06:39 GMT
Such a shame we couldn’t manage three points, with all the teams above us losing. It might have given the slightest sense of hope.
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Post by jdl on Feb 25, 2023 21:27:50 GMT
Well, I was dreading this game. but it wasn't bad. The better feeling in the team is evident, and there's still a fair bit of talent in this team. But as long as we find it so difficult to convert chances and make appalling defensive blunders, we won't be able to convert George's positive influence into wins.
Overall, especially in the first half, I thought Gateshead looked the better team - more attacking and better organised. We were lucky that they couldn't score in the proverbial brothel.
But the first few minutes of the second half were as if a different Maidstone had come on the pitch - whatever George put in their tea at half-time it is potent stuff! And it did the job - we attacked from the go and pretty soon we were level. But then the pace slackened again and we were back to normal - Gateshead still looking slightly more likely to win, but no one looking remotely likely to actualy score. 1-1 was probably a fair ressult - although of no real use to either team. Without that stupid, and entirely unecessary, headed own-goal, or the offside 'goal', it might have been a different result. But, as welcome as three points would have been, I don't think it would have convinced anyone that the Great Escape was on.
Still, it was so much better to watch than many/most recent home games, and I came away feeling that, even if this season is lost, there were reasons to look forward to the next one. I think George is worth a punt for for a season back in the NS, and we'll go down with a pretty decent core of players (for the NS). So it could be a lot worse. We've just got to hope that next time we get promoted, we actually learn the lessons from the first two attempts and suss out how to stay there!
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Post by jdl on Feb 25, 2023 21:31:10 GMT
As for the gate - wtf?!
My daughter and I have a regular go at guessing the attendance, and we're usually not bad - she, in particular, can be uncannily accurate. But today she estimated about 1,500, and I, ever the optimist, couldn't face that reality, so went high at 1,850.
But over 2,000?? Someone is having a laugh.
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Post by Raymondo316 on Feb 25, 2023 21:56:13 GMT
As for the gate - wtf?! My daughter and I have a regular go at guessing the attendance, and we're usually not bad - she, in particular, can be uncannily accurate. But today she estimated about 1,500, and I, ever the optimist, couldn't face that reality, so went high at 1,850. But over 2,000?? Someone is having a laugh. Also on Tuesday it was announced as 1463, even though it looked a lot less.
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Post by 61666 on Feb 25, 2023 22:00:42 GMT
Just after the kick off, I tried to do a head count. Just over 50 Heed supporters - apparently there were 62 About 200 in the Town End About 200 along the Riverside About 150 in front of the main stand. About 300 in the Elvis End About the same in the main stand.
So around 1200 to 1400, but certainly not 2000. Did 600 season ticket holders stay at home? Do we have that many?
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Post by Andy on Feb 25, 2023 22:25:29 GMT
As a STH in the Main Stand I can tell you that hundreds are not bothering to turn up these days. Why would the club exagerate the paid for official attendance which includes all STHs ?
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Post by Benny on Feb 25, 2023 22:34:06 GMT
Main stand was quite full. Add in 100 or so standing in front and that’s 700 to 800 right there.
The rest of the ground was nowhere as near empty as Eastleigh. My personal calculation system had it around 2,000.
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Post by soulstone on Feb 25, 2023 23:35:40 GMT
I thought the crowd looked around the 2000 mark.
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Post by jdl on Feb 26, 2023 1:16:55 GMT
Our bit of the MS was about 20-25% empty. The Genco was also quite thinly populated. I couldn't really see how many were in the TE, but there weren't as many as usual around the edge of the pitch. All in all it felt like a lot less than 2,070.
Unless we had a late surge of ST sales, the last number I remember being quoted was about 800. So, assuming my guess of around 1,800 was close, about 200 ST holders gave it a miss.
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Post by 61666 on Feb 26, 2023 8:44:25 GMT
Highlights show that Gateshead were hopeless in front of goal today. Not as hopeless as Alabi though, who missed two absolute sitters, gave the ball away repeatedly and just gets knocked off the ball far too easily. I like James for his effort, but he is so far out of his depth it is embarrassing. Please George, do not play him on Tuesday!
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Post by 1018 on Feb 26, 2023 9:32:49 GMT
That was a game we should have won.
Suprising team selection with only one true midfield player(Lawson) in the starting XI. Bizarre line-up at the start of the game which was abandoned after they went one up. Is Booty injured? It took Bone a while to adjust to playing in midfield but he did OK; like Dan Sweeney & Jack Parkinson he is OK in midfield but better as a central defender.
The big disappoinment once again was Alabi who contributed nothing. But we don't have any other Striker except Jeche. Maybe we could get Jo Piggott on loan?
I expect JBW will be out for a while but good timing from Raphe Brown to return & look like he'd never been out.
Look forward to seeing the starting line-up against Scunthorpe.
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Post by daveu on Feb 26, 2023 11:31:47 GMT
Our bit of the MS was about 20-25% empty. The Genco was also quite thinly populated. I couldn't really see how many were in the TE, but there weren't as many as usual around the edge of the pitch. All in all it felt like a lot less than 2,070. Unless we had a late surge of ST sales, the last number I remember being quoted was about 800. So, assuming my guess of around 1,800 was close, about 200 ST holders gave it a miss. Where I sit was pretty much full up, only a few empty seats, and I thought the Genco look pretty much as usual. My estimate at the time was high 1900s so 2070 doesn't seem too far out. When we have two or three deep round the barrier the crowd is around 2500+.
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Post by daveu on Feb 26, 2023 11:39:44 GMT
Not the worst game and we made a good fight of it. Shame about the ref and the hopeless Riverside linesman - on another day we might have had two more goals but for them. Great to see Rafe back, but not at the expense of JB-W getting injured. He looked good though. Bone put a huge shift in and Sol looked good - even better when he finally went centre forward instead of Alabi, so shame he went off as well. It wasn't difficult for Marshall and Walters to do far more than Alabi in a quarter of the time. Why George keeps playing him, I have no idea. He has no place in this league or the one below. Spent the second half near our 'dugout' and saw far more involvement than in Hak's time. The attendance was wildly optimistic at over 2000, but we know why. 14-1500 would be more accurate, but if we keep playing like this then maybe a few more will come back. Think you're giving Marshall too much credit. Just looked like a clone of Alabi to me. His first touch was to give the ball away and it didn't improve.
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