Barrow v Gainsborough Trinity

[Nigel Bamford]

John Goodwin on BBC RC gave man-of-the-match to Cowps.

Incidentally, given the lambasting heaped upon it by Oldham, how was the pitch?

[Jim]

Re Housham interview, what did he think the ref got wrong?

[spirit of 1990]

John Goodwin on BBC RC gave man-of-the-match to Cowps.

Incidentally, given the lambasting heaped upon it by Oldham, how was the pitch?

Glad you put that Nigel as I forgot to mention it in my earlier post. I've never seen the pitch look better, ok the bumps are still there (obviously) but the actual condition of the grass looks fantastic. I think that was all they were hoping for this season as the real work will start a week after this one finishes.

Gareth deserves a lot of praise for the work put in on it (I did mention this to him last night) he also said he has the new cylinder cutter (think thats what he said)

[Chris Benoit]

Nope, thought he gave the ball away very cheaply quite a lot. He was a lot better Saturday.

Each to their own but I couldn't disagree more, thought he was just about our best player, shading it over Cowps and Cook.

Oh and he got subbed off about the 65th minute I think, not HT.

Maybe awful was harsh (at least I didn't say woeful ) but there was a lot of times when Alex didn't look up and passed the ball back to a Gainsborough shirt. The last ten minutes of the first half was probably our best overall period and it paid off with Izak Reids goal. Cowps played well I agree.

[barrowfan_chris]

I thought Harvey was really good last night.

[DocsStepover]

It was my first visit to Holker Street for a long long time last night and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it and can only see that team getting better as they learn to play together - there were plenty of instances when passes didn't quite come off due to the perceived recipitant not anticipating or being on their heels.

I haven't seen any of the Barrow lads (other than Walker) play before so my opinions of them have largely come from what I've read on here. I thought Cowps was comfortably MOTM last night once he moved into midfield. I thought Edmo deserves credit for realising fairly early on that he needed to make a change in formation as Gainsborough only played 1 up front and didn't need 3 centre backs to mark him.

Reid was very lively but looked better playing wide than centrally. I think I expected more from ARH who flitted in and out of the game, he showed glimses of his obviously quality but I think he needs to do it for 90 mins (or however long he's on for) and not just 5 min flashes here and there.

The front 2 played well and as an understanding develops over time they'll link up better. They also weren't helped with how direct we played which was a surprise (how direct we played) There were elements of trying too hard and trying to force things. But overall, these are fairly minor points. Do they not say that it is the sign of a good side who can play badly (or in Barrow's case, not as well as they are capable) and still win.

Onwards and upwards! And I definitely hope to get back to some more games this evening.

PS - Nice to see a couple of proper BAFC legends in the crowd - Cowps Snr and Doc.

[Chris Benoit]

Looks like only me didn't

[Wintergreen]

Good display but initially over-elaborate I thought then it all went a bit flat. However, the quality of the squad and a Coach who is prepared to change won the day (or night if you prefer). Everyone did well but I was mightily impressed with Anthony Wilson who should perhaps start ahead of Walker methinks. Is Wilson the guy who was scoring all the goals for North Ferriby last season? Any more info on him anyone?

[32mile_cul-de-sac]

Good display but initially over-elaborate I thought then it all went a bit flat. However, the quality of the squad and a Coach who is prepared to change won the day (or night if you prefer). Everyone did well but I was mightily impressed with Anthony Wilson who should perhaps start ahead of Walker methinks. Is Wilson the guy who was scoring all the goals for North Ferriby last season? Any more info on him anyone?

Yep that's the guy, totally agree that he needs to start Saturday, I was also impressed with his cameo, he needs a full game to be really assessed. Don't forget he came on when defenders were tiring, lets see what he can do against fresh defenders.

[Wintergreen]

And I definitely hope to get back to some more games this evening.

What there's more games this evening? He's certainly got things moving has Papa Cass. Go Barrow!

[jimboc90]

Wilson should 100% be starting this Saturday in place of Walker and we should be 4-4-2 imo !

[Adam29]

We looked along stronger when we changed to flat back 4,
My team for saturday would be
Mcmillan
Burns livesey williams grand
Cowps harvey
Reid wilson pilkington
Cook

Id hate to be a centre half against cook and wilson, would be like a human battering ram

[spongebobsquarepants]

Whilst we are all excited (and rightly so) I think we perhaps just need to take a step back and think before criticising players etc.

This is a new team under a great deal of pressure to hammer everyone they play and walk the league.

You can see there are some very talented individuals out there and glimpses of a good team. However, it will take at least 10 games for them to gel, feel comfortable with each other and gain the confidence to play to their full ability.

Anyone who has ever played football at any level will realise how hard it is to fit into a team straight away and learn the strengths and weaknesses of your team mates. There were a few instances of hesitancy between keeper and defence last night but that is just part of getting used to each other. On another occasion Cook showed Pilkington where he wanted the ball but stopped his run, at the same moment Pilkington put a quality ball through to where Cook would have been. Gradually they will gain confidence in each other's ability and trust each other to make the passes, runs etc.

They were nervous last night and that initially led to long balls being lumped up. However, once we scored you could see the confidence oozing out of them.

Footballers have the same emotions and anxieties as the rest of us. They feel pressure, get nervous and don't like criticism. If you went to work every day and were constantly crticised or told you weren't good enough then I doubt you would give it your all.

I thought this was an interesting read about a typical Tuesday for Williams:

http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/bluebirds ... 61152.html

I don't care who you are, if you are up at 6:30am you will be feeling tired playing footbal at 8pm.

We showed some real glimpses of quality and whilst Boston was a better performance we got the job done last night. The crowd was encouraging as was Edmo's decision to change things around.

Onwards and upwards.

[McMark]

Agree with SBSP Positivity reaps its rewards sooner or later, negativity just gets ya down even further!! Let's build them up not knock them down!

[andyg]

I was just delighted that we won last night. At last I drove back down to Manchester with a smile on my face last night. Must have seen half a dozen home games last season & I didn't see one win so I'm more than grateful for the win. Of course we were nervy at times last night & lets not forget this was a decent Trinity team who, I think, destroyed us last season. So we must take the positives & also realise this team is not perfect but a hell of a lot better than last seaqsons squad.

Think my last home game was Boston last season 4-2 up with two minutes to go only to draw the game now that was a sickner.

Regarding the "flare" incident. I was at Atherstone last season & we simply must not allow anything like that to start at Barrow - believe me.