Sons' sorrow

[microdave]

37 minutes ago, Jan Vojáček said:

I might've missed something obvious, but when did we last come from 2-0 to win a game?

Peterhead away in August 2019.

Eta the last time we did it at home was a 4-2 win against Raith Rovers in March 2013. 

Edited October 28, 2023 by microdave

[rockson]

1 hour ago, Neilly said:

#FazOut at half time and #FazIn at full time guys.

All those crying at half time surely have to give the man the credit he deserves?

Doesn't suit the agenda obviously but this could be a huge turning point in the Farrell reign.

He's still got a lot to do to convince me.

[Jan Vojáček]

9 minutes ago, microdave said:

Peterhead away in August 2019.

Eta the last time we did it at home was a 4-2 win against Raith Rovers in March 2013. 

Ah yes. The Isaac Layne game. The first win I wrote about as a Lennox employee, I should've remembered that!

That Raith game was all that was coming into my head.

Also, we need to shoot towards the home fans in the second-half. I hate shooting towards the Leven when we're needing a goal.

[Silverton End]

28 minutes ago, Nowhereman said:

That’s not luck. He missed. So wasn’t good enough to put it in. Banks O Dee were as poor a team as we’ve played and when Farrell finally played our strongest  team the result was never in doubt 

Aye, they were not a good side, we almost gifted them a free pass into the next round though due to Farrell's weird ideas about how to set up his team.

 

 

[Jan Vojáček]

That was a very odd game. When it went to 2-0 it felt like quite a fair reflection, not because BOD had played us off the park - but because we had been so poor that we deserved to be two goals behind.

The first-half was a mess. There was nothing much going on, we were disjointed, clumsy, woeful in possession and posed next to no threat.

At 2-0 and once Ryan Wallace and Kalvin Orsi had settled into the game though, I genuinely felt if we got one then they would collapse. And so it proved.

A mixture of the penalty - emphatically converted by Tony Wallace after Jevan Anderson's clumsy tackle on Finlay Gray - and the referee's injury looked to totally spook BOD. I don't know if the adrenaline just wore off a bit, if their subs were miles off the guys they replaced, or if key players tired. But there really only looked like one team in it at 1-2.

When Michael Ruth finally scrambled home a Carlo Pignatiello cutback from about a yard I thought it would go to extra time and we'd win 5-2 or thereabouts. 

Carlo's performance summed us up actually. He went on a few superb runs, weaving his way into the box only to find no takers for his cross. But his first touch was also howling on occasions, his passing wayward and he had next to no impact in the first-half. He's a superb player though, especially at wing-back; the way he glides past players is a joy to watch.

Cue Mikey Ruth to pop up again. Ryan Blair spent most of the game slowing it down and passing backwards. But he popped up on the wing and produced a beauty of a cross that Ruth finished superbly.

There had been some beef between Matty Shiels, Max Alexander and the excellent Garry Wood during the game, so fair play to him heading straight for the away dugout with his hands cupped to his ear - picking up a booking in the process. Childish? Absolutely. But it gave me a laugh.

There are two ways of looking at that game. Either we got lucky and scraped a win, or we showed a fair whack of character to come from behind - netting three goals in about 15 minutes of gametime, with our centre-forward scoring two proper strikers goals. 

I've no idea which one it was. But I thoroughly enjoyed it from the moment we got the penalty and, with Elgin, Stenny and East Fife all humbled, I'm quite glad we squeaked through. It was harsh on BOD, but (as others have said) I did think we were the better side, and that quality shone through in the end.

Banks will be kicking themselves tonight mind you. For a few reasons. At both 1-0 and 2-0 we were really there to be put to the sword. Max Alexander won't sleep after missing an open goal from about four yards, but as a team I think they'll be disappointed that they set up trying to strangle the game rather than pushing for a third.

Dropping down at every stoppage for treatment, kicking the ball away, taking an age over goal kicks. All that stuff is fine when you're clinging on, but they were comfortable. If they'd been a bit braver they'd have won the game. It was almost a lack of belief in their ability.

This team is weird. Defensively solid for the most part, but always seems to lose a bad goal. Statistically potent offensively, but that's where it feels we struggle. I can't work them out at all.

[microdave]

32 minutes ago, Jan Vojáček said:

Ah yes. The Isaac Layne game. The first win I wrote about as a Lennox employee, I should've remembered that!

That Raith game was all that was coming into my head.

Also, we need to shoot towards the home fans in the second-half. I hate shooting towards the Leven when we're needing a goal.

I absolutely agree with the last point. It's been a while since we did so and I think it makes a difference. I actually asked Faz about that at the opening of the 150th exhibition last year and he agreed that it would be his preference too. We must be unlucky with the coin tosses this season.

[microdave]

I was getting Connah's Quay flashbacks with the BOD players going down injured.

[Silverton End]

The Cup results today are a bit of an eye-opener for all us League 2 teams swimming near the plughole of the SPFL

Elgin shipping 6 to Jeanfield Swifts

Dunbar beating East Fife

Brora winning at Ochilview

Bonnyrigg squeezing past Fraserburgh, Huntly taking Forfar to extra time & Dumbarton just getting past Banks o' Dee

Musselburgh v Clyde next 

[O'Kelly Isley III]

I'm afraid I'm not quite as charitable about today as some of the earlier posters.  Hindsight is 20/20 vision, but 'fess up folks, with 70 minutes on the clock how many of us expected a victory ?  I'd guess nada.

Sure the fightback deserves huge credit, but we all seem agreed that the opposition was modest so the fact that it was needed can't simply be ignored.

The game turned on a combination of our subs and BoD tiring badly.  Re the former, Ryan Wallace and Orsi made a real difference and I have to wonder why Wallace seldom plays a full game as he is easily our most intelligent forward player.  Which made last week's withdrawal at Spartans as baffling as his omission from the starting lineup today.

It's becoming apparent that we function best when we have a particular group of players on the park, and we go at teams with a bit of pace.  It's a tall ask to manage that every week however, so it will likely continue to be a rollercoaster ride.

[Bring Back Paddy Flannery]

2 hours ago, Jordo1872 said:

We were absolutely woeful for the majority of that game today and although the Dee weren’t much better the fact they led 2-0 and really should’ve scored that back post sitter to kill the tie, tells its own story. Not sure what people see in Blair. He may be better suited to games against better teams where we need to break up play and slow things down but that wasn’t today. To be fair though he was far from the worst. 

Bottom line though is that we’re through to the next round but a better team puts us out the cup today. Not good enough.

Are match officials allowed to post on here?

[Jordo1872]

38 minutes ago, Bring Back Paddy Flannery said:

Are match officials allowed to post on here?

Only after wins mate, and assuming all decisions were correct and above board

[OKsons2020]

Personally my opinion for what it's worth ....

 

We could have lost today by a fair few goals . BOD  were un lucky not to sink us by a few   

However our ability to dig in and see it all the way through.  Not like us TBH . We're ofter on the receiving end .  We stuck with it .  Not convinced lynas for orsi was the correct change as I think carlo should have been the player retiring.  

All credit though orsi seemed to galvanise the right hand side and he carried carlo . Both linked up well . 

The end result wasn't due to a tactical mastermind of farrel but one of team spirit and that's a massive   boost for us all. 

Previously iv been  critical however experience has served well and regardless of opinions towards the management ......we need to keep going for our players as it effects them also. 

 

Kicking a man whilst he's down isn't going to turn things round I our favour.  

 

Let's get behind them .   It's not even Christmas....

[squeezebox-son]

3 hours ago, O'Kelly Isley III said:

I'm afraid I'm not quite as charitable about today as some of the earlier posters.  Hindsight is 20/20 vision, but 'fess up folks, with 70 minutes on the clock how many of us expected a victory ?  I'd guess nada.

Sure the fightback deserves huge credit, but we all seem agreed that the opposition was modest so the fact that it was needed can't simply be ignored.

The game turned on a combination of our subs and BoD tiring badly.  Re the former, Ryan Wallace and Orsi made a real difference and I have to wonder why Wallace seldom plays a full game as he is easily our most intelligent forward player.  Which made last week's withdrawal at Spartans as baffling as his omission from the starting lineup today.

It's becoming apparent that we function best when we have a particular group of players on the park, and we go at teams with a bit of pace.  It's a tall ask to manage that every week however, so it will likely continue to be a rollercoaster ride.

Have to agree with most of this summary today. 

I felt like Farrell was either completely disillusioned or disrespectful. Lining up so defensively from the beginning and dropping so many key players when we are missing a couple of our decent bodies was criminal. Whether he thought they would have enough or not, shoehorning folk into positions where they don't perform their best was always going to cause issues. Furthermore, surrounding them by players like Ryan Blair, Finlay Gray being shunted about into umpteen different roles and Michael Ruth being isolated up top with 9 static and flat outfield players sitting behind him, we deserved to be behind at half time.

Then we persisted in playing it out slowly from the back (and even after we went ahead we almost shot ourselves in the foot with it, again!!!) and gifted a 2nd goal. But it wasn't unwarranted on the overall play. Then we brought on Orsi to team up with Pigniatello and Ryan Wallace who totally changed the game. Suddenly we were moving the ball very quickly from front to back using both our right hand side and, most impressively for me, through Ryan Wallace popping up all over the park looking for the ball. He impresses me so much with how intelligent he is and how he links things together so seamlessly. It's a shame his temperament let's him down so often with silly bookings and red cards because he is such an asset at this level. 

As KIT says above, it is quite obvious where our strengths are. Pairing up Carlo and Kalvin (Carlo is good wherever he plays but I love his threat in the final 3rd where his final ball is forever causing issues). Then there is starting with players like Durnan at the back (a natural leader in my opinion) and Ryan Wallace partnering Ruth up front. I've said it before and I'll say it again now, they have the making of a brilliant strike partnership at this level. Waldo has such a clever way of finding pockets and creating spaces and Ruth will run into them and cause chaos. Great to see him at the double today!

A lot of criticism must be aimed at Farrell for the way we played the first hour of that match, though. Not good enough, for me, and it was like he didn't know how to fix it. I also discussed at the game today, he doesn't like to change formations during a match until half time. It was so obvious how things weren't working in the first 10 mins but he waited til half time to change the shape and formation.

If we had a decent manager in charge, we would be a really hard team to beat and pose so much threat going forward, but I just don't think he knows how to consistently get the best out of this group. 

[squeezebox-son]

2 minutes ago, OKsons2020 said:

However our ability to dig in and see it all the way through.  Not like us TBH . We're ofter on the receiving end .  We stuck with it .  Not convinced lynas for orsi was the correct change as I think carlo should have been the player retiring.  

All credit though orsi seemed to galvanise the right hand side and he carried carlo . Both linked up well . 

We are all entitled to our opinions, of course, but I thought Lynas was dreadful today. I've never saw a player look so rusty and off the pace. I thought he got a warning before the goal when he got ripped and then he sold the goal by backing off and showing the lad the way to goal. 

To say Orsi carried Carlo is so harsh, imo. He single handedly created the 2nd goal chasing a ball that looked certain to go out of play and looked dangerous the whole 2nd half. He had so much quality. Yes, he was below par with some of his first touches today, but he shouldn't be playing at this level and his class shows through most weeks.

[Jan Vojáček]

I had heard before the game that Aron's other half was/is due to give birth imminently. So I did wonder if that was playing on his mind, because he really wasn't at it. OKSons must've been the only person in the ground surprised when he was hooked.

[FifeSons]

Farrell interview up.

Exactly what you'd expect. Nice dig at the players for an individual error for the second and him taking credit for the changes.

"Lots of SPFL clubs have gone out to lower league opposition today and Dumbarton's not one of them"

Edited October 29, 2023 by FifeSons

[FifeSons]

I'm probably being harsh on poor wee Neilly's Farrell, maybe he's in a bit of a no-win situation, but the reason the changes were needed was because he got the starting lineup completely wrong.

[Frank Quitely]

12 minutes ago, FifeSons said:

Farrell interview up.

Exactly what you'd expect. Nice dig at the players for an individual error for the second and him taking credit for the changes.

"Lots of SPFL clubs have gone out to lower league opposition today and Dumbarton's not one of them"

Well if anyone wants to challenge him this Friday night is their chance.

[FifeSons]

7 minutes ago, Frank Quitely said:

Well if anyone wants to challenge him this Friday night is their chance.

Will see if I can hitch a ride on the Cognitive company chopper.

[FifeSons]

Haven't Banks O' Dee knocked out a few league sides before, too? I want to say they beat East Fife once. Possibly even while they were in L1?