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Sons' sorrow


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12 hours ago, The Moonster said:

I generally don't care what players get up to when they leave us and understand that some players work in places and don't work in others but I cannot fathom how Jones has league clubs still looking at him. 

Because he's tall. That will literally be it.

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That was a really good performance. Yes Workington looked poor when they made subs, but for the first 60 minutes or so I'd say they looked fairly standard League Two quality opposition. And we were on top for the most part, albeit with Brett making a few good stops.

We should've been a good few up before the opener. But hopefully that'll come with time. We're creating chances and, defensively, we looked miles better than last week. Who knows what it means ahead of a pretty tough Betfred group. But I thoroughly enjoyed that today. We played nice stuff, our press caused all sorts of problems and we scored some well worked goals. Workington's ground is superb too. Wish we had a ground (and pitch) like that! 

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2 hours ago, The Moonster said:

Who is the youngest player to score for us @microdave?

Unfortunately I don't know. I checked with a Jim McAllister file that he sent me and there's no mention of youngest scorer. I'm going to find out though before the competitive games start. 

Incidentally, Mark Mclaughlin is our oldest scorer at 38 years and 47 days when he scored against Alloa in a 5-1 win in January 14.

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I'll caveat this by saying, I've no idea how good Workington are. They were fine for 60 minutes, then faded badly over the last half hour as we made subs and brought on guys with a bit of quality.

However.

I was really pleased with our performance. We created plenty of chances, played some nice stuff once we settled down the World Cup pass attempts and our press had them pinned in their half for large spells of the second-half. They really couldn't find a way out, and we looked like scoring every time we got on the ball.

Ross MacLean got the first goal, and continued his sharp performance from last week. He was linking up nicely with Carlo down the right, and the goal came from a pinpoint Pignatiello cross and a really powerful header. Carlo was causing plenty of issues getting forward, which is something we haven't seen from a full-back in a while, and his delivery and composure in the final third is great to see.

Ryan Blair looked off it in the first-half. His passing was shoddy, he was caught waiting on the ball to bounce or caught in possession a whole lot more than usual. So I knew as soon as MacLean was crudely chopped on the edge of the box that he was going to stick the free-kick away. Which he did. A nice, delicate, well placed effort.

Before that though we should've had a couple. Finlay Gray missed near enough an open goal with an air-kick, Ross MacLean was denied by their keeper 1-on-1, Gray had another powerful effort well saved and Michael Ruth had one blocked on the line.

I really really like the look of Ruth. He looks a very natural striker. He was in great areas today, he bullied and harried their defenders and his performance deserved a goal. I think if he can get a couple under his belt then he'll be a very good player for us, and it's just unfortunate he hasn't managed so far. His showings remind me a wee bit of Bryan Prunty in his first pre-season. Where he did everything right, but the goal just didn't come. Create chances for him and he'll stick them away I reckon. And fortunately we look like we're going to be able to do that.

For the first 20 minutes of the second-half we had Workington pinned. They barely got out their half and we were winning every second ball.

The subs came and we dropped out for 10 minutes or so, although still looked threatening. And then we took control of the game again.

Declan Byrne had barely touched the ball in his 20 minutes on the park. Although his harrying did force the keeper into a very awkward moment right on his goal line, where it looked like Deco could've charged him down and the ball was going to spin into the net.

A good move sent David Wilson clear, and he volleyed a cross over for Byrne to diving header into the net. It was a very Declan Byrne goal.

After that, he looked a man transformed. He almost went one-on-one, but passed rather than shot. And then he sent Luca Vata in on goal with a very cute pass. The wee man, who had, had a tough time of it since coming on (on the right of the front three) produced a really neat, composed finish. By that stage Workington were done, and we could've had another through Greig Young, but it didn't make any difference.

Faz said afterwards that you could see the improvement game-by-game and almost half-by-half in the new shape. And I agree. We have a tough Betfred group coming up, but he's said he won't be changing anything about the way we play. Aye we might get pumped (especially with Airdrie having the firepower they do) but given they are glorified friendlies, I don't mind that so long as we're continuing to improve and learn the new style.

The only downside was an injury to Kalvin Orsi. I spoke to him on the way out. His ankle had ice strapped to it, but he said he was fine and asked me where the social club was. So hopefully it's just a bit of bruising and nothing major.

Was today good? Aye, it was. What does it mean ahead of the season? Probably nothing. Did I enjoy it? Absolutely.

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10 minutes ago, PWL said:

In 'recent' terms, Owen Coyle must be in with a shout. Pretty sure he scored at 16 or 17 in the 80s. 

I've only checked back about 10 seasons but it isn't Owen Coyle. He was born in July 66 and scored his first in February 86 at the age of 19. The youngest I've found so far is Callum Wilson against Falkirk when he was 18 and (roughly) two months. I expect there'll be someone younger though. 

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1 hour ago, microdave said:

I've only checked back about 10 seasons but it isn't Owen Coyle. He was born in July 66 and scored his first in February 86 at the age of 19. The youngest I've found so far is Callum Wilson against Falkirk when he was 18 and (roughly) two months. I expect there'll be someone younger though. 

Murdo Mcleod was 17 when he scored his first goal. Spring cup tie Older than Vata is now but depends if you only count competitive games 

Edited by Nowhereman
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