League Cup 2018/19 Group G

[Swello]

Enjoyed that tonight - a proper game. Queens actually started quite well and were pressing us quite successfully until we started being more direct. Once Sammon got his first, the team seemed to visibly relax and I thought our midfield completely dominated for the rest of the half. Second half was comfortable and we certainly weren't chasing it.

I've never really watched Sammon that closely over the years but after a couple of games for us, it's already apparent that he's a not a target man by any stretch of the imagination but is very good on the deck - some of his layoffs were excellent, as were his finishes. 

I thought Cadden was head and shoulders above everyone else on the park tonight - if he can take that form into the league, then we'd have the player that we've hoped for on our hands (assuming he's not offski before that of course). As others have mentioned, Carson's save looked a worldy from my spot in the East.

I thought Queens looked decent enough tonight - they were clearly confident but were less clinical when a chance came their way. Honestly surprised to see Harkins get a negative write-up so far - I thought he played well (and he's always been a player I've enjoyed watching) - although he was up against a very physical midfield and certainly a wee step up from what he'll face normally these days. Dobbie showed some nice touches but was kept reasonably quiet. Good support up from The Borders  too.

Surely we'll finish the job on Saturday??

[QOSQOS]

Bit of a reality check tonight, up against Premier opposition who really had to perform better,  so it wasn’t the canter the first three games were (drawing a veil over the first 10 mins v Stranraer).

We had three chances in the first 10 minutes,  Semple’s header being the best, but we were poor the rest of the half.  Neither goal looked clever from our perpective, I’ll have to see highlights as to who was to blame.

Second half was more even, if the Harkins header went in it would have been an interesting finish. As opposed to just petering out.

Doyle put in a good shift, as did Dykes. Dobbie had one of his frustrating games, some great touches but he kept trying to beat them all. Curious that Mercer was the steadier full back, albeit Marshall was still better going forward.

Semple had the honour of being boo’d by the Well fans every time he was on the ball, so he made a mark ( literally on the guy carted off).  I think he will be a good defender for us, but the easy games he’s had so far hadn’t prepared him for this one, he was struggling first half. Much better second half.

Seems we’ve done just enough to qualify, so that’s better than last year.

 

[Distant Doonhamer]

9 minutes ago, capt_oats said:

That Carson save btw...

 

It`s a very fine save. World class might be pushing it though.

[Skyline Drifter]

I am confused having not been at the game. Radio commentary and QOSQOS above talk about a wonder save from Harkins but the footage in that Motherwell tweet is clearly of a Dobbie header. Is this a different incident or did people really mistake Harkins for Dobbie!

[capt_oats]

5 minutes ago, Skyline Drifter said:

I am confused having not been at the game. Radio commentary and QOSQOS above talk about a wonder save from Harkins but the footage in that Motherwell tweet is clearly of a Dobbie header. Is this a different incident or did people really mistake Harkins for Dobbie!

Am I right in saying it's Harkins that's behind Dobbie following the ball in? I'm guessing that's what they've seen from the main stand.

[19QOS19]

What's the deal with the Clyde fans? Can't recall a diddy side ever being this bitter about a defeat from us. Strange bunch.

[Skyline Drifter]

1 minute ago, capt_oats said:

Am I right in saying it's Harkins that's behind Dobbie following the ball in? I'm guessing that's what they've seen.

Yes, Harkins is the nearest Queens player after he saves it but its not his header. Its a very decent save. I wouldnt say its the absolute worldy they were raving about on the radio. Its at a nice height and very central.

[Skyline Drifter]

Just now, 19QOS19 said:

What's the deal with the Clyde fans? Can't recall a diddy side ever being this bitter about a defeat from us. Strange bunch.

They are like that in the League Two forum too. Seems to just be a Clyde thing.

[capt_oats]

5 minutes ago, Skyline Drifter said:

Yes, Harkins is the nearest Queens player after he saves it but its not his header. Its a very decent save. I wouldnt say its the absolute worldy they were raving about on the radio. Its at a nice height and very central.

They're an excitable bunch tbf and aye, it's clearly Dobbie's header.

Edit to add: Carson's interviewed after the game saying that it's a pretty straightforward save as well.

[welldaft]

Let’s finish the job this weekend, although not beating Stranraer or even winning on penalties looks like costing us top seeding. Which inevitably means (should we qualify) we will get one of the teams involved in Europe with odds on being Celtic or Rangers in next round. 

It was more stress free than I was expecting. Bar a 5 minutes spell before we scored where QOS could have scored 2 or 3 goals but for Carson and poor finishing. But when we went 2 up it was reasonably comfortable. 

I thought Harkins was quite solid in the 2nd half and you could clearly see he is a skilful footballer. 

For us top marks go Cadden, Sammon, Carson and special mentions for Campbell and McHugh. McHugh might not like playing in defence but he is better imho there for us than in midfield. Cadden was class and he has obviously gained confidence from being away with the Scotland team over the summer. Carson is Carson and makes 2 to 3 crucial saves every game. Quite how he is still with us is a mystery - not unlike Randolph. One wonders if we will get a decent offer for him as he does deserve to play at a higher level at some point in his career. 

Decent away support from Dumfries and no doubt elsewhere. Hope you all enjoyed the game (bar the result of course) and had a safe journey home. 

[19QOS19]

Semple mauling Bowman was probably the best thing he did up to that point. He got bullied by him and got Sammon into great positions. After that he started to look a lot more confident though the game was over.

I get that the depth isn’t there but playing a 4-4-2 against that Motherwell side was asking for trouble. Marshall was roasted time and again by Cadden and Tait and wasn’t getting much protection as Jacobs and Doyle  were initially on the other side covering  Mercer.  I appreciate that you want to have a go but when you are playing a better side away from home some sort of caution would be needed. We finally neutralised Motherwell when we had Doyle and Jacobs as a defensive pair but again the game was done by then and we created little.

That Mercer run that led to the great Carson save defied all sense and logic. I believe that he now owns  the soul of whoever he floored.

He gave the ball away leading to the second goal but some of those touches by Harkins were delicious. Shame we don’t get to play nonentities like Clyde every week.

I suppose this sums up football and a manager will never please everyone. Had we lined up like we finished I would have been absolutely fizzing after the game. I agree we got mauled through the middle in the first half and something needed changing but even so we created far more in the first half. We created one chance in the second. We tightened up in the 2nd but apart from a cracking save we never at any point looked like scoring. I'm definitely in the "Have a go!" camp when it comes to games against bigger sides. Especially tonight given we didn't have much to lose. Fair play to GN for having a go. I still think it would have been better putting Doyle in the middle in place of Jacobs. Find it pretty incredible Harkins is getting some stick. The guy was our best midfielder tonight and put in more challenges than our holding midfielder. It's harsh to expect him to do the dirty work then create something after it. I expect he's going to receive criticism throughout the season due to his style of play. He saunters through the game: if we're winning it appears he's cruising, if we're losing it could look like he isn't trying.

 

We were beaten by a better side tonight so can't have too many grudges (take note Clyde fans). Had we scored one of the 3 early chances it could have been a different outcome. Motherwell will likely be in the top half so we haven't disgraced ourselves tonight. We just need some depth and we might not be as bad as I had feared in the league. Was Semple's challenge that bad? From our end I thought it was a clear yellow but the fans seemed pretty upset. It wouldn't surprise me if it was a straight red challenge, the ref ballsed up plenty other decisions all night: booking Dykes for numerous attempts to win headers, allowing the Well GK to take the FK 15 yards further forward but making Marshall move the ball back 2 yards being the main highlights.

 

Good support from us tonight, just ashame we had nothing to cheer. Hopefully get off to a good start against Morton.

 

[YassinMoutaouakil]

Chris Cadden is the Betfred Cup equivalent of World Cup form Mirsolav Klose.  

[Guest]

I'd like to apologise for most Clyde fans on Pie and Bovril the few of us that are sane don't know what's up either.

Thought we were fantastic tonight bossed the game and we deserved the win. Brilliant drive down and Stair Park looked lovely in the sun tonight. Great folk at Stranraer all of whom wished us well, same to them.

[Dumfries Boy(new acc)]

At the time I couldn't believe he kept it out, it doesn't look as good as I remember. Thought we done well but seriously lacking squad depth. Motherwell the better team with Cadden being the best player on the pitch by far.

ETA: I wouldn't class us as having a go in he first half, thought we sat very deep and just invited it on us, with long balls to Dobbie failing and pressure coming back to us .Suprised people are seeing the first half as 'having a go'. Thought we were more 'having a go' second half albeit motherwell already had the game won.

[capt_oats]

[superwell87]

32 minutes ago, 19QOS19 said:

Was Semple's challenge that bad? From our end I thought it was a clear yellow but the fans seemed pretty upset. It wouldn't surprise me if it was a straight red challenge, the ref ballsed up plenty other decisions all night: booking Dykes for numerous attempts to win headers, allowing the Well GK to take the FK 15 yards further forward but making Marshall move the ball back 2 yards being the main highlights.

 

Good support from us tonight, just ashame we had nothing to cheer. Hopefully get off to a good start against Morton.

 

I was sitting at the East stand end of the Cooper, and in my opinion it was a straight red. The referee made a horses' arse of things this evening and didn't really do either side any favors. Kudos to the support you brought up. Just shy of 450, midweek just before payday for most folk was a brilliant effort. Still more than Accies bring on a Saturday, although that wouldn't be a hard thing to do. 

[19QOS19]

At the time I couldn't believe he kept it out, it doesn't look as good as I remember. Thought we done well but seriously lacking squad depth. Motherwell the better team with Cadden being the best player on the pitch by far.
ETA: I wouldn't class us as having a go in he first half, thought we sat very deep and just invited it on us, with long balls to Dobbie failing and pressure coming back to us .Suprised people are seeing the first half as 'having a go'. Thought we were more 'having a go' second half albeit motherwell already had the game won.

The "have a go" was more in reference to the discussion of setting up 442. It's been done to death but I see 442 as more positive than 451/4411. Playing two up front is more "having a go" IMO.

We only had one shot on target in the second half that I can recall. I thought we were better defensively but as I said, at no point did I think we'd score. I can't say I felt the same way in the first.

[Skyline Drifter]

23 minutes ago, capt_oats said:

 

1st Motherwell goal is terrific. Great passing and movement at speed. Its easy to pick faults from our side but sometimes you just hold your hands up and say "well played".

Second one is pretty cheap though for all its nice play from Sammon.

[19QOS19]

Utterly abysmal defending from us, particularly the first. It was a well worked goal from Well though so take nothing away from them. From our point of view I'm not sure who of Mercer or Fordyce gets the blame. Mercer will see Sammon's run so he surely has to track him and tell Fordyce to drop to RB. Or he gives Fordyce a shout to tell him Sammon is coming. I expect no such communication took place. Fordyce has absolutely no clue where CS is which isn't great.

The second we just look completely caught off guard. Fordyce can't get his feet or balance sorted and the ball is past him. Harsh to have a right go at him for that one though.

[jagfox]

34 minutes ago, capt_oats said:

 

Easy win for Well against the Western Borderers. Nice to see Sammon amongst the goals.

Why were there no away fans? Were they stuck in a corner of the Main Stand?