We didn't deserve to win, but we certainly didn't deserve to lose. Palace had one shot on target in the ninety minutes and typically, Leon Cort drove it home from 20+ yards; unbelievable. They were the better football team, they moved the ball well and were comfortable in possession, but provided very little threat. If anyone can remember a game when Boaz hasn't made one save, let us know. We had a bright enough first half and hit a few decent efforts from range. Yeates looked a big threat and Marney and Ashbee tidied up well in midfield. After their goal, we had a spell of 10-15 minutes where our heads went down and we looked finished. We showed no invention and passed the ball poorly, when we could get it, anyway. If we'd been playing a team with an attacking threat, I think we'd have been sunk, but they were content to pass nicely and we rolled our sleeves up.
The gaffer made two good substitutions and showed good intent. Personally, I would have gone with France for Fagan in a straight swap, but the gaffer chose to use France at right back, which gave us a bit of attacking emphasis from the right. He also threw on Forster for Bridges, which worked well. Bridges had played off Parkin and really struggled to get involved. He hit two good shots when running from deep, but when Parkin was winning the ball up the pitch, Bridges was too deep to take advantage. In the last 10 or so, Forster played on the shoulder and panicked the Palace defence who hit the ball out aimlessly. We created 2 or 3 good chances, scored, had 3 corners and 2 free kicks and could have had 2 penalties. It was an amazing response from the boys and showed true grit and determination not to leave empty handed. That was our best quality today. At times we were silly, we were rash and we were outplayed, but we have bottle and lots of it. Last week must have hurt them deeply.
Individually, no-one had a nightmare (not in open play anyway!) and we looked a good side in patches. It's no good playing in patches, but we're getting better and now we're picking up points from patchy performances. Some teams have hit the ground running, but it's better to be playing well in the spring than in the autumn.
Bo's kicking was very poor. There were several times when he kicked, under no pressure, and booted it straight to their goalkeeper. That has to improve. Dawson's set piece delivery was abysmal; really, really poor. He put 5 out of 6 corners in Kiraly's hands. It took 80 minutes for us to let someone else have a go and we eventually scored from a good delivery from Yeates. Turner was OK against a big physical battle from Kuqi and Scowcroft. Mills did very well. He's so calm under pressure, and for a small guy he wins his fair share of headers. He looked much more 'on the pace' than against Wednesday. Thelwell was very good defensively, but his poor control undermined some attempts to break quickly. He supported well, but didn't put any quality balls into the box. We didn't miss Ricketts and having Mills in the centre makes the defence look much more secure.
Ashbee had a typical 'Ash' game. He chased and harried, passed reasonably well and tried to inspire. Marney played well in the Livermore role but he's capable of so much more and he didn't really deliver anything that would constitute an attacking threat. He needs to get a video of the game and have a look at the way that Ben Watson dictated most of the game and think about what he has to do to impose himself on the game. He's a good passer of the ball, has great energy and work ethic and has enough talent to be more than just a guy harrying and chasing in the midfield.
Out wide, Yeates had a good first half and last 10 minutes, but wasn't involved for most of the second half. Although he plays wide left, he's right footed, so he doesn't look to beat the full back and get the ball in, which is a big waste considering the ability we have in the penalty box. He is quick though and very skilful. He needs to get his head down and he made the wrong decision on quite a few occasions, such as when he ignored Ashbee's great run through the middle or when he ignored an easy pass to Marney and ran into 2 defenders. He does have something though, he could be a rough diamond and he caused problems. It was certainly the best performance on the left since Francey at WBA. On the right, it was typical Fagan, harried, chased and annoyed people but failed to make one good cross in 90 minutes. When he cut inside, he looked quite dangerous, but outside, his effort is still for nought because of the lack of a final ball. Parky obviously feels he's worth persevering with though, so we'll have to live with it.
Up front, Parkin won his fair share of pretty poor balls forward. As mentioned, he struggled to link up with Bridges. If we play through midfield, Bridges is magic coming from deep, but if the ball is hit forward quickly, he's got to play closer to the big man. Late on, we put the ball in and Parkin and Forster made a nuisance of themselves and caused Palace to make mistakes. The Beast missed a really good chance with 2 minutes left and that looked like costing us the game.
We go into the fortnight's break now with 7 points from the last 12, which is a big improvement. Mills is a great addition in the defence and we now have good options in the midfield and up front. The whole left side is probably the weakest area right now, with a lack of competition at left back and no-one with a left foot to play wide. We're showing a lot of guts though and starting to pick up points whether playing well or not. Keep the faith in Parky. At least his teams don't always let in last minute goals.
Ratings: Bo 6; Thelwell 7 (France), Dawson 6, Turner 7, Mills 7; Fagan 6, Yeates 7, Marney 6, Ashbee 7; Parkin 7, Bridges 6 (Forster).