Improved (well I think so!)

[nutty nigel 7,513]

Was a much improved performance from the ones we are used to seeing from our team in these circumstances.

It was a surprise to see Doherty lining up in midfield but to be fair he did ok for 20 minutes and there wasn''t much to choose between the two sides until Dublin had to go off. I believe that losing Dublin cost us the game. It wasn''t  that we missed him in defence, because Doherty and Shackell did fine, but we missed his leadership qualities on the field. But in the end we were undone by a speculative 30 yard shot that bounced in front of a diving Gallacher just inside the post. Could he have done better? Maybe! I think if we could have kept it to 1-0 at halftime we would have got something from the game but as it was we had one of those "Norwich moments" and managed to lose possesion and virtually give them their second. It was always going to be difficult from there.

Second half was much improved. We had a real go and could easily have got a point. McVeigh came on for Thorne (who was injured AGAIN) and he combined well with Brown and Martin. Fotheringham, who seems to have the leadership qualities that we need, was full of confidence and passed the ball well. Brown worked tirelessly for the cause and in the end a draw would have been a fairer result.

Those last 20 minutes in the first half cost us but this was the third time I have made the journey to deepdale in recent years and that was by far the best performance I have seen from us there. When all our players are fit there will be at last some decent competition for places and I can see plenty of hope for the future.

 

[Salopian 1]

Against one of the top teams, and away, earlier in the season we would probably have gone from 0-2 to 0-4, or so. Last night we pressed, scored and perhaps could have had a second. We are becoming hardened and committed. This is surely an improvement, even if we did not get a point. In Fotheringham we seem to have an accurate corner and free-kick taker, - hence Shack''s goal. This is a real plus!But we still need a larger squad for the run-in, with two games a week in so many weeks. A striker is the first priority, followed by a central defender, as loan players. For now, barring too many injuries, we seem to have cover in midfield, thanks to Lappin, Fozzy and Chadwick, and even at full back.Thanks for the details of the match. Clearly the defence has to close opponents down more quickly.

[macdougalls perm 0]

Cheers for that NN. Always good to get a report of these away games that doesn''t come via Goreham/Adams - or is totally made up. For what it is worth, the second half sounded very encouraging on the wireless, especially considering the circumstances.