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Ricardo's Report v Gillingham

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Ricardo seldom bothers with the first round of the league cup but tonight I thought I''d wander down in the hope of a confidence building victory. So it proved to be, eventually, but not before the inevitable setbacks had put doubt in the minds of the faithfull.City started with a few changes from Friday night with Smith and Lappin coming into midfield and Holt replacing Jackson up front. It was a decent start with City looking the more lively and dominating possesion. Fox almost put us in front with a free kick round the wall which was foiled by the post. It seemed only a matter of time before we scored but  suddenly a chance fell to Gillingham out of nothing and Palmer beat Ruddy from the angle to give the visitors a surprise lead. City came back strongly but couldn''t play the final ball well enough to work the keeper. Gills nearly made it two when again out of nothing much a cross came over which Ruddy missed and somehow a headed effort came back off the underside of the bar. It was frustrating to watch as we looked well capable of goals yet so very fragile at the back.The inevitable reply came soon after when Holt lobbed a pass over two defenders and Chris Martin held off his man to confidently beat the keeper from 12 yards. Soon it was two as a nice passing move found Russell Martin clear on the right and his pin point cross was drilled home via Holts head. Chris Martin then almost made it three when his superb 25 yard free kick came back off the bar. It was nearly all City but Gills had one more decent effort that Ruddy palmed away in good style before the half ended.It was mildly satisfying after Fridays defeat but the big difference was the pace of the game and City will have to learn quikly how to handle the obvious difference between League one and the Championship. The second half was more of an even affair, especially after Holt had netted his second on 55 minutes. Gills to their credit tried to play on the front foot and probably had their best period of the game though chances were few and far between. Akinfenwa was a real handful and in their best move he laid a nice ball off to Rooney and Ruddy had to make his best save of the match as he blocked a stinging shot low down to his right.Holt made way for Ollie and Gill and MacNamee came on for Fox and Wes. Inevitably this tended to break play up a bit and it was not until the final minute that City wrapped up the scoring. Ollie burst into the area and lokked like getting a shot in only for Martin to nip in front and round the keeper for his second. He nearly returned the compliments moments later but Ollie was eventually crowded out by numbers.I give MOM to Grant Holt for his two goals and assist closely followed by Chris Martin  with his brace and two superbly struck free kicks. Ruddy had a much better game in goal. His handling of crosses was top notch and two good saves will help his confidence no end. Drury and Martin were solid and Elliot and Nelson looked much better although admittedly against different class opposition. Smith and Lappin had useful workouts so I imagine Lambert has some selection problems for Saturday.I suppose there will be some who are still not happy but you can only beat whats in front of you and tonight I thought we did that quite comfortably.

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Good read and fair cummary, cheers Ric. [:)] Martin strikes free kicks better than anyone I can remember in a city shirt. Yummmmm. [:)]

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[quote user="Brendo "]Good read and fair cummary, cheers Ric. [:)] Martin strikes free kicks better than anyone I can remember in a city shirt. Yummmmm. [:)][/quote]Agree, his free kicks are quality. Macnamee''s was also pretty tasty too.

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[quote user="Brendo "]Good read and fair cummary, cheers Ric. [:)] Martin strikes free kicks better than anyone I can remember in a city shirt. Yummmmm. [:)][/quote]Yes I said the same thing to my son tonight. He very rarely blasts them over the top. The one in the second half must have stung the keepers hands. I thought he was excellent tonight.

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Good stuff Ricardo [Y]  One thing i`ve noticed is that we`ve hit the woodwork twice and drawn two excellent saves from direct freekicks in our two competitive games so far- a sign of a bit of quality i think.  Only a matter of time before one goes in.

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[quote user="Mr.Carrow"]Good stuff Ricardo [Y]  One thing i`ve noticed is that we`ve hit the woodwork twice and drawn two excellent saves from direct freekicks in our two competitive games so far- a sign of a bit of quality i think.  Only a matter of time before one goes in.[/quote]Agreed Mr Carrow, now if we can only tighten up at the back we ought to able to get a few decent results in this league.

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yes good report ricardo, summed it all up nicely.

i think a word of praise for PL too, you would normally expect wholesale changes for the CC. But after friday night he went with his strongest team to work it our of there system

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It''s nice to read your open minded (yet still a supporter) reports so soon after the games.

Careful, though! Supermarket Prodigy has started a similar routine although so far is coming in many hours later.

Keep ''em coming, ricardo!

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Thanks for that Ric,...good point about the GK and the MOM was spot on... It''s still difficult to say how they''ll fare against much tougher opposition though... When you let goals in cheaply, it will be a mountain to climb in the championship.

Still a good morale boosting win and something to get us back on our toes for the Scunny game!

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Cracking report as ever Ricardo! Haha Houston, I know I am far from the professional that Ricardo is and it will take a while to set an equal standard! I''ll be quicker on Saturday games though! Wink [;)] 

SP

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[quote user="Supermarket Prodigy"]

Cracking report as ever Ricardo! Haha Houston, I know I am far from the professional that Ricardo is and it will take a while to set an equal standard! I''ll be quicker on Saturday games though! Wink [;)] 

SP

[/quote]Everyone has a different view SP so keep them coming.I shall be away for the Hull and Leicester games due to my first holiday in four years (Mrs Ricardo is getting restless). I shall look forward to  reading your views via the internet while I''m in the USA.

Wink [;)]

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[quote user="ricardo"][quote user="Supermarket Prodigy"]

Cracking report as ever Ricardo! Haha Houston, I know I am far from the professional that Ricardo is and it will take a while to set an equal standard! I''ll be quicker on Saturday games though! Wink [;)] 

SP

[/quote]

Everyone has a different view SP so keep them coming.

I shall be away for the Hull and Leicester games due to my first holiday in four years (Mrs Ricardo is getting restless). I shall look forward to  reading your views via the internet while I''m in the USA.


Wink [;)]
[/quote]

Cheers Ricardo. You''ve definitely set a standard though mate! I''m going to try something different against Swansea. Enjoy the holiday!

As long as we''re writing about City wins, it doesn''t matter too much!!

SP

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Agreed about Ruddy thought he had a pretty good game with two fine saves and some decent catches. Just a little concerned about the one where Gillingham smacked the bar as I thought that should have been his. But he seems to be settling now. Still early days though. Scunthorpe away will be a different proposition for him.

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