Home Match Day Thread 05/12/2020 L1 OUFC v Hull City

Lovely opening goal.

But thought it was a poor goal to give away, weak clearing header from free kick. The substituwere far better this week though great to see Mous contribution.
Man of the match Long, a real fighter.
And much better from Henry, god that man is inconsistent though.
Crowd seemed to make a big difference, for those of you who were there, you made some noise on the telly.
 
Great game hard earn pint but we dropped to 21st a lot of positives today,!yes Atkinson deserved MOM although Sam Long was immense today as well. McGuane tied a bit towards the mid point 2nd half and probably the last 10!’ins of the first half but I liked what I saw so I was wrong to call for him to return to Notts Forest maybe he will get fitter and start to stamp his authority in the midfield.
Good to see Cam at the game.
 
Very good performance from all the lads today. Hull were on the back foot for a fair part of the game. Again, why do we ever bother with corners, hardly ever score from them. Thought the ref spoilt the game by being inconsistant, although we got away with one when their guy got through in the second half and he blew. Shame Gas won away and we dropped back down to 21st again.
 
We feel, Mrs Lounger and I, absolutely privileged to have been at the game today. Just being part of that crowd and making some noise (love all that banging of the seats in the East stand, by the way!)
We could and probably should have won, just the second half and tiring players let us down. That high press from the off just blew Hull away and they had no answer. Henry was delighted to have scored again, at last - let it go to his head a little bit but if it lifts his game, all good.
McGuane and Obita are forming a partnership which looks good and Atkinson is as cheeky as they come with his forward runs. Just not too often, young man!
First time for us in the East stand and we both agreed it was similar to when we attend away games in terms of the view and facilities. Happy to do it again if needs must. Tuesday we are back up in the SSU. - Anyone thinking about not going Tuesday because it's just the old P**s pot trophy, think again, the team need you there and it's not so bad wearing a mask and sitting apart.
 
Some thoughts:

- Cracking goal by Henry. I wish others had shot when they had chances just outside the box such as Kelly and McGuane on a few occasions.

- The team performance was a lot better and cohesive. I liked the tempo we played at. And Hull are clearly a very good team.

- It was nice that there were a number of candidates for motm. Whilst I can't really complain at Rob Atkinson getting it, I think Long, just by a smidgen, gets it from me.

- It was very good to see fans back. You could tell they got a bit nervy for chunks of the 2nd half. :)

- Docherty took his goal well but that was never a foul by Kelly and a poor decision for me. Honeyman (I think) runs into Kelly and throws himself down. Honeyman is the epitome of the cheating modern footballer. That said we had to defend the free kick but even then it would be slightly mean to complain about the defending with a deflected shot from the edge of the box taking it past Jack Stevens. I'm sure errors will be identified or where they could have done better but still I don't think the quality of Hull can be discounted either.

- We need to get a lot better at the dark arts and start chirping at the Ref like the opponents do. Today, Hull chirped at the Ref from the start, calling for everything and anything with Honeyman leading the charge. It didn't have an impact in the 1st half but it did in the 2nd half with Hull getting plenty of soft fouls whilst we weren't getting much from the Ref at all. Get Mackie in to do some training.

- Some superb blocks of shots by our players showing real desire.

- I will mention Kelly and McGuane who are starting to get towards looking like the players their reputations suggested they were. McGuane particular so today but when in a good position for a shot, please shoot!

- Our bookings were spot on but why wasn't their left back booked in the 1st half for an equally cynical challenge on McGuane after he had beaten the Hull player?
 
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With all those yellow shirts defending their penalty area - nobody picked up midfielder Greg Docherty who volleyed in the leveller
with the help of a slight deflection after Matt Taylor headed the ball away from a free-kick.
 
Decent game, could of went either way. Is a decent result but a shame we have dropped back in to the relegation places, the unforgettable collapse last weekend has hampered us. Positive is we have now played 11 teams out of the top 12 and have easier on paper games to come. There seems to be a slow improvement and results are starting to go out way even if it is draws.
 
Some thoughts:

- Cracking goal by Henry. I wish others had shot when they had chances just outside the box such as Kelly and McGuane on a few occasions.

- The team performance was a lot better and cohesive. I liked the tempo we played at. And Hull are clearly a very good team.

- It was nice that there were a number of candidates for motm. Whilst I can't really complain at Rob Atkinson getting it, I think Long, just by a smidgen, gets it from me.

- It was very good to see fans back. You could tell they got a bit nervy for chunks of the 2nd half. :)

- Docherty took his goal well but that was never a foul by Kelly and a poor decision for me. Honeyman (I think) runs into Kelly and throws himself down. Honeyman is the epitome of the cheating modern footballer. That said we had to defend the free kick but even then it would be slightly mean to complain about the defending with a deflected shot from the edge of the box taking it past Jack Stevens. I'm sure errors will be identified or where they could have done better but still I don't think the quality of Hull can be discounted either.

- We need to get a lot better at the dark arts and start chirping at the Ref like the opponents do. Today, Hull chirped at the Ref from the start, calling for everything and anything with Honeyman leading the charge. It didn't have an impact in the 1st half but it did in the 2nd half with Hull getting plenty of soft fouls whilst we weren't getting much from the Ref at all. Get Mackie in to do some training.

- Some superb blocks of shots by our players showing real desire.

- I will mention Kelly and McGuane who are starting to get towards looking like the players their reputations suggested they were. McGuane particular so today but when in a good position for a shot, please shoot!

- Our bookings were spot on but why wasn't their left back booked in the 1st half for an equally cynical challenge on McGuane after he had beaten the Hull player?
I was sat just by the Hull bench and the manager kept shouting ‘George! Control it, manage it!’
 
Really enjoyed the match today although only 1000 fans it was a great atmosphere, feel very privileged to be there. Also the team put on a good display and deserved the draw and could of won against the league leaders.
Play like this and I don’t think we will have to worry about staying up..
Well done everyone at OUFC
 
Just in - bloody freezing, I've missed that feeling!

Hull will probably go straight back up. Credit to them, they've done what few of the 'billy big B*****s' teams who have dropped into League 1 from the Championship have done over recent years and built a team that is big, physical, effective and can play. So often we see those types of teams think they'll be able to play through League 1 cannonfodder at walking pace - and get totally blown away by the muck and tumble that is a full third tier season. That said, I'm amazed they're top of the league. If that is really the best this league has to offer this season, we should be kicking ourselves for not making more of a fist of it. I think our side last year would have beaten them comfortably. Their goal was a bit fortunate, but it came off the back of one of the worst referring decisions I've ever seen - how on EARTH could he pull play back for that?! They were clean through!

It also really struck me how much of an impact a massive away following makes. When you see that side of the North packed out, you really think to yourself, even subconsciously, 'f**k - this lot are the real deal.' That, I imagine, is heightened as players, and makes you think the opposition are that much better. A lack of fans really does an incredible job of levelling the playing field - I knew coming in that Hull were top of the league and on a good run etc., but as soon as the whistle went, without away fans, it just reduced them to being eleven men on a pitch. Is that stupid? Probably.

We looked excellent first half, and I would like to think that coming out of the blocks that fast was at least in some part due to the presence of fans. All the players and KR said in the poster match interviews they got a boost from the 1000 being there, but then they would. I think we put so much energy into that first part though, we faded badly, although still created the odd half chance. It is remarkable how much more you see than on the TV, too. Alex Gorrin is just brilliant. He's EVERYWHERE. You don't really get a sense on iFollow of how he's blocking one pass on the left touchline and then, in the next breath, is putting in a covering tackle on the right, And such a good footballer too, so neat on the ball. McGuane is getting better with every game, and if he continues like this Is suspect he may not be with us after January. He does fade a bit though. I love Obita on the left, he's just the kind of player you need in a quality team in this league - like a Henry, he's not the quickest or the most athletic, but his quality off the ball is excellent and he brings an air of authority that we badly need.

I wasn't impressed with Kelly I'm afraid. Compared to the other two CMs, he just doesn't add much for me. Even his set piece deliveries were pretty poor. Stevens I felt was solid, and it seems the #1 shirt is now genuinely in contention, though he didn't really have much to do. One very good save from a FK and off his line swiftly a couple of times but his distribution was pretty poor. His left foot is about as good as mine. Also, I wanted to really like Clare (as I always instinctively feel bad for a player who gets scapegoated), but he really didn't look the part. That one attack in particular where we were building nicely down the left and then it came to him really highlighted the issue for me - his touch was terrible, and then he pinged a proper hospital ball back to Mous, and it ultimately had to go back to the keeper. It was a 'rabbit in headlights' moment. I hope it's just that he's a confidence player, and was nervy about being back in front of fans - I noticed at the end of the game he was the only player heading straight down the tunnel, and had to be called back by KR to applaud the fans, which did with a sort of half hearted clap from the centre circle. Not great body language.

Amazing being back. Apart from celebrating the goal, the thing I missed most, and hadn't even realised I'd missed at all, is the gloating 'WAHEEYYYY!!' when the opposition f**k up. There were a couple of moments though (the goal and the seat-banging for our corner at about 87 mins) when I got proper goosebumps. It felt like football was back. Well done to the club for (after the fiasco of the actual booking process) making this such a well-organised pilot. All the stewards very clear on what the rules were and in giving instructions from what I saw, and plenty of them. Fans also adhered completely to the rules from what I saw in the East, and as pilots go I can't imagine it could have gone much better.
 
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