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1. We hit the woodwork FOUR times in the first half. It was an onslaught of awesome set pieces. Price headed against the bar, Elliott did likewise, twice, and Fagan headed against the post. I've never seen anything like it, unbelievable.
2. We were denied what looked a good shout for a penalty in injury time. The ball bounced up and hit Maybury's arm. The ref obviously thought it was ball to hand, but I thought Maybury knew all about it, shouldn't have had his hands up there in the penalty area it should have been given. Considering he gave 2 free kicks for similar incidents in the middle of the pitch, maybe a bit gutless.
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4. Pricey missed a sitter. he made a great run, and latched onto a great ball, 1 on 1 with Douglas who was out of the area. He should have dinked over him or gone around him, but instead toe poked it straight at him. I won't give Price much stick though, because I thought he was tremendous.
The penalty decision aside, I thought Mr Clattenburg had a great game, certainly far better then the few times i saw him in Div 3. The decisions I thought were hideous were down to the appalling linesman, particularly waving his flag like a nutter after a superb tackle from Daws.
Having pummelled Leicester for 40 minutes, we were quite glad to go in 0-0 after Myhill made 2 superb saves before half time. Delaney and Coles did well, but struggled to contain the man mountain De Vries. Fortunately he was useless on the floor, but he caused mayhem in the air. Bo had a tricky spell after an injury in the second half, but recovered and made another blinding stop from Connolly.
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The game died out a bit after that. Coles headed off the line. They had more pressure. We chucked on Green, Woodhouse and Big Ben, but they had no effect. In truth, our bench looked very, very weak. 2 midfielders struggling to force a game, a right back, Burgess - who's short of pace - and a midget custodian. Once Fagan ran his socks off, we had nothing to match the threat of his awesome pace. We also chucked Burgess on when our wingers had started to have less effect.
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I was also a bit disappointed that we left Ashbee on at the end. The promising chances late on fell to Ash to create, and he just doesn't have it in him. He'd done his part to stem the tide, it was time to let someone have a go at breaking through. For the life of me I can't see why Ash MUST play when everyone else is subject to rotation.
Unfortunately for Big Leon, his injury has come at a horrendous time; DD and Coles are starting to build a great understanding. Dawson was very good supporting forward and dealt with the threat of the diving Sylla very well. France had a decent game, but he's not a natural at right back. Wiseman should have played. Welsh made a bad pass early on, but never put a foot wrong after, looked very good. Elliott was a bit quiet but was always a threat in the air. Fagan was just magic; the guy oozes class. Barmby also a bit quiet, worked hard as ever and produced a few neat flicks. Price was terrific, a bit unsightly looking, but effective and a real threat.
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Ratings: Bo 8, France 6, Dawson 7, Coles 7, Delaney 7, Price 8, Elliott 6, Welsh 7 (Green), Ashbee 6, Barmby 6 (Burgess), Fagan 8 (Woodhouse).
I finally saw the highlights from Saturday. I though MJ was unlucky to be sent off, silly to raise his arms to block the guy off, but no intent and no real contact. Elliott's goal was supreme, one of the best goals I've ever seen from a City player. Brilliant.