vs Oxford (a) 11th March 3pm KO

[OssieEnd]

Three points is EVERYTHING now ! I'm not bothered how we win. We were dreadful IMO BTW   , but strangely I find this more satisfying. Nobody is really that good in this league., and the  aim is not to fancy dan impress , but to just get the hell out of it.

 

Who remembers the Man Citeh performances or Lestah performances in this tier ? Nobody. So I'm happy with the points and we move on. 

I watched some of it on a stream. Who was it right near the end who cut thru to the byline and had a simple cut back to a waiting Derby player but instead managed to pass it to the Oxford defenders ? I mean. That was basic training ground stuff and worries me. 

I'm happy with PW. More than happy. And I love his post match interviews ! Just a shame we've not won the recent really BIG games because we'd be in or touching top two now if we had. 

What's with the CAR PARK end at Oxford ?? Did the money run out ? That's another story though! 

[OssieEnd]

14 hours ago, WestKentRam said:

Very enjoyable day out, of course helped by the win that I thought we deserved.

£6 for burger, chips and drink at adjacent centre, easy free parking and journey, friendly Oxford fans, a couple of amusing Mr Angry Derby fans next to me whose choice invective during the game made me laugh, and a decent chat with B4 and his dad pre match. If Carling made away trips...

Did you park in the Car Park behind the goal ? Or was that retail park only ? £6  for a Burger with drink and chips is excellent, especially down south , and I count Oxford as south. The win does help ! I cut my stream when we went one down early on in frustration ! 

[angieram]

I thought we were a really mixed bag yesterday with most players experiencing a mix of good and bad within the same match. 

Early fouls didn't help, Curtis looked completely off the pace, yet he won a lot of important headers second half. Wildsmith might have got nearer to their opener, but he also redeemed himself with a the string of fine saves, despite injuring his elbow in that first goal. Cashin seemed to be most affected by his new defensive partner, yet he played the ball out well at times and had that fantastic long-range effort saved. Rooney was being rinsed by their winger, yet, his run and cross for the third won us the match. Fozzy of the defence was most reliable, and his lay off to Sibley for his second was just right. 

Midfield again a mixed bag. Smith not too used to the position and out-muscled on several occasions, but put in a shift covering for Rooney once he realised what was happening; Hourihane lightweight in defence but a superb ball in for Sibley's first. Obviously Sibley was playing so far forward that he wasn't really much help defensively, but two sharp goals taken extremely well. I thought he played well in the attacking third throughout the game, and probably edges Fozzy for MOTM for me. 

Warne commented after the game about the bounce, he told one of our friends post-match that the ball kept bouncing up into NML's knackers - he actually said that to her! ?‍♀️That may explain some of the apparent lack of control we had at times. Whilst it is the same for both teams, they are used to it; we were not. Having said that, NML dug the ball out on the edge of the box to Springett that led directly to our first goal, so once again made a contribution.

What did please me yesterday was the desire and the passion to win the game. This was probably best personified in Springett's performance. Technically not the best player on the pitch but he never stopped running, harrying and fighting for that ball. I hope we see a lot more of him in a Derby shirt. Similarly Collins put in a real shift yesterday. The goal might not have been his, but he was there in the right place and celebrated as if he'd just hit the winner at Wembley - I hope he does! 

 

[angieram]

Forgot to mention, our fans were also a mixed bag - we were very quiet right up to and straight after half time. The players were trying to gee us up, that's how quiet we were. There were a row of young lads behind me in their Stone Island gear, debating at half time whether or not they'd clap anything second half, declaring it had got to be better to merit their attention. Stay at home next time, please, lads! 

Anyway, things did improve after the third goal and I felt that we did help them get over the line at the end. 

Maybe we are feeling the affects of this busy run of games as well as the players? 

Most stayed to the final whistle, though, and it was worth it to see the relief on the faces of the players. Bird might have played a small part in the actual game, but his return is significant for me. He is our talisman. Forget McGoldrick, he just scores a shed-load of goals! ?

[OssieEnd]

16 minutes ago, angieram said:

Forgot to mention, our fans were also a mixed bag - we were very quiet right up to and straight after half time. The players were trying to gee us up, that's how quiet we were. There were a row of young lads behind me in their Stone Island gear, debating at half time whether or not they'd clap anything second half, declaring it had got to be better to merit their attention. Stay at home next time, please, lads! 

Anyway, things did improve after the third goal and I felt that we did help them get over the line at the end. 

Maybe we are feeling the affects of this busy run of games as well as the players? 

Most stayed to the final whistle, though, and it was worth it to see the relief on the faces of the players. Bird might have played a small part in the actual game, but his return is significant for me. He is our talisman. Forget McGoldrick, he just scores a shed-load of goals! ?

Every BIG game away we've recently had the fans have been more than up for it,amazing support , but the players have not ! 

The Plymouth game especially , I felt for those who travelled all that way down there witnessing that 2nd half garbage. 

So I'm not surprised at all it was flat or felt flat in Oxford. We ,as I stated above, just wanna get out of this league. Theres no extra points for fans and Ultras .. as Sheff Weds fans would like ! lol 

[CBRammette]

27 minutes ago, angieram said:

Warne commented after the game about the bounce, he told one of our friends post-match that the ball kept bouncing up into NML's knackers - he actually said that to her! ?‍♀️Th

We'd better change the song. That's so funny

[Derbados]

I sat in the Oxford end yesterday at the far side of the ground, I don’t manage to get to as many away games as I used to due to work. I don’t know if it was a one off but I thought our fans were very, very quiet throughout the game yesterday, sang a handful of times but apart from that, stone silence. Are we always like that?? I always hear us singing away on the radio and it comes through live, yesterday we seemed totally flat throughout.

[OssieEnd]

Why couldn't Oxford as a club give us more away allocation in their Car Park end ? Just joking here !

How many clubs have a retail car park behind their goal ? Braga have a rock. Though it looks like a mountain. Brechin City have a hedge running along their touch line. Just wondering if Oxford have won this competition ? 

 

 

[OssieEnd]

7 minutes ago, Derbados said:

I sat in the Oxford end yesterday at the far side of the ground, I don’t manage to get to as many away games as I used to due to work. I don’t know if it was a one off but I thought our fans were very, very quiet throughout the game yesterday, sang a handful of times but apart from that, stone silence. Are we always like that?? I always hear us singing away on the radio and it comes through live, yesterday we seemed totally flat throughout.

Was it you I saw jumping up after Sibley's 2nd ??! lol  I noticed a few behind that goal reacting to our goals ! 

As a club we've caved in in all the BIG away games recently, there's bound to be a "hangover" . I was expecting this. Got the points. Move on . Build that momentum. COYR

[RoyMac5]

 

[Guest]

I maintain a fit James Chester could be key for the run-in. Even if it's the last 7/8 games plus playoffs (famous last words!)

Him and Cashin would be my preferred CB pairing.

[DavesaRam]

2 hours ago, Tyler Durden said:

I haven't ready the normal meltdown from the usual suspects regards the refereeing standards and bias against us by the EFL so can only assume:-

1. The referee had a decent game.

2. There is in fact no bias against us by referees in this division and or the EFL

3. Or following on from point 2 the referees association read this forum after the Plymouth game and told the ref to go easy on us and not make the deliberate victimisation so obvious. 

I didn’t really  notice the ref much, which is a bit rare for me! He made a few mistakes and seemed to give an awful lot of free-kicks to Oxford. But that is only because we committed a lot of fouls. And that cane from Oxford ratting around and being first to the ball all the time, so we arrived late, stretched for the ball and gave away the foul.

I had no problems with the ref, I just had/have problems with our falling into a crude, agricultural way of playing. We are better than that.

[B4ev6is]

1 hour ago, CBRammette said:

Could only listen to the commentary yesterday and so its interesting to read this and see the player ratings also. Only bright sparks on commentary seemed to be Wildsmith's saves and Sibley which is reflected in this thread and in ratings. we are currently looking good for play-offs even though our form over recent matches had been poor so do we think we can recover that groove in time to stay in play-offs or do at all well within them?

And can still catch top 2

[admira]

3 hours ago, CBRammette said:

Finally a sensible post

Indeed. We can talk about refereeing standards, transfer embargoes and injuries all we like but everyone knows, at the end of the day the results are all down to my choice of socks

[walkleyowl]

1 hour ago, B4ev6is said:

And can still catch top 2

You can catch 2nd pal, we are almost over the horizon.

[RoyMac5]

28 minutes ago, walkleyowl said:

You can catch 2nd pal, we are almost over the horizon.

Well you've had lots of time to adapt to this league.

[WestKentRam]

4 hours ago, OssieEnd said:

Did you park in the Car Park behind the goal ? Or was that retail park only ? £6  for a Burger with drink and chips is excellent, especially down south , and I count Oxford as south. The win does help ! I cut my stream when we went one down early on in frustration ! 

I got there early after a unusually straightforward 1.5 hour journey from home via the unpredictable M25, so parked on Grenoble Road just east of the Holiday Inn and roundabout, where there is a long strip of then more or less empty designated car parking along the road. I did stay right to the end to take it all in so was easy to get away with no traffic issues at all.

From what I read on the OUFC website the retail/leisure park by the stadium is amazingly all free parking for football for 2000 cars as well, as it is all part of the Kassam complex.

Definitely one of the better days out. I'm still smarting from Charlton away that was £6.10 for a stadium pint that was a medical necessity in the summer heat wave.

 

[Tamworthram]

3 hours ago, B4ev6is said:

And can still catch top 2

Of course mathematically it is still possible and I'm sure PW and the team are still going for it but, it would be a somewhat staggering achievement to make up a 10 point deficit over the last 10 games especially as Plymouth would seem to have a relatively easy run in.

[Crewton]

1 hour ago, walkleyowl said:

You can catch 2nd pal, we are almost over the horizon.

Good luck youth, I hope you've got plenty of time on your hands..... 

[B4ev6is]

2 hours ago, walkleyowl said:

You can catch 2nd pal, we are almost over the horizon.

Your not there yet mate

We shall fight to till the end.