FANS
VIEW: STOCKPORT
1 - 0 BRIGHTON
We
have this special fans report from the game:
If you'd viewed the
game as a neutral, you'd probably say a draw was a
fair result.
Stockport had taken
a real pasting in their previous match and McIlroy
had rung the changes
to try to improve things. He set his stall out
not to lose the game and the players he brought in obviously had a point to
prove.
They've not got much
in their locker, to coin a phrase, although the
lad on their left wing with a dodgy mullet looked the best player on the pitch.
That brings me to
the pitch, it was shocking.
In the usual spirit
of humour from Brighton's travelling faithful, the
chant went
up: "There's no grass there, there's no grass there etc etc." And it was true. It looked like a rolled beach, with the odd green
tuft here and there. Quite why they painted green lines
over the rugby markings was
beyond me:
they clearly should have been yellow/brown!
Because McIlroy was
determined not to lose the game, they got a load
of players behind
the ball and our midfield were over-run. The normally steady Richard Carpenter
had one of the poorest games I've
seen from him. His passing was astray virtually all game. And,
when Hart is on the right and Jones on the left, the central two really
don't get much support. Jones is such a frustrating player, for me.
Great that he delivered the ball for Virgo to power home a headed equaliser,
but for far too much of the game he was anonymous or absent.
The back line did
very well. I like Virgo at right back, although when
Benjamin went off,
I'd have preferred to see El-Abd come on at right
back and Virgo at
centre forward. Anything rather than David Lee! Just
sticking with the
defence: Cullip and Butters did well again, and I
thought Harding was
exceptional at left back. Long may he keep out
Mayo!
And so to the
attack...we got to the ground as Piercy and Hammond were
having a training
session on their own. They were the two odd ones out
in the travelling
party, who McGhee had decided to omit from team and
bench. Piercy looked
very dejected, although, when asked by a fan near
us, he admitted he'd
only trained for two days.
But oh how we missed
his influence. Benjamin didn't look interested in
the warm-up, and
that carried on into the match. I guess he was
missing Leon, but
weren't we all? Before long, he seemed to be
limping, and his
whole
body language said "Get
me off". That said, he had one towering header right
at the end of the first half which their keeper acrobatically
turned away. Other
than that and the goal, we didn't have another effort on
target!
McPhee did his usual
running all over the place, and at least looked
interested. It was
no surprise to see Robinson introduced almost
straight after the
interval as Benjamin finally got his desire. But
then we had the
astonishing sight of McPhee being taken off. He and
Robinson had briefly
looked as though they might conjure up something.
Then going away from goal on the edge of the box, McPhee got
taken out - and the ref claimed he'd dived and gave him a
yellow card (must have thought his name was Knight).
Straight away, McGhee takes him off and puts on Lee. Remember this
bloke hasn't had a look-in under either the manager who signed
him (Taylor) nor
Coppell, and yet McGhee seems to think he is a forward. In
midweek, McGhee even admitted in print that Lee thinks he is
a midfield player. So what is he doing putting him on at centre forward
in a game we need to win?! He was dreadful. He never looked like
getting remotely close, and, as I
said on
Saturday, you just knew from the moment he entered the fray we had
accepted a point.
And finally, to the
ruck, which you've probably read about. As Harding doubled over, Butters was
first on the scene to
remonstrate. Then the whole Brighton bench piled in - Booker, McGhee, all the subs. It was actually quite funny from our vantage point on the opposite side.
The coppers were there trying to pull people apart.
Meanwhile, Ben Roberts has raced 50 yards from goal to join in. When eventually it all calmed down, not
knowing what to do, the ref decided to book Roberts.
Nothing whatsoever happened to McIlroy, who started the
whole thing off!
Anyway, it was
another ground to notch up to my list - but a disappointing
afternoon when we really needed the three points. And so to
Brentford at home tomorrow night...
