Peter Taylor called it 'embarrassing'. Joan Luque said it was 'a horrible day' and that he felt sorry for the fans who 'didn't deserve a performance like that at all'. Matt Robinson stated that the players 'have to have a long look in the mirror'.
Many people have taken to social media to apologise for last weekend's horror-show at Carshalton. Actions speak louder than words, though, and it's how we perform in the next few days that will determine whether those words are sincere or empty. A couple of tweets aren't nearly enough to erase that performance from our minds and therefore an emphatic response is desperately required. It's been over two weeks since our unbeaten run stuttered to a wobbly end with two home draws followed by eventual defeat to Notts County. That might turn out to be a positive thing, though, as we were becoming content with a draw simply because it 'extended the run'. We became so obsessed with our unbeaten streak that we seemingly forgot that you lose more points with a draw than you gain. Any team with supposed play-off or promotion ambitions should be targeting three points wherever they go, against whoever they play. Take our next two games for example; Wrexham struggling, Barrow flying. They're at completely contrasting ends of the table and their away form differs hugely, Wrexham officially the league's worst team on their travels and Barrow the best. Those are statistics we simply have to ignore as it's very conceivable that we could lose to Wrexham and beat Barrow. It shouldn't influence our tactics either. We were better in our games against high-flying Yeovil, Halifax and Bromley than we were at home to Chorley, which just illustrates not only how unpredictable this league is, but how the table doesn't matter at all from the moment both teams emerge from that tunnel. Another match that was trickier than the standings would've suggested, was Chesterfield away, at a time where they were essentially gifting three points to everybody they faced. We unconvincingly got a draw that day and Taylor devoted his post-match interview to preaching how good a point it was against the pre-season promotion favourites. Our opposition today, Wrexham, were also tipped to have a good campaign yet sit 21st ahead of kick-off, so much of today will hinge on whether we perceive it as a game against a big historic club with a sizable fanbase, or one against a side that are statistically the fourth worst in a fairly poor division. Wrexham are obviously struggling and I'd like to think that the fact they've played three more games than us in the last fortnight would give us a little bit of an edge perhaps. However, with a new manager and their main striker JJ Hooper now back fit after a two-month layoff (he scored the winner on Tuesday night), they're likely to be much sterner opposition than the table would indicate. Barrow have won their last sevan games in the league, elevating them to the lofty heights of fourth in the table. On paper it's one of the hardest matches you could have as it's not too often that you face a side that have won their last seven, but they've got a long trip to Torquay today and another marathon trip in three days' time so let's hope that shifts the contest in our favour. Let's get back on track. We have two big home games on the horizon and it's important that we pick up points - up the Dags.
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The 42 places separating Carshalton and Dagenham in the footballing pyramid made this the biggest shock of the FA Cup fourth qualifying round. People will look at this result and see it as a big upset, simply orchestrated by the magic that has become synonymous with this famous competition. People will look this result and assume that Carshalton were incredibly motivated and fought valiantly to earn a highly unlikely victory. People will look at this result and think it must have just been the underdog's day. After all, they're Isthmian Premier and we're National League. We're a full time, professional outfit who are supposedly chasing promotion to the Football League, while Carshalton's team consists of players assembled on a budget undoubtedly dwarfed by ours, who will be at work for the majority of the week. Of course that's what makes the FA Cup what it is. Anything can happen is it's motto, and throughout the competition there will be much bigger shocks than merely one non-league team beating another. However, that doesn't disguise the fact that this result was embarrassing and unprofessional for us as a club. We can't just dismiss it as the FA Cup being the FA Cup. The reality of the match paints a far more dispiriting picture than the result indicates, however. In truth we weren't outclassed at all, but that's perhaps the most worrying aspect. Carshalton played like what they were, an Isthmian Premier League team, and they still managed to beat a full-strength Dagenham & Redbridge without really coming under too much pressure in the end. They didn't play above themselves, they didn't stun us with their fighting spirit - they were average and it was still too much for us. We weren't as bad as other sources are making us out to have been, we were in control of the ball for the majority of the encounter yet didn't seem to be capable of taking our attacks to the next level. There was just no presence or creativity, and against Carshalton Athletic, that's worrying. So it was the same old problem, we were toothless in attack again. Quigley did nothing aside from inexplicably giving away needless foul after needless foul, and Balanta had a rare off-day. McQueen I thought was decent if unspectacular, as was Dobson, but Taylor took both of them off as the familiar confusing substitutions resurfaced. It's only fair to give Carshalton the credit they deserve too, as they were refreshingly confident and fearless. In the first half they backed off somewhat, but it was like as soon as they realised we weren't as dangerous an opponent as they were expecting, they took the hand-break off - and we couldn't deal with it. Their number 11, Ricky Korboa, is destined for big things. He was outlined as Carshalton's danger man prior to the contest and lived up to that tag with a sensational display. His pace and trickery left Will Wright floundering for the entire game, but crucially he was able to build on these attributes with a bit of end product, which wingers of a similar ilk so often lack. I hope they get a great tie in the next round of the competition as it's what they deserve. Someone like Sunderland or Portsmouth at home would be a historic occasion for them, and also serve the purpose of showing us what we've missed out on. It's the first time in 22 years they've made the first round, and given our recent runs in the competition I wonder if we might endure similar fate. So this will go down as a shock, but in name only. None of us are really shocked, are we? This happens far too often to be a one-off, with Hereford, Worthing, Halifax, Southport all other examples of us failing to perform against lesser opposition. That dream third round game away at a Premier League side will have to be put on hold for another year. JUSTHAM (6) - Nothing really notable about his performance. Let down by the defence for both goals. GORDON (6) - Energetic going forwards but was often caught cold in the counter-attack. CROLL (6) - Solid but unspectacular. Shaky at times but we're a better side with him than without him. ONARIASE (6) - Not a lot to report on. Sacrificed in the second half when we changed shape. WRIGHT (5) - Completely at the mercy of their winger Ricky Korboa. A lot came from that flank. MCQUEEN (7) - Thought he was decent. Looked the most likely to create anything. ROBINSON (6) - Struggled against three centre midfielders, but certainly not our worst player out there. BRUNDLE (5) - Looked like a player without much minutes recently. Gave the ball away often. DOBSON (6) - Livelier than most of his teammates but a bit one-dimensional when it comes to the left foot. BALANTA (5) - Uncharacteristic. Struggled against a defence who backed off rather than being drawn in by his quick feet. QUIGLEY (5) - Didn't look a danger whatsoever. Even a team two leagues below dealt with him effortlessly. GRANT (7) - Made a good impact and I'm delighted he got a deserved goal, a great finish too. Should start more games. KANDI (6) - Didn't get involved as much as he would've liked, but still got stuck in and showed some decent movement. LUQUE (5) - Only got a handful of minutes on the pitch so wasn't able to do much in his short cameo. The significance of the competition may have diminished into merely an afterthought for those nicely perched in the upper echelons of the English game, but for sides like ourselves the FA Cup has the potential to be massive. Magical moments lasting a split second can be remembered for decades and sometimes even keep teams afloat in an era where the gap between the rich and poor seems to be widening to an alarming extent.
Our last successful run took us to Everton for a day that epitomised the rewarding nature of the competition, however since then we've barely remained in it long enough to dream of another experience of that magnitude. We've managed to make the first round - which was once our automatic entry point in our Football League days - once since relegation to the National League, losing out to FC Halifax Town, Leyton Orient and Boreham Wood respectively. Last year we witnessed a small dose of FA Cup magic as our dramatic stoppage-time comeback at Boreham Wood earned us a replay that seemed improbable at best, however that soon wore off as it only extended our run in the competition by a mere three days. However, this time out there's a little more confidence after manager Peter Taylor, speaking at the recent Fans' Forum, guaranteed we would be treating the FA Cup with the utmost importance. Most people listening to the draw a couple of weeks ago would've been hoping to be paired with a lesser-ranked opponent, however that doesn't mean we can afford to underestimate Carshalton today. After all, in recent years our clashes against sides of a similar ilk paint a fairly solemn picture, with notable defeats to Hereford and Worthing reinforcing how we can't afford to treat them more leniently than any other National League opponent. Carshalton are going to be hugely motivated for today's game, such is the prospect of a potential trip to Sunderland or Ipswich in Round 1. As we should know ourselves having frequently adopted the tag of 'underdog' in our 27-year history, they're going to have an extra yard of pace, an extra dose of strength and an extra decibel of noise from their supporters. We're only a relatively small club ourselves, but are still a huge upgrade compared to the usual calibre of opposition to visit their Colston Avenue ground, Horsham, Folkestone, Hornchurch etc, We need to be professional - we're a full-time team with a significantly larger budget and aspirations for a Football League return. Of course, this is the FA Cup and anything can happen as we're so often told. We're expected to win the game, but conversely that means Carshalton have nothing to lose. So let's not be a news' story tonight - whether scruffily or convincingly, let's make sure we're in that hat for Monday's first round draw. Up the Dags! As Winter began to descend upon us last season, we embarked on an incredible run that seemed to come out of nowhere. We beat Fylde, we beat Bromley, we beat Havant & Waterlooville, we beat Hartlepool United and then, after a fairly underwhelming draw at home to ten-man Halifax, we earned back-to-back wins against the top two in the league, Salford City and Leyton Orient.
All in all, we earned 19 points from a possible 21; everything was going brilliantly and a vibrant feel was restored to the club. Then we played Barnet at home and it all dissipated from there. We plummeted down the table as quick as we ascended it, only accumulating 22 points throughout the next four months. Relegation fears were reignited and that Barnet game was the start of the decline. Fast forward ten months and Barnet will set their sights on piercing another unbeaten run of ours in a game that could prove to be massive given that both sides are nicely perched in the play-off places ahead of kick-off. Barnet sit fifth in the table, above us by virtue of a solitary goal. A win for either side today would be huge, especially as three points often prove to be the difference between winning the league and finishing second, getting a home semi-final or not and even making the play-offs altogether. Recently we seemed to have found the right balance between attack and defence. As many people expected, the eagerly-awaited first clean sheet at Maidenhead had a big uplifting effect on the team and we've since managed three more shutouts in our last four games, meaning the only goal we've conceded in five games has been that unfortunate deflected strike at home to Hartlepool. Of course, we've not found the net for two Saturdays running, although that doesn't discredit the chances we've created in those games. Last weekend we encountered a Chorley side that set up purely to nullify our threats, which is perhaps a testament to how well we've been playing recently. Today Barnet will come at us, so unlike last weekend there will be spaces to exploit. Barnet's recent form has been mixed, with two victories, a draw and two defeats in the past five games. A midweek trip to Fylde wouldn't have been ideal ahead of preparations for this game, but the momentum generated from their eye-opening 4-0 win should counteract the fact that they've only had three days to focus on Dagenham, compared to the six we've had to look ahead solely to today's game. Darren Currie's team have threats littered throughout their squad, highlighted by the four different scorers they had in midweek. Much like the Daggers they don't have a primary threat and, just as we have Balanta, Quigley, Luque and Dobson chipping in, the Bees have Simeon Akinola, Wes Fonguck, Josh Walker, Alfie Pavey and several others who are capable of providing an individual threat to us today. That threat might be heightened by the absence of Luke Croll, who was sent off against Chorley last weekend. Thankfully, Peter Taylor confirmed at Thursday's Fans' Forum that Kenny Clark is fine to start against Barnet, so it's likely that Liam Gordon will come into the starting XI at left-back. Chike Kandi and Mitch Brundle are still unavailable, but should be in contention for next Saturday's trip to Stockport. So today's game is finely poised and it should be an open, entertaining contest between two evenly-matched, creative teams. The finer margins might just settle this one. |
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January 2024
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