Post by admin on Jan 1, 2024 20:36:18 GMT
Chelmsford City 3 Braintree Town 0
by David Ward
To win any football match at any level a team has to score goals - it's as simple as that - but unfortunately for the Iron this vital ingredient is clearly missing at present as they succumb to their third successive league defeat in this 'second leg' of the festival local derby with arch rivals City on New Year's Day.
It means that the Iron have now played over 220 minutes without scoring a goal but conceded seven in the process which is seemingly see them slipping away from the play-offs and also down the league.
The Iron's lack of having a big, strong striker who could feed the ball off to the likes of Aaron Blair and Tom Blackwell is so obvious and its a missing link that the management need to get sorted and sorted quickly.
In this latest encounter the Iron were outstanding in the first half and saw several comparatively easy chances go begging but despite all this dominance they incredibly found themselves two goals down at the interval, much against the run of play.
Remarkably the home side took a shock lead on 17 minutes in their first attack when unnecessarily Alfie Payne gave the ball away in midfield and with defenders hesitating the home side nipped in to score.
The Iron then had the advantage of playing against 10 men when City skipper Dave Wingfield was righty sent off for a straight elbow in the face of Joe Grimwade.
The Iron continued to press and again missed chances whilst the reorganised home rearguard showed stubborn resistance backed up their young goalkeeper who pulled off a handful of fine saves all afternoon.
It then went from bad to worse for the Iron right on the half time whistle when a free kick was floated over towards the far post, hit the bottom of the goal post and the ball should have been easily cleared by either keeper Jack Sims or the watching defenders but the home side were quicker to react and nipped in to put the ball into the net.
It was in effect the turning point of the game because the Iron came out in the second half obviously with a mountain to climb and despite all their huffing and puffing they kind of lost their way with no real forward penetration, too many cross field balls going nowhere and other passes going straight mostly to the feet of home players.
When they did manage to get the ball into the danger area there was nobody on hand to add that killer instinct and actually put the ball in the net while some stout defending from the home side, who were bigger and stronger, any danger balls were soon dispatched up field to ease the pressure.
The Iron then made substitutions but they really had no effect because the old, old problem remained of not having a big, robust striker on hand to feed the like Aaron Blair and Tom Blackwell.
To add insult to injury for the Iron fans in the 1,550-plus crowd they conceded a terrible 'soft' penalty on 56 minutes which was duly netted giving the home side an easy road to victory.
Yes, the Iron kept pushing hard right to the final whistle but in reality they ran out of ideas and the strong home defence stood firm to give City a deserved festive 'double' over the Iron.
Iron manager Angelo Harrop was left frustrated and bitterly disappointed over the outcome of the match adding: "We were so dominant in the first half, controlling the game and creating several chances that should have seen us two or three goals up.
"We then give a poor, unnecessary goal on 17 minutes in what was their first attack of the game," he claimed. "We had enough defenders to deal with and I can't understand until I see a replay why we didn't - there's no excuses for that.
"Then right on half time we give away another poor goal from a free-kick with the ball floated towards the far post when we had five defenders and the goalkeeper there to deal with against just two of their forwards," he continued. "But we allowed the ball to come back of the foot of the post and their man was simply quicker to react and poke the ball in the net - it was terrible to concede that way."
Harrop admitted his side's second performance was poor adding: "It's always difficult when you're chasing the game and at times we were all over the place, the passing and everything went astray like easy passes - I'm really disappointed."
He added: "We are simply missing that killer instinct and we've now gone three games losing and not scoring a goal so we know we have work to and get it sorted."
The Iron's next game is at home to high-riding Hampton & Richmond on Saturday, kick off.
Prior to the New Year's Day game at City the club confirmed that Steve Pitt, assistant manager, has been sacked by the manager and replaced by previous skipper John White.
by David Ward
To win any football match at any level a team has to score goals - it's as simple as that - but unfortunately for the Iron this vital ingredient is clearly missing at present as they succumb to their third successive league defeat in this 'second leg' of the festival local derby with arch rivals City on New Year's Day.
It means that the Iron have now played over 220 minutes without scoring a goal but conceded seven in the process which is seemingly see them slipping away from the play-offs and also down the league.
The Iron's lack of having a big, strong striker who could feed the ball off to the likes of Aaron Blair and Tom Blackwell is so obvious and its a missing link that the management need to get sorted and sorted quickly.
In this latest encounter the Iron were outstanding in the first half and saw several comparatively easy chances go begging but despite all this dominance they incredibly found themselves two goals down at the interval, much against the run of play.
Remarkably the home side took a shock lead on 17 minutes in their first attack when unnecessarily Alfie Payne gave the ball away in midfield and with defenders hesitating the home side nipped in to score.
The Iron then had the advantage of playing against 10 men when City skipper Dave Wingfield was righty sent off for a straight elbow in the face of Joe Grimwade.
The Iron continued to press and again missed chances whilst the reorganised home rearguard showed stubborn resistance backed up their young goalkeeper who pulled off a handful of fine saves all afternoon.
It then went from bad to worse for the Iron right on the half time whistle when a free kick was floated over towards the far post, hit the bottom of the goal post and the ball should have been easily cleared by either keeper Jack Sims or the watching defenders but the home side were quicker to react and nipped in to put the ball into the net.
It was in effect the turning point of the game because the Iron came out in the second half obviously with a mountain to climb and despite all their huffing and puffing they kind of lost their way with no real forward penetration, too many cross field balls going nowhere and other passes going straight mostly to the feet of home players.
When they did manage to get the ball into the danger area there was nobody on hand to add that killer instinct and actually put the ball in the net while some stout defending from the home side, who were bigger and stronger, any danger balls were soon dispatched up field to ease the pressure.
The Iron then made substitutions but they really had no effect because the old, old problem remained of not having a big, robust striker on hand to feed the like Aaron Blair and Tom Blackwell.
To add insult to injury for the Iron fans in the 1,550-plus crowd they conceded a terrible 'soft' penalty on 56 minutes which was duly netted giving the home side an easy road to victory.
Yes, the Iron kept pushing hard right to the final whistle but in reality they ran out of ideas and the strong home defence stood firm to give City a deserved festive 'double' over the Iron.
Iron manager Angelo Harrop was left frustrated and bitterly disappointed over the outcome of the match adding: "We were so dominant in the first half, controlling the game and creating several chances that should have seen us two or three goals up.
"We then give a poor, unnecessary goal on 17 minutes in what was their first attack of the game," he claimed. "We had enough defenders to deal with and I can't understand until I see a replay why we didn't - there's no excuses for that.
"Then right on half time we give away another poor goal from a free-kick with the ball floated towards the far post when we had five defenders and the goalkeeper there to deal with against just two of their forwards," he continued. "But we allowed the ball to come back of the foot of the post and their man was simply quicker to react and poke the ball in the net - it was terrible to concede that way."
Harrop admitted his side's second performance was poor adding: "It's always difficult when you're chasing the game and at times we were all over the place, the passing and everything went astray like easy passes - I'm really disappointed."
He added: "We are simply missing that killer instinct and we've now gone three games losing and not scoring a goal so we know we have work to and get it sorted."
The Iron's next game is at home to high-riding Hampton & Richmond on Saturday, kick off.
Prior to the New Year's Day game at City the club confirmed that Steve Pitt, assistant manager, has been sacked by the manager and replaced by previous skipper John White.
