FT score: IRON 1 Dover 2

Great goal from marksy, but apart from that, i didn't think performance was good

You could tell it was going to be one of these of days when, the first half, every loose ball seemed to fall to a Dover player. However, they seemed more organised in attack and they were faster and more determined when they did attack. We can't complain because we had our chances and were foiled by two excellent saves by their keeper. As I say, on another day the chances would have gone in, but today they didn't.

Their key tactic was playing the ball down the channels into open space for their players to run on to and it worked throughout the whole game; we had no real answer and our poor old centre back spent more time chasing the ball out to the wings than in the centre.

I am sure that there was an explanation for it, but Rod looked very subdued today - little shouting or encouragement and lots of standing around with his arms crossed (Bringing back memories of Bellamy, who did a good impression of a cardboard cut-out). I was also surprised that there was little sign of our sub's warming up (even to encourage the players on the pitch to make more effort) and the obvious substitution of putting Danny Green on was left far too late for him to have any affect on the game.

Once again I found myself disappointed by Tom Bruno - he rarely directs the game and just spends a lot of time running around. A couple of times he looked really lightweight when putting in unsuccessful tackles and his only real contribution was dead-ball situations. Unless he starts playing like another BQ, he could find himself on the way out, I fear.

Overall we were beaten by a better team on a day when luck did not go our way. Full credit to the Dover fans, who were loud but well-behaved and very vocal in support of their team - for yet another home game, I don't think I heard a single chant in support of the Iron; if we don't give our players encouragement, how can we expect them to put in that extra bit of effort which can change results?

OK everyone it was always going to happen that we got beat eventually. At least we got beat by a decent side that were at times bigger, faster and IMO more up for it than us today. However in the 1st half had their keeper not pulled off 2 great saves from Jamie Guy and then Marksy the result could well have been different. I am not as pessimistic as some of the previous postings because when the DVD comes on line I think you will see we created more chances than Dover. I do agree with jimbo that again IMO young Tom Bruno is neither strong enough nor skilfull enough for this level and their 1st goal was a direct result of him being turned by their right back who set up the move for the goal. Thought Marksy (yet again) and Jamie Guy gave their all up front, Matt Paine was for me the pick of the team today. See that both Chelmsford and Bromley were held to draws today proving that in this league you can take nothing granted. I enjoyed the travelling support and although its true we are not very vocal at home (why?) those of us to travel to away games always make our presence felt.

I agree with most of the above, we do have to remember that we are a new team and a few less experienced men in the middle showed a weakness and why BQ was sorely missed, we need a Field Marshall in the centre not his batman and I think that now the bubble has burst we may see a better side, I always think that once the bitter taste of defeat has happened the the lust for victory may well improve the palette!!

Rod will sort things through, I was surprised he didn't improve the left wing and bring in DG earlier, it was apparent to all that the only way we were going to break down a big solid defense was to get in behind them, it work to some degree with Sam and Phil combining on the right but we need to do the same on the left to keep switching the offense, they were too good in the channels and we had no midfield direction or counter.

Well done to Dover who played well and didn't just turn up for the away point. Their smallish travelling support was very vocal aided by their drummer!!
Why don't we sing at home, not enough people prepared to raise their voices. Never here anything from the Cressing Road Stand and the quag never fills up like it used to. The Iron Faithful are alittle retro in so far as they need something to encourage them from on the pitch and maybe they weren't stimulated enough. I don't know what the answer is, I try to start the singing but get little response from the majority on the terrace who can't be bothered to sing even the simplest of chants,
"Come on Braintree"!!. It is just a few who travel away who sing.
I would have though that with such a good start we would have a). more supporters through the gate and b). more excitement on the terrace. Still it is early days and we may well still prevail in this league, were still holding 2nd spot and a couple of wins will keep the confidence flowing, I suspect that this loss yesterday will do more harm than good in the long term, it will cut the complacency out of the side and will make them go for it,
no one likes to lose, we will now see how they handle defeat and recover from what I believe is a minor glitch in the Iron machine. Eastleigh will be the telling point.

for those who thought we were not so good, they should read the following Dover link to put our performance in perspective:
www.dovorian.co.uk/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=11153

I am not really a fan of Neil Warnock, but he said the other day something along the lines that in football, sooner or later, you will get a kick in the teeth, but the important point is how you react to that. Rod has pointed out already that most of our players are younger than previous seasons and the loss is all part of the learning experience. One defeat is not the end of the world.

''I am not really a fan of Neil Warnock'''

is anybody?