Joined: Sat Sep 23, 2017 2:48 pm
Posts: 4822
Location: In the Armchair.
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THE MELTDOWN – WALSALLThe Dons strong home form continues as Walsall were taken apart 5-0 and it could easily have been more. It doesn’t erase the memory of the Stockport defeat or the many opportunities we have given up in the last few months but it’s definitely a step in the right direction.
It's out of our hands as we know, all we can do is try and win our remaining 5 games and hope one or more of those above us get the promotion wobbles, in the very least those remaining away games at Notts County, Forest Green, and Harrogate are an opportunity to sort out our away form, and go into the playoffs with a clear head, and far be it for me to remind you, that is not guaranteed yet, but to miss out on that in the least would be a F**k up of biblical proportions.
Whilst the result was conclusive at the final whistle, things could easily have been different if Mo Faal (No 23) had taken advantage of two one-on-one situations, as he easily shrugged off our defenders, once firing wide, and the other a decent stop from the under pressure Kelly.
Faal was giving O’Hora and Harvie a torrid time and I felt it was only as matter of time before the explosive striker found his shooting boots.
Before I forget, thankfully MW gave up on playing MJ at the back and rightfully put Cam Norman back in the starting lineup, after that Stockport result I don’t think he had any other option, hopefully we won’t be seeing that again this season.
Walsall were certainly well in the game but a tidy finish by Tezzy after some good work by Tommo and Gilbey just about took the wind out of the sails of the Sadlers, and they hardly looked a threat after that.
As usual at home, Bate, Gilbey, and Payne were running the show and the longer the game went on, the more dominant we became.
I was going to say the game changed when Max Dean came on, but I just think we always had a couple more gears to go through, and Dean just lit the blue touch paper as within seconds of him coming on he earned a penalty after the Walsall defence failed to deal with a Dean header and then an under hit backpass sold the keeper down the river, Max nipped in quick, and the keeper felled him to earn our first penalty of the season. The lengthy and highly suspicious delay treating the keeper never bothered Max as he confidently struck it into the corner of the net and then it became a master class that earned him the MOTM.
Two assists from Max followed, one for Gilbey and one for Tommo and then Max made it a nap hand bundling home after his initial attempt had been beaten out by Smith in goal for the Saddlers.
I am in awe of this kid as he terrified the Walsall defence that had looked ok barring the Tezzy goal. Within minutes they looked panic stricken, it was almost too unbelievable for words, I was laughing as all of a sudden mistakes were happening, sliced clearances etc, you honestly couldn’t make it up, it was hilarious.
It was nice to see the skipper come on and a nice touch by Gilbey to run the width of the pitch, give him a hug, and place the armband on him. It was only a 20 minute cameo for the Skip, but he looked solid enough with some decent touches, and one or two nonchalant flicks, almost arrogant, but I have to concede Walsall were done by then, he just put a fork in to make sure.
I’m very pleased Kelly kept a clean sheet, so let’s have no more talk about him being dropped, if you can’t tell he is our best option, well, I can’t help you, but trust me as a former keeper he is our best option, not a great option, but the best.
So, 5-0 and I haven’t really got any negatives, sorry Aliramone, I tried. I can’t really think of anyone that didn’t have a good game, Faal was dangerous early on, but when he was subbed off at halftime….tactical…injury, possibly the latter, the game looked pretty much done and dusted as Walsall had little left to trouble us.
Next up we have Notts County, where in truth we have to win, our away form is shocking, so we have to get a different mentality and translate the good home form to our away performances as well from here on in.
County are potent upfront with Longstaff , Crowley, and McGoldrick scoring loads of goals, but comedic at the back, just take a look at the highlights of the Swindon defeat today (Sat) to see what I mean.
Look out for the preview on Sunday.
Happy Easter  WD
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Read the MELTDOWN after every game, no bullshit, just giving it straight
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