First thing to say is well done lads another win and another 3 points in the bag.
Now if we start to dissect the game we were poor for the last 30 mins of the first half, passes going astray, keeper trying to play it short and putting players under pressure in possession, etc. But stayed in the game.
Jamie Jones made two excellent saves to keep us in the game during the first half but his distribution let him down on a couple of occasions putting Naismith under pressure and leading to us losing possession and impetus. Having said that I think that it was due to the fact that we had a new CB combination and he was still assuming Naismith was as experienced at the back as Fox. Fox makes himself available for a quick pass out whereas Cal was not as quick to adjust. They worked it out and put it right during the game.
The new CB pairing of Johnson and Naismith looked a little shaky early doors as they worked out each others game. Johnson was getting exposed by moving too far forward for a spell and they were getting in behind him, leading to the two chances they had. I think Cal would have had a word with him and he made the change. There were far too many passes from the back going astray and the half time stats showed that one in four passes was unsuccessful. Second half they were rarely troubled and controlled the game with composure. I think Johnson has the attributes to be a very decent player at this level and will only get better as the season goes on.
Pearce frustrates me a little, his lack of control sometimes lets him down when in decent positions, whether this was due to the conditions or not I am not sure. Tom James continues to impress both going forward and in defence putting in decent tackles and blocks whilst defending but having the ability to put in a decent cross when going forward.
The young players in midfield look raw, both look to have talent but are prone to a mistake or misplaced pass, but I cannot fault their effort and given more game time and the right coaching and advice could become our new MacArthur and McCarthy. They both look neat on the ball and are capable of a decent tackle but need to work on their distribution. They both had decent games yesterday and looked much better in the second half when we pushed forward and pressed higher to disrupt the Doncaster midfield who were much more in control during the first half.
Lee Evans, although much berated on here, in my opinion had a decent game. He looks a much better player when free of the responsibility of shielding the back four. He is creative and strong in the challenge and a decent foil for Garner to play off. Again although not a spectacular performance it was a workmanlike game and again he got more reward in the second half as we pressed them high. His dead ball delivery from the corners caused one or two problems for the Doncaster defence.
I will brush over Gavin's performance as I think he is not match fit and was drafted in early to cover for Cal being shifted to CB.
Solomon Ottabor is one of those players that frustrates the hell out of people. He is a live wire and obviously has talent but is so inconsistent and drifts in and out of games, Cal Mac anyone? He has pace and power in abundance and his break from our own half in the first period sums him up. He skipped around two or three players and left them in his wake only to give a poor final ball. I hope that we hold onto him as if he can improve his final ball he will be devastating running at defenders in this division and if those runs are in the box we will see a lot of penalty shouts this season. Should have had a goal to his name when put through by Garner after earlier providing a pin point cross for Garner to head home.
Garner will fill his boots at this level. He will be among the divisions top scorers if not on top of the pile. He is a constant thorn in the side of the defenders and has the ability to hold up play and become the provider, as we saw with Viv's chance. He does have a problem with referees, and needs to be careful with the yellow cards as we don't want to lose him to suspension.
Overall it was a satisfying result and performance against a well marshalled team who came to the DW on a high. The first half we looked apprehensive and our distribution let us down, but following the manager and coaches intervention at half time we looked a different side and the goal gave us the confidence to go on and finish the game off without giving them a chance. The difference was that we held off them in the first half and they dictated play, whereas in the second half we got into them and pressed high giving them no room to play to their own style. We were dominant in midfield, calm at the back and exciting up front. We cut out the mistakes of the first 45 and scored a well worked goal to put the game to bed.
If we continue on this trajectory we will be in the mix for the play offs at the end of the season. Not a bad outcome given all that we have suffered over the last few months.
Up the Atletico Tic's
