Chesham United v Torquay United - VNSL game 5 - 26th August 2024

[Louis]

[brucie]

Pointless being accused of being negative - we were desperately poor for most of the game. Yes i think tiredness accounted for our performance - but the opposition had 10 men for 60 minutes or more.

The turning point was the save by Hamon with his feet at 2-2. Whilst he was at fault for the first, that was a brilliant save and turned the game our way.

I agree that Palmer was poor today, and Crosbie looked way out of his depth - however it was difficult to chase the game as they wasted a huge amount of time.

As has said a great start - think we have overachieved so far. We are a resolute side but no way are we a promotion side. There is no pace whatsoever in the team.

[Gull1899]

Feels like we are working hard enough, but quality not there yet. Performances have to rise soon or we wont keep having our workrate to rely on. I trust the manager to be working in this though, seems an honest guy & hopefully can improve our levels of play as we go on

[standupsitdown]

Can’t remember when I last saw us win three times in a week, although as Saturday we were fortunate that the opposition missed a late easy chance,.

Two defensive errors led to their goals which was disappointing.

I thought Ash played very well when he came on and the substitutes / change of playing style made the difference.

I reckon about 700 away fans although vocal support wasn’t as good as it could have been as we were spread all round the ground.

[Southampton Gull]

I think some people forget how hastily this whole squad had to be put together. To turn the club around the way it's been done AND to be 5 games in and with 4 wins is remarkable. How many would have dreamt that this was possible just a few short months ago? Personally I'm ecstatic to see us picking up wins while playing poorly. From what I've heard the manager say I would surmise he's very realistic and as the season goes on I'm sure he'll identify our shortcomings and address them where possible. Just enjoy it for what it is, this is a fantastic start to a whole new era for the club and long may it continue.

[zebgull]

Just back from the game, listened to Wotton's interview which I thought was an excellent snd realistic assessment of where we are.
I'm not being rose tinted but winning when you're not at your best is vital, grinding out 3pts today after the last week is a positive..,and I really didn't think we were 'very poor' as a couple of people have posted. We had a lot of possession 2nd half - as we should against 10 - we just seemed to choose the wrong option sometimes, over playing it when a first time ball was there, then forcing it when the option wasn't on...Ash had a go a few times at the wide players for not playing an early ball - I love that, the Shearer interview about wingers comes to mind! - but Brad was full of running as ever and got his reward.
Negatives - we do need to up our game and find a way to play more on the front foot against weaker teams
Crosbie struggled, on today's showing he looked a little out of his depth
Two big defensive errors for the goals, made the game so much harder
Not sure Cooke and Crosbie worked, too static
Positives - the substitutions were great, felt like we were much shsrper up front
The squad individually looks a step up from last season
Dreyer looks quality, Hassani good energy and always shows for the ball, Mussa v good skills (does get caught in possession), Ash deserved his goal, Foulsdon solid, fantastic strike from Hayfield.

[The Great Muta!]

That's a good win today, very positive outcome, I've kept my thoughts to myself of late, but after 5 games I wanted to express my observations, PW has got an honest bunch together,well drilled and organised, the nucleus of a team is there...from what I've witnessed,read,and talked with fellow fans is this, we are direct,and we go from back to front quickly, we've had a bit of a luxury in playing Enfield and Chesham who'll probably struggle at this level, being a full time team you'd expect us to beat them...at the moment we are playing what I call functional, pragmatic football,it's not spectacular or mesmerising but we are winning football games and after the past few seasons I think we will all be happy with this, and factor in a new squad which takes time to settle.. maybe a bit more flair or style will come?, I'm not entirely sure it will, but if we do well this season I'm sure fans won't mind to much, I think finishing in the play off spots if it were to happen would be a good season.

[TUFC67]

Having listened to Paul Wotton, I believe that Saturday's game took a great deal out of team. The way Dorking stretched us was hard graft to defend and that level of defensive effort clearly has taken a toll. Let's be happy that we are joint top and have a great opportunity to top the league, backed by a huge home crowd on Saturday. Looking forward to it

[AdrianC]

PW’s interview shows absolute honesty, what’s good, what’s not so good and no passing the buck and blaming others, who am I thinking of...?

He knows what needs to be worked on and I have total faith in him to work on the right areas with the players.

To have tried hard, not played particularly well and taken three points on the road, can’t be unhappy with that!

[Cheshfan]

Chesham United Steward here. Can I say what a great bunch of fans you have got. It was a pleasure to have you all at the meadow today. Looking forward to the away game in 2025

[happytorq]

we've had a bit of a luxury in playing Enfield and Chesham who'll probably struggle at this level, being a full time team you'd expect us to beat them.

We've also played two sides - in Dorking and Farnborough - who you'd expect to be in the top 6 at least (Dorking expect to be title contenders). Got 3 points out of them. That's not bad. We do have frailties - we seems to be under the cosh quite a bit at the back today (I think we miss Dyer), and even though Hamon has done mostly ok this season, he drop a bit of a clanger for their first goal today. Still, winning 3 in a row is not to be sniffed at, with a change to make it 4 against a struggling Aveley on Saturday.

I also think we miss Craske - he was very good against Dorking and although I could understand why he was rested today after being out for so long, Tonks gives me a coronary every time he's put under pressure.

Ash's goal was really well taken, and I think we've seen enough from Mussa to suggest that if we can get him fully fit, he'll be a class above most in the division. Was a bit worrying to see him struggling to track back, having given the ball away, about 20 minutes after he came on. Not sure that Collins is likely to be in our best XI, either.

still. Onwards and upwards. Everybody would've snatched your hand off if you'd offered 4 wins from the first 5 games - even if we haven't blown any teams away yet.

another excellent Wotton post-game interview, too.

[tufcyellowarmy]

I think some people forget how hastily this whole squad had to be put together. To turn the club around the way it's been done AND to be 5 games in and with 4 wins is remarkable. How many would have dreamt that this was possible just a few short months ago? Personally I'm ecstatic to see us picking up wins while playing poorly. From what I've heard the manager say I would surmise he's very realistic and as the season goes on I'm sure he'll identify our shortcomings and address them where possible. Just enjoy it for what it is, this is a fantastic start to a whole new era for the club and long may it continue.

Saved me a lengthy analysis of the situation Dave .
Just look at the table after 5 games .
And we re not playing teams off the park.
Just be patient and trust the process….

[brucie]

I dont know why we are concerned with what sides are good and which arnt - its irrelevant really. When we got beat by Farnborough everyone was saying how good they are.

Well they have lost the last two games conceded 6 and scored 1 - they wont be in the top six. Just accept that we lost because we were poor and didnt turn up in the first half. No need to make excuses about how good the opposition were.

Hamon made a mistake today but other than that he has been excellent - he also made a match winning save at 2-2. It was a stunning save and probably won us the match.

I wonder how long it will take Mussa to get fit, He hasnt played many minutes in the last two games but he was blowing out his arse near the end. He is very skilful but hes extremely slow.

[SuperNickyWroe]

Delighted with the win.
It shows the team are together when they can get a result with an apparently poor performance.
I didn't expect us to be in ths position at this stage of the season and fingers crossed we can grow as the season goes on.
Looking forward to being at Plainmoor on Saturday for my fisrt match of the season.
Up the Gulls.

[CUFC]

Firstly it was good to see approx. 500 of you guys at our ground yesterday & I reiterate the Chesh fan's earlier comment on this forum. I was in terested to observe the various comments alluding to your poor performance & tiredness which I guess there maybe some truth in. The facts are that TU went home with the points, the reality is that the better team (even with 10 men for 45 mins...) lost a match they should have at least got a draw from. The first half went to plan for us until our gk made a bad mistake just before half time leading to the red card & penalty. However, we were surprisingly comfortable in the 2nd half & so much so, looked the more likely team to score (as mentioned by Paul Wotton afterwards). We too were tired & particularly in the second half when working hard out of possession & then wasted a wonderful chance to win it near the end. We'll look forward to meeting you again at Plainmoor next April & tbh, my feel is that we'll be playing you again next season as well..