FL2: Bournemouth v Torquay United 28th Dec 2009

How many times have we talked about a good day out ruined by ninety minutes of football? In fact, that wasn’t really the case as it was a cracking game of football that I thoroughly enjoyed for 83 minutes, enjoyed for twelve minutes and hated for one minute.

I dropped the Mrs off at a friend’s house just outside Bournemouth and headed on to Boscombe where I was able to park up quite easily near the ground. I tracked down Barton in deepest darkest Boscombe and he treated me to a coffee in the café in the park by the ground. It was nice to just ask for a mug of coffee rather than a decaffeinated skinny cappuccino! Unfortunately, some of the brunch formations on display were a little disturbing so we decided to drink our coffees outside. You could hear the roar of the yellow army to build the sense of anticipation.

Ricardo sat behind us and Rob in front of us, so we had a mini TFF gathering. Rob showed he was just that little bit cleverer because he had his wife and credit card sat next to him and not set loose in Bournemouth town centre.

I won’t comment too much on the game as most has already been said. It was one of those games that we should have won but didn’t. I was actually quite impressed by the ref early on. The Mansell booking was definitely deserved – in fact it could have been a red for kicking out after he had been fouled. An early Bournemouth booking was handed out after the advantage had been played with I think Thomson managing to fend off a foul challenge – something you don’t see as often as you should. The ref’s performance did go significantly downhill in the second half.

I though the penalty was ridiculous, but there had been a warning of that not long before when a striker (was it Fletcher?) “bought” a free-kick on the edge of the box. It’s interesting, thinking of the mentions of bias, that we can think that the Torquay players’ reaction proves that it wasn’t a penalty yet the Bournemouth players’ reaction does not prove that Zebs was guilty of assault. I didn’t see the Zebs incident, so can’t comment but I suppose the lad’s team mates would be angered at the extent of his injuries whether they were inflicted accidentally or on purpose.

One thing I did note was the confidence that now oozes out of our team – in stark contrast to a couple of months ago. A team low on confidence will treat the ball like a hot potato and tend to lump it. A team high on confidence will tend to pass. I am convinced that passing or hoofing is far more down to confidence than to the manager’s instructions. At times, we erred on the side of “overpassing”. I counted three occasions when we gave the ball away and opened ourselves up by having cross field passes intercepted – one each from Smith, Wroe and Carlisle. It’s a difficult balance – I wouldn’t want to inhibit our new-found creativity by overstating the dangers, but it is a tendency that could cost us dear.

I was, of course, gutted at the late killer blow but I found that the anger and frustration subsided quite quickly for me because in my mind this is a mid-table season and I don’t believe that the point lost will be crucial. The current team is good enough for a play-off challenge but I think we’ve left it too late. As Barton says we would need the form of Champions from now on to sneak into seventh place – and I don’t think we are “solid” enough for that. At the risk of tempting fate, we are far too good to go down. After that Exeter game in 2008, football can only REALLY hurt me in matches that are really important.

Although I usually approve of “concentrate on the league” I’d be happy for us to have a compensating slice of good luck on Saturday. Another round or two in the Cup could well make the financial difference to enable us to have a squad that can really chase for the play-offs next season.

I was impressed by the town of Bournemouth – what a contrast to Torquay, I am afraid to say. What an advantage the seemingly buoyant local economy must give to those who run their club – although you wouldn’t know it looking at the financial mess they are in.

Our hotel was very good. I was concerned that it might be one of those places that serve the breakfast up for you and I would be at the mercy of some heathen pouring baked beans over my eggs. Fortunately it was buffet style and boosted by the appearance of sautéed potatoes. I put fried bread down first, eggs on top, then bacon, a sturdy line of sautees, mushrooms, sausages and a small quantity of beans with not too much juice . Proper job.

Got my vote for post of the week.....and certainly beats fonds's formation for the cup game