Half Time
Posted: Sun Dec 24, 2023 9:36 am
With exactly half of the league programme completed, we sit in a very handsome and perhaps unexpected 2nd place. Whilst no prizes are handed out in December, it's hard not to have elevated expectations for the second half if we can keep the current form going. But back in September when we sat in the bottom four and limped out of the FA Cup at Lewes with an abject performance, most of us would have been more than pleased with a bit of mid table obscurity. For those first dozen or so games we looked under-cooked perhaps a result of a rather short and indifferent pre season, a few injuries to key players and the enforced requirement to play our first seven games away from home. The new recruits, Hall, Seymour and Bloomfield seemed to hardly ever be on the pitch at the same time and goals and chances were hard to come by. George Hunt didn't make an appearance until the second half at Lewes and Jordan Cheadle was spending a lot more time on the bench than on the field. Only Adam Debois, who started as back up to Alan Julian until Alan hurt his back in the warm up at Eastbourne, showed the sort of consistent performance levels that has made him an automatic first choice.
Lewes was in hindsight the turning point and Mel made clear that some words were had between the players at half time. Whatever was said, it had an impact as we got back to a better style of playing and tightened up defensively to grind out a couple of wins which started to bring back confidence. For me the Torquay win was significant and we followed that up with a 5-2 demolition of Maidstone, games that showed there was a real team out there that was equal to most sides in the league. A 0-0 draw away at runaway league leaders Yeovil showed how far we had come in just three short months.
So can we sustain the form into the winter months when the bigger sides tend to show the depth of their resources and power away from the rest of the division? For the first time Mel has dipped into the loan and transfer market to fill some gaps and strengthen in certain positions. We will need that as a congested fixture list in January and February will test the depth of the squad. We'll need to have some luck with keeping key players fit and still maybe need a third striker to cover for Seymour and Bloomfield, the latter who seems to be somewhat injury prone. Realistically I think it will be hard to overtake Yeovil and I still expect Torquay to push hard for second despite some mixed recent results. A play off place though does seem a real possibility if we can keep the foot on the gas. Our home form has been excellent and we have a number of home games coming up to compensate for the first seven away fixtures so that is a slight in-built advantage. Only 10 points between 2nd and 12th place right now so things can change quite quickly. A bit of judicious spending might also be in order if we are still in with a shout by the end of February.
Lewes was in hindsight the turning point and Mel made clear that some words were had between the players at half time. Whatever was said, it had an impact as we got back to a better style of playing and tightened up defensively to grind out a couple of wins which started to bring back confidence. For me the Torquay win was significant and we followed that up with a 5-2 demolition of Maidstone, games that showed there was a real team out there that was equal to most sides in the league. A 0-0 draw away at runaway league leaders Yeovil showed how far we had come in just three short months.
So can we sustain the form into the winter months when the bigger sides tend to show the depth of their resources and power away from the rest of the division? For the first time Mel has dipped into the loan and transfer market to fill some gaps and strengthen in certain positions. We will need that as a congested fixture list in January and February will test the depth of the squad. We'll need to have some luck with keeping key players fit and still maybe need a third striker to cover for Seymour and Bloomfield, the latter who seems to be somewhat injury prone. Realistically I think it will be hard to overtake Yeovil and I still expect Torquay to push hard for second despite some mixed recent results. A play off place though does seem a real possibility if we can keep the foot on the gas. Our home form has been excellent and we have a number of home games coming up to compensate for the first seven away fixtures so that is a slight in-built advantage. Only 10 points between 2nd and 12th place right now so things can change quite quickly. A bit of judicious spending might also be in order if we are still in with a shout by the end of February.