Wingate & Finchley AWAY (Isthmian League) Saturday 10.08.24

[Pink Panther]

An Oystercard awayday to start the new season. The ground is at Summers Lane, nearest station is West Finchley Underground (Northern Line) around 1 mile away. The alternative route is to get off a couple of stops earlier at East Finchley and get bus 263 up the High Road to Granville Road bus stop at the junction with Summers Lane.

The hosts were last season's surprise package, finishing 4th after narrowly avoiding relegation the previous season, before losing at Enfield in the play-offs. Hamlet beat them 3-2 away and 3-0 at home. They've since lost a number of their best players to other clubs, so manager Ahmet Rifat will need to repeat his knack for finding hidden gems on what appears to be a small budget and moulding them into a highly competitive team. New recruits include much travelled striker Ogo Obi, who scored against us for both Hemel Hempstead and Slough during our relegation season, before playing for Maidstone and Chesham last season.

N.B. there are no Overground services via Peckham Rye or Forest Hill today, so check live running information if you normally travel on those routes. (Southern services are running to London Bridge from Peckham Rye, but not on the Forest Hill line.)

 

[Pink Panther]

Team:

 

[Paula_G]

 

[Don't Slow Down]

2-0 down and fucking shit ........

 

[Jimmy Don't]

I'm here now. 2-1. Finchley penalty just saved

 

[Jimmy Don't]

2 all!

 

[EDC]

2 all!

3-2 Here we go again, don’t they ever learn.

 

[Don't Slow Down]

Lucky to get away with 2-3, massive improvement needed on the basics........

 

[AveryDave]

Out-worked by a limited team who played to their strengths, whilst we played like we expected to be given the three points just for turning up. Painfully familiar.

 

[the pink one]

Barnes and Porter

 

[Don't Slow Down]

Barnes poor
Binnom-Williams poor
Mills poor
Porter poor
Many were laboured in their performance
German had a good game
Wanadio average, but ruthless when in the right situation
AJ added the energy that had been missing the previous 60 minutes

Hopefully a wake up call to all that a lot of work has to be done to even stay in this division!

 

[AveryDave]

The attitude of some of the senior players was more disappointing than their performances, and that’s saying something.

When Taiwo-Pratt went down in the first half, Binnom-Williams shouted at him to get up. When Marshall suggested he was hurt, Porter shouted “Dami, are you hurt?” The youngster was already looking nervous, felt like he couldn’t wait to get off the pitch after that.

 

[AveryDave]

 

[Pink Panther]

That was a big letdown. We were behind for almost the whole game and never really looked like scoring until the penalty for our first goal, by which time we could easily have been more than 2-0 down. Letting in the late winner after saving a penalty and equalising was a real bummer, but frankly it would have been a mugging if we'd come away with anything.

The opening goal was a farce, rather casually passing the ball backwards and allowing centre forward Obi to charge down the keeper's clearance. Their left winger penetrated our penalty box like a thermic lance to set up Obi for a simple tap in for the second. Wanadio's quick feet on the right edge of the box induced a clumsy challenge from their left back for a blatant penalty, which he converted himself, but Barnes was penalised for a penalty at the other end after plunging at Obi's feet on the corner of the 6 yard box. Once again, the player felled picked himself up to take the kick, but this time the keeper made a fine save to block the shot to his left. More wizardry from Wanadio looked to have salvaged at least a point with 6 minutes to go, once again tormenting the left back, this time turning inside to fire low into the net through a crowded goalmouth. We should have had all the momentum and confidence at this stage, but a snapshot from the edge of the box seemed to fool Barnes, curling slightly away from him as it skimmed the turf to burst through his outstretched hands.

Ogo Obi now has 5 goals for 3 different clubs in his last 3 matches against us, despite his failure from the penalty spot.

On the plus side, Sam German is a tremendous signing. He already seems far too good to play in this league beyond this season. I was also impressed by the range and accuracy of Ralfi Hand's passing, and he looks pretty strong in the tackle for a teenager.

 

[Jimmy Don't]

Who's the 10 on the left wing? In the last half hour I was there, he must have put in 10 crosses into dangerous areas that a clinical centre forward would have been all over.

The captain, 18 I think, looks like he's not out of pre-season, carrying a lot of weight, despite having decent feet.

Keeper will be disappointed with the winner I'd say.

 

[Al Cunningham]

We clearly missed a right back today with Ramsay injured and Marshall suspended for this game from last season. Wingate were v clever out wide with pace and German was left too often playing right back and right centre half. We also missed a defensive midfield player with Wynter out. Scott and Hand are forward thinking and our other player in that area Porter was further forward without offering any genuine support to Mills or linking with the midfield . Tuesday should be tighter with Marshall available and hopefullly Wynter or if not Krasniqi playing in front of the back 4. Upfront we do look limited in options. Its pretty much Wanadio doing some magic like today or the wide players providing accurate crosses picking out Mills around the 6 yard box which didnt happen. Need 2 good performances on the next 2 home games

 

[AveryDave]

 

[Pink Panther]

That's a real horror show, especially the first one.

 

[KPMG]

That's a real horror show, especially the first one.

Chambers repeating errors from last season, leaving the back pass short.

 

[Pink Panther]

Chambers repeating errors from last season, leaving the back pass short.

At least he avoided his error at Carshalton when it flew past Constable for an own goal!

 

[AveryDave]

Chambers repeating errors from last season, leaving the back pass short.

Barnes had plenty of time to deal with it. Was far too casual, then panicked.

 

[Pink Panther]

Barnes had plenty of time to deal with it. Was far too casual, then panicked.

He could certainly have done better. I think he misjudged the pace of the ball and expected it to reach him quicker, then couldn't get there in time. It wasn't a great pass though, it was hit directly at him and gave him no chance to open up an angle to clear it. I never like seeing the ball passed backwards like that when forwards are pressing. Even at Premier League level, you frequently see goals given away like that these days. With all the modern analysis techniques, presumably the boffins reckon it's worth the risk in the long run, but I still don't like it!

 

[bkbk]

Wow, pretty inauspicious start for the new boy in net

 

[Pink Panther]

Wow, pretty inauspicious start for the new boy in net

In all the friendlies I saw, he looked totally solid and made some smart saves when required. He also made an exceptionally good penalty save yesterday. Frankly the whole team performance was slipshod, but when you're in goal there's no one else behind you to bail you out. Last year it was our goalkeeper who took all the plaudits on the opening day of the season away to Hashtag, but that turned out to be insignificant in the end.

 

[Don't Slow Down]

Too many played this out like a pre season friendly, I'd expect a reaction performance wise on Tuesday, otherwise we are in for a long season.

 

[Pink Panther]

Report from Wingate & Finchley.

Lowe leaves it late to provide the killer blow

August 2015 was the last time that Wingate & Finchley opened the season with a victory. Billy Healey scored twice on that day against Brentwood Town in front of 104 fans at the Maurice Rebak Stadium. Ahmet Rifat donned the number 6 shirt, and Joe Sharpe had a spot in the matchday squad...

www.wingatefinchley.com

 

[Paula_G]

As a keeper every one of those goals I’d be very disappointed to concede. For the first one the keeper has taken a step backwards that has allowed the striker a little extra time to close him down. It’s often a case of panicking to make the clearance with the consequence we’ve seen here. A first touch to take the attacker out of the scenario often works better. Had to do that a couple of times playing for Sutton United against Clapton in pre season.

 

[JohnD]

Carshalton currently 2-0 up v Wingate - both goals scored by Dom Vose!

 

[Jimmy Don't]

As a keeper every one of those goals I’d be very disappointed to concede. For the first one the keeper has taken a step backwards that has allowed the striker a little extra time to close him down. It’s often a case of panicking to make the clearance with the consequence we’ve seen here. A first touch to take the attacker out of the scenario often works better. Had to do that a couple of times playing for Sutton United against Clapton in pre season.

I wasn't there for the first one. Just watched it above - crikey!

 

[Pink Panther]

Carshalton currently 2-0 up v Wingate - both goals scored by Dom Vose!

Wingate hit back to equalise, but this time they conceded the final goal to lose 3-2. Vose also scored Carshalton's goal at Folkestone on Saturday.