Dire, Disgusting and Disgraceful : Match Report
By 4two & Ian Hemmings
March 19 2003
A humiliating defeat at a stage of the season when things were beginning to look up will have a devastating effect on the already fragile confidence of the Saddlers players.
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Preston North End 5-0 Walsall Nationwide League Division 1 Deepdale, Preston |
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Div 1 Latest |
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Goals |
Alexander pen 14,Etuhu 28, Creswell 63,Koumantarakis 73, 85 (Preston) |
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- None
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Lucas , Alexander , Jackson , Lucketti , Edwards , Cartwright , Etuhu , McKenna , Lewis , Cresswell , Koumantarakis Subs: Skora , Lynch , Broomes , Mears , Lonergan |
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Walker , Bazeley , Barras , Carbon , Aranalde , Corica , O'Connor , Samways , Matias , Junior , Leitao Subs: Ward , Robinson , Zdrilic , Birch , Shuker |
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Click here to choose your Saddlers player of the match. (if you have a view) |
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Match Report |
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Jim Walker gave away another penalty which allowed PNE to start the rout. The Saddlers looked all at sea and Etuhu's close range effort sent Preston in 2-0 up at the half time. The Saddlers lacked co-ordination and cohesion, and it seemed the decision to stick with 4-4-2 had been a bad ban Halftime : Preston 2-0 Walsall The start to the second half was encouraging for the Saddlers, with Walsall looking like they might be able to create a chance or two and maybe even get back in the game. The introduction of Shuker and Robinson on the hour marked was supposed to be a positive move, but 3 minutes later Creswell made it 3-0 by calmly converting an Alexander cross. Leitao went on to hit the post, and the Saddlers had the odd break but the game had been put beyond their reach. How anyone can call them "professional footballers" after Kourmantakaris capitalized on a miss hit Creswell shot to make it 4, and then five minutes later grabbed his second of the game beggars belief. The performance was dour, the score line is confidence shattering and Lee is going to have to pick up the pieces very quickly.
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Player Form by Ian Hemmings |
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Walker 5 - gave away another
needless penalty and should be dropped, only thing is Ward isn't
up to the job as an understudy! Bazeley 3 - couldn't defend and
he couldn't put in a decent cross, worst game in a Saddlers
shirt Carbon 4- Poor distribution and again struggled in
the air. Barras 4 - Same as Carbon but should have been sent off
for the last man tackle but didn't even get a yellow! Aranalde 3
see Bazeley. Corica 3 - Another poor game after showing some
promise on Saturday, really needs to be taken out of the squad
and let to build up his confidence again in the reserves. O'Connor
4 - didn't really see him during the game aren't sure if that's
a good or bad thing.Samways 6 - The best midfielder on the pitch
for the Saddlers last night and didn't waste a ball all night
why did Colin lee take him off my man of the match. Matias 5 -Tried
to get forward and put in a few decent crosses, but like the
rest of the team poor by the standards that we know they can
play.
Leitao 6 did a lot of
running without much support Junior 4 - failed to
give us the spark that he can and didn't release the ball
enough. Shuker 4 -Fid a lot of running but failed to deliver
any telling balls. Robinson 4 Didn't give the midfield any extra
bite. Zdrilic 4- failed to make an impact.
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After Match Reaction |
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Reaction : 4two - Cant quiet believe this debacle after how good things looked on Saturday. |
| Reaction : RushallSaddler - what the hell were the defence doing, did we have a defence - it didn't sound like it, midfield were no better, why did he not change the formation like he was talking about doing it back-fired on him for the Millwall game when he kept the same formation after two good away performances, | |
| Reaction
: Saddlerz- Play the youngsters, they can do no worse.
Birch, Hawley, Smith, Stanley, Bishop and Fryatt.
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