Dorking Wandering
The Dorking Wanderers FC Fans Forum
5th time lucky!
After multiple postponements, we head to Altrincham against a side who are currently bottom of the form guide with 5 straight defeats. We will be looking to keep our 4th consecutive away clean sheet after doing that earlier in the season back in September.
Tony Craig returns from suspension and Marc also mentioned that Bowerman is available for selection once again. McShane and Gallagher remain sidelined and Tom Blair limped off on Saturday but hopefully that was just a precautionary sub.
Predictions:
Altrincham 2-1 Dorking (Francomb)
2,043 attd. (39 away)
Not going to bother predicting a line-up for this one as there are so many ways Marc could go for this one. Will he decide to go with the more secure line-ups that we saw against York and Kidderminster or will he go for a more attacking side after the successes at Boreham Wood and Chesterfield at the weekend?
Considering we have a couple of important games upcoming against teams around us such as Maidenhead and Southend, will Marc use this as an opportunity to rest a few? I do expect Tony Craig and George Francomb to come back in to the side so will he decide to rest Hollis? Could Pybus or Josh Taylor get a rest? Can Rutherford and Prior start after lots of minutes on Saturday?
Watched the game on the stream.
IMO Marc was 60% why we lost that game last night and the players 40%.
I would like everyone to take off their DW heads off and put their football head on.
Right after a great and surprising result on Saturday. We play Altrincham away who on their day are a really good team although losing 5 on the spin.
You have to play every game on it's merit. So Marc said he knew that they were very quick and good on the counter, his words.
So why play a back 3, Cook not a left back, Hollis looks like his carrying a caravan on his back and Fuller who looks like getting back up to a good fitness.
Cook is a liability when he gets booked early doors but I do think Marc does need to trust his players a bit more or pull him over and have a word with him.
Taking off Rutherford was a panicky sub and why take him off, he has 4 goals in 6 starts, Prior has scored 1 goal in 20 starts and doesn't get behind the defence.
This was a good game to get a draw or nick a win, now Maidenhead away we need something out of the game.
It's getting frustrating with the same script; everyone watching crying out for a back 4, Marc religiously starting a back 3 then switching to 4 during the game after we go a goal or 2 down
It's getting frustrating with the same script; everyone watching crying out for a back 4, Marc religiously starting a back 3 then switching to 4 during the game after we go a goal or 2 down
You need to be unpredictable in football. The predictability of Dorking means its an easy game to prepare for. You know the line up and you know the weaknesses.
With Hollis its clear all the managers in the league have a strategy against him. It paid dividends in the 2 of the last 3 games for them.
As you say he needs to go to a back 4 and he needs to either drop Hollis or play him in a way where is not tight to his man and getting spun or skinned. Its glaring at this point.
Surprised Marc didn't take the blame for that one in his post match. It was an insane line-up and shape to play away from home against a side who basically play 4 up top. Bobby-Joe HAS to start away from home against those sorts of teams, I don't care who may or may not have played well in a home match against a completely different type of side a few days earlier.
Not sure how their 7 didn't also get sent off. He got a yellow and then committed 3 fouls and a dive after it. However, watching the highlights back, Cook was probably lucky to only get a yellow for his tackle during the second goal.
I checked the rules on quick free kicks and apparently they're allowed as long as an opposing player is within 10 yards and the ref can only disallow if he needed to speak to a player first or if there is an injury. It's just odd that you never really see them happen.
In terms of performances, I thought Prior and Carter were really poor last night. JP had quite a few chances in the game and at the moment, his finishing just isn't up to the NL standard. I can understand why we took Alfie off though as it was unlikely he was going to complete 90 mins.
Bit worried about Saturday now as we lost Briggs, Fuller and Josh Taylor last night. They would have had a full weeks rest as well. Not sure who plays on the right of the defence if Francomb is also injured.
@adeb - Briggs did his hamstring with about 10 mins left. Basically stood in one spot at RB without moving after that. We finished the game pretty badly as a result.
In the post-match interview it was said it's his hamstring gone again
"Why would I leave to join a League Two club? We're going there anyway!" - Marc White
Some stats:
xG: Altrincham 1.00 - 3.19 Dorking
Posession: Altrincham 33% - 67% Dorking
Shots: Altrincham 5 - 24 Dorking
Highest Rated Performer: Tom Blair [8.3]
Surprised that Chesterfield had more possession against us than we did against Altrincham. Alty actually had more shots on target than we did which tells the whole story of this game really.
Also, I was so close (exept for the away support number)!
Predictions:
Altrincham 2-1 Dorking (Francomb)
2,043 attd. (39 away)
@calvertskans Haha you're fast becoming the master of predictions. And the away numbers - that's probably quite accurate for the numbers actually from Surrey...
