Very positive evening -

Alfie scored a fine goal and went off beaming

The new guy Hollis (an absolute giant) had a solid game

Another 45 for Tony Craig, hopefully he starts Saturday

Niall scored a beauty

Slav played 45 and kept a clean sheet

Loads of up and coming youngsters got minutes 

All good.

@dorking-eagle Niall scored?!? That is great. Hopefully this can create a bit of confidence and cohesion in the team. Feel like this was a smart move on Marc's part after Saturday, a day only mentioned in whispers.  

Yeah Niall's strike was hit really cleanly, took it well. Game was just what was needed.

Echo mostly what @dorking-eagle said, a pretty positive evening against a good step 4 side.

Good minutes and a confidence boosting goal for Alfie. More needed minutes in the tank for McShane, Muitt, TC, Fuller, Moore, etc. Some minutes on return for Bobby-Joe and Bowerman as well. I would probably expect Bobby to start on Saturday considering he was able to come through 60+ mins last night.

I thought Hollis looked excellent - very calm on the ball and won everything in the air. Has to be the tallest player we've ever signed right? He looks taller than JP at a glance. Very vocal as well which is great.

A worldie on his left foot by Niall was not on my bingo card though!

@calvertskans Sounds very positive! Yes, Hollis is 6'4'' apparently. Jason is 6'1'' I think.

Actually, on the subject of height, Google says Harrison Male is 6'1'' too, which is strange as I'd have him down as a shorter keeper, maybe 5'11 tops?

Enjoyed the game last night, Raynes Park played well and you can see why they are killing it in their league. Loved the dynamic between both sides with some of the challenges and the ref letting the game flow with a sense of humour. 

Hollis is a physical presence we could do with and he looked very composed, even when passing long across the goal! If he can hold down LB and give Bobby Joe more freedom higher up then this would pay off nicely. If we think back to last year and the problems we were having in defence, Marc has since been proactive and signed solid league experience in Francomb, Craig and Hollis, this can only be a good thing.

@georges My only worry with the Francomb/Fuller, Craig, Hollis backline would be pace. None of them are particularly quick and are all well over 30+ so I would worry about legs later in matches a bit. Hopefully won't be much of an issue at home but I think they would struggle in certain away games, like what we saw at Gateshead.

@calvertskans Good point, will be interesting to see how they adjust, Hollis looked done after about 25 minutes! In terms of defence I'd like to see us work out a proper plan for build-up as we look ropey playing out from the back. Not sure if this is how they've been told to play, but recent interviews from Marc suggests it isn't, in which case looks like centre-backs don't have any ideas and pass back to keeper way more often than we should, inviting more pressure. We've got height up top and I believe long balls for Prior/Ottaway to head on helped contribute to our turnaround last season, hopefully a more experienced back line can help sort this out.

I agree on the Hollis signing. We need more cover on that side and he is tall and good on the ball. So him and Cook able to play there is all good.  

But the playing out from the back needs a lot of work. Early on, teams are able to press it effectively while they are full of energy and we don’t have enough midfielders showing for it.  Jimmy did well on this front but it was hard work to get through.  
I would think it makes sense to play safe in the first half by going long, as you suggest @GeorgeS, and then look to play more from the back in the second half as legs get heavy for the pressers.  Either way, players on the pitch need to be able to mix it up and make decisions for themselves about when to go long. I was standing by the dug out and Marc was wanting Male to play it out short and quickly. 
Will be interesting to see the tactics - and the team - for Saturday. 

That's the Wanderers way, playing out from the back and you get a bollocking if you go long. I'm afraid to say. Only play out from the back when you can is my theory. 

@happy-hammers Old school, Gary 😉 

It's an interesting one though isn't it - I agree, we struggle against a full press - I'm not a tactics expert by any means, so what should a team that doesn't want to go long do? 

Looking at higher level teams, and in Europe, the back 4 seem to have so much more time on their hands, and are rarely pressed like this.

A few times this season we've actually looked really good going semi-long, with balls into JP and / or Ottaway really well controlled and then played off quickly to the wingers...

@adeb I predicting a 2-1 win on Saturday and a lot of ball possession 😂🤗