Hamlet v Chelmsford City, National League South, Saturday 1 February 2020, 3pm

[Taper]

Yes, Ijaha was booked for such a throw in. Time wasting the charge! Agree also their third goal was sublime among the ridiculous. But I enjoyed that. Heart and fire and application. That’s all you need from your team.

 

[B.I.G]

Wasn’t there but can agree following it from elsewhere on the blower.

I got your two things. In an envelope safe and well.

 

[EDC]

I got your two things. In an envelope safe and well.

Thank you. See you soon.

 

[cambelt]

Thought the ref was ok actually. Really enjoyable game due to some very dodgy defending on both sides.

 

[cg__]

Thought the ref was ok actually. Really enjoyable game due to some very dodgy defending on both sides.

I agree I thought the ref was generally inoffensive, aside from missing the blatant handball from Clunis in the first half which it seemed as though everyone in the stadium, bar him, saw

 

[B.I.G]

I agree I thought the ref was generally inoffensive, aside from missing the blatant handball from Clunis in the first half which it seemed as though everyone in the stadium, bar him, saw

Someone said he was pushed into it.

 

[Moroccan Sunset]

So much to digest. I'll start with the crap: poor defending; our backline consisted of a central midfielder playing at centre half, a central midfielder playing at right back, a right back playing at left back and a teenager on loan from Millwall; Grainger looked iffy under the high ball; didn't like the new kid from Dover; shit penalty; we really miss Quade.

The good: Mills was cracking; the teenager from Millwall was cracking; we won; we scored five goals; the goals were beautifully scrappy; Ijaha makes a difference in the middle - you really see him organising those around him; big crowd. Lovely.

I'm a big fan of Monlouis (I think I've mentioned it in the past?) so I probably saw today with Monlouis-tinted glasses, but I thought he was excellent. He was busy, constantly involved and he looked a lot more combative than he did before his loan, I think. Never thought I'd see him in a DHFC shirt again, to be honest, so it was a surprise to see him in a squad, let alone in the starting XI. He's a natural no. 10 and I think he gives us something a bit different. Deserved his goal and along with Mills and Debrah thought he was the best player on the pitch.

All that aside, what a brilliant game of football. I know every week can't be that chaotic, but I kind've wish it was.

 

[liamdhfc]

Yes, Ijaha was booked for such a throw in. Time wasting the charge! Agree also their third goal was sublime among the ridiculous. But I enjoyed that. Heart and fire and application. That’s all you need from your team.

It was McCoy who was booked for not throwing the ball into play. Some bizarre decisions including no booking on the penalty when it was a clear goalscoring opportunity and Ijaha's tackle just after the penalty was not pretty Kearney's time-wasting actually sped up the throw in as the ball would have run away behind the goal if he hadn't caught it. Loads of robust challenges he let go. He was consistent in his inconsistency!

 

[Pink Panther]

It was McCoy who was booked for not throwing the ball into play. Some bizarre decisions including no booking on the penalty when it was a clear goalscoring opportunity and Ijaha's tackle just after the penalty was not pretty Kearney's time-wasting actually sped up the throw in as the ball would have run away behind the goal if he hadn't caught it. Loads of robust challenges he let go. He was consistent in his inconsistency!

The referee was terrible! If pulling someone down less than ten yards out in front of goal isn't "denying a goalscoring opportunity" I don't know what is. That was inside the first 15 minutes and could easily have cost us three points. A yellow card would have been lenient, but he didn't even use that. Several other bad/cynical fouls were let go, then he suddenly started booking our players for timewasting in the last five minutes. He didn't book a single player for a foul all afternoon. The only good thing about that performance by the referee was that he was reasonably consistent. (One of their players might also have had a red card for throwing an arm into Mills' face.)

 

[StephenMac]

The referee was awful. Didn’t book a single Chelmsford player for some very obvious and dangerous tackles yet got his cards out for a bit of time wasting at the end...

I was at the toilets opposite so quite some way away but can anyone confirm what I thought looked like David Ijaha, in stoppage time, being booked for taking a throw in down the line that didn’t actually cross the line into play?

Also their second, Granger was fouled, got his hands on it and comfortable but again no protection from the ref...

Man of the match for me, Monlouis. Made an immediate impact back from his loan spell, not just with the goal but a relentless energy in the middle and always looked to drive forward.

Kearney's booking was both funny and deserved. Refs will often have an issue with a time wasting player picking up the ball and running off towards the corner flag with it.

 

[Pink Panther]

Kearney's booking was both funny and deserved. Refs will often have an issue with a time wasting player picking up the ball and running off towards the corner flag with it.

I wasn't really watching what happened at the time, but thatwas the first booking of the match after about 85 minutes when he'd overlooked blatant cynical fouls from both sides. That just annoys me.

In other news I've just discovered I live in the same block of flats as Danny Waldren.

 

[Dodger]

Did you ask him why he wasn't playing for Romford today?

 

[Son of Roy]

In other news I've just discovered I live in the same block of flats as Danny Waldren.

Perhaps he will offer to carry some water up for you!

 

[Pink Panther]

Did you ask him why he wasn't playing for Romford today?

I haven't actually seen him. A neighbour told me.

 

[Stuart Fordyce]

Have to praise Jeffrey's character during the game. Missed an early penalty and we quickly went behind. He never stopped looking for the ball or working, and actually had a good game all in.

Monloius had a cracking game, his running with the ball and running beyond Danny Mills opened up a lot of opportunities.

Whilst it's never great to lose three goals, we actually played and pressed with far more intensity than the passive performances against Dartford and Chippenham. Danny's hat trick will have given the other forwards food for thought too...

 

[PartisanDulwich]

Interesting to note that their was more at Champion Hill than at Barrow - National League leaders
2,628

 

[the 12th man]

Interesting to note that their was more at Champion Hill than at Barrow - National League leaders
2,628

Our crowd was bigger than
1 in League One
2 in League Two
8 In National
10 In National North
All in National South

 

[jimbarkanoodle]

that was an enjoyable, funny old game. Its always hard to see the goals when you are stood behind the goal (especially the opposite end), but it seemed every goal was a bit scrappy which amused me.

Nice crowd too, enough for an atmosphere but not too many so the bar queues in the clubhouse were much more manageable. Good idea to send people downstairs past the gym when going outside, avoiding the bottlenecks.

 

[Pink Panther]

Have to praise Jeffrey's character during the game. Missed an early penalty and we quickly went behind. He never stopped looking for the ball or working, and actually had a good game all in.

Monloius had a cracking game, his running with the ball and running beyond Danny Mills opened up a lot of opportunities.

Monakana also gave away a soft free kick that led to the first goal only a few minutes after missing the penalty, getting too tight to our former player Frazer Shaw who just dropped to his knees, so he really had a nightmare start. I think he's more effective on the left even though he's naturally right footed, which makes the decision to use Clunis on the left even more baffling. I thought both of them were more of a threat when they switched sides after Chelmsford pulled it back to 3-3. Monakana' s wingplay and ability to beat his man on either side, then deliver a telling cross, is something we haven't really had since Ellis Green was in his prime.

Monlouis just looked like he belongs in that team at last. There was one moment when he snuffed out a dangerous attack by chasing back, bullied an opponent off the ball right in front of where I was standing, then turned and accelerated away for a counter attack. I can't recall seeing him do anything as dynamic as that before, he always looked a bit tentative and unsure of himself. I'm sure his issue must have been confidence and self belief. Hopefully he's cracked it now.

Chapman also had an excellent game for me, especially his attacking contribution, although as he's clearly capable of taking left footed set pieces (which I haven't noticed before) it makes the decision to keep Barnes at left back more strange. Swap them over if Connors isn't going to start.

 

[pettyboy]

Monlouis just looked like he belongs in that team at last. There was one moment when he snuffed out a dangerous attack by chasing back, bullied an opponent off the ball right in front of where I was standing, then turned and accelerated away for a counter attack. I can't recall seeing him do anything as dynamic as that before, he always looked a bit tentative and unsure of himself. I'm sure his issue must have been confidence and self belief. Hopefully he's cracked it now.

He's started 5 out of the 8 games we've won this season.

 

[Nivag]

Highlights are up

 

[Pink Panther]

Blatant red card offence for the penalty. No attempt to win the ball fairly and Mills would have been perfectly poised to tuck the ball into a nice gap at the near post from eight yards out.

 

[EDC]

Lovely save in injury time there.

 

[JoeBoy1959]

And so to Havant... Anyone know of any decent pubs there?

 

[Bugpowder Dust]

One or two near the station but the wrong side of the tracks from the ground, it's a fair hike from there but doable. Bar at the ground is ok though.

 

[EDC]

There’s a pub across the road from the ground, nothing special, sort of an estate premises. Big garden out the front if the weathers OK.

 

[pompeydunc]

You can reverse the journey and buy a ticket FROM Portsmouth or Havant to Clapham Junction or Peckham Rye for £19.90 or £13ish with a Railcard. You can get super off peak return making the journey this way, but not the other way around. Use your return portion first and outbound on way back. Not technically permitted, but never been questioned on it. This will save you around a tenner.