By CCFC Sid
September 19 2004

Any team with serious play-off/promotion ambitions would expect to take a minimum six points from back-to-back home matches against Gillingham and Rotherham, so it was a severe dent to CCFC's hopes to struggle to draws against both sides.... Two more home matches, where 4-5-1 was the preferred system (By CCFC management, rather than the CCFC fans that bothered turning up at Highfield Road), showed a severe lack of attacking intent, and this option is winning Peter Reid very few friends - and not enough matches either.

Versus Gillingham, Steele, John, Leacock, and Whing came in as changes from the side beaten by Leeds, and things looked okay after half-an-hour, with Morrell probably giving CCFC the lead! (TV replays seems to show the goal being "stolen" on the line!).

A couple of minutes into the second half, and CCFC went two-nil up - with a highly dubious penalty. From my vantage point, Staunton, who had broken down the left and drifted into the penalty area, lost control of the ball, and was possibly brushed by a defender. The referee pointed to the spot (Much to the disbelief of Gills players), and new signing Stern John made it 2-0. Harsh on Gillingham, and probably unfair....

John had the chance to put the game out of Gillingham's reach on 50 minutes, but wasn't greedy enough (Have CCFC already trained walking the ball into the net into his head already?), opting to pass, after doing all the hard work and having only the keeper to beat, rather than shoot.

Two-nil up and seemingly coasting against Gillingham, CCFC somehow managed to help snatch a draw from the jaws of victory - with one Gills goal being aided by Tim Sherwood giving up on chasing the ball, and choosing to moan at the referee instead. Is that really what you expect from your captain? Not good enough! Gillingham simply played to the whistle, and scored because of it....

An Agyemang double gave Gillingham a deserved away point, with most CCFC supporters having to admit the first goal was of a high quality. Agyemang's second came after his shot came off Steele, and took an age to actually hit the net - seemingly long enough for a CCFC defender to at least try and hurl themselves in the general direction of the ball, with the intention of clearing it....

A minute before Gillingham's equaliser, CCFC missed a "stick on" chance to extend their lead, Morrell missed a chance a minute after (With Spiller clearing his effort off the line) and a glaring Suffo miss on 81 minutes also denied CCFC the chance of victory too. It's a well worn cliche, but it was far, far easier to score....

A Morrell effort was clearly handled by a Gills defender late on, but the match official managed to miss what seemed blatantly obvious to most (Though with CCFC having won a penalty that perhaps wasn't, the referee possibly saw fit to equal the score by not awarding a "definite").

As for versus Rotherham (Whose team bus turned up arond 2pm!!), well, not a lot to write home about at all - and even those CCFC supporters I know, who always have something positive to say, were left angry and upset at a performance not worthy of the entrance fee. There were only two positives....

That a 19-year-old keeper, and an 18-year-old defender - who woke up eating cornflakes somewhere in the Southampton area, only to be playing for CCFC later that same day - were CCFC's best players versus Rotherham perhaps illustrates just how poor the rest of the side were.

The on-loan Leacock, who had looked solid enough in his two matches, was injured (And packed of back to Fulham), forcing CCFC to draft in another defender - Southampton's Matthew Mills. The youngster enjoyed a decent debut, but CCFC fans are still baffled as to why Peter Clarke is off to Blackpool rather than CCFC. We KNOW he is capable of doing a job for us!

While some Gillingham fans might think CCFC expecting to beat them is a bit excessive, Rotherham fans could harbour no such thoughts. They are rock-bottom, and struggling to score, so obviously there for the taking .... but this is CCFC.

First half moments worthy of note include: Doyle hitting the bar (Again!), and Hughes being injured (Again) - leaving the dug-out for the tunnel on crutches, with a big ice-pack strapped to his ankle after just over half-an-hour - and Doyle going close just before half-time. Unsurprisingly, CCFC were booed off the pitch....

CCFC missed two good chances early in the second half, with a decent corner being missed by all almost straight after kick-off, and Gudjonsson spooning a great chance soon after. It might have been wise to substitute the substitute at that point, as he didn't offer too much in the final 40+ minutes....

In and around the penalty area, Stern John looked dangerous (And worth every penny CCFC paid for him) - outside the area he doesn't always look so keen to chase. I'm hoping this is a case of not being fully fit, rather than being lazy!!

John had decent chances in the 50th, 55th, and 64th minute, with the second coming as a result of an excellent pass by SJ himself to Staunton, and a decent cross seeing SJ's header go just wide, while the last saw an excellent turn and shot go just wide of the post.

Barrett was once again replaced, having enjoyed(?) a fairly ineffective match, and didn't seem happy about the decision. Hopefully more upset with himself, than Reid's decision....

Rotherham created a few chances in the latter stages, actually managing to get the ball in the net at one point - though the offside flag had been raised long before. It didn't stop their supporters from celebrating for a few seconds! (Well, its been a slow season for them so far!).

As the teams left the pitch, a fair bit of spleen was vented in the general direction of CCFC's players - whether or not this will see an improvement, or more of the same versus Sheffield Wednesday, remains to be seen.

Too many CCFC players are far to off form at the moment, with Suffo and Gudjonsson (Plus a couple of others) players that would be on that particular list. Time to improve, me thinks, before Peter Reid finally takes one of the jobs he is linked with. With the exception of selecting 4-5-1, the blame lies firmly at the feet of plenty of others....

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