Last week we played over Sydney United for 50 minures and lost; this week we played over Carlton for 80 mins and drew! At least the team is starting to play well but oh for a goal poacher. You can't miss a dozen good chances and win games.
The game started well for Newcastle with no deference being given to big names or high position on the table. That's my boys! As the game wore on we slowly gained the upper hand and what was more Carlton only had 3 or 4 chances and no soft goals were conceded. I often think Swancott has too much confidence but tonight he played with a lot of maturity and even when he made mistakes he receovered well. Carlton were starting to get agitated and no one more than their bench.
In the second half Carlton tried to lift a cog through Marusic but he soon faded and Lapsansky just disappeared. For the rest of the match except for a long range try and a lob from substitute Grella Carlton were backpedalling and on the defensive. With the send off of Anthopolous with ten to go I thought this could go either way now but the pressure stayed on and several saves were needed from Anastasiadis.
The game ran out a nil all draw but it had plenty to offer the fans. And whilst the crowd was probably down to a little over 4K they were very vocal with a very tighlty packed Rowdies Hill and some fine singing - 3 renditions of Celery! But what was Anastasiadis and Con Diomis stopping play for. Didn't poor little Dean like the treatment he was getting. Was Con getting heaps? keep it up lads. It looked and sounded great! OK Glory what we lack in quantity we make up for in quality! :-)
The points lost are a real problem and the top 6 is receding but a good game, we played well, and I think we may be on the way back. In short we have made Sudney United and Carlton (1 & 2) look ordinary in two weeks - bring on the rest!
Best for NTB: Zane, Ritchie, and Swancott. Halpin contributed well but can do better. Good to see McGuire getting a full run and doing well. Lowe had a good game again. As for Ironside - after the last two weeks let's hope the yellow was his 4th! :-)