When it was obvious Old Half a Yard AND one Cranny kiddy were to be on the bench and Casey W and Knipey were to start, even the sight off FF in civvies wasn't enough to prevent some slight stirrings of hope at Suncorpes last night. The Strike Squad were in better voice than I have heard this season and 4150 devils for punishment had turned up and I think they would have been reasonably happy with the STRIKERS' efforts to half time (apart from the ability to convert a lot of possession into goals). Clint Bolton was pretty near faultless, Gwynne was Mr Consistancy at the back and Casey Wehrman was in patches a joy to the eye. Have I mentioned that I think he's quite good? Mad Bull Meridith was having a shocker despite bearing the captain's armband which had been cruelly wrest from OHY and he, Chay Hews and the solitary Cranny kiddy constantly dsplayed both abysmal first touches and passing skills.
I missed the STRIKERS' goal as I was at the bar too long and it was scored 30 seconds into the second half. I subsequently saw it on video and it really was a class act. Wehrman did what only he of all the STRIKERS could have done wide on the right wing, slipped two defenders with lovely ball skills and crossed perfectly onto Brownie's nut. He put away number 135 with a delicate fine deflection, again of high class.
Well, we thought "Here we go etc.....". Home side coasting 1 - 0 up, forward line looking reasonable, mid-field looking fair, defence solid and keeper having a good day. What does Frank do? Remove Knipe who had done little wrong and bring on OHY!!!! You could almost see the team's collective head drop. It was no time before Harper was at it as usual, arriving late and eventually squandering a good chance with only the keeper to beat, team mates in the box unmarked (I checked on the replay) only to try an unlikely shot from an impossible angle.
By now our midfield was looking increasingly ragged, Wehrman showing some fatigue and Meridith and Hews not looking any more skillful than before. Frank's next masterstroke? Bring on Cranny kiddy II !! It didn't work!! We heard a lot about Frank's tough conditioning earlier in the season, but the STRIKERS must have had a bit too much Christmas cheer as in the last 15 or 20 minutes it became increasingly apparent the the Falcons were outrunning the locals and steaming on strongly. Although the first Gippsland goal was a little jammy - STRIKER mis-kicked against a STRIKER, ball bounced handily for Johnson, shot went in (just) off upright - I wasn't too surprised that we had given up our lead and even less so when a really nice move caught our defenders square and immobile yet again and the 3 points so urgently requires were gone.
Nasty feeling times again. Optimism almost crushed. We can still do it, but I don't think we will. What we need is one (or preferably two) mid-fielders who can take a pass without allowing the ball to balloon away like beach ball, hold the thing up occasionally and the find a player in a yellow shirt from time to time. What we really don't need is Arnie - we have forwards in plenty - Frank, Knipe, Brown, OHY ( I Think he's supposed to be a forward) and Battistan used to be a striker. They are getting no quality service and I doubt Ronaldo would be scoring too many if he were magically to appear.