Can you believe it, the last game of the regular season: simply where did all that time go? It only seems like a few days ago that Mrs Whittler & I were finishing our full English in a Polperro B&B and preparing to head off to our opening game of the season against Plymouth; yes, time flies when you are enjoying yourself. Well, to be fair the majority of the enjoyment at least in terms of entertainment was had by the travelling Hatters as fortress Kenny was not at her best with seven home draws denying us of some vital points that were critical in the final reckoning.
For the final game, those simple minded football administrators decided that L2 kick offs should be at 5:30; why I don’t know! Not my usual time for popping into the pub but you have to do what you have to do, so it was a quick trip to a couple of watering holes for a couple of ales pre-game. As ever, after a couple of ales and some good football chat, it’s off for a stroll to the Kenny; what could possibly go wrong. For the game, our Nathan made only one change to the Accrington line up and that was an enforced one with Gambin in for the injured Sheehan, who was rather worryingly wearing a bulky support boot in the main stand; hope he is fit very soon. You could almost view the game as a dead rubber as 4th place was already ours, Morecambe safe and in such last game circumstances, things can become a touch flat. However, it was not a bad game to watch with the Hatters knocking the ball around well and Kevin Ellison being his usual self: quite remarkable for a player who is almost the same age as John Still. We did create some nice openings with Vassell going close early on and Gambin making a poor connection with a ball inside the penalty area only to send it way over the bar; sorry Luke, you should have buried that one. Our “born again” Hoddoleite, Olly Lee, was placing some superbly weighted passes; wow what a change to our Olly since the start of April. I have given the guy some stick when he really underperformed earlier but credit where it’s due, he is doing well at the moment: I best have a pint of what Paul Hart’s drinking! With all this pressure, the Hatters did eventually take the lead with the move coming from a Gambin corner, a header by Potts and a one yard out finish by the ever alert Vassell for his 13th goal of the season: a great effort in his first season in the league. We did have other chances and Gray was really unlucky with a super shot that just screamed past the post. Yet even despite our dominance, we still managed the odd sleepy moment at the back. So, after some decent football we reached half time a goal up giving us a few minutes during the break to catch up on the potential playoff opposition: why were Stevenage not winning; looks like Colchester; that’s ok so as to avoid Blackpool: well, what do you know! As you would expect, Morecambe began the second half a little more chirpy but it was the Hatters who continued to press and “striker” Potts had another effort at goal again from a Gambin corner: not doing too badly our Potts. Then we had a short period of centre back madness with both Rea and Cuthbert seemingly to have swapped their football boots for wooden clogs. Rea makes a mistake, Cuthbert makes a mistake: things momentarily drift and bang it’s 1-1 via a penalty given away by Cuthbert. It was the other errors leading up to the move that NJ needs to look at as by the time the Morecambe striker was free in the area Cuthbert’s legal options were a touch limited. Thankfully we did not let that minor setback dampen our appetite and continued to press forward and other chances followed but this was tarnished a touch when Justin went down with what appeared to be a serious injury and he was stretchered off the pitch to be replaced by O’Donnell. We continued to pressurise the Morecambe goal and had good efforts from Pelly, Vassell and another great header by “striker Potts” that beat the keeper but pain in the butt Ellison was there to clear off the line. Time for a change to keep everybody fresh so off goes the dangerous Vassell to be replaced by Jack Marriott: hell he better work hard in this final 18 minutes as I confidently predicted 20 goals for him this season; only 10 more needed! Well, the first of that 10 came when Marriott raced on to pass from Jake Gray and from a difficult angle slotted the ball into the net. Then in a counter attack, our defenders again managed to get in a touch of a mess following a free kick that eventually came to Mullin who looked certain to score but Stuart Moore pulled off a superb save diving somehow to his left to turn the ball away for a corner. Eventually, our third goal did arrive and it was “20 goal jack Marriott” hitting his 12th of the season with a shot from the edge of the area that the keeper really should have saved. Game over and it’s on to Blackpool. Overall Impression I thought we played well and for the very first time this season we registered three wins on the bounce. I think that it’s very encouraging that a number of players have come into good form at the same time. The passing of Olly Lee was really good at times with some through balls weighted to perfection. The regular season has passed and now it’s almost time for the playoff lottery which starts at Blackpool next Sunday; really unpredictable stuff but at least with a group of players hitting form we have a decent chance of changing our playoff fortunes. Some thoughts on individual performances. Moore: again he had a good game, collected the ball well and made a very good save late in the game. I would take him if he is surplus to requirements at Reading. Justin: was playing well but picked up that worrying injury that saw him carried off the pitch. Cuthbert & Rea: mentioned together as at times they played fine but had the odd moment of relaxation that looked worrying. Potts: blimey, he did get forward a lot especially to dead ball kicks and was unlucky not to score. Lee: as mentioned above, some really fine passing from Olly and involved in almost every good move. Gray: steadily improves as he is given game time. Pelly: some good play some over-hit passes; much more to offer from Pelly; a challenge for Nathan. Gambin: some good crosses: I thought he had a decent game. Palmer: unusually, won a few balls in the air but his best work was his close control and his intelligent on the ground. Vassell: constant threat with his power and pace; seems to improve with every game. Well done Mick Harford for spotting this gem. The Subs: O’Donnell: seemed to have recalibrated his right leg mussels and put some good balls into dangerous areas. Marriott: took his first goal really well and looks keen and hungry. D’Ath: decent cameo performance; good to have him fit again. This will be the last Whittler report for the 2016/17 season. With the playoff games being televised by Sky I would imagine that all Hatters fans should be able to view the games live on the box. If you don’t have access to Sky then a crafty and legal way to view is via a Now TV unit; well worth the £20 investment. I will whittle on during the close season keeping the squad pages up to date as a means of reference and probably offer a few thoughts on “first look” at new arrivals in the PSF games. Thanks for reading and have a great summer.
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Hi there, welcome to my site where I chronicle various things about the Hatters, a team I have followed since the mid 60’sArchives
December 2017
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