I have to begin by saying RIP the great cult figure John Faulkner a splendid and totally brave centre-back who sadly passed away on the 28th December 2017. Condolences to the family of this courageous inspirational Hatter. --------------------------------------------- After a pleasant train hopping journey to Stoke and a very nice pre-match get together at the exceptionally good Bulls Head which hosted a very welcome BBQ and those lovely Titanic brewery beers. BBQ food at bargain prices, lovely ale a good mixture of fans from both teams enjoying themselves; on such a day without an iceberg in site, what could possibly go wrong? I should say that a Port Vale fan I was chatting to on the way to the Bulls Head explained to be the background to the naming of the Titanic Brewery in that the captain of the Titanic, Edward J Smith, was born just down the road from where the small brewery is located.
Well, I have to be honest when our group were standing in the pub enjoying the BBQ and a beer, we were trying to figure out the team selection. Pelly, D'Ath and Cornick starting with Elliot Lee in place of Collins. Had bubonic plague struck the crew of the good ship Nathan, maybe that engine room midfield collectively been hospitalised? However, equally alarming was the sight of the subs bench which contained that very engine room sitting on their bums. Either Nathan was being the expert tinker-man or he was about to lose the golden gamble; which was it to be? Boosted by their recent good form, Vale managed by ex-Halifax magician Neil Aspin, made a confident start to the game but for the first ten minutes were held back by a hard worker Hatters defence with only really Rea offering any steel in deep midfield. Then after about 20 minutes a cruel piece of luck as a hacked clearance from Potts cannoned off the unfortunate Mullins and past Stech. Oh dear, the midfield struggling to get into the game and now a goal down and forced to chase the game. Despite a few attacking moves no real threat was made on the Vale goal: the passes and crosses were generally overhit and easy work for the home side to deal with. Add in some pretty wretched kicking from Stech and we reached half-time fairly happy to be just one down especially when you consider Vale through the dangerous Pope should have had a second with a header from a poorly defended cross a couple of minutes before halftime. Surely Nathan would see the error of his midfield golden gamble and change things after the break. Well no immediate change was made at halftime and at least for a few minutes we played with a touch of urgency but Vale continually threatened on the break. Nathan finally waved the “I have been a plonker” flag and sent on inform men Berry and Collins in place of the ineffective D'Ath and Elliot Lee: later Shinnie replaced the getting nowhere Cornick. It did seem to me that our shape started to look a lot better with Berry very much involved in play but sadly we were really in chasing the game mode. Then the cause became a lot harder when Rea seemed to lose his footing near the halfway line and Vale were away with a beautiful counterattack at pace: 2-0 to Port Vale. Would there be any coming back from this one? Well, that question was shortly answered with a terribly under-hit back pass by Rea that let in the home side for a third goal: we were dead in the water; the iceberg had firmly sunk the good ship Nathan and the fourth goal was merely adding to the embarrassing pain. A great run came to an end in the Burslem bog against a deserving Port Vale side: good luck to them they outplayed us. It happens, simple as that, we move on. Overall impression It’s easy to say in retrospect that the game was lost before the kick-off due to the three midfield creators and their replacement with two midfielders who have not played for a long while and essentially a striker in Cornick. However, had it worked out then Nathan would have been a hero but from the first five minutes onwards, it was clear that the changes had ripped out the engine room of the good ship Luton. Neither Pelly nor D'Ath looked possible of creating anything against a resurgent Port Vale side who were so hungry for the ball. Sadly the line up selected simply left the three central defending players; Mullins, Rea and Sheehan totally exposed and having to work desperately hard all afternoon with little protection in front of them. Would it have been any different had Berry, Shinnie and O Lee started? Well, of course, it’s impossible to say but at least the engine room would have had a chance and yesterday with the performance of the terribly blunt midfield we were always going to struggle. To their credit Vale played with a passion and belief that simply we failed to match. A bad day at the office for Nathan? Yes, I think so but let’s not lose sight of some terrific days at the office in the last few months. It happens and I doubt that Nathan will make the same overly unforced changes again this season: we move on and put this one behind us and simply say that the better team on the day won and well done to them. So, onwards to our home game against Lincoln where we have the opportunity to complete what would be an excellent four-game festive series if we pick up the three points. A few thoughts on individual performances Stech: reasonable game making a couple of decent saves but he really does need to improve his kicking which at times was really poor. Note: the back3/5 were simply left with too much work to do all afternoon and I really don’t attribute blame to this group but rather to the “brave” team selection. Justin: like the rest of the defence he simply had too much to do with an ineffective midfield in front of him. Incidentally, young JJ was lucky to get away with one poor back pass on that sticky surface. Mullins: some decent clearances but under pressure all game against Pope who was really quite a handful and far too mobile for our under pressure defence. Sheehan: not his usual assured self in the game with some dodgy slightly miss-hit clearances but nevertheless made some really decent tackles. Potts: very unlucky with that first goal that rebounded into the net but it happens! Rea: more of a fifth defender having to play very deep especially in the second half. You could accuse Rea of being at fault for two of the goals but in fairness to a guy who is having an excellent season, he was terribly exposed all afternoon especially once we were really chasing the game. Pelly: sorry but after being such a big fan of Pelly for some seasons, I honestly think the boat has sailed without him being on board. Sad to say it but he just does not bring enough consistency of the right kind to his team: a latent talent maybe never to be fully realised in a Town shirt. D'Ath: asking too much of him after such a long lay off; on his day he is a bundle of energy but not effective at all in this game. Cornick: a few clever runs down the right wing in the first half but largely ineffective on the day. Elliot Lee: tried all his trickery but fairly well marked by the Vale defence. Hylton: battled but really got nowhere in the game and like Lee, never really got the better of his markers. The subs: Berry: probably our best performing player on the afternoon and now such a vital member of our side but Nathan why the feck was he on the bench: is he truly knackered at 25 years of age? I found that selection/ lack of selection just very difficult to understand. Collins: you can’t fault his effort but surely after the Swindon game where he looked to be in such good determined form, he should have started. Shinnie: maybe not the right time or indeed conditions to bring on the superbly skilful Scot.
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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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