AC Mack
Striker
Just a quick pre match stop off in the Harbour View this morning to meet my dad, and watch a bit of cricket. I also had to pick up my Rochdale ticket from the ticket office, and I was in and out in a minute so fair play for that. I've not seen the game back yet but will probably do so shortly.
Player ratings:
McLaughlin - solid all game collecting crosses, didn't have many saves to make and didn't have any major issues or ever look uncomfortable. His/our only issue was goal kicks as their man marking meant he had to punt it long a lot. He targeted a few different areas with limited success, and our players needed to be aware and ready for the second ball. 6.5.
O'Nien - solid and dependable as ever, without having a massive impact. Certainly going forward he didn't see much action, but he made a couple of important interventions in defence. 6.5.
Ozturk - just as dependable as Tuesday night. He's not exceptional at anything but doesn't have too many weaknesses, or at least ones being exposed at the moment. Wins most of his headers, good positioning, no-nonsense on the ball and doesn't take many risks. 7.
Willis - great to see him get a goal, and it might be just what he needs to settle down. I say that because he doesn't seem settled yet and worries me at times. He's very awkward on the ball and doesn't have confidence, and that was shown in the second half when he failed to play the ball back to McLaughlin, seemingly worried he'd fluff it. Good in the air as he seems to have a decent leap. I'm not convinced by him yet but hopefully that'll come. 6.5.
McLaughlin - seems awkward and unnatural at times at left back, shown by some sloppy passes and his failure to deal with their best player, Harness. He settled down as the game progressed but he's not a left back. Good in the air all game. 6.
Leadbitter - my mom although others will disagree. He got stuck in all game, won lots of challenges and generally broke up their play well. He was also positive on the ball and helped us get forward with his passing range. Good corners in general too. 7.5.
Power - another good performance and second half we saw the Power I want to see every week. He was playing like a man possessed at times, getting on the ball and driving us forward. It was great to see. He seemed to link up well with Gooch a fair bit. He needs to keep up that positivity and involvement. 7.
Gooch - completely anonymous most of the first half, but burst into life at times in the second. As I say, he seemed to be linking up well with Power. Overall still probably his quietest game of the season. 6.
Maguire - infuriating as so often is the case. Why does he take so many touches? The good thing was he was heavily involved (and deserves credit for that), which is usually when he's at his best. But he relies on instinct and as soon as he has time, he picks the wrong option. There was one time he peeled off the full back and got into the box driving toward goal, and inexplicably turned back on himself and the chance was gone. He also got himself booked for getting caught out by their full back making a run, putting us under pressure. When he's good he's very good, it's just not very often. Ultimately his goal won us the game, of course. 6.5.
McGeady - quiet in the main with occasional bursts of quality that other players in this league aren't capable of, typified by his assist for the winning goal. Looks to be not far off match fit as he was tracking right up until being brought off. 6.5.
McNulty - put himself about well before getting injured, and his movement off the ball is really useful. 6.5.
Subs:
Wyke - did a really good job when he came on, putting himself about, winning headers, occupying defenders, bringing others into play and generally leading the line well. If he'd done that all game and played a part in any goals he'd have had a higher rating. 6.5.
Hume - sensible substitution after seeing them bring on a fresh right back and seeing both Maguire and McGeady getting booked in similar situations. He did his job well too, helping McLaughlin and getting rid of the danger.
Grigg - special mention to Grigg for the most gutless substitution display you're likely to see. At least look like you're f***ing interested mate.
Got a feeling some of those ratings might divide opinion a bit more than usual.
Ross - credit to him for sticking to the formation which actually suits us, and not changing too much in terms of personnel from Tuesday night. I still think there's a lack of goals in that team but we did the job today.
Crowd - decent atmosphere in the main, not much to report.
Referee - a bit whistle happy for me but not too bad. He got two or three decisions wrong, one each from O'Nien and Wyke that I can remember. He also failed to book their goalscorer for a blatant cynical foul.
Portsmouth - poor. I've seen them five times now in the past few months, and bar 45 minutes at Wembley they've been poor each time. They just don't have much about them. Their right winger Harness caused us problems, as he did (for Burton?) last season. Marquis and Curtis were garbage. Their fans (fair play for travelling) only seemed to want to goad us a bit, but you never heard them after we equalised.
Player ratings:
McLaughlin - solid all game collecting crosses, didn't have many saves to make and didn't have any major issues or ever look uncomfortable. His/our only issue was goal kicks as their man marking meant he had to punt it long a lot. He targeted a few different areas with limited success, and our players needed to be aware and ready for the second ball. 6.5.
O'Nien - solid and dependable as ever, without having a massive impact. Certainly going forward he didn't see much action, but he made a couple of important interventions in defence. 6.5.
Ozturk - just as dependable as Tuesday night. He's not exceptional at anything but doesn't have too many weaknesses, or at least ones being exposed at the moment. Wins most of his headers, good positioning, no-nonsense on the ball and doesn't take many risks. 7.
Willis - great to see him get a goal, and it might be just what he needs to settle down. I say that because he doesn't seem settled yet and worries me at times. He's very awkward on the ball and doesn't have confidence, and that was shown in the second half when he failed to play the ball back to McLaughlin, seemingly worried he'd fluff it. Good in the air as he seems to have a decent leap. I'm not convinced by him yet but hopefully that'll come. 6.5.
McLaughlin - seems awkward and unnatural at times at left back, shown by some sloppy passes and his failure to deal with their best player, Harness. He settled down as the game progressed but he's not a left back. Good in the air all game. 6.
Leadbitter - my mom although others will disagree. He got stuck in all game, won lots of challenges and generally broke up their play well. He was also positive on the ball and helped us get forward with his passing range. Good corners in general too. 7.5.
Power - another good performance and second half we saw the Power I want to see every week. He was playing like a man possessed at times, getting on the ball and driving us forward. It was great to see. He seemed to link up well with Gooch a fair bit. He needs to keep up that positivity and involvement. 7.
Gooch - completely anonymous most of the first half, but burst into life at times in the second. As I say, he seemed to be linking up well with Power. Overall still probably his quietest game of the season. 6.
Maguire - infuriating as so often is the case. Why does he take so many touches? The good thing was he was heavily involved (and deserves credit for that), which is usually when he's at his best. But he relies on instinct and as soon as he has time, he picks the wrong option. There was one time he peeled off the full back and got into the box driving toward goal, and inexplicably turned back on himself and the chance was gone. He also got himself booked for getting caught out by their full back making a run, putting us under pressure. When he's good he's very good, it's just not very often. Ultimately his goal won us the game, of course. 6.5.
McGeady - quiet in the main with occasional bursts of quality that other players in this league aren't capable of, typified by his assist for the winning goal. Looks to be not far off match fit as he was tracking right up until being brought off. 6.5.
McNulty - put himself about well before getting injured, and his movement off the ball is really useful. 6.5.
Subs:
Wyke - did a really good job when he came on, putting himself about, winning headers, occupying defenders, bringing others into play and generally leading the line well. If he'd done that all game and played a part in any goals he'd have had a higher rating. 6.5.
Hume - sensible substitution after seeing them bring on a fresh right back and seeing both Maguire and McGeady getting booked in similar situations. He did his job well too, helping McLaughlin and getting rid of the danger.
Grigg - special mention to Grigg for the most gutless substitution display you're likely to see. At least look like you're f***ing interested mate.
Got a feeling some of those ratings might divide opinion a bit more than usual.
Ross - credit to him for sticking to the formation which actually suits us, and not changing too much in terms of personnel from Tuesday night. I still think there's a lack of goals in that team but we did the job today.
Crowd - decent atmosphere in the main, not much to report.
Referee - a bit whistle happy for me but not too bad. He got two or three decisions wrong, one each from O'Nien and Wyke that I can remember. He also failed to book their goalscorer for a blatant cynical foul.
Portsmouth - poor. I've seen them five times now in the past few months, and bar 45 minutes at Wembley they've been poor each time. They just don't have much about them. Their right winger Harness caused us problems, as he did (for Burton?) last season. Marquis and Curtis were garbage. Their fans (fair play for travelling) only seemed to want to goad us a bit, but you never heard them after we equalised.
