Home Match Day Thread 16/03/2021 L1 OUFC v Doncaster Rovers

Forget Lincoln. The next match against Blackpool is a potential banana skin game. Three points behind, near the top of the form table and with two games in hand of United. Get that one out of the way and things will really begin to look as if the "blip" is over.
No doubt. It feels like the table, which had seemed pretty settled, has been turned on its head in the last 10 days or so. Teams I thought were doing really well are suddenly right down the table - Pompey are 10th, Accrington are 13th - while teams I'd written off are storming up out of nowhere - Burton, obviously, but Gillingham are level on points with us, and Blackpool would probably go above us if they win on Saturday.

Such a fascinating league this year. There's such a high concentration of games everything can change in the course of a week.
 
Donny hopeless. Possibly the third worst opposing display seen this season. Reckon they’ll struggle to finish top half.

Have to hand it to my er favourite player, the little fella did very well tonight. Knitted it all together.

Front three awesome first half. Taylor a different player once he scored. Championship quality .

COYY.
 
Superb!


Stevens had very little to do, but was alert when he needed to be, with a couple of good saves.

Hanson had a great game, solid as a rock defensively, and used the ball well, knows how to defend, a revelation at right back.

Moore was solid and assured, again.

Atkinson was untroubled, looked very comfortable, and a great headed clearance off the line.

Ruffels had a great game, very good defensively, and got forward really well, using the ball excellently.

Gorrin was in beast mode all game, snuffing out danger, and playing some excellent passes, back on form.

Brannagan is back to his old self, running everywhere, and getting properly stuck in to win the ball back a number of times, looks so much better influencing the game higher up the pitch, just needs a goal now.

Kelly had one of his best games I thought, very involved, chased everything, and a number of very clever passes.

Barker was excellent, had his best game for us, he's been getting better and better recently, looking more up for it, and tracked back very well, and good work for Shodipo's goal.

Taylor was superb, chased everything, popped up all over the place, got stuck in with some good tackling, a lot of good link up play, and a couple of goals to top it off, back with a bang! MOTM

Shodipo had by far his best game for us. Good pressing, chasing back and tackling, passed well, ran at the full back, and got some good crosses in, lovely taken goal, and even though I've given him a hard time for it recently, his ball control was very good on a number of occasions.

Agyei showed no signs of letting his head drop after being left on the bench, looked very lively, and was unlucky not to score after a superb team move, and was unlucky with another great chance, but maybe should've squared it to Lee!

Lee showed bags of commitment, and did a few good things, but lost possession a few times, just needs a few games to settle back in.

Grayson ticked over well, and looked a lot better than his last appearance.

Sykes put himself about well, with a few nice touches.

Was nice to see Hall on the pitch, and granted, he wasn't on long, but it all just seems to pass him by nowadays.


All in all, a great team performance, and a number of superb individual performances, we played with aggression and real urgency, pressed really well, and won the ball back brilliantly, played to the wingers strengths, and were too much for Doncaster to handle, particularly in the first half, and when we had to, particularly at the end, we dug in, and made sure we kept a clean sheet.

Very happy tonight!

Well done Robbo and the lads! 👏 👏
 
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Great result , along with other results around us . What is going on with this league though, turning on its head !
If we keep in the mix and can play like that more often then it could be a great season but more twists and turns to come .
Matty T finding his shooting boots could be vital.
COYY
 
Unless they pull their finger out Lincoln could be caught as well.

It's a strange league this year. I thought Pompey were nailed on a play off place atleast a month ago. Any team down to 13th are in with a shout to get in the top 6 and with 36 points still to play for its going to be interesting. Need to get a result on Saturday to put some real pressure on.
 
Matty T finding his shooting boots could be vital.
We need that. Agyei and Winnall will both play a part in the last 12 but Taylor is one of the very, very best centre forwards in League One. He’s had a rotten run but you could see as soon as the first went in that it looked as though the weight of the world had lifted from him. He was sharper, quicker, hungrier, and best of all luckier. That second goal is the sort of goal that proves he’s turned a corner. If that happens before tonight then Ruffels’ header probably bounces off Taylor and goes away from goal, but after he got the first it hits him and goes in. That’s the life of a striker sometimes, and this is a great time for it to flip. He’s on 13 goals despite that long run without one and I could absolutely see him hitting 20 still. He’s class.
 
Lovely result. Good performance.

Brilliant that Matty Taylor got on the scoresheet again. Looked a different player after his 1st goal.

Superb from Barker, absolutely destroyed his full back. Likewise Mide had a very good game as well and what a calm finish.

A word for Jamie Hanson who had a very good game.

Rather enjoyed Alex Gorrin pretty much shutting down Taylor-Richards for large parts of the game.

Lincoln were suicidal with their playing from the back but our high press was excellent.

Interesting discussion on RadOx about the stats/points when Liam Kelly plays. He is doing something right.

And finally, that was a really enjoyable game to watch.
 
The chase to get into the playoffs are getting very exciting, Hull, Peterborough and Sunderland I believe will finish in the top 3 positions, with two of the three going straight up.
Lincoln and Doncaster are doing their best to throw their impressive seasons away and both could still miss out on the playoffs, one of them probably will.
Portsmouth and Accrington look to be in disarray and Charlton have played more games than anyone so will have to keep winning to stay in touch.
Ipswich will continue with their form of win one, lose one and draw one as will Blackpool who seem to draw too many games.
Fleetwood are now 4 wins and 2 draws from the last 6 games so are finding form at the right time however as Charlton they have played more games than most.
That leaves OXFORD UTD, who always seem to finish the season better than they started the campaign so the top 6 is pretty nailed on for us.
MY PREDICTION of how the league will finish -
1 - Hull
2 - Sunderland
3 - Peterborough
4 - Oxford Utd
5 - Lincoln City
6 - Ipswich
 
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We need that. Agyei and Winnall will both play a part in the last 12 but Taylor is one of the very, very best centre forwards in League One. He’s had a rotten run but you could see as soon as the first went in that it looked as though the weight of the world had lifted from him. He was sharper, quicker, hungrier, and best of all luckier. That second goal is the sort of goal that proves he’s turned a corner. If that happens before tonight then Ruffels’ header probably bounces off Taylor and goes away from goal, but after he got the first it hits him and goes in. That’s the life of a striker sometimes, and this is a great time for it to flip. He’s on 13 goals despite that long run without one and I could absolutely see him hitting 20 still. He’s class.
Matty T on form with Dan Agyei to come on and terrify defences or to give him a rest is a very good option to have .
 
The chase to get into the playoffs are getting very exciting, Hull, Peterborough and Sunderland I believe will finish in the top 3 positions, with two of the three going straight up.
Lincoln and Doncaster are doing their best to throw their impressive seasons away and both could still miss out on the playoffs, one of them probably will.
Portsmouth and Accrington look to be in disarray and Charlton have played more games than anyone so will have to keep winning to stay in touch.
Ipswich will continue with their form of win one, lose one and draw one as will Blackpool who seem to draw too many games.
Fleetwood are now 4 wins and 2 draws from the last 6 games so are finding form at the right time however as Charlton they have played more games than most.
That leaves OXFORD UTD, who always seem to finish the season better than they started the campaign so the top 6 is pretty nailed on for us.
MY PREDICTION of how the league will finish -
1 - Hull
2 - Sunderland
3 - Peterborough
4 - Oxford Utd
5 - Lincoln City
6 - Ipswich

I wouldn't write off Gillingham either, seem to be coming into form at the right moment.
 
Tonight I will sleep happy and not because of the wife but because we still have players out injured yet tonight’s team proved we have a squad of players who can step up to the mark.
yea I will say ffs Joe blogs if he has made a crap pass or has not fought a ball he had every right to win or over the bar again and worse of all not another sideways back pass again, that’s my right as a passionate OUFC fan and will continue to do so, but boy I do appreciate good play and good wins and tonight’s win was brilliant and if we can keep playing this way, then I will eat humble pie as with these type of performances we are more than a match for any team in this league.
 
Saturday could turn out to be an interesting day if we perform against Blackpool like we did last night we could finish the day in 6th
Interesting fixtures on Saturday
Portsmouth vs Ipswich
Sunderland vs Lincoln
Accrington vs wigan
Wimbledon vs charlton
Gills vs donny
Rochdale vs Peterborough
 
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