Cherries k.o. to the South end; Molesley hit a left-footer from inside-right which was blocked, Bartley ran from deep, & Bradbury headed at the keeper from the spot. An encouraging start. Molesley & Bartley gave the side more energy & urgency; in the early stages general competence seemed to have improved. A Spartans cross was cleared easily, then a shot went straight at Jalal. A poor home cross went over Bradbury. Molesley was injured when conceding a free, then Igoe fed Bradbury who allowed Hollands to hit just wide from 22 yards. Pearce had to make a last-ditch interception, from which Molesley ran through and hit his cross-shot wide. At the 20-minute mark, Spartans were as lively as Cherries. Both sides were prepared to shoot - all efforts blocked - but possibly Cherries' passing was a little better. Spartans had mobility - a cross-field move came back in & a cross shot went just wide. Garry was one-paced, but read & covered well until he was skinned. The cross was scuffed.
Bradbury was yellowed for his tackling back, which saw him limp off & back on. Pearce headed wide from a corner. Molesley fed Bartley whose decent cross was caught well. Hollands was given a talking-to after a tussle, then a left-wing move was over-complicated and the whistle blew. In spite of both sides' efforts. the half had yet again been mediocre; HT 0-0.
From the k.o. Bartley crossed & Anderton just missed connecting. The tempo was slightly higher, as Anderton's shot went for a corner. Hollands seemed to be playing more centrally, & his cross-shot was just wide. Three times in the half, he was in the inside-left channel, waited for the pass to run alongside his left foot in the area, & swivel-shot. But mostly there was too much humping forward, with Spartans covering too well for Cherries to pass & move. Anderton & Molesley allowed Igoe to shimmy & cross for Bradbury to do some good work: he made space in the "D" & put in a splendid left-footer curling just inside the keeper's right stick. Then this whale comes flying across to tip it around the post.
Igoe had contributed little; either well-marked or potential receivers closed down. So being replaced by Pitman on 63 was sensible. Anderton & Hollands ploughed through; Pitman shot at the keeper from wide then released Bartley superbly cross-field, who fed Anderton. His pass to Hollands allowed the shot - over. There was more from Cherries but Spartans showed confidence. Another Hollands raid led to a corner, which went well over for a goal kick. Bradbury held off the defender to head Molesley through for a cross pass to Pitman who was smothered. Cherries showed more movement & angles, but still no end product. Molesley tackled back, & complained that the opponent had dived as the yellow was shown.
A substitution of Bradbury by McQuoid seemed ludicrous; evidently a mistake, the board was changed & McQuoid came on for Garry on 75. A wing-back needs a higher top gear than lope, for all Garry's other attributes. McQuoid took up position on the left. The whole side was bombing Spartans; a corner saw Pearce head over. Bradbury's poor cross led directly to a Spartans corner, but Hollands put a lovely ball through to McQuoid who fed Pitman, felled unceremoniously. Anderton's cross-shot from the free, 25 yards out at inside-left, went wide. The keeper was booked for dawdling, & some Spartans seemed to fall over easily. Pitman did good work on the right on the goal line & crossed to Bradbury beyond the back stick. His free header was in - until this whale somehow backtracked along his line & beat it out. I hope Bradbury didn't take it personally. At last, Cooper came out; his cross from the left saw McQuoid head at the keeper, disappointingly. Molesley went on safari; a cross-field run & cross went for a corner. Cherries threw the kitchen sink at the visitors, as 4 minutes added time was given.
Bradbury had put in a decent shift; should've scored 1 & could've had 1 earlier. But a last throw saw him swapped out for Lindfield - my 1st glimpse of the lad, who ran about a bit. Jalal had to catch an attempt, & Bartley had a final run & cross. But to no avail; FT: 0-0.
After the inanity & incompetence of the 0-0 earlier in the week, & not turning up at a game where the home side (Stanley) had played a Cup game only 2 days earlier, this was a better performance. However, the underlying problem is that the players are either moderate or mediocre. Notice that hardly any had been targeted by a club in a higher division - or higher in our current one - during the last transfer window. They have to realise their limitations - as Dirty Harry said at the end of one of his movies - as Morecambe & Blyth players do. Add to that the unquantifiable psychological effect of relegation, points penalty, and club financial turmoil, & perhaps this season's displays should not be too surprising.
Anderton unbalances the side now; he looks good when in space - which means all others have no space. Bartley & Hollands are hampered by having to cover for him. We can all choose our own side, but I'd put Partington (once fit) in the Makelele role, with Hollands central midfield as the powerhouse, allowing Bartley to bomb on. We can't afford all 3 ball-players - Cooper, Anderton & Igoe; keep only 2 at most. But there's no _wit_ in the side. We'd struggle in the Conference.
Blyth worked hard, perhaps diving a little for frees or into tackles later on, but deserved the draw. They'll be a different prospect at home in the replay, so the home tie v. Blackburn in Round 3 seems a long way off.
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AFCB: Jalal, Cooper, Pearce, Guyett, Garry, Anderton, Hollands, Bartley, Molesley, Igoe, Bradbury
Subs: Pryce, Ward, Cummings, Pitman (for Igoe 63 mins), McQuoid (for Garry, 75 mins), Lindfield (for Bradbury 90 mins)
Peter Wicks, Bulford