Best Of

I would welcome a @bluntphil interview with Turf Tonics, covering all things turf care at AP and Marlow Road, lighting rig close-ups essential!

To be fair to MD if they are good enough he has given them a go.

He put Simons in and Xavi appears to have cemented an automatic starter spot, he has given Lowry 2 sub appearances where he has looked decent, gave Back a start which we all seemed impressed with, put Taylor into the back 4 which we all wanted, put Norris in instead of Rav & he has improved each game; the 2 Danes have had short run outs, though it was clear they were certainly a bit away from "match fitness"; plus of course Bradley has not really put a foot wrong when he has played for us.

By my count that is 8 of the incomers who have been given opportunities - I think that demonstrates a willingness on MDs part to not only give players the chance to prove themselves but also to pick the best players available/from training to do the job required vs the opponents we have.

These quotes from Mike Dodds are really bizarre. Why would he feel the need to say it? Is it naïveté and he’s simply being honest? (imagine that), or is he pointedly making a point, so to speak?

Battered for 90 minutes by a team in the division below and we scrape a 1-0 win last minute. What a glorious night that was

FT AFC Portchester 3-1 Firsts (HT 1-0).

Ashleigh Harte equalised but Portchester go into the league cup semi-final. Shame, I think it's been a good ten years since the seniors have won a trophy, this was a good opportunity.

Coming up this weekend.

Sunday

AFC Portchester v Firsts - Southern Regional League Cup QF, 2pm,The OnSite Group Stadium, Wicor Recreation Ground, Cranleigh Rd, Portchester PO16 9DP.

Portchy surprised the Firsts on the opening day of the season, with a 3-0 win at Burnham. In the League Cup, they have beaten Wimborne Town at home, 13-0, and Abingdon United Devs away, 4-0. Last week they lost 3-1 at home to tier 4 Moneyfields in the county Cup. The Firsts will be going back to Portchester the following Sunday, in the league.

The U18s game at Wimborne Town tomorrow has been "rained out", as the JPL site puts it.

The U23s have no fixture.

He's been in charge for 4 games for goodness sake! The guy has taken on a team second in the league and clearly explained that he would not be making radical changes this season (a sensible, pragmatic approach given the context). We also have two wingers that have played Premier League football, the League's top scorer, a premier league loanee with 12 goals + assists, plus several other capable deputies.

With that in mind it doesn't seem so strange to me that a new signing faces a struggle initially to get in the team. Didn't Sadlier originally find minutes quite limited last season? By the end of it he was one of our best attacking players.

Since when have football hierarchy been immune to being daft?

But…that’s my point!

At least MD doesn’t feel like he has to pick player just because Rice signed them.

We’re second in the table, unbeaten in 8 games and just one defeat in the last 11.