The first five minutes we looked ok, but then we let Cardiff stroll round like it was a training session in the sun. The first goal summed up the game perfectly, Cardiff ran at us, we backed off and off and off, Harty was mugged at left back, then it was a reasonable strike by Koumas but to me it seemed to go through Hendersons hands, or was the shot more powerful than I am giving it credit?
After that we tried to attack, but our front 4 were very poor and it was like little boys trying to play against men. On the other hand when Cardiff attacked they looked strong, skilful and fast.
At half time it could and probably should have been 3 or 4 nil to Cardiff.
Second half and no subs, why not? Finally McGhee was preparing a double substitution and we somehow scored. Robinson miss hit the ball past the keeper and McShane and a defender bundled the ball over the line.
For the next 10 minutes we suddenly looked interested and up for it. Then we gave away another goal.
A simple ball put between McShane and Butters and the sub who had only been on for a minute or so knocked the ball into the net without much problem. After that we didn't really create anything.
We ended up going backwards most of the time as Cardiff closed the ball down superbly. They should however have been down to 10 men when one of them thumped Gary Hart, he ended up getting only booked along with McShane and Henderson who both stormed in!
The referee was also poor, he let so many bad tackles go unpunished, but then fussed about like an old woman to make sure throw-ins were taken from the right place.
Fair play to the 600+ Cardiff fans who outsang a silent Withdean for nearly 90 minutes. It will all be much better when we stick the away fans in the new seats which are probably closer to the beach than the pitch!
Henderson - 6 a fairly quiet day other than picking the ball out the net twice
Reid - 2 worst game in an Albion shirt for him, WE WERE PLAYING IN BLUE AND WHITE
Harty - 4 beaten fairly regularly but he never stopped running and got forward well at times
McShane - 7 my MOTM, shows 100 commitment and a certain level of skill
Butters - 4 looked slow and Cardiff exploited our lack of pace at the back
Carpenter - 4 off the pace and didn't create much going forward
Hammond - 6 ran his bo**ocks off and put the tackles in but was a isolated by other players lethargy!
Carole - 3 very poor match, hardly involved and didn't take on or beat a player once
Jarrett - 3 as above
Knight - 3 dreadful match, didn't look interested for long periods
Robinson - 3 as above
Subs
CKR - 5 at least put himself about when he came on
Frutos - 3 replaced Jarrett and then put in the same sort of display
Oatway, Blayney and Elphick not used.
Tuesday night - the players better put in a more committed display, the game means quite a lot to us fans! My team would be:
Henderson
Reid McShane El-Abd Butters Mayo
Carpenter Oatway Hammond Hart
Knight
Mark R