StarkMallard

Since we'd shipped 9 goals in our previous 3 games, it was understandable that the focus was on defence. So a clean sheet is a plus. All the same, it feels like two points dropped. We spent the first half playing at walking pace and looked reluctant to take men on, it was reminiscent of Ardleyball. If we'd been a little more positive then, I think we'd have swung it in our favour. We looked a lot brighter at the start of the second half, but the substitutions stopped our momentum and we never regained it. That's a pity as Morecambe were there for the taking. They were well organised off the ball, but very poor on it and the greatest threat to our goal came from unforced errors by Baldwin and Cameron. I think the promotion celebrations must have killed a few of Baldwin's brain cells as his decision making was awful. Despite some of the justified criticism of a few players, they haven't become bad players overnight. They're still getting to grips with a new division and a few changes in the team. The calls to replace half the team I keep seeing on certain social media platforms are ridiculous.

Really delighted with this result, it made my day. While going behind twice wasn't exactly ideal, it allowed us to see the fighting qualities we saw last season and reassure the team that they can turn a game around in this division too. In truth, Grimsby's second came after our strongest phase of the match where we really had them on the ropes. We certainly deserved to win, but the second half was a lot scrappier and we didn't quite seem to have it under control. Some thoughts: - I don't quite understand the point of Stone kicking it so long all the time. Nine times out of ten we just give away possession. - Langstaff was unlucky not to get off the mark. The effort that went over the crossbar had ricoched off the defender and then the keeper and onto Langsatff's already outstretched leg, there wasn't much he could do about it. The goals will come. - 13,000 for the first home game, wow! To put that into perspective, we got 9,000 for our first home game in the Munto season, and that included about 3,000 away fans. Scorers' names in all caps reminds me of the Football Post!

According to the radio we changed to four at the back @Dripsey3? Last season we got away with sloppy defending at times by outscoring the opposition. That's not going to go in our favour as much this time. It was clear over the summer we needed to improve in this department and it remains to be seen whether Tipton on his own will be enough. We also have an issue in that we got a hammering on the first day, which affects confidence, makes the players more nervous, causing them to make poor decisions and so the cycle goes on. It's partly a mental problem and we need to get over it quickly. That said, we shouldn't throw the baby out with the bathwater. The last two games aren't going to be representative of our season as a whole - against Sutton absolutely everything that could go wrong did go wrong, we had an early sending off and defensively we seemed to forget the basics. Last night we were playing a L1 team with a nervous defence, a different formation and minus many attacking players who might have taken the pressure off a bit. Against Grimsby we have to dominate and play on our terms and not let fear get the better of us. Even just scoring the first goal could help settle them down.

@Fozzy touches on a good point, the players weren't where they needed to be mentally. There's been a lot of hype around the team and noise about our EFL return, and maybe they got carried away with it. Sutton appeared much more focused on the here and now. Maybe this is an experience the team needed. Now it's time to let go of last season, ignore what the bookies are saying and concentrate on doing the simple things.

Short version: that was pants. Longer version: I feel disappointed and let down, and I didn't spend the afternoon in the London rain. I missed most of the first half, but I knew we were losing and a man down. In situations like that, the team that's trailing at least plugs the defensive gaps, the game develops an equilibrium and peters out. Yesterday Sutton murdered us right up to the final whistle and we can count ourselves lucky to have only conceded five. I wouldn't have picked Brindley at the back, he's not really a centre half and got found out in the NL too at times. But he wasn't the only one who failed to compete or pass the ball - and if you're not getting close enough to the opposition or challenging for the ball, it doesn't matter what formation you use. Likewise, you can't put the opposition under relentless pressure with a possession-based approach if you keep losing the ball in your own half. Sutton were much sharper than us and were very effective, they played it long and high, got in our faces and didn't allow us to play our football. But that's no different to what we saw in the NL many times, except yesterday we didn't cope. That's got to change, and quickly. Special mentions go to Cameron for his ridiculous back pass, yet Stone also had plenty of time to decide what to do. I'm not sure whether he was sent off for the deliberate handball outside the box or the foul, either way he made a hash of it and will have a few weeks on the bench to reflect on it even once his suspension is up.

Teams chartering flights to away games has become a regular occurrence and really needs to be stamped out. In a country as small as ours there's no justification for it, especially as the larger clubs can afford to put the team in a hotel overnight. Wrexham have raised eyebrows because of their status, but this is pretty much the norm higher up the leagues. It doesn't seem to be a thing in Germany at all, I've seen several team buses on the motorway here. And the distances covered are much greater too.

They're unbeaten and level on points with first place though! Just finished 1-1, sounds like we played well and dominated possession. A good dress rehearsal. Slightly concerned about the absence of Langstaff, maybe it'll be mentioned in the post-match interview.

Fitting. Wordle 745 5/6 ????⬛⬛⬛???? ⬛⬛???????????? ⬛????????⬛???? ⬛???????????????? ????????????????????

I'd expect a different 11 in both halves to get as many players match fit as possible. It'll be interesting to see how the new signings do and where they play, but we won't be able to draw any conclusions from it. Wonder whether there'll be any trialists? I've been to Nuneaton's old place, a proper old-school rickety ground. Would have been fun to see Notts play there.

Nailed it today! Wordle 744 2/6 ⬛????????⬛???? ????????????????????

I got it, but it was a head scratcher. Wordle 743 5/6 ⬛⬛????⬛⬛ ⬛????⬛????⬛ ⬛????⬛???????? ⬛???????????????? ????????????????????

But you just did, so.....

Took me four goes today. Is it me or are the words getting dafter?

I like them, but I have to watch them on my own! I prefer psychological horror to the "man with hammer/chainsaw/knife runs after screaming woman" type. The Shining, The Exorcist, Psycho... I really enjoyed Jeepers Creepers right up to the end, which I found really anticlimactic. If you like ghost stories, you could do a lot worse than look up Uncanny on BBC Sounds. Some of those really hit home.

On a roll now! Wordle 718 3/6 ????⬛⬛⬛???? ⬛????????????⬛ ???????????????????? @Ohh Tommy Johnson, if you're playing it in Chrome, just go to "share" and select "copy text". Then you just paste it. I too used to be clueless, but now i know how to do it, my life is complete.

EAT THAT, WORDLE! Wordle 717 3/6 ⬛⬛????⬛⬛ ????????????????⬛ ????????????????????

How do you share your results like that? I'm standing on the hose, as they say here. Took me five goes today. Is it me or have we had a run of really hard words?

I do it every day, but it's frustrating. Either I get it quickly and I'm disappointed that it's over for the day. Or I spend ages on it and need five or six guesses, and then I'm annoyed.

I'm totally with you @menzinho, we'll be able to look back on some of the general tinpottery and smile now. I remember there being a bit of a fall-out with Kings Lynn's vampire owner too. Hopefully we'll move on to better things now, but that also involves more visits to bland out-of-town stadiums. Personally I'm a sucker for an away ground with 15 stands and traditional terracing. Also, if you get knocked out of the FA Cup by Red Lion Old Boys FC in the fourth qualifying round, nobody cares apart from a few non-League anoraks. If that happened in the first or second round, we'd be on BBC One. All the same, I'm very glad we're out of it now. It's always a bad sign when fans of rival clubs feel sorry for you.

Well that closes the book on a chapter of our club's history that will hopefully remain unique. What I sometimes thought (but dared not articulate) was that the National League is something you could get nostalgic about, but only once you've left it behind. Now we have, and I'm so relieved all the superb efforts that went into rebuilding the club - and not least the loyalty of the fans - were rewarded. We started the journey with the shock of an unthinkable relegation, facing liquidation and with a skeleton squad, and end it with a record-breaking team and manager well placed to take the momentum into L2. Along the way we had Neal Ardley steadying the ship, our own PE teacher Ian Burchnall turning us into a force at Meadow Lane, Schmeichel Doyle between the sticks, the likes of Kyle Wootton and Cal Roberts in the black and white and of course JOB, who was there for all of it. While the club has never been lower, we finished fifth or above every season - Oldham and Scunny fans know it can go very differently, and even Wrexham spent 15 years messing about in the NL. Hopefully these years will be remembered as a springboard for better things to come - Lincoln and Luton have shown the way. What do you think? And what were your personal highlights and lowlights?

It wasn't the greatest of performances, but we did it. A number of players out there seemed (mentally) exhausted, but they dragged us through and earned their luck through sheer willpower. In the first half in particular, Chesterfield were brighter, more dangerous and handled the occasion better. But from the second half onwards they posed very little threat, it was defence against attack. Lady Luck smiled on us with the goals, but these things sometimes fall in your favour if you have a go. What an insane and nail-biting way to win promotion!

We shouldn't worry about the opposition too much, yes they're tricky opposition and gave us two tough games, but they should be more worried about us. We just need to impose our game on them and not mess about at the back. Any other analysis is probably pointless, at a Wembley final previous form is out of the window and it becomes a question of nerves. I wonder if it'll be significant that we still have four players who experienced the last one three years ago?

I don't know how to begin to sum that up. Complete madness. A lack of concentration at the back led to us going in 2-0 down when we deserved to be ahead, I didn't feel it was over, but we needed a quick goal. Wet got it and the rest is history. One key moment was Nemane using his superhuman pace to get a block in when it looked like BW would have a tap-in. Just minutes later we had scored the winner. Sometimes a tackle is as good as a goal, and that one turned the game. If any of you have taken pictures or videos of the scenes after the game, feel free to post them. The stream was switched off seconds after the whistle, but it sounded like PANDEMONIUM on the radio! Onto the final then, and at the time of writing it looks like it'll be Chesterfield. I think the experience of winning such a tight game when we really had our backs against the wall will do us good.

Never really in doubt, was it?

"Interesting" decision there @Dripsey3, especially as Ashmore played the full 90 minutes on Tuesday. But I'd rather have Slocombe in goal than McDonnell, he never filled me with confidence. An hour to go and I'm proper nervous. There's a tendency to overanalyse games like this. We've just got to outscore the opposition, so let's get on the score sheet nice and early and take charge of this match. COYP.