StarkMallard

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?

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.

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.

A nothing game, but 11,000 was a fantastic crowd so it's a pity they didn't see a win. As much as it was annoying to drop two points at the death like that, maybe it'll help guard against complacency in the far more important game next week.

We're in the playoffs and York are staying up (no way will there be a 16 goal swing in favour of Torquay), so that takes the edge off this a bit. Games like this can throw up unpredictable results, but I think there'll be a win for us to keep the good vibes going, and hopefully no injuries.

We did what we needed to do to keep it alive as long as possible. From the radio it sounded almost too comfortable up to our second-half wobble, but I never really doubted we'd put it to bed. Interesting to see the Notts fans in the little tin terrace behind the goal, I thought that was for the home fans. I'm a sucker for a good terrace.

I listened on the radio, but it sounds like we shifted up at least a gear in the second half. It's encouraging to get a win against the team in third place, and with Wrexham only drawing you just never know. They need six points from their last three games, which I think they'll get but Torquay and Boreham Wood may well be tricky. If they get less than six we could even nick it, so it's important to keep the wins coming.

If I don't get any points in the prediction league, can I just give myself the points from the universe in which I got them all right?

The definition of the universe is everything that exists, so how can there be different ones? Surely "multiverse" is a contradiction in terms? My head hurts.

It was a bit like a cup game, Wrexham are just on a completely different level to the other teams in this league. Rodders and Langstaff struggled to get any time on the ball, and the home team had players with the nous to anticipate the little through-balls we play outside the box that otherwise result in chances. We often live dangerously by faffing around at the back and this time we were made to pay. What was Bajrami thinking with the backheel for their second? But despite all that, the second half was pretty wild and the Welshmen were lucky we let them off the hook with the tame penalty. They're a quality side, but with a bit more cleverness on our part they'd have been beatable.