Ratings from today?

[Jman]

So pleased with the win, sad to have missed the game.

Any ratings from today?

[Give it to Jabo]

Ling played very well, Angol looks a real asset - thought he was brilliant. The team started with hesitation but grew into the game and it would have been a travesty had we not gained the three points. Excellent level of commitment as one would expect. Bumper Crowd, too. Os.

[Walthamsto]

Brill 6 Should have been sent off, got concussed in that challenge, made a great save, had to come off.
Sargant 6 Not too much to do. Kicking ok, but an area he has to work on.
Coulson 7 Very steady and commanding in the air. Had a near miss from a corner.
Ekpiteta 6 A test for him, which he was up for. Was his usual strong, battling self, but distribution is sometimes poor.
Happe 6 solid, if unspectacular.
Ling 6 thought he did fine, strong in the tackle, made some useful forward moves. One or two first time crosses would be lovely though. He doesn't need to beat a man to get it in from the wide positions he gets into.
Brophy 6/7 Has the ability to beat a man, get in the box and get a cross in. The crossing was a bit off today. He was threatening, particularly in the second half.
Clay 7 Typical Clay performance, lying deep, winning balls, breaking up play, giving it simple, firing miles over from outside the box.
Wright 7 He is better than last time he was here. Yes he plays square balls, but he also plays diagonal forward ones and gets in the box to score.
Maguire Drew 7 Looked threatening, skilful and lively throughout. Wanted the ball. He could have a very big season.
Wilkinson 6 Challenges, gets a tackle in, wins headers. The kind of start you want at home on your debut. No real chances I can remember.
Angol 6 A decent start too. He holds the ball up well and could have scored a couple with a bit more composure.

Talking of composure, Alabi was on the pitch for 5 minutes and missed from two yards out. Standard.

[gshaw]

Brill - 6 - looked a bit off fitness wise, good save before the injury, replaced by Sargeant who had nothing to do for the rest of the game, same rating
Ling - 6 - thought he had a good first half, put some decent crosses in but if that was his corner second half I'm docking a point haha
Ekpiteta - 7 - wobbly opening 20 minutes when it looked he might be found out by L2 pace but settled after that and looked assured as game went on
Coulson - 7 - calming presence as ever and the forehead nearly claimed another goal second half
Happe - 7 - similar to Ekpiteta but pace looked initially concerning then solid thereafter
Brophy - 6 - ran at the Cheltenham defence and not really troubled defensively. Not much end product.
Clay - 7 - looked up for the challenge of L2 and tried to get the team going
Wright - 7 - more of a 6 performance but added point for an emotional winning goal
JMD - 7 - will be a real asset this season imo
Angol - 7 - tricky footwork, good pace and I think won the header leading up to the goal?
Wilkinson - 6 - work rate and aerial ability good, nice strike off the bar but was already called back for offside

Alabi - 5 - came on late in the game to hold the ball up in the corner with varying degrees of success. Had a point blank shot saved by the keeper, should he have scored?

Officials were good I thought despite the Cheltenham protests. Got the big calls right and nice to watch football again without the filth.

[F*ck The Poor & Fat]

Brill 6 Should have been sent off, got concussed in that challenge, made a great save, had to come off.
Sargant 6 Not too much to do. Kicking ok, but an area he has to work on.
Coulson 7 Very steady and commanding in the air. Had a near miss from a corner.
Ekpiteta 6 A test for him, which he was up for. Was his usual strong, battling self, but distribution is sometimes poor.
Happe 6 solid, if unspectacular.
Ling 6 thought he did fine, strong in the tackle, made some useful forward moves. One or two first time crosses would be lovely though. He doesn't need to beat a man to get it in from the wide positions he gets into.
Brophy 6/7 Has the ability to beat a man, get in the box and get a cross in. The crossing was a bit off today. He was threatening, particularly in the second half.
Clay 7 Typical Clay performance, lying deep, winning balls, breaking up play, giving it simple, firing miles over from outside the box.
Wright 7 He is better than last time he was here. Yes he plays square balls, but he also plays diagonal forward ones and gets in the box to score.
Maguire Drew 7 Looked threatening, skilful and lively throughout. Wanted the ball. He could have a very big season.
Wilkinson 6 Challenges, gets a tackle in, wins headers. The kind of start you want at home on your debut. No real chances I can remember.
Angol 6 A decent start too. He holds the ball up well and could have scored a couple with a bit more composure.

Talking of composure, Alabi was on the pitch for 5 minutes and missed from two yards out. Standard.

Outrageously unfair on Alabi. He did amazingly well to turn and get a shot away.

To score Ling and Brophy near the same. Really. Brophy did Ok at the back and offered much going forward. Ling was solid at the back but has no attacking ability. Preferring the short ball giving responsibility to someone else. When he did cross it hit the defender. Lacks confidence.

Angol is a tasty player. Good feet but needs to stay onside. Mooneyesque

Wright had a good game as did Clay. Thought JMD was off his game a bit

Coulson is solid. Happe and Ekpiteta started slowly but grew into the game.

Enjoyable game and satisfying result

[essexfootball]

Brill 8 - Made a good save pre-injury Sargeant - 8 Came for the one cross well, apart from that bizarrely had nothing to do
Ling - Defensively 9 Offensively 3 Loads of blocks, tackles, headers won, going forward other players literally had to point at him to get down the wing, stretch the play and then when he got the either goes backward or fails to cross. He is a CB in a RB's body
Coulson - 7
Epe - 8 - First 20 minutes bit shaky as 10 didn't stop moving and Varney with clever runs, after that utter class, oozes ability and composure, ball playing cb, I don't understand who ever scouted Boone and Koroma didn't pick him up
Happe 8 - Pick much the same as above
Brophy - 7 Pretty solid, couldn't done bit a full times with the final cross but that would be nit-picking, looked far comfortable on the left than the right
Wright 7 - Classy player, upgrade on McNuff, dictates the game, tidy footballer is vital in his role as the pivot, rotating play, be interesting if teams wise up and just mark him, pounced well for the goal
Clay 7 - Very solid, lots of running too
JMD - Always dangerous, probably should've released the ball once or twice earlier, dead ball deliveries good too
Angol 6 - When he gets the ball looks dangerous, just needs the ball to feet more, won the knock-on for the goal, needs to stay on side more and almost get involved/show for the ball more
Wilkinson - Hard to work out how much quality he has, but he doesn't stop battling, jumping, chasing, can't fault him for effort, his shot forced the goal

Not a clue how Alabi keeps coming on over Harold or someone else, I don't get it at all, he looks confused that the football is in between his legs

Aside from the first 20 minutes, Orient solid first half, came out well second, that odd five minutes of the goal and two reds killed the game, thought he would've made subs earlier

I think in reality Angol for Bonne is probably an upgrade, Koroma and wilkinson is hard to measure as very different players, that's the only thing lost that sort of dribbling unknown that Koroma provided where he would shoot from distance a lot of the times awfully but then one of them would be good

[RedDwarf 1881]

Ling played very well, Angol looks a real asset - thought he was brilliant. The team started with hesitation but grew into the game and it would have been a travesty had we not gained the three points. Excellent level of commitment as one would expect. Bumper Crowd, too. Os.

Agreed about Angol . He looks a very exciting player and could be better for us than Bonne . Josh Wright deserved his goal today and Man of the Match award . I thought he was brilliant today . I'm very happy with that solid start which gives us something to build on for next week.

[eagwgw]

7s all around I think, it was that kind of performance. Don’t think anyone stood out but nobody was poor either, a solid enough start.

Thought it was quite even before the goal, the sending offs killed the game off.

Would be interesting to see their penalty shout again...thought the occasion might have turned the ref into a bit of a homer.

Do think Dennis should have come on first....would have been a great chance to exploit them with his pace.

Quite fitting we won and Josh Wright scores the winner, Justin would be delighted with that.

[Smendrick Feaselberg]

Brill 6 Should have been sent off, got concussed in that challenge, made a great save, had to come off

Why should he have been sent off?

Thought Angol and Maguire-Drew were very good for us today. Can see them both being big contribitors.

[Rich Tea Wellin]

Overall it was a difficult day and 3 points and a clean sheet is massive.
Thought the minutes silence and emotion around the day understandably got the boys and we looked a bit all over the place. From my view they should have had a cert pen but whilst not ideal, the break for Brills injury settled us down and after that we absolutely controlled the game. Cheltenham didn’t have a chance for 80 mins, mind we only had one before the sendings off. I thought we looked solid and the challenge this year was always gonna be creating chances and scoring goals. Onto Macclesfield.

Brill - 5 - very lucky not to give away a pen. It was always his ball but came, stopped and then came. Good save before he went off.
Ling - 7 - pretty solid. Got in some good positions but delivery was slightly poor. Not challenged once defensively.
Ekpiteta - 6 - looked very poor in the first 15 and lost his man for the would be pen. Was pretty composed their after. Easy to forget that was his first ever league game so hopefully he steps up the pace.
Coulson - 7 - steady in there. So unlucky not to score.
Happe - 7 - calm and composed. Couple of brilliant cross field balls.
Brophy- 7 - caused havoc second half with his pace but once again his Achilles heel is final ball and it wasn’t there.

Clay - 7 - decent first game. Won a fair bit back. Had a very good first half and faded a bit. Probably a slight lack of fitness due to missing some friendlies
Wright - 9 - controlled the pace of the game. Always available and won a lot of tackles. Topped off with a goal. It just had to be! How nice is it for a central mid to actually arrive late in the box?

JMD - 6 - has a touch of class about him. Was shattered from about 65 mins on and held onto the ball too long sometimes.

Wilkinson - 6 - no real chances but put himself about, decent hold up play and work rate. Like him.
Angol - 6 - in and out of the game but showed touches of class. Great link up play at times and rose very high to win the header across for the goal. Looks like a player.

Subs:
Sarge - 6 - didn’t have a shot to save but came and got the ball well a few times. Pleased he had a chance.
Alabi - 5 - did ok, finding space one time but dragging wide and slightly unlucky with the shot from 2 yards. He was brought on to shore things up though and his hold up play and supposed strength were lacking at key times.
Dennis - n/a

Embleton - 9 - massive well done to him. Probably the hardest position to be today but was a credit to Justin. Obviously wiping away tears after the silence but nice touch to lead the pre game huddle. One thing he does need to learn is to be practical with the subs. Harrold was the man to come on. We needed someone to hold up the ball and take it to the corner. Alabi failed 3 times at that. The only logic I can think of is that he might score against 9 men and boost his confidence. But I’ll forgive him. Well done Ross.

[Proposition Joe]

Wright - 9

Don't care about anything else. He was outstanding.

[Rich Tea Wellin]

We actually had a midfield today, i can’t believe it!

[gshaw]

I think in reality Angol for Bonne is probably an upgrade, Koroma and wilkinson is hard to measure as very different players, that's the only thing lost that sort of dribbling unknown that Koroma provided where he would shoot from distance a lot of the times awfully but then one of them would be good

I see Angol more in the Koroma mould. Tricky with ball at feet and seems pacy too.

Wilkinson looks more like the player to be doing the donkey work receiving the high / long balls. Both look decent thus far, be interested to see how it goes with Dennis and if he can be that striker option we need.

[Ghostkidofthenorth]

I thought Wright and JMD bossed the game, both new strikers look promising but too early to tell.

[MrB]

I need to see that Brill save/foul again.Looked like he f’d up..I wouldn’t have been happy if I were an Cheltnum fan

[MrB]

Don’t understand why when he had two men advantage we opted for the corner flag crap.Which we lost out on anyway

[Redcard]

I thought it was a penalty and a sending off for brill, but as the old geezer sitting in front pointed out the referee was yards away and not where I was sitting, I am sure referees are always right but would like to see it on the highlights .
For me ling had one of his best games defensively, won all the tackles. If only someone can instill enough confidence in him to actually take on a defender rather than keep turning back inside. On that note I wish both our wide men would get the ball into the box at every opportunity rather than playing it back just to maintain possession. If you don’t buy a ticket you can’t win the lottery. Clay was superb, and wright was tidy. J. M.d. made some terrific runs but then overdid it when a pass would have put us through.
All in all , I know they were reduced to 9 men, but they didn’t have a single shot all game, credit to the lads.

[orienfan64920]

It wouldn't have been a red in any case due to the new double jeopardy rules

[gshaw]

I need to see that Brill save/foul again.Looked like he f’d up..I wouldn’t have been happy if I were an Cheltnum fan

It looked like a pen to me but was told by someone closer they didn't see any contact. Lucky escape if so.

[Smendrick Feaselberg]

It wouldn't have been a red in any case due to the new double jeopardy rules

This since Brill made a genuine attempt to get the ball. Surprised that some of our fans don't understand the laws.

[lordgriff]

Today's ratings : Brill 6 (Sargent 6) Ling 9 Coulson 7 Ekpiteta 7 Happe 7 Brophy 7 Clay 6 Wright 7 Maguire-Drew 6 (Dennis n/a) Wilkinson 6 (Alabi 6) Angol 8

[gshaw]

It wouldn't have been a red in any case due to the new double jeopardy rules

This since Brill made a genuine attempt to get the ball. Surprised that some of our fans don't understand the laws.

Lots of rather pointless rule changes this year, not surprising if people miss some of them.

[tuffers#1]

The ref took a good while to make up his mind on Brill clattering there
forward with his head against the strikers leg.

Very much got away with it in my opinion.

Clay was shocking in his 1st attempt at dominating there midfielder/striker
When they guy just ran away from him

Stepped up a bit on his positioning to make sure he wasnt so far away from 1 of there players if they were moving forward.

All in all a solid enough start but far more needs to be done .
It'll come

[orienfan64920]

It wouldn't have been a red in any case due to the new double jeopardy rules

This since Brill made a genuine attempt to get the ball. Surprised that some of our fans don't understand the laws.

Lots of rather pointless rule changes this year, not surprising if people miss some of them.

It was the rule last season too

[Lucky7]

Brill 6 Should have been sent off, got concussed in that challenge, made a great save, had to come off.
Sargant 6 Not too much to do. Kicking ok, but an area he has to work on.
Coulson 7 Very steady and commanding in the air. Had a near miss from a corner.
Ekpiteta 6 A test for him, which he was up for. Was his usual strong, battling self, but distribution is sometimes poor.
Happe 6 solid, if unspectacular.
Ling 6 thought he did fine, strong in the tackle, made some useful forward moves. One or two first time crosses would be lovely though. He doesn't need to beat a man to get it in from the wide positions he gets into.
Brophy 6/7 Has the ability to beat a man, get in the box and get a cross in. The crossing was a bit off today. He was threatening, particularly in the second half.
Clay 7 Typical Clay performance, lying deep, winning balls, breaking up play, giving it simple, firing miles over from outside the box.
Wright 7 He is better than last time he was here. Yes he plays square balls, but he also plays diagonal forward ones and gets in the box to score.
Maguire Drew 7 Looked threatening, skilful and lively throughout. Wanted the ball. He could have a very big season.
Wilkinson 6 Challenges, gets a tackle in, wins headers. The kind of start you want at home on your debut. No real chances I can remember.
Angol 6 A decent start too. He holds the ball up well and could have scored a couple with a bit more composure.

Talking of composure, Alabi was on the pitch for 5 minutes and missed from two yards out. Standard.

Talking of composure, Alabi was on the pitch for 5 minutes and missed from two yards out. Standard.

So it wasn’t a decent point blank save from the Keeper?

Laughable comment