South v Cleyhole

[qos_75]

Just heading to bed. It is 01:40 in Las Vegas. I will be tuning in to the game at breakfast time, by the pool, at the Madarain Oriental in eight hour's time.

Banjo's don't surf!

[NM_1919]

I'll go for a team off

Thomson

Kidd Dowie Higgins Marshall

Hilson Jacobs Millar Conroy

Lyle heffernan/gros

Would rather Hilson uptops but couldn't think of anyone else to play right wing

[Priti priti priti Patel]

I'll go for a team off

Thomson

Kidd Dowie Higgins Marshall

Hilson Jacobs Millar Conroy

Lyle heffernan/gros

Would rather Hilson uptops but couldn't think of anyone else to play right wing

Jacobs right wing, Tapping (if fit) central?

[die hard doonhamer]

Stolen from twitter

[Doonhamer doon south]

Mon the Doonhamer's

[palmy_cammy]

I thought that was an enjoyable enough game without ever really threatening to turn into a classic. We absolutely strolled it, and looked like we probably could have upped the tempo if required. It wasn't.

Neither goalkeeper had a particularly busy afternoon. For us, the only save of note I can recall from Thomson was a solid punch from a late Stranraer corner. Aside from that he wasn't really tested. There were a few efforts narrowly over the bar but aside from one complete sitter that came from a defensive error by us, he was well positioned for them all.

I thought Jordan Marshall had an excellent debut. Early days, but there are some promising signs that he could fill the Holt void. He looks assured in the defensive aspects, as well as showing the same willingness to get forward as his predecessor. His run and pull back for Conroy in the second half deserved better.

I don't think we have to worry about the middle of the park too much with Jacobs and Millar in there, they are both very good players at this level. I thought Jacobs worked tirelessly, doing a lot of great work all over the park. Millar is just a class act, there was a piece of control from him in the first half that was just exquisite.

Lyle looks to have carried on where he left off last season, if he is managed properly by Fowler to get the best out of his legs then he is still going to be a big asset for us I feel. Hilson looks like a good signing as well. He has the same work-rate and harrying style as Reilly, and I'm sure the goals will follow. He looks stronger on the ball than Reilly as well which is good to see. There were a couple of occasions when he had two or three defenders around him yet still emerged with the ball, where perhaps another player would have been brushed off it.

I think the right-hand side needs a bit of tweaking though. Kidd had an uncomfortable afternoon at right-back, and I don't think Conroy is the long-term answer on the right-wing. He kept cutting inside, and to be fair did a lot of good work doing this, it also freed up a lot of space down that side, but Kidd seemed a bit unsure of whether to commit and push forward or whether to stay back, knowing he didn't have any cover. It lead to a lot of hesitancy from him and eventually his confidence was shot and he kept resorting to the safe sideways or backwards pass (much to the annoyance of those around me). Kidd has shown by his performances at wing-back last season that he can balance attacking and defending, so perhaps it was just a bad day at the office.

The improvement in quality from set pieces today was night and day from last season. Great to see.

[Tam]

Happy to see the new signings do well today. Hard working performance and a reasonable number of chances created. Stranraer could have had a couple in the second half but we could have doubled our tally, I thought.

Miller, I didn't recognise at first. He kept working hard for the whole game whereas last season he would have lasted an hour. Conroy tried to be creative as well as hard working. Jacobs protected the back line well and the young full back Marshall looked promising.

Good result for Annan as well today, so next week's game should be good preparation for the league campaign.

Eta Hilson looked nippy and there was some good link up play going forward.

[SUPERSOUTH]

Good first competitive game today. The new players today filled the gaps very well

19yr old left back Marshall although a little raw could well be a very good find by Fowler he tackled well and enjoyed going forward minded me of a young Holt. The middle men Millar (who looks & played like a new signing) & Jacobs complimented each other very well, Conroy well, set pieces have improved and a great free kick goal, Hilson seems to be a very strong quick young player with an eye for goal and works tirelessly. It looks good for the season ahead on todays showing and that was without Tapping who I thot was the standout v Killie. Thot it strange to have two trialists on the bench and not too play them at any point. Will we have new signings in before the game down at Annan next sat? With there good win today also its set to be some game. The Oakbank terrace sign is very big & clear glad the clock had remained in place tho.

[Hawk]

Well for what it's worth I'll give my take on today's team.

Thomson- nothing to note except a punch clear from a corner, never tested.

Kidd- poor compared to last years standards.

Dowie- solid through the game.

Higgins- like Dowie solid throughout.

Marshall- did OK but doesn't fill me full of confidence, looks small for a fullback and didn't win any headers.

Conroy- did well but strange to see him on the right. Great freekick.

Millar- very good, great partnership with Jacobs.

Jacobs- very good, he and Millar complimented each other.

Russell's - poor first half, better second but a few question marks over him.

Lyle- continued where he left off last year. We need him to stay fit. Without Del we will struggle up top unless we bring someone else in.

Hilson- a lot of huff and puff but found wanting.

We had two trialists on the bench yet they were unused, strange. Yes it's still early days but I still think we need a few players especially a striker, or trial Smith with Del in a few games.

[SUPERSOUTH]

Well for what it's worth I'll give my take on today's team.

Thomson- nothing to note except a punch clear from a corner, never tested.

Kidd- poor compared to last years standards.

Dowie- solid through the game.

Higgins- like Dowie solid throughout.

Marshall- did OK but doesn't fill me full of confidence, looks small for a fullback and didn't win any headers.

Conroy- did well but strange to see him on the right. Great freekick.

Millar- very good, great partnership with Jacobs.

Jacobs- very good, he and Millar complimented each other.

Russell's - poor first half, better second but a few question marks over him.

Lyle- continued where he left off last year. We need him to stay fit. Without Del we will struggle up top unless we bring someone else in.

Hilson- a lot of huff and puff but found wanting.

We had two trialists on the bench yet they were unused, strange. Yes it's still early days but I still think we need a few players especially a striker, or trial Smith with Del in a few games.

Didn't see much wrong with Hilson give him time, today he had good strength on the ball even retaining position when 3 opp players around him, a good 1st touch and ran his sox off for 90mins, he scored a good goal v Killie couple weeks ago give him & Del a few games together and am sure he could turn out to be a good signing.

[QosLoyal]

Agree i thought hilson looked decent. He will get better with each game im sure. Whats up with steven higgins and tapping injury wise?

[SUPERSOUTH]

Agree i thought hilson looked decent. He will get better with each game im sure. Whats up with steven higgins and tapping injury wise?

Higgins, tapping, Brownlie, all with slight knocks, noticed all were there today as was Gross who must still be training/trialing with Queens.

[Monkey Tennis]

We did enough, but I was less impressed than some others.

I didn't think it was a great performance and but for an absolute sitter of a header put over the bar midway through the second half, we'd have been looking at extra time.

We deserved to win, but only just. I liked Conroy and thought Jacobs and Marshall did fine. I'll not write Hillson off on the strength of one game, but what people saw to give them encouragement today, I'm not sure.

This time last year however, we'd already been eliminated, so I'll take it.

[SUPERSOUTH]

For me Hilson done as much in the match today as Reilly did in the matches he played in 2015. He ran himself into the ground, used strength to hold players off the ball & his first touch was pretty good we need to give him & the rest of the players a few games to really get to know each other.

[Monkey Tennis]

I thought Hillson was clumsy and poor.

I saw nothing in his movement that was clever and I didn't see the sound touch that you did.

As I said, one game is no basis for an overall judgement, but I thought he was poor today. Running a lot does not float my boat. Stewart Kean could do that.

[JRS LEFT PEG]

I thought Hillson was clumsy and poor.

I saw nothing in his movement that was clever and I didn't see the sound touch that you did.

As I said, one game is no basis for an overall judgement, but I thought he was poor today. Running a lot does not float my boat. Stewart Kean could do that.

I thought he was better than what you describe MT. Surprising how different people see games but I think he has a bit more than workrate. We will see.

[QosLoyal]

Maybe just me but i wasnt as impressed with marshall as others were. I thought second half he did ok but first half he was a bit shaky imo.

[Chupacabra]

Maybe just me but i wasnt as impressed with marshall as others were. I thought second half he did ok but first half he was a bit shaky imo.

I thought the same. Certainly don't think as highly of him as others do after that, very average imo.

Can't say I noticed much of Jacobs, which is probably a good thing. Hilson I thought played well, look forward to seeing more of him.

And it's a blessing to be a threat at set-pieces again after McShane's woeful attempts last season. Conroy our saviour

[19QOS19]

Maybe just me but i wasnt as impressed with marshall as others were. I thought second half he did ok but first half he was a bit shaky imo.

(I only got into the ground shortly after the second half kicked off so bare in mind my comments are excluding what happened in the first half)

Yeah I tend to be in the Not Sure camp when it comes to Marshall. I thought he looked far better yesterday than he did against Killie though and he looked keen to get forward and wasn't as panicky on the ball. He made a great run at one point that Conroy should really have buried. I'm by no means writing the boy off as he's only 18. There's definitely something there and if someone offered us the chance to get rid of him right now and replace him, I wouldn't be take the offer. He just needs a run of games. But I certainly don't think he's been great so far.

It was pretty comfortable yesterday, although had Stranraer's header went in it may well have been a different story. Stranraer didn't have the ball very often but when they did they tried to play it on the deck which was good to see. We passed it around quite well too, but I came away from the game thinking the same as I did after the Killie game: we just seem to be lacking something in an attacking sense. That's not a criticism of the strikers BTW. I've been impressed with both Lyle and Hilson so far, I just mean in general we don't seem to be creating as many chances as I'd like. I was right behind the Stranraer 'keeper yesterday and he didn't have a save to make the whole time. He had to do a bit of sweeping but that was it. Other than the goal, the only time their 'keeper was close to being tested was with Marshall's cutback. It's still early days, but I still think we are missing something from our attacking game. The lack of shots on target against a team from a league below was a bit worrying IMO. Next week should be interesting and I'm actually expecting a harder game. Annan will be right up for it and with a few ex-Queens players in the Annan squad I'm guessing they will be giving it that extra wee bit. It should be an interesting game to say the least.

[NM_1919]

I thought we were pish. Knocked the ball about okay at the back but there was nobody in midfield showing for it. Out the new signings I though Marshall played best, he's not the easiest to watch with his style of run, but never lost ball once and nobody got by him. Jacobs great a breaking up play but lost ball far too much, Conroy was neat and tidy again, he has great feet at times. Hilson should nothing yesterday, looked to me as though he was trying to hard... But I seen enough in the killie game to suggest he'll do fine.

Really hope we were treating it as a friendly as it seriously wasn't good to watch