Ton 3-2 Falkirk

[samo18]

Andy Graham, to me so far, seems like a poor mans Greacen

 

Samo, you are in Linlithgow, Stubaws is in Bo'ness, we are in Grangemouth, the Giovanaccis are in Denny (I think). Surely there are enough of us in the Central belt that we could all travel together, no?

 

Maybe wishful thinking.

 

Edit to add, are you the guy who works at Grangemouth Sports Complex?

 

If not, that's another 'Ton fan through here.

 

I'd love to have some Morton supporting folk to go through with! They are few and far between in Linlithgow, most of my friends support our division rivals, and my dad is normally working when i can make a game so i'm usually there on my tod!

 

I normally work weekends too though so i don't make every single week, i just go whenever i can.

[VaderTON]

I wasnt at the game today but Colin Stewart showed a good bit of character today to come back after the disaster last week and command his box , He could easily have folded as he has had a lot of abuse this season

 

Well done big man , keep it up

 

I wouldnt say he commanded the box Scot, in fact, same as he's always been, there's still no shouting from him and stillnot coming out for certain balls, but he did it whne it counted yesterday and that was the diffrerence. I reckon he learned from last week tbh. 2nd goal not his fault as some say on here. defender had a bad one as the ball went over him and the Falkirk player got the rub of the green for it.

 

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<!--quotec-->No the ref has the dicreation to play advantage the book the player when the ball becomes dead.

 

 

Correct. Although the ref yesterday wouldnt have stopped the game for a pi sh the way he was going.

 

 

On plus side for me, its great to see we have a team capable of winning even when our 'best players' are unfit. Fitzy was good but showed he can do better when fully fit as did wee Fred.

 

One of the boys up from London yesterday said 'if thats him after one game back....he'll be outstanding'

 

One of the best games of football I seen in years at scappa...long may it continue.

[centralTON]

have a look at bo'ness sports centre 5s pitches tonight and you'll see my morton top proudly on display

 

I play at Bo'ness Rec every Monday at 5.15, if you're about come and say Hi, I'll be the guy with the Morton strip on.

[jimbobton]

have a look at bo'ness sports centre 5s pitches tonight and you'll see my morton top proudly on display happy to try to organise travel through if it could work, only issue is i often visit friends and family before/after the games.

 

on the game, great entertainment. i think falkirk were worth a point to be honest but delighted we got all 3 when missing 2 influential players. what more can you say about macdonal - looking like the most complete striker we've had in my time and looks like scoring in every game. it's amazing the difference having a wide man who can actually put a quality ball into the box - take a bow sean fitzharris. only concern is his lack of fitness but hopefully a run of games will see him alright.

 

concern for me is the goals we are losing. it adds to the entertainment but i think smyth should go back to centre half to shore things up.

 

falkirk play nice football and had a great support so fair play to them. number 10 was excellent and the big centre half - although crap in defence - was great going forward. the number 9 dominated our defence and won everything too so delighted we got away with the win.

 

i think the refs performance was summed up by the fact both sets of fans were singing about him. thought our pen was very soft. sorry but the keeper clearly picked up the ball on the line of the box - it wasn't outside at all. the ref missed 5 or 6 hand balls in the game of which about 3 were embarrassingly blatant.

 

good to see the players out on the pitch at the end although the cowshed was very subdued today.

 

bring on partick!

Don't know where you were sitting but I was as close as you could get without being on the pitch and it was definitely outside. Even a blind linesman should have spotted it.

[Chris Davidson]

"on the game, great entertainment. i think falkirk were worth a point to be honest but delighted we got all 3 when missing 2 influential players. what more can you say about macdonal - looking like the most complete striker we've had in my time and looks like scoring in every game. it's amazing the difference having a wide man who can actually put a quality ball into the box - take a bow sean fitzharris. only concern is his lack of fitness but hopefully a run of games will see him alright.

 

falkirk play nice football and had a great support so fair play to them. number 10 was excellent and the big centre half - although crap in defence - was great going forward. the number 9 dominated our defence and won everything too so delighted we got away with the win.

 

i think the refs performance was summed up by the fact both sets of fans were singing about him. thought our pen was very soft. sorry but the keeper clearly picked up the ball on the line of the box - it wasn't outside at all. the ref missed 5 or 6 hand balls in the game of which about 3 were embarrassingly blatant".

 

............................................

 

Best player for The Bairns was easily their #12, who came on as sub after just 1/2 an hour (Reece Bennett?). totally committed to every ball (often illegally!) so can't understand why he was not on from the start...

 

Re Sean Fitz - hate to admit it, but I said to my mates after (again) 1/2 an hour - "Who is our #7 - don't recognise him and he is EVERYWHERE on the park" - played a pure blinder throughout the match.

 

Where would we be now if he didn't have those previously endless dislocated shoulder probs???

 

ps Re Ref: Yup, both sets of fans called him a bit of a winker at half time (he must've felt brilliant at the break - the whole ground screaming at him!), but, in the end, he disallowed THREE of their goals and gave us a penalty.....

[Rampage Nu Sport]

To sum up - second most exciting game this season (St Mirren game edges it for me). I agree Graham looks like the new Greacen (in more ways than one). And I'm not buying into this "ref disallowed three of their goals" - two of them were offside, called by the linesmen (eventually), and of all decisions this has to be one where the ref goes with his linesman's decision.

[jpmil]

Don't know where you were sitting but I was as close as you could get without being on the pitch and it was definitely outside. Even a blind linesman should have spotted it.

 

Without doubt the keeper had "one" foot well outside the 18 yard line and the Standside Assistant Referee was well positioned to see but took no action.

[Rampage Nu Sport]

Without doubt the keeper had "one" foot well outside the 18 yard line and the Standside Assistant Referee was well positioned to see but took no action.

Agree - although its taken a bit of digging on the internet to prove to myself that only having one foot outside the box constitutes a foul. From my viewpoint, I'd say the ball was never outside the box (ie the keeper held it well across to his right, with only his left foot outside).

[vikingTON]

Re Smyth in midfield.

Moans and groans everytime the ball came to him and he mis- controlled it or played a stray pass. Lets keep in mind that he is in the team as a midfield enforcer to do the dirty work i.e. get in peoples faces, tackle, break up play which he does well. Cant have everything!!

 

Okay, and how much of Falkirk's play did he actually break up on Saturday? Or Queens last week?

 

For a supposed enforcer I'd say that conceding six goals in two games is an indication that he's not very good at it. Put him back into centre-half alongside McCaffrey, let the defenders do the defending and the midfielders take control of the game.

 

I kinda know where you're coming from. But I still think the Tidser+Smyth combination has allowed Tidser to perform at his best.

 

This simply isn't the case, Tidser and Bachirou do not have a problem playing alongside each other, their games compliment each other. We do at times lack a physical presence but that needs to come from an actual physical midfielder. (Jenkins, or McKenna had he signed, though had he signed then we couldn't have afforded MacDonald)

 

Horses for courses - sometimes a defensive midfielder is just what's required, but not always of course.

 

Absolutely, but Smyth is not a defensive midfielder. He is quite clearly a centre half playing out of position, and it shows.

 

If we want a physical defensive midfielder then we should be in the market for one, if not then I'm happy to stick with what we have there in Bachirou and Tidser. Or what we could do is remove one of the wingers and play Tidser slightly on the left hand side, to help close out games.

[Alibi]

Agree - although its taken a bit of digging on the internet to prove to myself that only having one foot outside the box constitutes a foul. From my viewpoint, I'd say the ball was never outside the box (ie the keeper held it well across to his right, with only his left foot outside).

 

Is that correct? Are you saying that for example if the keeper is lying in the area holding the ball but with one of his feet outside the area it's a foul? Surely it's the position of the ball that matters, not where the keeper has his feet?

[Rampage Nu Sport]

I had always assumed it was position of ball which mattered - and given the clear view the linesman had on Saturday I still thought I was right. But I did come across some "explanations" on the internet which suggested that a foot out of the box was enough if holding the ball. Happy to be corrected if wrong.

[Scott_Gillan]

Is that correct? Are you saying that for example if the keeper is lying in the area holding the ball but with one of his feet outside the area it's a foul? Surely it's the position of the ball that matters, not where the keeper has his feet?

Best examle of that was Lee Robinson at cappielow reached outside the box to grab the ball with both feet in the box

 

But maybe its different for ball in the air or on the deck ???

 

Any refs on here ?? TID ??

[TonToWin]

If the ball is in his hands and in the penalty box there is no foul. Same way that if a keepers feet are behind the goal line but his hands with the ball in them are in the 6 yard box there is no goal.

 

I don't even remember seeing any instance where the keeper was outside the box with the ball on Saturday.

[Alibi]

I had always assumed it was position of ball which mattered - and given the clear view the linesman had on Saturday I still thought I was right. But I did come across some "explanations" on the internet which suggested that a foot out of the box was enough if holding the ball. Happy to be corrected if wrong.

 

I vaguely recall there was some discussion about it being a foul if the keeper kicked it out from the edge of the area, released the ball inside the area but it was outside the area when his foot made contact. I don't think that can be correct as it would be much the same as the keeper dribbling the ball out, but someone on here insisted it was a foul.

[Jim Holmes..Best Ever]

Can't believe if the ball's inside the box & keepers foot is outside it's a free-kick? Surely not. Where's the Clane Cobra / T.I.D. whatever he is this week when you need him?

HH.

[Fellow Traveller]

Their number 10 was the second most dangerous player after Peaso who tormented their defence all afternoon!

 

Amidst the euphoria about winning,am I the only one who has serious concerns about our defence? In the first half our back line hardly won a header and in the second, they only improved because they stopped trying for the first all and focussed on picking up the second ball which worked better. I worry that we do not defend well enough as a team and only our attacking options is keeping us on top! We don't look nearly as solid as we were the first few games!

Clearly not Nick. Hamilton, Dumfries and Falkirk - 8 soft goals lost in 3 games against teams in our division. For me I would have Smyth and Caff back together at centre back..............FT

[Alibi]

Agreed. Would be interesting to see if our goals against record improves if Smyth moves back to central defence.

[axeman]

It definitely depends where the ball is, if the feet are outside the box it doesn't matter as long as the keeper has the ball inside the box.

[stubaws]

I play at Bo'ness Rec every Monday at 5.15, if you're about come and say Hi, I'll be the guy with the Morton strip on.

 

pretty sure i drove past a guy in a morton top in a white van around 6:20 on monday night?!

[centralTON]

pretty sure i drove past a guy in a morton top in a white van around 6:20 on monday night?!

 

Yep, that was me.