God bless the second half, whatever tactical tweaks Michael Skubala made because it was genuinely like watching a different team. The stats are not up on Wyscout as I write this, but when they are, I’m sure they’ll tell the story just as well as I can.
I just felt we got more white shirts on the ball, pushed our possession further up the field and tried to make the most of a passive Orient side. They weren’t pressing us at all, we were allowed to bring the ball into their half almost at will. It felt a bit like what we did with Sunderland when we won there 3-1; we let them have the possession in their defence, let their back line carry the ball and crowded out the midfield. Had Orient identified Erhahon and Hamilton as our key men? Or were they happy to nullify us by cutting off the options to our front three, killing an already depleted offense? Whatever they did, it made for a poor first half, and we countered it in the second.
Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t free-flowing, but it was 100% better. Many of our passes began to find players, and we stretched the pitch enough to make me feel like there was something in it for us. Both teams have a long throw, neither team did anything with it. However, they became passive with the ball, whereas we began to push.
A shout out to Jack Vale, who worked hard without much reward. He harassed their keeper, a player I believe we had identified as a possible target before we brought Jensen in. Brynn did not look comfortable on the ball, and once or twice Vale almost forced him into an error. The on-loan Blackburn man didn’t see a lot of the ball at his feet, but he worked as hard as we’d expect Ben House to work, and that’s all you can ask.
We looked a bit stronger in the second period as well, a bit happier to stand up to anything physical. One or two players maybe still need to learn, but the likes of TJ, Adam Jackson and Alex Mitchell all led by example. We were crisper on the ball, and players like Lasse and the Ethans stepped up a gear. Whatever little tweaks Michael made, they affected the game, and I’ve zero doubt our possession and passing accuracy will have gone up as a result.
The best chance, prior to the last fifteen minutes, fell to their sub, Ethan Galbraith. He’s an Ethan, a former Manchester United man and showed a penchant for a shot from range – sound like anyone we know? Our sub, Jack Burroughs, missed a chance to clear the ball, letting Galbraith get a shot away, which Jensen palmed over. A corner is usually as good as a penalty, but in this instance, it came to nothing. Burroughs has had it tough in the last couple of weeks, and I suspect, on last night’s showing, he may not come straight back into the side for Saturday.
The second half was just a better watch, but as the game wore on, it did feel a little end-to-end. It wasn’t; the attacking stats proved that, but as we pressed for a winner, it did leave us susceptible to a swift counter. However, we found our feet in terms of counter-attacking as well – Danny Mandroiu came on and was looking to get on the ball, which gave us a bit of meaningful possession in their half, and then young Jovon came on to help turn the tide.
Jovon is an odd one for me. Sometimes, I see him and wonder if he’ll ever make a League One player. Other times, he uses his pace and physicality, and he looks like a real handful. Last night was the latter – there was one moment where we played a long ball from deep, and he looked to be fifteen yards behind his man. Within seconds, he challenged for the ball, won it, and (if I recall correctly) was harshly judged to have fouled his man.
I see a little of the Ollie Palmer in Jovon or the potential to be like Ollie. His strengths were that nobody ever knew what he would do, not even him. He was direct, a handful, but completely unorthodox, and I see Jovon the same. That pace surprised me last night – I think we got a glimpse of the reason he was kept around the squad rather than getting a loan spell. I predict there would be a lot of teams in the National League desperate to add him to their ranks in December, should we go down that route. If he turns in performances like that between now and January, it won’t be a question that needs asking.
The game was influenced by three key moments in the final 12 minutes (or final five minutes in terms of the 90). After a solid second period, where I felt we might create something, we finally got away from their defenders. It was a long ball out from the back which saw Jovon outmuscle his man, fairly on this occasion, and press forward. He struggled to get the ball under control and ran wide but fired an effort past Brynn and across the goal, only for it to roll agonisingly past the post.
Suddenly, the pace went through the roof, and Orient went up and had a chance of their own. A long ball from the back saw Mitchell unusually beaten in the air, and Sotiriou pounced. It was a glorious chance, but Jensen made himself big, stopping the effort. It wasn’t quite ‘Matt Gilks at MK Dons’, but it wasn’t far off because two minutes later, we scored.
The move that brought the goal was succinct and well-worked. Makame started it, spreading the ball to Lasse. He spotted Hamilton on the edge of the area, pushing on for a chance. The ball found its way to our summer signing, and he looked to have overrun it as he went across the front of the box, only for him to fire back across the keeper cleverly. Brynn saw it late, and City snatched the points.
The whole team went to the bench to celebrate, a huge group hug demonstrating how important the first goal, and ultimately win, of the Skubala era was. Only Lasse remained on the field, and despite seven minutes of injury time, there were no further chances. We’d been better, not scintillating, but certainly showing patterns and behaviours in the second half that will keep winning us football matches. I can handle that – we’re ten days into Skubala’s reign, and if we take three points from every two away matches we play, we’ll keep knocking on the door of the top six.
We’re not at our best because nobody knows what our best is. Skubala has come into a team ravaged by injuries, playing more fixtures than anyone else because of the quirks of the schedule, and that’s going to take an early toll. In reality, getting knocked out of the FA Cup is the best thing that could have happened to us because very soon, we’ll get a period of ten days or so without a game, where he can get on the training pitch and put more of his ideas into practice. What I will say is if you’d offered me three points from his two opening fixtures, I’d have taken it and moved on.
After the game, Michael gave a succinct interview. His answers always come across as thought out but also nice and short. He doesn’t strike me as a man who has had to do a lot of post-match stuff before, and as a result, I feel we’re seeing the real Michael Skubala early doors. Michael Appleton and Mark Kennedy will both have had lots of media training, and maybe Michael has had some, but there’s still a realness about him I can identify with. Obviously, I haven’t met him yet, but he feels very down to earth. MA did behind the scenes, but not in public. MK never did. I suspect with MS, we’re seeing exactly what we’re getting, which I like.
Also, those who wanted DC back will be happy with a few fistpumps. I hope they get Sweet Caroline on the tannoy after a win as well, just to create the illusion of us being back to beating Bromely and Dover, which I know some people still yearn for.
Anyway….
On the whole, it is hard to get unhappy at a win, and I think there were plenty of positives to take from the game. We really won’t learn a lot about Skubala’s master plan in ten days – I’m not sure we’ll learn a lot in ten weeks, given he’s only being given his tools in dribs and drabs thanks to injuries. That said, you can get a feel for the man, for the approach and for what he wants to do, albeit in glimpses, and the last 45 minutes of our trip to London certainly hinted at a brighter future.
Up the Imps.