Caley Mad In Berks

H/T 0-0 F/T 0-1 ICT Ross Killie n/a Crowd 4051

H/T 0-2 F/T 0-4 ICT Ross Ayr n/a Crowd 1151

H/T 0-1 F/T 0-2 ICT Tansey Dons n/a Crowd 8151

Much as I hope it will, and should, be overturned, I will be amazed if the appeal succeeds!

The more I see the penalties, the more I think the ref was compensating for not giving the two hand balls in the first half, both of which were stronger shouts than the ones he gave.

ffs what's the point of Esson making a great save if the defenders don't give him any help by letting Edu in first from the rebound?

Looked to be a very harsh decision. I suppose the ref thought Rangers were due a penalty after all their hand ball claims earlier.

H/T 1-1 F/T 2-1 ICT Foran Gers Jelavic Crowd 6801

Only saw yesterday's game on BBC Alba. Lucky to get a draw imo, but then again we were unlucky to lose last week, so it balances out I suppose. I must admit I just don't get the almost universal rubishing of Proctor this season. Admittedly, when everyone is fully fit he will be no more than a squad player, but yesterday he didn't do much wrong in the 25 mins or so he was on. Unlike Tokely who imo was the most culpable for the first two goals, and who I see dropping to the bench quite soon. Of all the new boys Tansey clearly seems to be the most promising, with Piermayr showing promise. Tade shows lots of hustle and bustle but will never be a prolific goalscorer - more of a super sub, a la Bayne as many others have said. Doran and Hayes still to turn up this season, neither seems match fit to me. But, are we down hearted? Well, yes, a bit, but trying to remain optimistic. Good that we have an easy game next week against a very mediocre Rangers.

H/T 0-1 F/T 0-1 ICT Tansey Dunf Kirk Crowd 4151

Was Foran offside? Was Tade fouled in the box before he fell? Was Hayes fouled before he lost the ball leading to the goal? All these questions are academic as none of the decisions went in our favour. Am I the only one who thought that it was a very soft goal and that Esson should have saved it? I know he is a great keeper and has saved us countless times. He is therefore entitled to the odd mistake. In my eyes this was one of them, unfortunately costing us two points.

Yes, curious, and yet "flammable" and "inflammable" mean the same. Sorry for straying off topic. I feel this could lead to a whole new thread!

H/T 1-0 F/T 2-0 ICT Tade Hibs n/a Crod 4751

Very good news. Having seen all 3 Englandshire friendlies it was clear that the defence was shaky, to say the least, and the defeat at Motherwell confirmed that. But, fair play to Tel, he has moved quickly to rectify matters with first Pietmayr, then Tudor-Jones and now, the best of the lot, the return of Hogg. So now we have both cover, and when all are fit, real competition for places in the defence. I'm looking forward to the season with new found optimism.

H/T 1-1 F/T 1-2 ICT Ross 'well Higdon Crowd 4851

I too thought that Stevenson was not too bad against Aldershot, although he was hooked at half time. Don't know if he picked up a knock. He also featured against Yeovil in what was our best performance of the three friendlies, so I would be inclined to keep him.

Although I'll give the lads credit for trying to play football, this standard is just not good enough. Aldershot are a middle table FL2 side, but they outplayed us in the first half. We only created a couple of chances in the whole game, one for the goal and one right at the end when their keeper made a good save. Unlike against Bristol, this was a reasonably strong side we had out, and I expected better when I heard the team. I didn't see Doran get injured. He hardly touched the ball whilst he was on. Could have still been in Blackburn for all the influence he had on this game. There have been one or two plusses in the 3 friendlies I've been to this week - Nick Ross finding out where the goal is for one. Another is that Aldred has the makings of being a good defender. He seems to be becoming a favourite with the faithful already. Still shaky at the back though, Gillet had a poor game today but Rossco very sound. I know friendlies are mainly just for fitness and match practise, so I'm trying to remain optimistic that everything will be OK next Saturday.

To answer the previous poster's question, it was definitely 'on the floor' football we played - quite impressive mainly. Yeovil gave us the runaround for first 15 minutes and but for Esson, would have been further ahead. We settled down after the equaliser, a reasonably well worked, but ultimately soft goal, and then controlled the rest of the first half. Meekings got a nasty injury, carried off, and replaced by Proctor, half way through the half. 2nd half Yeovil replaced all 10 outfield players. We had much the better of the 2nd half although Yeovil surprised us more than once with good efforts on goal. The penalty was a good call. We could have had an earlier one too when Foran was nudged, much to his disgust. Looks like we have found Rooney's replacement for penalties in Tansey who took it very confidently. Pick of the goals was Andrew Shinnie's free kick from about 25 yards - a peach. Good move for Foran's goal near the end. Andrew Greig came on for Andrew Shinnie for last 10 minutes - no other changes. Pick of the new boys for me was definitely Tansey - looks like a good find. Overall I was reasonably encouraged by the performance, although we looked shaky at the back on many occasions and both Yeovil goals were down to poor marking. We could have had 6 or 7 quite easily. Their giant keeper did well. Yeovil have a nice little ground, 2 stands along the sides and open standing terracing behind the goals. Friendly locals who seemed to think we were quite a good side. Of the 700 odd spectators, I doubt we had more than 20. I suspect we'll have more for the next two.

Yes, I agree with you about Sandy. It has been hard watching his steady decline over the last several years. To be fair to him though, he has done OK on the senior tour this year with a 1st and 2nd to his name already. I think I might have a nostalgic fiver for him to make the cut this week at Sandwich. Over the years I've followed him round several championship courses down here, including Wentworth, Sunningdale, Woburn and The Oxfordshire and generally there have been a fair few diehards watching him with me. The time at the Oxfordshire was quite funny. It was back in the 90s and I went up there to make a day of it. Lyle had an early start. After watching his round on a cold, wet morning I went into one of the refreshment tents for a spot of breakfast. I was there in my full golfing wet gear including white bonnet. A lady came up to me and asked me for my autograph, something that is not a regular occurrence I assure you. I asked her who she thought I was and she replied "Mark McNulty" (a well known South African player who always wore a white bonnet). I laughed and told her I was not Mark. "oh", she said, "I'm dreadfully sorry, you're Christie O' Connor". At this stage I didn't have the heart to let her down again so I scribbled "C O'Connor" on her programme (right below Nick Faldo's name) and off she went quite happy. By this time there were a few people taking notice so I thought I'd make a quick exit. I went along to the practice area to decide who I would follow round in the afternoon, and who should be there but Christie O' Connor, respendent in full, identical wet gear and his trade mark white bonnet, so I told him what had happened and we both had quite a chuckle over it. My one and only claim to golfing fame!

My thoughts exactly! When pro's can reach par 4's with a 5 iron there's something no quite right. I understand wanting birdies and eagles to make viewing more exciting but it has to be with skill and guile not just due to several holes which are patently too easy. IMHO the fairways need tightening up and possibly some more strategic bunkering.That said, all credit to all concerned on the building of the course and bringing a competition of this calibre to the area,and well done for dragging it back from the brink and getting a successful if not so exciting conclusion.I'm sure lessons will be learned and next year will be great experience. Yes, I echo the sentiments of the two posters above. Luke Donald is not the longest off the tee but he made it look like a pitch and putt course. Having said that, I'd love to play it. Most of the championship courses I've been lucky enough to play are so long nowadays that I can barely reach any of the par 4s in two. Castle Stuart I think I'd have a chance.

The ref certainly made a tit of him/her self!

Many people see Crawley Town as the English equivalent of Gretna, merely the plaything of a rich owner who will soon tire of his new toy. Personally I think they will last the course. They are extremely ambitious, with a good ground and facilities and have already proved in the Conference that they can play football. I expect them to be challenging for promotion in their first season in FL2. So, I can see that, apart from the big wages, that it could be an exciting place for Rooney to spend a year. If he is successful there, then without doubt the door will be open to many of the good Championship sides. If he went to Birmingham (or one of the other so called interested temas) now, I suspect he would be a bench warmer, and probably not on any more money than Crawley can afford. As an aside, I see that Crawley are due at Aldershot early in the season, so I can see myself visiting them (my nearest FL2 ground) twice within a few weeks!

Pity he dropped a couple of shots on the last hole of his second round. Still, another great performance and a good lead. I think he'll hang on this time, hope so anyway.

Really hope this Aldershot game comes off - only 20 miles from me! Great pre season tour this year for the south of Englandshire exiles. Really looking forward to meeting the rest of them, plus I hope, quite a few from Sneck.

"We're gonna need a bigger boat" Jaws