Aston Villa v Gloryhunters Post-Match Thread

[Lizz]

Just got back. There are some games when I wonder why I bother, then there was today's.

[Phil from the upper holte]

Happy & sad at the same time, I nearly cried when the equiliser went in. I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach when they scored the first.

I thought Bannan, Albrighton, Agbonlahor, Downing were exceptional. Dunne was the weak link today for me.

I thought Warnock was much improved today, they should have had a couple of men sent off and If gabby & Collins hadn't have hit the bar and post I think I would have been dancing in the streets still!

Lot of positives to take from the performance overall I think you gotta be happy. Shows how far your coming on when your gutted with a draw against the scum

[Rancid custard]

Seriously, loads of positives to take despite the bitter way it ended. If every team was forced to field their under 21's we'd win the league hands down.

Our 2nd goal was one of the most stunningly crafted counter attack team goals I've seen in recent memory.

Having the arm band has made Dunne up his game, this was the Dunney of last season playing today, that said I think it terms of commitment, passion and example it should be Collins, who outshone the affore mentioned Dunne, again.

Downing and Albrighton were class.

We should nail Down Albrighton to a long term deal now before the likes of city come sniffing this summer.

[eamonn]

The key today was our big names - Gabby, Young and Downing leading the youngsters by example. And they duly did. Especially Downing who was terrific.

You really need a 5 goal headstart against these feckers. They were outplayed for the second half, and after our near misses we fully deserved the penalty and the goal on the break. Ferguson said we hit the woodwork three times (I only saw two?) and that Albrighton missed two sitters (the header which he was unlucky with and..?). Them getting a goal back so quickly turned the game. Fantastic finish from Macheda (again, the smug-faced cock) but the back-heel that set him up took about 3 or 4 of our lads out of the game. A bit too much ball-watching.

I think Gezza has got the Fonz and Gabby subs wrong in the last two games. Nathan should have stayed on after scoring against Blackpool during the week and Gabby's experience in holding the ball up would have been better served than Nathan's greater fitness today. Unless Agbonlahor was bollocksed he should have stayed on. A real shame there was no Cuellar, Clark or even Davies to help us shore-up for the last ten minutes.

There was an inevitability about the equaliser, I was quite surprised they didn't get a winner in the ten minutes they had after (86-95 mins).

Ash running into the Holte and Villa players being buried amongst Villa fans was the happiest moment I've had as a Villa fan since MON left. And seeing the ecstacy on Albrighton's face when he got the second was great too.

I do wonder if we'll beat these feckers at home again during Dave Woodhall's lifetime though. If we could hold onto our leads we wouldn't be far off being the best team in the land.

[Bent Neilsens Screamer]

Thought Hogg bossed the midfield and was assured after some initial sloppy balls, not bad for his debut game against a top of the table team.

Good to have Gabby back. Downing and Albrighton were superb and both appear to be improving with every passing game. That second goal was fantastic and with hitting the woodwork twice and Albrighton's header we should have been well ahead which makes it even more gutting. With the nippers playing like that, injured players to come back and new additions to the team the future's looking good.

[Sleeuwenhoek]

Gabby had been signalling to the bench for about 3-4 minutes saying he needed to come off. 2nd goal a bit like the breakaways at the Emirates a couple of years ago

[olaftab]

Im convinced, from where I was, high up in the Holte that in the build up to their equaliser the ball went out of play off one of them but the linesman gave it their way? Have I imagined it or made a mistake as nobody seems to have mentioned it

I thought it should have been our throw too - one to watch for on MOTD

Sit in North  Stand  to the right as  you look on the pitch. I saw nothing wrong with that decision.

[Phil from the upper holte]

Yeah gabby was really struggling, it was the sensible thing to do, to take him off

[Dr_Fegg]

Blimey first post this season!

What a game. Unlucky not to be 3 or 4 up mid 2nd half. Remember looking at the info board and seeing how many shots we'd had compared to theirs (on and off target), massive difference.

They didnt get lucky they just kept playing and we were knackered. Dropped too deep when Gabby went off but hey with all the kids out we were the better team for long periods and that can only bode well for the future.

NRC, Sidwell, Petrov out injured and never missed. Never thought I'd say it but we could have done with Heskey for the last 15mins.

[Irish villain]

When you're disappointed not beat Utd you know you have played well.

As others have said, there was an inevitability about their equaliser. Still, would have taken a draw before kick off. Well done lads.

[DeKuip]

From the start of the second half until we went two up was the most I've enjoyed a home performance in a long time.
Delighted with the fearless performance of the youngsters and absolutely chuffed for Deano scoring his first home goal.
Good performances all round but very pleased with Gabby who looks better leading the line than playing off a big man, I thought he held the ball up very well and used it well.

[vilan461]

Great performance especially in the 2nd half----thought the young guns were superb,Bannan and Supa Marc awesome,
  Gabby led the line superbly, maybe not fully fit but was a constant thorn to Vidic &Ferdinand, Ash constantly encouraged the youngsters,and he covered every blade of grass, for me Downing was exceptional & mom ----the celebration of both goals was great and showed how much it meant to the Boyz---it was really good to see,
   Where did 5 minutes "fergy time" come from?--why werent Vidic &Brown given red cards, and why was,nt Hernandez booked for kickng the ball away????bias to them was imo obvious throughout the game, from all 4 officials!!

[olaftab]

Has Fergie made any patronising comments about us?
He probably said we deserved our point

When I saw the team being announced on the big screen I feared a mauling but very proud od them today. They deserved a win 2-2 is  so unfair.

Agree with  all of you about  Barry and Marc however Jon Hogg  for me  really  made up for NRC in the centre. His passing is not quite there ( slightly batter than Nige's though) but hopefully that will improve.  I think  he will make it.

[Legion]

One person who did not enjoy it, however, was United boss Sir Alex Ferguson.

"We could have lost six goals in the second half," he stated. "They hit the woodwork twice and their outside right, Marc Albrighton, has missed two great chances. We were all over the place, to be honest with you.

"We waited too long to get intensity, that desire to win, into our game. It didn't show until [the team was 2-0 down]... all their young players, with their energy, made it a very difficult day for us."

The Scot added: "We controlled the first half, and had a couple of good chances. But in the second half I just think it was carelessness on our part. Our passing was poor. Normally we can control the match. We didn't control it.

"We are a club though that never says there is no way back."

Ferguson brought off strikers Dimitar Berbatov and Javier Hernandez when making his double change but he admitted: "I could have taken any of 10 players off because we didn't perform well.

"We brought people on Macheda and Gabriel Obertan and they changed the game. There was a great life and adventure about them.

"Macheda scored a great goal and with another five minutes we would have won the game.

"We came back well but it was too late and we shouldn't have been in that position. I expected us to do better in terms of our play."

[olaftab]

Shame we didn't sell out... 2000 short of capacity today.