By Luke Payne, Feature Writer
The first cup game of the season saw Mike Williamson’s men travel to Championship side Watford. It wasn’t that long ago that The Dons beat Watford in the cup during the club’s first ever visit to Vicarage Road, but this time it was the home side that came out on top. Dons held firm to begin with but would fall two goals behind by half-time. Despite starting the second half well, The Dons couldn’t turn things around and eventually fell victim to a 5-0 defeat. Here’s how I rated the players after the loss to Watford:
Formation: 5-4-1/5-2-2-1 (Two holding midfielders and two attacking midfielders)
GK – Nathan Harness – 3: At 2-0 Harness had a reasonable chance of becoming Top Don. He made a number of big saves in the first half to keep the game close. Harness maybe could’ve saved the first goal but his path to the ball was blocked by Ellis Harrison and Tommy Leigh. He was also totally clear of blame for the second goal. However, Harness’ second half performance was nothing short of embarrassing. For the third goal, he let Kwadwo Baah’s shot from a tight angle squeeze past him. This made it 3-0 after 64 minutes. Three minutes later, Harness was collecting the ball out of his net again after diving down to save a speculative Tom Ince shot. The only problem was that Harness didn’t catch the ball and he managed to push it into his own goal instead. Ince would complete his hat-trick in the 74th minute. Harness managed to save a Tom Dele-Bashiru shot but instead of pushing it away to safety, he let the ball drop directly to Ince who had the easy job of finishing off the move. The only reason Harness is getting higher than a two is due to the amount of saves he made to keep it competitive in the first half.
RWB – Joe Tomlinson – 6.5: Surprisingly Tomlinson lined up on the right and he did a reasonable job there, battling as much as possible. He was sometimes left a little exposed by Callum Hendry who was operating as the attacking midfielder. At half-time Tomlinson moved back to his normal left wingback role. It’s worth noting that none of the five goals came down the side Tomlinson was operating on. The only major criticism of his performance was his reluctance to release the ball when being pressed in the defensive corners of the pitch. Also, his shooting from free-kicks could do with some work… he went for the top left corner of the goal and nearly found the top left corner of the stadium!
RCB – Sam Sherring – 3.5: Sadly this was another poor performance from Sherring. He was outclassed by his man numerous times and he simply didn’t have the pace to keep up. The most obvious example of this is Watford’s third goal where Kwadwo Baah breezed past Sherring to reach a through ball before cutting in and getting his shot away. His passing was also poor, failing to hit the target with any of his through ball attempts. He even had a repeat of the mistake he made against Bradford, though fortunately it only went out for a corner this time! Sherring came off after 70 minutes for Aaron Nemane. Callum Tripp moved to right centre-back to accommodate this change.
CB – Callum Tripp – 5.5: Tripp’s versatility was on full display in this game. He started the game in the middle of the back three before moving to right wingback at half-time and then moving again to right centre-back for the final 20 minutes. He had a lot on his plate and did immediately give the ball away with his first pass but the youngster settled into the game after that. Tripp did get beaten a few times and probably should’ve been better positioned for a couple of the goals, most notably the final goal where he got caught ball-watching instead of tracking the run of Tom Ince who was able to get to the rebound first as a result. He was also outpaced easily by Ince for the second goal as Dons were caught out by a long ball over the top. This was a good experience for Tripp against Championship opposition.
LCB – Dean Lewington (C) – 6: The skipper made some vital challenges to keep Watford out, using his experience to be in the right place at the right time. With this being said he was caught out for Watford’s first goal, losing his aerial battle to Mattie Pollock at the back post following a corner. Pollock’s header looped over the Dons defenders and Harness and into the back of the net making it 1-0 after 24 minutes. Lewington did also make a couple of minor errors in possession, but nothing too bad in comparison to some of his teammates. He showed a willingness to get forward in the second half, sometimes driving deep into Watford’s half to advance the attack. This was in a short spell where Dons were on top. Lewington obviously lacks in pace and was caught out one or two times. This includes the first major opportunity of the game where Watford have played a ball over the top and all Lewington had to do was hold the line but instead he played his man onside. Thankfully the resulting shot was off target.
LWB – Joe Pritchard – 6: The decision to play Pritchard on the left was an intriguing one. It’s likely due to wanting him on the same side of the pitch as Tommy Leigh, as both players will be more familiar with each other from their time at Accrington. Pritchard had a relatively quiet game, though he battled well and was mostly solid defensively. He didn’t get much opportunity to attack but played the ball about well enough. Pritchard was the other defender caught out for the second goal, losing his footrace to Ryan Andrews in an attempt to reach a through ball. Andrews had a free opportunity to pass the ball across the box for Ince to finish off. This made it 2-0 after 45+1 minutes. Pritchard came off at half-time for Jack Tucker. This was likely to rest Pritchard as he’s only just returning from injury.
CM – MJ Williams – 4.5: After pre-season it was apparent that this holding midfield duo doesn’t work and this game certainly backs that viewpoint up. Williams offered very little in possession, usually tunnel-visioning and only passing to whoever he can see directly in front of him when he could’ve been looking to play a through ball. He did pass the ball about more efficiently than he did in pre-season but there wasn’t much purpose to it most of the time. He was also sluggish defensively, getting turned by his man countless times. Williams did chip in with a couple of nice blocks and challenges but that was about it.
CM – Tom Carroll – 4: Carroll proved to be just as ineffective as Williams, the only difference being that he gave the ball away a bit more often. The areas he was giving the ball away were also quite concerning, often losing it in the defensive third. He did have a few positive moments once Alex Gilbey and Stephen Wearne came on but he seemed to struggle operating as the main playmaker in the side.
RAM – Callum Hendry – 5: Hendry had to work with scraps for the most part and he did play a few decent passes. However, he didn’t do enough defensively. It might just be because it’s an unfamiliar position to him but Hendry often stayed higher up the pitch instead of tucking in to support Tomlinson with the defensive effort. It was interesting seeing the attacking trio rotate amongst themselves in the first half. Any of them could appear anywhere on the pitch at any time, tactics that Dons haven’t really used since the days of Mo Eisa, Scott Twine and Troy Parrott. Sadly it proved to be a failed experiment and Hendry came off at half-time for Stephen Wearne.
LAM – Tommy Leigh – 3.5: Leigh struggled to get involved in this game and seemed to lose the ball most times he had it. He did try to catch the keeper out from long range but his effort was weak and inaccurate. Leigh did get involved in a couple of good passages of play but he never looked like a threat going forward. He was replaced by Alex Gilbey at half-time.
ST – Ellis Harrison – 7 (TOP DON): Harrison did extremely well with the scraps that were given to him. He challenged for every header and held off the Watford defenders well. He was unfortunate not to win more free-kicks as the Watford players had to keep bending the rules to get Harrison off the ball. His hold-up play gave Dons some rest bite whenever the pressure from Watford was getting tricky to deal with. It also enabled Dons to launch attacks through the middle of the pitch. Harrison also helped out in defence where he could, defending particularly well from set pieces. That is, aside from the one where Watford scored as he was blocking Harness’ path to the ball. The striker’s work rate was outstanding though he did seem to pick up a knock after going for a rogue challenge on a Watford defender. He wasn’t moving about quite as quickly after that so he came off after 87 minutes for Damerai Singh-Hurditt.
SUB (CB) – Jack Tucker – 6.5: A decent performance from Tucker despite conceding three after he came on. He seemed to be the only player that still had any urgency with his defending after the fourth goal went in. Tucker did nearly manage to block the shots for the fourth and fifth goal though he was let down by his teammates on both occasions. The centre-back was dominant in the air, winning most of his battles. In possession, Tucker played the ball about confidently and even tried a couple of long ball over the top. They had a mixed success rate but he was never far off the mark. He was a contender for Top Don despite only playing half the game.
SUB (RAM) – Stephen Wearne – 6: Showed good energy and got into some great positions, though again his shooting let him down. He had one decent chance inside the box but blasted his effort over the bar. Dons had a period of control when the subs came on at half-time. Unfortunately this was lost when Watford scored their third. Wearne continued to work hard, pressing as much as possible. He finished the game at striker, allowing Damerai Singh-Hurditt to play in the midfield role when Harrison came off.
SUB (LAM) – Alex Gilbey – 5: Started really well, controlling a lot of The Dons’ attacking play with his quick passing and high energy. There were a couple of moments where he needed to be sharper, occasionally not being ready to receive the ball. Gilbey battled well until Watford went four ahead. At that point he seemed to stop running as much, signalling that The Dons were done trying for the game. It was a little disturbing to see the usual match-day captain not trying to at least push for a consolation goal as that sort of negative mentality could easily rub off on the rest of the team.
SUB (RWB) – Aaron Nemane – 6.5: Had very little chance to get forward with Watford firmly on top when he came on. Nemane defended surprisingly well, blocking crosses and keeping track of his man. At the very least he made the right side of defence look a little bit more secure.
SUB (RAM) – Damerai Singh-Hurditt – 5.5: A difficult game to make a debut in, Singh-Hurditt only had limited time to do anything. He played a couple of passes and gave the ball away cheaply once but that was about it. He deserved his debut for a good pre-season but was unlikely to get a real chance to impress in this game.
TEAM PERFORMANCE – 4: It looked quite obvious that most of the players starting this game were the back-up players. Watford dominated the first half and Dons couldn’t really get the ball out. With that being said, Dons did enough to keep it competitive. The half-time substitutions gave The Dons a bit of life for a while but all momentum was lost after Harness let in a couple of soft ones. The final 20 minutes was all Watford and Dons seemed to give up at that point with the exception of a couple of individuals.
The disappointing thing is that at 2-0 down there was still a possibility for it to be a competitive game. The collapse in the second half was unacceptable, even if it was mostly down to goalkeeper errors. Watford had more than enough chances to win the game and ultimately, they had a level of quality that Dons don’t possess. That’s why they’re in the Championship and why Dons are in League Two.
The holding midfield duo of Williams and Carroll doesn’t work and probably never will. Based on their performances so far, they’re unlikely to be getting in the squad for league games ahead of Liam Kelly and Luke Offord. On the bright side, Callum Tripp looks capable of integrating into the side so hopefully he gets more chances off the back of this. He may have struggled in this game at times, but he’s unlikely to come across anyone in League Two that he can’t handle. The other major positive is the return of Joe Pritchard. It gives Dons some much needed depth at wingback and he may be able to cover the midfield roles as well.
Sadly that’s the first cup run over before it even really started. The Dons will be back in action on Saturday away at Colchester. I’m sadly not available for that one but I believe I have cover so the ratings should still be going ahead.
If you’ve read this far then thank you! I’d love to hear your thoughts on the game in the comments below and I hope you enjoyed the read!
