TALKING POINTS

Ben Wade

Ben discusses the draw at Plainmoor

INSTANT IMPACT FROM JORDAN

Signed from Yeovil earlier in the week, Gulls new number 8 had a very positive debut at Plainmoor. Him and Mussa played in behind Cooke and started off very well. That bit of quality to spark the attack was needed and Jordan Young’s drive and dribbling got us away and on the counter. For the first goal, it was his bustling run that had the defence backtracking, and his shot rebounded to Cooke to finish. Then the second was a corner that fell for Young to thrash in left-footed. He should be very pleased with that performance but disappointed to go home without the win. Jordan could have a bright future at United based on that showing.

QUALITY IN ATTACK

Especially early in the first half, the attacking trio of Young, Mussa and Cooke was devastating and the Chelmsford back-line could not contain them. Two clinical finishes in the first 15 minutes and the TUFC attack looked undefendable. Omar Mussa is often unpredictable but since his sub appearance at half time versus Worthing, he is looking fitter and starting to become a more reliable player. Jordan Young had an outstanding game, (see above) and Cody Cooke bagged his first goal at Plainmoor for United. He has shown glimpses of being a top goal-scorer before and that tidy finish will certainly help his cause. Unfortunately the second half was a different story, with both Young and Mussa missing golden opportunities to clinch victory. Mostly an encouraging showing though, with United looking brighter in the final third than they have done in a number of weeks.

GOALKEEPING CONUNDRUM

Hamon has looked the part at times, but he still has a mistake in him unfortunately. If United are going to find any consistency and a winning run, then these costly errors have to be cut out and the ex-Truro man has to do better. A large amount of goals conceded have been from outside of the box, and the keeper seems like he is rooted to the spot at times, with his footwork not quick enough to make the saves. This is not to say that he’s been horrific, but just something to watch out for. The second goal came from a rather tame strike, which he should have held comfortably, but instead it was spilled out and the rebound was gobbled up. This meant he was out of position for the next shot that wriggled past him, and the Clarets were on level terms.

NEED TO TURN DRAWS INTO WINS

We are still unbeaten in league matches at home, but we’ve drawn half of them. It is vital to be picking up as many points as possible at Plainmoor to allow for points dropped in tough away games. We also need to take our chances when they come our way. Closing the opposition down also has to be one priority as many goals that have been let in have come from shots of 20+ yards out. Throwing away a 2-goal lead at home is always disappointing, and despite a controversial third getting disallowed, the game was very much ours for the taking. Overall, we were unlucky to not gain all three points but there’s still improvement needed in areas like game management and defensive resilience if we want to be serious contenders.