Just back, not a bad game. First half performance was very good. It was a 3-4-2-1, which worked really well. Sokler and Miovski worked perfectly together, with McGrath excellent in behind. They couldn't deal with the ball over the top at all. Second half we dropped McGrath and Sokler back before the subs into a flat four. McGrath struggled a bit wide left. McGarry looked like an amateur player when he came on, hopefully just lack of match time. Duncan wasn't great of course but at least held position. As Panda says, we played narrow at the back and allowed the crosses in and also allowed them to wander about our box. That said, Sokler's early chance was easily as good as anything we produced. The last five minutes of the ninety we began to hold our shape and looked like seeing it out comfortably.
Then VAR intervened. Once again, nobody in the crowd or on the pitch spotted anything, and the Huns got their opportunity and missed it. The ref saw exactly what happened, and - in context - decided it was a nothing incident that didn't merit a penalty, with the play continuing until their miss. Three minutes later, and with all context stripped out, a penalty is given. Every pundit then reviews the incident without context and agrees that there is a tug so it must be a pen, completely oblivious to context as always. Richard Gordon mentions on the radio that he's surprised that Walsh didn't give the pen in real time as he was looking right at it, completely missing the point that Walsh did clearly see the incident and chose not to give a penalty because it wasn't one. Again, VAR not fit for purpose. Anti football bollocks that needs to be fired into the sun. I wish Robson was a little more articulate in moments like these. I'd like to see someone from the club take all footage from the game and produce a montage of tugs on shirts in the box throughout the ninety minutes. For both sides, no partisan shite, simply to show how ridiculous the decision was.
Anyway, great to see Sokler adding something and another option in setup. We're very light on options from the bench to see out games like this one. Like Duncan, Polvara held a position well, but offered little else. McKenzie will be a miss for the final in this setup.