When the team was announced, I was surprised at its strength and the lack of rotation after the tired showing against Brentford, but once again, Régis Le Bris got it bang on and but for a dubious penalty,
we would’ve won comfortably and the rested lads would’ve enjoyed even more of a recharge of their batteries.
As it was, we had to go to extra time and then a shootout to secure our place in today’s draw, but you have to admire the commitment of the gaffer.
I would’ve been more than happy to put out a weaker side and indeed to go out if we had to, so we can truly focus on the Premier League, but Le Bris wants more and it’s standards like that which make him an even better coach than any of us expected when he was appointed.
The decisions he made could well have backfired but he committed to the decision and was once again proved right.
Putting Luke O’Nien at centre back after so little football this season, for example, was a brave call.
He was up against a big strong striker in Beto and with himself and Nordi Mukiele playing as our central defensive duo for the first time, it could well have been something the opponents could exploit, but O’Nien did really well and I was really chuffed for the club skipper.
We couldn’t do as much with Mukiele’s long throws until Dan Ballard came onto the park, but the pair did really well and although it remains to be seen if he can play consistently at Premier League level, based on that showing, he did enough for me to continue to be a utility man on the pitch or on the bench, even with our international lads back.
In other areas of the pitch, the wisdom and bravery of Le Bris led to varied levels of success.
Romaine Mundle got his first start for some time and while his go-forward effort was good, his end product was often either a loss of the ball or a shot which was easily blocked.
Fair play to the lad; as he stung the gloves of Jordan Pickford a couple of times and if you don’t shoot, you don’t score. This is maybe more indicative of Mundle needing more of a chance to get match fit and the accuracy will come, but whether he gets that chance remains to be seen, given most of the AFCON travellers will be back in the fold very soon — and many are already.
It could well be that the return of Bertrand Traoré and company could impact Simon Adingra more than Mundle, as for me he contributed less than Mundle by some distance — despite his recent goal and the chances he’s been given ahead of others after not being selected for his national side at AFCON.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the matchday squad we use for Crystal Palace sees Adingra pushed down to the bench, and in some ways, the decision by his national side not to pick him may have been justified if they had more productive options to consider.
Up front, Eliezer Mayenda took his chance pretty well too, although it was a shame that between himself, Brian Brobbey and Wilson Isidor, we didn’t manage to get a second goal to prevent the game going to penalties…but then we wouldn’t have had another showcase of just how good Robin Roefs is!
When the penalty was awarded in normal time, he went the right way but was fairly beaten by a decent spot kick, although I’m not sure if the penalty would’ve been awarded if VAR was in operation.
The show he put on in the shootout though was the stuff of dreams, and will be a great base for him for any future shootouts we may need to progress in this competition.
I discussed this with my father-in-law shortly after the game and even as a football fan in his mid eighties, he couldn’t recall a shootout when a goalkeeper has saved all three of the opponent’s penalties — with a 3-0 success the result.
For me, Roefs could be the best in the world at what he does. He has such talent at such a young age, and I say that without hesitation.
What a goalkeeping performance, especially as he hardly had a save to make for 120 minutes before that, and if he becomes our record sale in the coming couple of years, I wouldn’t be surprised at all.
My final words are reserved for our little general: Enzo Le Fée.
Despite his penalty going terribly wrong against Brentford — a real turning point in the game with the momentum going our way — he stepped up and took his spot kick with absolute accuracy and clinical skill, so well done for banishing the demons, Enzo.
We now move on to Crystal Palace — themselves out of the cup thanks to Macclesfield Town. That shows us all how these games can go, and I take back what I wrote before the third round started.
Let’s give this competition a good run. You never know: we’ve quite enjoyed a trip to Wembley of late!
