Newtongrange Star v Bathgate Thistle - Scottish Eastern Region - Super League

Saturday 7th November 2009. Scottish Eastern Region - Super League
New Victoria Park, Newtongrange, Midlothian

Newtongrange Star (0) 4 (Meaney 49, Roseburgh 56, Thomson 74, Umatang 90)
Bathgate Thistle (0) 0

Admission £5 Concessions £2, No programme or team sheet available, I had to rely on my own limited knowledge of 'Nitton' Star & Bathgate Thistle players and the goodwill of locals.

Newtongrange 2PM 07.11.2009 "Err, where did last weeks crowd disappear to?"

Last week Star put Pollok out of the Scottish Cup to reach the 3rd round in front of 680 fans.
This week it was the turn of the Edinburgh Derby at Tynecastle to capture the imagination of the local floating fans ... the pubs were also doing a brisk lunch time trade showing the Hearts v Hibs clash live on ESPN.
After the Setanta debacle, I don't actually know anybody who subscribes to ESPN, do you? Thought not!

I saw the first half of the Pride of Edinburgh v Hibs game in The Chase, a public house in downtown Bonnyrigg.
The so called 'flair team' were getting bossed by a big clumsy man in maroon called Christian Nade from what I could see.
But there were no goals.
At half time we made a quick dash up to the road to Newtongrange and saw the first twenty minutes of the second half from 'Tynie' in their social club, it followed the same pattern as the first up to that point ... but then I paid in at the turnstile at New Victoria Park, to take in the whole 90 minutes of Newtongrange Star v Bathgate Thistle, figuring that I'd be able to catch any meaningful incident from the remainder of the Hearts game on t'internet later on.
Like here --> http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/scot_prem/8340780.stm
And also on BBC1 Scotland's Sportscene programme at 11.20PM Monday night (viewers outside Scotland can still watch this channel if you look for it on your Sky TV menu).
From what I'm told Balogh in the Hearts goal had quite a good game once I'd abandoned the TV for a live game.

And if you think that's disturbing be grateful you can't see his right hand.

Autumn sunshine with a bit of a chill in the air ... ideal conditions for running around in and putting on an entertaining game of football, alas 'Nitton' seemed to be suffering from a bit of a cup hangover in the first half and Bathgate weren't offering much in the way of any real effort or endeavour either in the early exchanges, as both teams seemed to be going through the motions in an effort to increase the NSFC bar takings by driving everyone back in there to see the final chapter of the Jambos v Hibbees game (0-0 for those of you who don't want to look away and wait until you've seen the highlights).
Fortunately the tempo of the game picked up (it really needed to) and it was both number 10's who came the closest to scoring.
First Grant Meaney had two chances for the home side that he flashed high (1) and wide (2), then Brian McFee responded in kind with two similar efforts for Thistle before he narrowly put the ball over from a text book header (see picture below).
In my opinion McFee looked the player most likely to break the deadlock, but when he was substituted later on (75 minutes or thereabouts) it was apparent that his manager didn't agree with me.

Newtongrange's Damien Gielty slammed a shot over the bar on 35 minutes which he maybe ought to have done better with. 'Damo' was considered by many to be the best player in his school team, St. David's in Dalkeith (since demolished to make way for housing) but when the Manchester United scout came to have a look he preferred Darren Fletcher instead, the rest is history.
The home side finished the first half the strongest ...

... and then started the second half the strongest too.
On 49 minutes, Grant Meaney surged into the box, turned, and smashed home the opening goal. He was rampant throughout the second half - probably relieved to not be carrying the burden of worry around on his shoulders that had handicapped him throughout the first 45 minutes caused by the fear of how badly that horrible football team he supports might be doing against Hearts elsewhere.
Three minutes later Meaney cut through the defence again and pulled back the ball for Gielty who justified the Man Utd scouts decision a few years ago by bashing a few tiles about on the dressing room roof from just 10 yards out.

It's ginger, it's fizzy and phenomenal

Stewart Roseburgh cleverly lobbed Carlin in the visitors goal from out on the left to put Star two nil ahead. Two classy goals both scored from virtually the same spot in the space of seven minutes.
Thistle's number 7 Gary Fallon then earned himself a booking a few minutes later for elbowing Roseburgh, much to the delight of the home fans who had a verbal exchange with him as he left the field at half time. It had been suggested, given his 'fuller figure' that he should go and stand in the pie queue instead of going to the dressing room and his response was, err ... unprintable.
Gary, you missed a treat. I don't eat football ground food as a rule, but this delicious, meat packed Bridie, at just 90p, was too much of a bargain to resist. Piping hot, tasty and wrapped in a pastry case that melted in your mouth. Ten out of ten for the food 'Nitton'. But I digress ...

On 75 minutes, Grant Meaney charged through the defence yet again and Bathgate's right back Wilson hacked him down just outside the box. Meaney was through on goal and it was obvious Thistle's number 2 would be dismissed for a so called 'professional foul' but Gary Fallon decided that giving the referee a load of verbals might somehow rescue his team mate from a straight red card. It didn't. But it did mean Wilson wouldn't be alone in the dressing room, because they were both dismissed.
Steve Thomson then hammered home the free kick to make it 3-0.
Meaney was fouled once again en route to goal a few minutes later, it was seriously the only way the visitors could stop him today, Gupwell was booked this time. And Thistle were relieved that Thomson only hit the wall with this effort instead of the target.
Ubong Umatang came on as a substitute late in the game ... fellow substitute McKenzie played a lovely ball out to him on the left, he ran into the box and from the same spot as the first two goals (the groundsman must've painted an extra X there) whacked the ball across the goal and beyond Carlin's reach. "Bathgate no more!"
Four quality second half strikes more than made up for an almost forgettable and lack lustre first half.

4-0 Full time

New York, London, Paris, err ... Retford

Everybody's talking 'bout - Pop Music!

Dear Chelsea Robin,
Please let your big 'handsome' brother in law know that I am giving him this advertising space for free in lieu of several hundred legendary Thursday late night lock ins at a swingers, wife swappers and anything went pit of middle aged depravity, somewhere in the vicinity of Albert Road, Retford.
Me, I never saw 'nowt!
What goes on tour, stays on tour ;-)

the66pow

Originally posted 03.10.2009

BACK TO THE TOP. Thursday 5th November 2009
I won't be at this fund raising event (as good a reason as any for you to go) because I'll be in Edinburgh, but I'm just popping this post back to the top of the page to remind people, that everybody in Retford's favourite cuddly local DJ is staging this Pop Quiz night tomorrow, Friday 6th November in the salubrious Cannon Park Social Club on Leverton Road, Little Gringley, Nr Retford ... and if previous Pop Quiz nights I've been to with Beechy are anything to go by it will be great fun.
Just don't let him play 'Johnny Reggae'.

Matlock Town - Gladiators on Tour

I'm getting to so many Matlock Town matches of late, I'll soon be on first name terms with all of their supporters and will be able to recognise each and every one of their players without having to refer to the programme.

And in between times I've been swatting up using this book as reference material:

... it's a good job I don't have any particular fondness for sheep and/or Spireites isn't it!?

Gladiators on Tour cuts through the author's personal whistle stop 2006-07 football travels schedule at a brisk pace in a witty and often self depreciating style.
Anybody who has ever taken the time to follow one of the Matlock Town's (or even Bolton Wanderers, Luton Town's or self help school teams based 2o miles from Malindi in Kenya) of this world and experienced all the trials, tribulations and occasional brief moments of triumph, will be able to recognise little bits of themselves in John's travelogue narration.
And if the Unibond League is your particular cup of tea (or mug I should say - read the book to find out why) then you'll most likely be able to recognise a good few of the players mentioned too.

While young millionaires cash in by publishing 'life story' books while they're still in their early twenties and insult the intelligence of their target audience (even more than the mundane text inside their books does) by slapping a £20 price tag on their ghost written efforts, books like Gladiators on Tour miss out on all the PR mechanism treatment and High Street bookshop hype, because they're not about fame, fortune, glamour and having a WAG missus sat on a TV talent show judges panel.
They're by the fans for the fans ... about the blood, mud, tea and tears, grass roots end of the game, AKA PROPER FOOTBALL! Where real fans stand together, drink together, empathise and more often than not sympathise together.
It should come as no surprise to anyone that when I made John's acquaintance, we could have both been at our respective homes watching European football on TV or sat around waiting to see which pop stardom wannabes were going through to the next phase of a rigged competition designed to give exposure to acts who were represented by the people judging them ... but no, while the nation were going all goggle eyed, drooling over the flashing lights and catching a glimpse of mega rich football teams they could never realistically afford to watch live unless they missed a month's mortgage payment, we were at an Under 19's football match on a crisp October night in the middle of Derbyshire.
During the course of our chat we both received one of those "You're where?" type phone calls, implicating that people who don't fully understand the psyche of the football traveller thought that we ought to be somewhere else completely different instead.
But we just both shrugged those all too familiar calls off - what do relatives, work colleagues and non football supporting friends understand of the ways of the non league football family anyway?
I might even be so bold as to ask, who the bloody hell rings a bloke up when he's obviously engrossed in watching a football match anyway!?

Gladiators v Tigers, Under 19's, 26.10.2009

I'd love to quote some of the text from this book, or list the teams, grounds and players mentioned, but then you wouldn't be able to read the book and discover them for yourselves.
It may be a 2006-07 season story (though the author does dig up anecdotes from the more distant past too) but it's just as relevant now as it was two seasons ago.

As I mentioned in a previous post on this very blog ....

To obtain a copy of this smashing little book, contact the Matlock Town FC club shop or email the author direct at lawton123@sky.com to get hold of one.
The last few remaining copies of 'Gladiators on Tour' are available for just £5 each (that bargain price includes postage too).

The Club Shop,
Matlock Town FC,
The Geoquip Stadium,
Causeway Lane,
Matlock,
Derbyshire, DE4 3AR

Shop Email:clubshop@matlocktownfc.co.uk

Right, that's the last time I mention Matlock Town again for a while before I get accused of defecting to their fold.
By the way John ... Sidney Witham was 100% correct, Chesterfield FC's nickname is indeed 'The Comics'.

New Blog

http://ontheterracing.blogspot.com/

Mike Smith's new blog.

Clicking this link will improve your standard of living considerably and you'll be eternally grateful that I pointed you in the right direction ;-)

Lincoln Moorlands Railway v Pickering Town - Northern Counties East League - Premier Division

Wednesday 4th November 2009. Northern Counties East League - Premier Division
At Newark Road, Lincoln

Lincoln Moorlands Railway (0) 1 (Lee Beesley 86)
Pickering Town (1) 2 (Chaz Wrigley 35, Michael McNaughton 57)

Admission £4 Programme £1 Attendance 45

The referee was Mr Alex Harvey - I never got chance to ask him if he'd arrived in Lincoln via a tea party in Boston.

My original plans to spend the afternoon in Derbyshire and take in the Worksop Town v Matlock Town Under 19's game at Causeway Lane in the evening, where thwarted by a water logged pitch.
Oh well, all the great generals in history always knew where their best exit route was in advance before they sent their charges into battle and had an alternative plan B up their sleeve - the same rules of self survival apply to even the saddest of sad football ground travelling anoraks too.
Alas, I had no idea two of the main routes into Lincoln would be gridlocked due to road traffic accidents and all of the overspill tail backs would be using my apparently 'secret and exclusive' route into the back end of the city, which they must have found by accident.
Fortunately we arrived just before kick off, but then discovered Pickering Town were still unavoidably held up in the jams too.
It had taken us an hour and a half to reach the Newark Road ground, just from Retford ... and that was with local knowledge of all the villages and country roads in the area and one Evel Knievel style U turn manoeuvre chucked in at some traffic lights for comedic effect, so what chance did Pickering have of getting here from North Yorkshire on time?
The game eventually got under way at 8.04PM
In a frantic opening 20 minutes or so, neither team really seemed to get a grip of midfield and as a consequence there wasn't a lot of anything that even vaguely resembled actual passing football to write about, most of it amounted to not much more that a couple of touches by either team before they either lost the ball or simply gave it away.
But gradually (and thankfully for those of us watching) things calmed down a bit and both sides created a clear cut chance apiece.
David Thompson of Pickering bulged the side netting and a minute later Lee Beesley had a long shot tipped over by the visitors keeper.

Pickering started to boss the centre of the park and two players stood out for them, namely the aforementioned Thompson and Liam Salt, though the latter was mainly down to the fancy blue boots he was wearing that sometimes appeared to operate independently from their owner and make him do things he hadn't intended to ... well, that would explain one or two things anyway ;-)

Simon says - all stand still

On 36 minutes Pickering's Gary Hepples played a neat ball over the Moors defence which caught them flat footed as Chris Wrigley ran through the channel to finish emphatically. The LMR keeper Leigh Merrick cursed and swore and ranted, as he is wont to do for the entire 90 minutes anyway.
At the opposite end, Town's keeper Kev Martin appeared to not like using his hands very much and he went off on a couple of runs that showed why he isn't an outfield player, much to the chagrin of those around him.
With half time fast approaching, Herrick did well to save twice from Salt's magic boots and then Lyle Hillier skied the rebound over the crossbar and in the general direction of the clubhouse.

HT 0-1

At half time my camera flashed me a message - Battery Power Empty Recharge - and I remembered why I'd been into town earlier now.
Tomorrow I will buy a replacement charger for the one I broke instead of roaming aimlessly around the shops trying to remember what I was there for. A senior moment me thinks.
I tried to take a couple of pictures on my antiquated mobile phone, the results were quite breath taking, eh!?

The visitors really began to take the game by the scruff of the neck and on 56 minutes their number 5 Michael McNaughton (by far the largest and heaviest player on the pitch) thumped home an header from a left wing cross.
A few minutes later Thompson hooked the ball over the bar as Pickering tried to put the score out of Moorlands reach.

Moorlands went direct but a spell of aerial bombardment into the visitors box amounted to nothing.
Their manager Darren Dye must've gone to watch John Beck's Imps team play a few times back in the day when he himself was a cultured performer for Worksop Town, Lincoln United and Grantham Town, to have picked up those sort of ideas.
Darren also played for Lincoln MR the year they were formed (1989) by his father Stan.

On 67 minutes Salt should have wrapped it up, but those naughty boots got no power into the shot and hit it straight at Herrick, Thompson was wrong footed and couldn't get any power behind the rebound.
On 69 minutes Salt was substituted - nice work boots!
The lad's obviously got a bit about his game, he should wear less obstinate footwear in future.

Former Brigg Town stopper Herrick, is a very capable goalkeeper and he keeps the LMR back four on their toes with a non stop verbal barrage, but throughout this game his language was crude in extremes and I'm stunned the referee didn't pull him up for a few remarks aimed at the officials.
We all swear, but his outbursts were well over the top and all too frequent.
Snippet of dialogue involving Herrick and a spectator:
"F***ing hell ref! What the f*** have we got to do to get a f***ing free kick you c***!?"
"Try asking him nicely!"
"You can f*** off!"
And when the ball went out of play over the pitch side fencing and a spectator jogged towards the ball to retrieve it.
"Come on! Hurry up! Get the ball you c***!"
He must've flown through charm school with extra merit marks and distinction.
With four minutes remaining Pickering's keeper Ken Martin fluffed a clearance (he should have used his hands) and Lee Beesley pounced to score for Moorlands.
It beggared belief given how much of the game the Pikes had had, that they were now hanging on right at the end.
But hang on they did.
LMR's young left back Adam Hewitt was booked late on for swearing at the ref ... hmm, I wonder who he learnt that kind of behaviour from???

the66pow

Change of plan ...

The North Midlands Under 19's League Fixture between Worksop Town and Matlock Town, scheduled for 7.45PM tonight (04.11.2009) at Causeway Lane, has been cancelled following a pitch inspection this morning.

I will now be going to Lincoln Moorlands Railway v Pickering Town in the NCEL Premier Division instead, my 50th fixture of 2009-10, which is loads more than I had envisaged doing by the beginning of November.

Armthorpe Welfare v Ossett Albion - West Riding County Cup

Tuesday 3rd November. West Riding County Cup.
Church Street Ground, Armthorpe

Armthorpe Welfare (0) 1 (Liam Hardy 85)
Ossett Albion (1) 4 (Damian Hopkins 18, Shane Kelsey 48, 52, Adam Frost 84)

Admission £5 Programme £1 Attendance 46
Armthorpe beat Dinnington 8-1 on Saturday ... earlier in the season they recorded their record win 10-0 against Brodsworth, yet tonight only 46 people, including our sad lad trio from Retford and a few other neutrals I recognised, could be bothered to turn out to watch this game.
I know the European Champions League was being shown live on TV, but this is the prestigious West Riding County Cup for Christ's sake!!!

Although Albion are in a lowly 18th position in the Unibond League Division 1 North, the league above Armthorpe who are third in the NCEL Premier Division and giving Scarborough Athletic, Bridlington Town and Rainworth Miners Welfare a run for their money in the promotion race, the gulf in class looked much greater than that tonight.

Once Damian Hopkins had headed the visitors in front from a corner on 22 minutes, there was only ever likely to be one winner, even after Gareth Hamlett put a chance over the bar from all of eight inches out with the keeper stranded, that would've made the score 0-2. It was a moment of true international class ...

Armthorpe's best effort from Stuart Preston was turned away well by Ossett's keeper Neil Bennett, but there was little evidence tonight of 'Wellie' being a free scoring team.

HT 0-1

The Ossett Albion Casuals were out in force

In the second half, Albion were quick to make their dominance count as Shane Kelsey netted twice in a 4 minute spell to put this tie out of Armthorpe's reach. His first came from being quickest to react as the ball came back off the crossbar and his speed was a contributing factor to his second too as he beat Jack Wheat in the Armthorpe goal in a race for a 50/50 ball and poked it just beyond beyond him, running on just to make sure.

The natives in the stand were getting restless.
"We're all over them, it's just the quality of the last ball that's lacking"
"Take that chuffing goalie off, he's useless!"
"They've only had three chances and they've scored three times!"
Were three of the more printable comments - all 100% inaccurate as it happens.

Ossett were good value for their win.
And while we're on the subject of value (or not), the programme had 40 pages of adverts, with a twelve page insert stapled in the middle containing league tables and such like. Credit to AWFC for attracting so many advertisers, but it doesn't make for much of a programme.
The handwritten competition, opponents and date details on the cover, do show a certain degree of Armthorpe cutting their financial cloth accordingly though.

The game continued in pretty much the same vein, Ossett completely in control, Armthorpe occasionally pushing forward but not looking like a side capable of scoring eight goals in a month let alone one game.
But it wasn't until the 84th minute that Adam Frost squeezed a shot home after Wheat had got a touch to it, for Albion's fourth goal of the night.
The home fans had something to cheer when Liam Hardy fired in a consolation goal from the edge of the box a minute later.
"Come on Wellie, you've still got time to score three more and boil an egg!"
Called out a booming voice from within the shelter of the stand.
They did force two late corners and have an effort saved on the line, but the egg timer waits for no man and Ossett Albion march on.

FT 1-4

And your wallet. And your watch. And where you park your car.
Welcome to Armthorpe!

Staveley Miners Welfare v Hallam - North Midlands Under 19's League Division One

Monday 2nd Noveber 2009. North Midlands Under 19's League Division One.
Inkersall Road, Staveley.

Staveley Miners Welfare (4) 6 (Eborall 3, Cutts, Wasden, Cutler)
Hallam (0) 2 (Brown, Hewson)

Admission £2 Programme £1 Attendance 40+ estimated
Hallam made a lively start, buzzing around the edge of the Staveley box, but more in an inquisitive 'having a look around' reconnaissance mission fashion than actually causing the defence any real problems ... probably building up an head of steam to unleash at the optimum moment once they had pinpointed any weaknesses they had spotted ... when all of a sudden:
14 minutes, 1-0. Staveley's number 9 Daniel Eborall got on the end of a right wing cross into the box, he miss kicked his first attempt which wrong footed Hallam's keeper James Walsh and gave Eborall time to finish neatly with his second attempt.
16 minutes, 2-0. David Cutts, Staveley's left back set off on a run into the Hallam half, spotted Walsh off his line and belted the ball into the top corner from all of 45 yards out.
17 minutes, 3-0. Eborall (again) headed a cross towards the goal, but didn't get any power on it, which deceived Walsh (again) who could only help fumble the ball across his line by the post.
Maybe Eborall had deliberately tricked Walsh with his cunning twice in the space of three minutes, then again, maybe the keeper was just having one of those nights.

Hallam managed one or two half hearted breaks up field without threatening much,
Morgan Sellers, the visitors centre forward found himself in a one on one with Richard Spink in the Staveley goal, but completely 'fluffed' his shot which then trickled harmlessly to the keeper.
The Hallam manager had two long 'chats' with the referee (or vice versa), he was probably lonely because Hallam had only brought one substitute with them, whatever was said the ref dealt with it and let play carry on.
Staveley finished the half with a flurry and Jordan Wasden got their 4th goal when he headed home a cross on 45 mins.
An half that looked full of promise for Hallam and turn into a one sided rout in Staveley's favour.
As the teams left the pitch the Staveley manager shouted out "Come on lads, don't walk, jog. Let's not be lazy!"

HT 4-0

At half time everybody else went indoors for a hot drink on this chilly night, while the

sad anorak bloggist kept practising his night time photography, with little or no success.

The Hallam manager indulged in some 'psychology' of his own and sent his team out five minutes early to stand around in the cold waiting for the Staveley players and match officials to reappear. The visitors lasted all of six minutes into the second half before they conceded another goal. It looked for all the world as if they had conceded a penalty for handball as they cleared a Staveley attack for a corner. But justice was done when Eborall (again) lashed home a loose ball in the area to complete his hat trick and put the home side five in front.

On fifty five minutes Hallam were down to ten men (having already used their only sub) when Morgan Sellers had to leave the pitch on a stretcher. The Paramedic's car was first to the scene and an ambulance arrived at the end of the game to take him to hospital. The initial diagnosis was damage to his cruciate ligament. I hope it isn't as serious as it looked.

Ironically the misfortune seemed to have a galvanising effect on Hallam. First Walsh saved well from Lee Anthony, then the play switched to the far end and George Brown whacked home a peach of a goal for the visitors on the hour mark.

A frantic spell of play in front of the Hallam area saw a Staveley player trying his luck with a powerful shot from the edge of the box, that Marcus Jensen had the misfortune of blocking, with his groin! The thud and groan was sickening and every male in the ground winced as Jensen hit the ground and stayed down. After lengthy treatment (time wise anyway) Jensen staggered about in a bow legged fashion and tried to continue, but after a few minutes he had to go off too, leaving Hallam with just 9 players.

Staveley kept pushing forward and were exploiting the flanks now their numerical advantage was affording them so much space, Eborall should have scored again but he flashed a decent effort just over the bar.
Possibly being so in control of the game made Staveley lose a bit of focus and a lazy back pass to Spink was seized upon by Harry Hewson who netted a second goal for the plucky visitors. Carter Mpwaya showed some good touches and poise for Hallam, but in the main was playing most of the second half up front on his own, which was asking too much of him, but his control and strength were obvious to see. Small, but very strong and not knocked off the ball easily.

With five minutes to go, Staveley hit a long corner from the left, which was put back across into the box for Callum Cutler to head home the last goal of a very lively and incident packed game.

Hallam are having no luck at the moment, the first team at Sandygate are in the middle of a relegation battle and their manager quit after a defeat on Saturday. The Hallam Under 19's are bottom of the North Midlands League on zero points with a goal difference of minus 12. Worksop Town Under 19's also have no points and a goal difference of minus 6. Staveley moved up from 6th place to 4th by virtue of this win tonight.

FT 6-2

Staveley MW issue proper programmes and ticket stubs for Under 19's fixtures

Up, up and away ...

More hot air from the66powBig red balloon over Field Mill, 31.10.2009, Stags v Histon

Picture taken by Michael J Cook of Retford.
I wasn't there ... I had to go to work instead :-(

This (mid)week I will be be turning up with my 'Groundhopper Posse' at the following games:
Tuesday November 3rd
Armthorpe Welfare v Ossett Albion - West Riding County Cup.
Don't ask me how Armthorpe, in southernmost South Yorkshire, qualifies as a West Riding location though.

Wednesday November 4th
Matlock Town v Worksop Town - The Windsor Food Services North Midlands Under 19 League Division One (a loan of that balloon might be handy for those hills).
Note, Wednesday's fixture is confirmed as having been changed from Monday 2nd. Though if I get away from a family gathering early enough I do have another game lined up for Monday night, not that I'm in any hurry extricate myself from birthday cake, candles, jelly and ice cream n' all that you understand ;-)

Cautionary word in advance.
Anybody turning up on Tuesday with a 'stylish' man bag that cost more than a fiver, or a notebook with Guinea Pigs on the cover will be tied up and dumped in the 'cottaging' zone called Kings Wood (that stands just off the main road to the north of Bawtry) en route to the 'Welly' game on Tuesday, where he will doubtless be learning the rules to buggery poker in no time at all ... and you can bet your arse on that Mr Imp!

the66pow

Great moments in local rock music history ...

In which Meden Vale/Church Warsop's finest the Skags play in the front room of Warsop Community Centre (more recently known as The Black Market).



Tsk, whatever happened to the Skags, eh!?

Ubiquitous tenuous football connection content link herein ...

THE66POW

Worksop Town v Matlock Town - Unibond Premier League

The Ex Factor

Wednesday 28th October 2009. Unibond League Premier Division
At the New Manor Ground, Ilkeston

Worksop Town (0) 0
Matlock Town (2) 3 (Benger, Hannah, Cropper)

Admission Season Ticket (others £8)
Programme £2. Free Teamsheet. Attendance 253

Refer here --> http://ontheroad2009-2010.blogspot.com/2009/10/worksop-town-0-3-matlock-town.html for a neutral overview of the game written eloquently by Nottinghamshire groundhopping legend Malc Storer. For another angle on things and some pictures of Sophie Ellis Bextor (she looks OK but can't sing) look here --> http://razorferret.blogspot.com/2009/11/worksop-town-0-3-matlock-town.html (warning, this link leads to a slight fib about some chips).

Left click team sheet for supersized image

Injuries, suspensions, players taking ill on the day of the game, others leaving the club altogether in the run up to this fixture.
Hmm, where to start?
I don't really want to sound like I'm making excuses from the outset, but ...
The Worksop side was depleted in extremes tonight and half of those that did start the game were playing out of their accustomed positions and/or shaking off the effects of illness.
Adam Green and Rob Austin both made their home debuts in defence, number 9 Gary Townswend lined up alongside them at left back.

Matlock Town needed the points to help them climb away from the foot of the table and knew before hand that Worksop would most likely be there for the taking under the circumstances.
Yet if the Tigers former keeper Adam Sollit hadn't been in such inspired form for the visitors, especially in the first half, it could have been a very different story.

At 7PM the priority was rounding up enough players to even fulfil this fixture, let alone striving to get a result out of it ... but once the game got under way it was obvious the makeshift Tigers team weren't just here to make up the numbers and they certainly weren't just going to roll over and die.
The Worksop manager must feel like trying to do his job at the moment is akin to a Juggler trying to do his act with a blindfold on and his hands tied behind his back.
Perhaps what he really needs is some sound proof proof ear plugs.

Matlock had two early shouts for penalties turned down by the referee.
In the spirit of being ever so impartial, I would have to say that ...
I didn't really get a very clear view of either incident from up in the posh seats at the far end of the ground, so I won't dispute the referee's integrity, judgement or ability vis either incident.
Though I might have become 'slightly' animated if he'd turned down similar looking appeals at the other end. Nuff said!?
Adam Sollit then decided to put in a goalkeeping master class and thwarted the live-wire Ben Tomlinson four or five times and Ryan Hindley once, before the ball was hiked up the other end and Nathan Benger got onto the end of a misplaced back header to chip the ball over the advancing Jon Kennedy.
How often is this going to happen to Worksop this season, where they dominate a long spell of the game and then concede a goal against the run of play? It wasn't as though they were squandering chances because they'd had at least six on target, but Sollit was in no mood to be beaten.
Tomlinson again broke through the visitors defence, drew Sollit towards him and exquisitely chipped the ball beyond the keepers reach ... and narrowly past the left hand post.
Once more in the interests of impartial reportage I would have to say that technically Ben's effort was vastly superior to the scuffed one that Matlock scored from ... ish ;-)

Of course there is an unwritten rule that it is compulsory for ex players to score against you and sure enough, before half time, Ross Hannah toe poked a lucky shot (am I stretching the credibility of this unbiased angle a bit too far now?) just inside the post for the second goal, if he had got a clean strike on it, then I'm sure Kennedy would have saved this particularly feeble effort, I was possibly slightly unsighted again though. Just as well the other former Tigers player Dene Cropper was only on the bench then, eh!?
Note to self, you're going back to Matlock again next week, so behave yersen now.
To be honest the visitors played some good passing football, in places.

Honestly referee, two Matlock Town players obscured by
that floodlight pylon are playing him onside.

The second period wasn't half as entertaining as the first, as Matlock seemed content with preserving what they already had and the Tigers looked too knackered to do much about it anyway.

That said we'd now moved from the upper tier and gone behind the car park end goal that Worksop were attacking, which meant we had to squint to see what was going on down at the far end for probably the first twenty five minutes of the half.
Hannah continued to look a menace, while both Anson and Glass came close to halving the deficit with headed attempts, but to no avail.
Dene Cropper came on as a substitute somewhere just before the hour mark and in the very last minute of the game, kept up the ex players scoring against Worksop tradition by heading home unmarked from close range.
He possibly won't ever have scored an easier goal under less pressure, but effectively the game was already over by then anyway. He would have scored with more aplomb if he was still as good as he used to be when he played for ... well, y'know!!!

Waldorf and Stadler look on from their balcony perch.

As the game drew to a close, there was an unsavoury incident involving a Worksop supporter and their manager Peter Rinkcavage.

Everybody with the best interests of WTFC at heart knows the score right now. The Tigers don't have the resources to put out a super human world beating team every week, or any week for that matter.
It was touch and go whether they could even scrape a team together at all tonight.
The directors, manager, players and proper supporters of Worksop Town haven't locked themselves out of their home ground, gone into exile by choice and run into unavoidable financial problems as a consequence, nor have they been charging around injuring each other on purpose or going out of their way to give each other the flu' virus.

Let's face facts here, even after tonight's result there are still six sides below the Tigers in the table and they're only two wins away from fourth place.
And if Adam Sollit hadn't put in a man of the match performance the half time score alone could've been 6-2.
Though I don't want to take anything away from Matlock in saying that, they won fair and square.
But someone please explain it to me, because I don't comprehend at all ... why on earth do some fans seem to take such delight in aiming cat calls and criticism at 'Rinky'?
He hasn't been paid for ages and is working in near impossible circumstances, so just what kind of miracles do some people expect???
Peter Rinkcavage responded to one of the insults and came charging down the touch line offering the individual responsible the opportunity to discuss the matter face to face in the car park. Thankfully the linesman led him back to his bench before a flash point actually occurred.
Possibly some might think that Peter Rinkcavage over reacted, see his own comments about that on the official Worksop Town website here --> http://www.worksoptownfc.co.uk/news/details.php?news_id=604 but I ask you all, just how much criticism would you personally be able to put up with under similar circumstances and how long would it be before you were pushed into responding? Maybe his conduct was a bit over the top, but I for one certainly won't be getting all judgemental about it.

I can even understand the frustration of the fan who got so wound up he was shouting and wanting to let his disappointment be heard, but not his motives for singling out Rinky individually to aim his vituperative invective at.

We interrupt this prolonged football match report to bring you a very appropriate musical interlude:




I'll bet £3.80 and a king sized Twix that the Worksop manager feels that frustration and pain just as much as any pissed off supporter, the difference being his livelihood is at stake too.

Odd fact of the night.
The away fans return journey to this fixture was 30 miles less than the 'home' fans.

One day, when WTFC have circumnavigated this long, long, long corner back into financial stability - and Worksop - and have fulfilled their destiny of reaching the European Champions League final in which they are beating Barcelona by five goals to nil with two minutes to go, some multi millionaire superstar striker might just be fortunate enough to net a consolation goal for the Catalan team ... and I bet I could tell you right now which three or four Worksop fans will start having a tantrum because they didn't keep a clean sheet and screaming for the managers head.
When (not if) this scenario actually becomes reality, remember where you read about it first.

Elsewhere tonight ...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/8325973.stm

Well played Hearts.
They knocked Celtic out of the League Cup by winning 1-0 in Glasgow tonight ... and get out the flags, a Scottish referee actually awarded a penalty against Celtic at Parkhead.
He obviously hasn't read the script and will most likely be charged with bringing the game into disrepute for not letting Celtic win and will have his home address printed in the biased Glaswegian/National (believe me there is no demarcation) newspapers in the morning now.
Click on the BBC link for match highlights.

Altogether, to the tune of 'Yellow Submarine'.

"Tony Mowbray peels bananas with his feet,
bananas with his feet,
bananas with his feet."

Wednesday 28th October 2009 - TONIGHT!

Tonight, the66pow auto-mobile will be heading to the New Manor Ground, in Ilkeston, conveying a full quota of passengers, all eager to see injury depleted Worksop Town take on Matlock Town in the Unibond League Premier Division.
The action starts at 7.45pm and there will probably be room for you in the ground if you are tempted to turn up to watch this tantalising prospect of a game ... there's no need to purchase an expensive ticket in advance like you have to do for all that Premier League and Champions League rubbish, you can pay at the turnstile and it's only eight quid to get in (even less for concessions).

The writer of this splendid book will be in attendance, seek him out and buy a copy ... failing that contact the Matlock Town FC club shop or email the author direct at lawton123@sky.com to get hold of one.

The last few remaining copies of 'Gladiators on Tour' are available for just £5 each (that bargain price includes postage too).

A proper book review will follow on this very blog by the end of next week, but don't let my laziness and delay cause you to miss out on a copy.

27th October 2009 - Two Games

Today I have mostly been watching football.
Well, only two games, I shouldn't exaggerate like that really.
But they were both quite good.

This afternoon I went to ...
Totesport.com Reserves League.
At Bracken Moor, Stocksbridge Park Steel's ground.
They call it the 'Look Local Stadium' too, apparently.
Sheffield Wednesday (2) 4 (Jeffers 2, Hinds, Miller pen)
Walsall (1) 2 (Nicholls, O'Keefe)
Attendance - More than you'd expect for a 2PM Tuesday kick off, over 150 there I'd estimate but I didn't feel the inclination to count them all
Admission and Team Sheet - Both free

Yes that's the Franny Jeffers in the red boots, he played very well too.
Left click any picture for an enlarged view.

It is heart warming in this day and age when there are so many alternatives to watching football matches, just how many people will skive off work and head up Nanny Hill in Stocksbridge to watch a reserve team fixture on a Tuesday afternoon.
What a bunch of crafty lead swinging malingerers you all are, I salute each and every one of you. I suppose if you need to hide out of the way where your employer won't see you, there aren't many more remote replaces to take refuge in than the home of Stocksbridge Park Steels.

AWOL workers of the World unite!

To be perfectly honest, I wasn't sure what kind of standard of game I would be witnessing this afternoon and and feared it might be two second strings going through the motions, uninspired by their humble surroundings.
Bracken Moor is a really old fashioned two sided ground, I personally always like visiting the Steels ground because of it's location and olde worldliness, but when you're used to plying your trade at Hillsborough or the Bescot Stadium, I would imagine a run out at a sports ground of this calibre is a bit of a culture shock ... at least it will be good preparation for any of the Walsall party who will be making the trip to Stourbridge for their FA Cup game in the near future.
I shouldn't have worried, it was apparent early on that both sides had come in a positive frame of mind and wanted to play an attacking and open game. And Brian Laws the Wednesday first team boss was in attendance so a few of the Owls players wanted to make an impression too.
A fast flowing, end to end opening spell, saw both keepers at full stretch and tested from a good variety of angles, it was obvious there were going to be goals in this game it was just a question of when.
On half an hour the former Everton, Arsenal and England 'prospect' Francis Jeffers burst into the box and was flattened by two Walsall players, but the ref waved play on. He (Jeffers not the ref) could've just laid there contemplating the clouds, asking 'Why me?' but he dragged himself back to his feet and got on with the job in hand. Jeffers was rewarded for his perseverance two minutes later, when a neatly weighted pass to run onto sat up just right for him to lash the ball across the keeper with his right foot for the opening goal.
The career comeback starts here!
Four minutes later Richard Hinds headed home a second Wednesday goal from a corner and then went straight back to his defensive role and made a saving tackle almost immediately from the restart.
But Walsall were still intent on having a say in this game and after threatening to reduce the scoreline already, Alex Nicholls found space on the edge of the Owls area to run through and smash home an unstoppable shot.
Jeffers nearly added another goal in first half stoppage time, but his cleverly weighted flick beyond the keeper was cleared off the line by a Saddlers defender.

Half Time 2-1

The second half carried on in the same vein as the first with the initiative swinging one way and then the other. But on the hour a Tommy Miller put Wednesday 3-1 ahead and it looked as if Walsall's resolve would now be stretched to the limit. But they went straight back up the pitch and another powerful Nicholls shot hit the post and left the goal shaking, Sean Cuff in the Wednesday goal was probably grateful he hadn't got a touch on it.
Then Walsall substitute Richard Davies whacked a long distance shot fizzing narrowly over the bar.
It looked as though it definitely wasn't going to be the Saddlers day when Cuff saved well from yet another effort from Nicholls and then the Owls took the ball up the field and went 4-1 ahead a minute later when Jeffers buried a left wing cross from close range.

But Walsall still wouldn't give up chasing the game and with five minutes to go Cuff had to react quickly again to put the ball round his upright for a corner. Josh O'Keefe got on the end of the flag kick to make the final score 4-2.
A highly entertaining game of football which both sides played their part in. And a very good start to my double header.

It's a long way from the European Champions League to
Stocksbridge on a dull October afternoon.

And then I headed south down the M1 to ...
Blue Square North.
At North Street, Alfreton, AKA 'The Impact Arena'.
Alfreton Town (0) 1 (Howell)
Gainsborough Trinity (0) 0
Admission £10. Programme £2. Attendance 517

While everything around him is a blur of activity, Trinity's new(ish) manager
stands rooted to the spot in studied concentration (or similar).

Trinity had the best of the early exchanges and Paddy Gamble in the Alfreton goal made an excellent point blank stop to prevent the visitors from taking the lead - Yes, any Mansfield Town fans reading this, you didn't imagine what I just said.
Gamble looks to be enjoying a new lease of life at North Street and is regaining the confidence his game relies on. Good luck to him, he had a torrid time of it at the Stags and had to do a lot of growing up fast and learning from his mistakes in public ... Though I might not have been quite that generous to him the night I drove all the way from Edinburgh to Stevenage last season to watch a game where Paddy dropped a last minute clanger that lost the game for Mansfield.

Anyway, back to tonight's game, Alfreton grew in stature as Trinity's early promise and fizz seemed to go flat. Paul Clayton ought to have put the Reds in front, but his stinging shot came back off the crossbar with the Trinity defence pulled all over the place.
Though they weren't really at the races by that point, the visitors looked to have a good call for a penalty waved away when Darryn Stamp went down under an heavy challenge just before the break.

If it doesn't move, paint it bright red!

The second half was just about as one sided a game as you'll ever see. Alfreton were literally queueing up to have a crack at the Trinity goal and it beggars belief that the only goal they managed to score came from a goalkeeping error, when Phil Barnes fumbled a cross and only managed to help it into the path of Anthony Howell who happily accepted the opportunity to smash the ball home from the edge of the box.
Barnes got a lot of stick from the home fans behind the goal for that error and was cheered ironically whenever he had to make a save for the remainder of the game ... which was actually quite often.

Andy Todd now turns out for Alfreton Town, off the top of my head I think I've now seen him playing for at least 7 or 8 clubs. The pinnacle of his career, quite obviously, would've been turning out for Worksop Town though.
And if you think that is a slightly biased observation, you just wait until I've done the spell check and 'proof read' from the next game on my itinerary and posted it ;-)

I was chatting to some Trinity fans I know and they were saying that under the new manager Brian Little, they seem to be starting games very well but aren't sustaining the tempo for more than about twenty minutes, so by the sound of it tonight was a fairly typical performance from the visitors.
Looking along the touch line you could see (and hear) the Alfreton manager Nicky Law (an ex Spireite nemesis of mine) up on his feet, very animated and constantly calling out instructions. Brian Little on the other hand looked like a statue, motionless and deep in thought. Probably ruminating over how on earth he got to be stood on a touch line at 'Ofton' when he used to be in the hot seat at Villa Park. I know a few Wrexham and Tranmere fans who would most probably relish the opportunity to answer that line of enquiry.
Is he the answer to Gainsborough's prayers?
On current form you would have to say the jury is still out debating that question, but the early evidence doesn't look very good for either party.
It takes time to mould a football team, but in this quick fix industry you never know quite how much time and patience you're going to be afforded.

It was only a single goal defeat for Trinity in the end, but that margin of defeat flattered them no end. I've seen a lot of games this season where teams have rued not taking a glut of chances and been felled by a sucker punch against the run of play ... Gainsborough weren't ever going to do that to Alfreton tonight once they had fallen behind though, they had nothing left in their locker. Nothing at all.

On the way out the Trinity fans asked if I'd thought I'd got good value for my £10 admission fee. I told them Alfreton were definitely good for entertainment value, but that after the first half an hour Trinity probably owed everyone present a £5 refund.
The best team won.
The second best were nowhere near.

THE66POW

Matlock Town v Worksop Town - Under 19 League Cup

'Gladiators ... are you ready!?'

Monday 26th October 2009. Windsor Foods Under 19 League Cup
Causeway Lane, Matlock

Matlock Town (1) 3 (Joe Byetheway, Jerome Wilkes, Dwayne Wiley)
Worksop Town (0) 0

Admission £2. Programme free. Attendance 67
Attendance verified by the author John Scott Lawton
The first of three encounters at different levels that will be played between these two sides over a short space of time (the first teams play at Ilkeston on Wednesday night and the Under 19's are back here at Causeway Lane next week, for a league fixture) started with Matlock looking like they had decided to come straight out off the starting blocks and into the Tigers youngsters ... and by the time Joe BTW put them ahead they might have already scored three, but for some off target shooting from their number 10 (Wiley) and a chance coming back off the upright.

Shortly before half time, Worksop were nearly on level terms but with the Gladiators keeper beaten all ends up, a defender got his body behind the goal bound shot and blocked it on the line. It looked from where I was stood that he had used his arm to prevent a goal but the referee waved play on and linesman kept his flag down.
During a break in play (unfortunately Matlock's number three had fallen heavily and hurt his back and had to go off) I said to the Linesman "You could see that was an handball from the chip shop queue up the road!" to which he smiled and replied "I was a bit closer than that and it was his chest, sideways on, he twisted well and avoided contact with his arm."
Hmm, that's me told then.
In the second half Wilkes put the home side 2-0 up, but then Worksop had their best spell of the game, but found the Matlock keeper to be in inspired form. He commands his back line very well and patrols his area confidently - maybe not the tallest of keepers you'll ever see but there is time for a growth spurt yet.
Inevitably given the run of bad luck that is permeating its way through all things Worksop Town at the moment, this purple patch of possession and all out attack for the young Tigers ended up with a goal ... for Matlock!
Wiley finally put the ball away to top off an hard working performance.

The Times They Are A Changin' ...

One of the greatest pleasures of visiting Causeway Lane over the years was a visit to the old club house (with the football memorabilia plastered all over the walls) and it's terracing outside where you could have a pint (or three) while watching the game and indulge in friendly, though often quite lively, banter with the locals. But it has now been demolished along with the old main stand that stood adjacent to it.
Both structures used to stand behind where the new dug outs are now (see picture below) in that space to the right of the modern tea hut and first aider room ...

... and they now look like this

A new stand will rise in the place of the demolished facilties as Matlock Town redevelop their old, but very charming ground on Causeway Lane - see artists impression.
But despite the plans to make the ground all modern and up to date, the Gladiators supporters are still steeped in humility, realism, friendliness ... and all a bit old and traditional looking around the edges too ;-)

Darlington Railway Athletic v Hebburn Town. Northern League Division 2

"Only The Lonely" THE66POW blogger person models Tesco Jeans in Darlington.

Prior to today's game Darlington Railway Athletic had played 13 Northern League 2nd Division fixtures, winning just one of those and losing the other 12. They've also lost all three cup games they've played in and all of their pre season games apart from one against their own reserve team.
And for all you fans of minutiae and statistics ... they've scored an average of 0.8 goals per game.

Darlo RA, they've won lots of trophies at darts

For their part Hebburn Town, though they have two games in hand, started this game only two points ahead of DRA in the table and were actually beneath them at the bottom of the current form table.
They've recently appointed a new manager, Rob Marsden and have drawn their last two games against North Shields and Team Northumbria, the latter being the only side Darlo RA have beaten all season.
Birtley Town have been trying to gate crash this two team relegation race for a while, today they 'achieved' that honour by virtue of losing 1-3 at home to Gillford Park and they have an away game at Hebburn Town next Saturday, where they can really establish themselves as relegation contenders.
http://www.northernleague.org/view_div2_tables.php
Following this home defeat, Max Rees, Darlington Railway Athletic's manager resigned.

Thrill seekers one and all - head to the 'RA' ...
Saturday 24th October 2009. Northern League Division 2.
Brinkburn Road, Darlington.

Darlington Railway Athletic (0) 0
Hebburn Town (0) 1 (Armstrong)

Admission £3. Programme £1 (a great effort, they usually are in this league), NVNG magazine 30p or free with programme (another great Northen League publication)
Caution: Weather subject to immediate change.
Downpours, gusting wind, Autumn sunshine ... the weather provided a vast array of elements to 'amuse' us all with, the cloud formation and rainbow combinations were quite spectacular and were probably a real thrill for any budding meteorologists present today.
Alas the football, save for a few all too brief flurries, wasn't ever so entertaining for the most part.
Darlington RA hold penalty shoot out competitions for local school kids on the pitch at half time, it's great getting the youngsters familiar with the surroundings of their local club, however ... there are stands offering cover from the elements at both ends and on the dug outs side of the ground. Along the other side is a wide uncovered strip of land and behind that playing fields galore that you get access to from within the football ground - so why can't the kids, who obviously have no interest in the game on the main pitch at all, bugger off over there and play instead of clattering up and down in front of (and amongst) people who are actually watching a 'proper game'.
In their defence, the young lads and lasses just want to play football, but the parents and teachers should know better. "I told him to stop kicking that ball near people or it would hit one of them ... but he wouldn't bloody well listen!" said one female 'guardian' by way of (almost) an apology, after her son had miscued a 'Cruyff Turn' and hit a woman in the third row with a muddy ball.
Note to parents and teachers - there is a sign on the end of the end of The Paul Adamson Memorial Stand, it is there for a reason - read it!!!
Thankfully a lot of them buggered off after their interval 'moment of glory', including the lad who was being taunted by his dad "FFS son! You had a penalty saved, by a lass! You make me feel sick, what have I taught you? That was shite son, you showed me up, I'm ashamed, you're rubbish!"
Hmm, catch 'em early, keep 'em keen n' all that.
There was only one person showing the pair of them up and anyone within earshot would clarify who that was.

Sam Pybus plays Spot The Ball through a crowd of bodies

Out on the pitch, I think most people would've been happy to witness a miscued 'Cruyff Turn' or even a passage of play that consisted of either team completing three successive passes.
It was taking both sides some time to get to grips with the conditions and the first half hour was quite tedious, only punctuated by a few 'mistimed' tackles.
Hebburn did eventually start to knock the ball about towards the end of the half and Paul Trosh could have scored twice - the first effort saw Sam Pybus, the home team's goalkeeper, block a close range strike, the second saw Trosh head the ball across the face of the goal and beat the keeper and defence all ends up but also evade the back post by a couple of feet.

HT 0-0

Brinkburn Road football ground could do with some weed-killer and TLC in places

In the second period, Darlington RA played like a team who have that bottom of the league millstone weighing heavily on their shoulders, every (almost) promising move broke down due to a misplaced pass or all too easy interception from a Hebburn player.
On 52 minutes, Michael Armstrong hit home the only goal of the game from inside the penalty area, Pybus was woefully exposed by a lack of cover from his defence.
I know it was 52 minutes because a small, inoffensive looking man standing nearby (who I had thought might be a North Face storm jacket wearing statue until he made a noise), shouted out the goal time very loudly to nobody in particular and then stood motionless again gazing at his stop watch for the rest of the game, waiting for a second opportunity to verbosely share some more vital information with, well, nobody in particular again ... alas the ineptitude of both teams in front of goal thwarted him in his quest.
I don't think it was actually 52 minutes at all but don't want to rob him of his moment.
And then the Darlo RA players heads seemed to drop even more as they were consumed by the inevitability of yet another league defeat ... at just one goal down with 38 minutes still on the clock!
On 65 minutes Paul Trosh (again) missed the chance to put Hebburn two up from close range with Pybus already beaten, he'll have better days than this.
The Hebburn Town number 6 narrowly missed out on a hat trick today, but when Dame Fortune isn't smiling on you she does seem to have days when she delights in mocking you instead. Today she was being extra spiteful to Paul Trosh.
On 75 minutes William Crew was through on the Darlo goal but was thwarted by a last ditch defensive tackle from making the score more convincing for Hebburn.
The visitors were the better side, but by the same token the 'RA' were the worse by some distance so that probably made their opponents look better than they were.
In his last ever programme notes the Darlington RA manager had mentioned negative comments posted by supporters on the DRAFC section of the Non League Zone forum and suggested they should use their real names instead of hiding behind aliases.
Ironically, in the latest copy of 'Northern Ventures - Northern Gains' (congratulations on reaching 20 years with this excellent publication BTW) there is an interview with one of the guys now running the NLZ who said he had become concerned about "sometimes banal and often immature" dialogues on the site "It's our determination to take a harder line to attract the type of contributors to restore it's reputation as a vehicle for intelligent discussion about non-league football" ... well said that man, about time too.

With everybody gratefully looking at their watches and seeing that the 90 minutes were up, we all stood waiting in gleeful anticipation for the referee's whistle to put this game out of it's misery, when Hebburn Town decided to provide us with a comedic finale that just about summed up the rest of the game.
Two of their players set off on a run towards the DRA goal from the centre circle to take advantage of the fact that the home side had pushed forward in a vainglorious last ditch effort to salvage a point. The ball was free, as was the route to goal and it was 'rush goalie' time ... but both players clumsily ran into each other and went crashing to the floor in an undignified heap as the ball bobbled harmlessly away.
The whistle sounded and I was in my car and heading out of the end of Brinkburn Road before the last player had even left the pitch.

FT 0-1

*Footnote* There is a link to the Non League Zone in THE66POW index (see right hand margin) and details of how to obtain the Northern Ventures Northern Gains magazine can be found here --> http://www.northernleague.org/league/nl_publications_3.php

the66pow forthcoming events ...

The boys are back in tow. Apparently.
Look who just got back today, well ... tomorrow anyway.
Okay, following a sabbatical from my football travels enforced upon me by top heavy shift work schedules, during which time I missed an eight goal thriller followed by a penalty shoot out between Worksop Town and North Ferriby United in the FA Trophy and Rainworth Miners Welfare's 3-1 away win at Armthorpe Welfare, here is a resume of the forthcoming games I may possibly/shall probably be attending in the near future, but no stalking me Farty Man!

Saturday 24th October.
Darlo RA v Hebburn Town
Sunday 25th October.
Another freakin' 12 hour night shift :-(
Monday 26th October.
Worksop Town v Matlock Town (under 19's League Cup) being played at Matlock Town FC
Tuesday 27th October.
(Afternoon) Sheffield Wednesday v Walsall (Reserves) at Stocksbridge Park Steels 2pm.
Followed by (Evening) Alfreton Town v Gainsborough Trinity, or Parkgate v Shirebrook Town
Wednesday 28th October.
Worksop Town v Matlock Town (at Ilkeston)
Friday 30th.
Grimsby Town v Accrington Stanley (poss more than prob)
Saturday 31st.
12 hour day shift - no football

All subject to change, bio-rhythms and mood swings except 24th & 28th October.

The Cravats

Remembrance

Heart of Midlothian Football Club (Hearts) has announced today (Wednesday 21st October 2009) that the team will play in a special commemorative jersey on Saturday 7th November against Hibernian at Tynecastle.

The shirt, which will feature the Heart of Midlothian War Memorial and the poppy, will mark the club's respects for Remembrance weekend and acknowledge the special part played by the club's players in World War I.

In November 1914, with Hearts sitting at the top of the first division in Scotland, Hearts players were the first footballers in Britain to enlist as a team. The players' actions formed the impetus for supporters, shareholders, staff and other professional footballers to join the war effort. Many people credit their move as also saving the game at a time when football was coming under severe scrutiny from the wider public when young men were dying in the war. Most Hearts players enlisted with 'C' Company of the 16th Royal Scots, Sir George McCrae's battalion.

Seven Hearts players made the ultimate sacrifice and the club erected a memorial at Haymarket in the west end of Edinburgh in 1922 to remember their comrades and teammates. Tramworks in Edinburgh have necessitated that the Heart of Midlothian War Memorial is currently in storage and the Remembrance Service that is held annually at Haymarket will now take place at Tynecastle on 8th November.

A club spokesperson said: "The history of Hearts and the sacrifice of our players is well documented and it is something the nation can be rightly proud of. This year we felt it was appropriate to acknowledge our players, supporters and staff that made the ultimate sacrifice by including an image of the Heart of Midlothian War Memorial on the shirt.

"For many years now we have paid respects to our own players along with the players and staff of teams including Hibernian, Falkirk and Raith Rovers at the memorial at Haymarket. In the absence of the memorial we felt it was appropriate to retain its significance to our supporters by providing a lasting memory on the jerseys of the team that plays Hibernian on the 7th November."

Hearts have also announced that they aim to raise up to £10,000 for three charities by releasing a limited edition shirt for sale to supporters through the Hearts Superstore at Tynecastle and Hearts CityStore in the St James Centre. All proceeds will be divided equally between Erskine, the charity that cares for ex-service men and women, PoppyScotland and McCrae's Battalion Trust.

A week is a long time in football ...

... a week is an even longer time when you work shifts.

Due to work commitments all this week and geographical displacement over the coming weekend, I won't be attending any more football matches until Saturday 24th October 2009, when I'll be visiting Brinkburn Road, Darlington for the Northern League Division Two game between Darlington Railway Athletic and Hebburn Town, at the time of writing these two clubs occupy the bottom two positions in their league.

Alas, this means I will be missing the Armthorpe Welfare v Rainworth Miners Welfare NCEL fixture on Tuesday and the FA Trophy replay at Ilkeston on Wednesday between Worksop Town and North Ferriby United.
Bugger!!!
I'm also nowhere near Hearts v Falkirk in the SPL next Saturday or Mansfield Town v Altrincham in the FA Cup, unless anybody knows HG Wells and he can transport me back to Darlo for 6PM.

Never mind eh!? I've been looking forward to a trip to DRAFC for ages now.

Amendment - 11:36AM - Monday 19th October 2009:
I have just seen the draw for the next round of the FA Trophy, if Worksop beat North Ferriby in the replay this Wednesday, they will be playing away against Carlton Town on 31st October.
I have also just checked my work roster - guess who is working a twelve hour day shift that Saturday? D'oh!

In the mean time, a charming little song about another night shift worker ...

the66pow

On The Road 2009-10

101 Uses For A Tesco Trolley Parking Bay
Part One

http://ontheroad2009-2010.blogspot.com/2009/10/teversal-1-2-staveley-mw.html

Check out the pictures (click link above) from the Teversall v Staveley Miners Welfare reportage on Malcolm Storer's excellent 'On The Road 2009-10' football travel blog to see how ingenious 'Tevie' have been in utilising old Tesco trolley parking bay's.

Left click the Bearded Wonder's photographs from the game to enlarge the images.

Recycling ... it's the future!!!

WHERE'S WALLY?

To whom it may concern ... be very careful what you wish for ;-)
A view from North Ferriby's social club window just prior to half time.

North Ferriby United v Worksop Town - FA Trophy - First Qualifying Round

Left click pictures and team sheet to enlarge

Saturday 17th October 2009. FA Trophy First Qualfying Round
Grange Lane, Church Road, North Ferriby

North Ferriby United (0) 1 (Colin Hunter 52)
Worksop Town (0) 1 (Gary Townsend 64)

Admission £8. Programme £2. Attendance 202
Replay - Wednesday 21st October 2009 at the New Manor Ground, Ilkeston

North Ferriby United's Steve Wilson saves Ryan Hindley's penalty kick

Worksop had the best of the first half exchanges without actually managing to get a final touch on the end of the succession of corners and crosses launched into the box.
NFU's Ben Turner fouled Andy White in the penalty area and thought he'd got away with it, but the referee Mr A McIntyre of Doncaster spotted the infringement and pointed to the spot ... at which point I would've expected Alistair Asher to take the penalty, but the ever confident Ryan Hindley stepped forward and spotted the ball up instead. He hit the kick well enough, straight down the middle, but Steve Wilson in United's goal had guessed it right and blocked the shot.
White was the last man and through on goal, but the referee didn't brandish a red card at Turner, at least he had spotted the foul though ... it was a crafty foul rather than a malicious one so the ref just about called that right IMHO. These things balance themselves out - or so I'm told.
HT 0-0

In the second half there was more urgency about United's play and they pushed forward in waves. In the 52nd minute Colin Hunter ran into space and belted the ball home unchallenged from the edge of the box - he took it well - and the home side now seemed to have the upper hand. They were twice foiled in their efforts to put the game out of reach when two goals in quick succession were disallowed after the linesman raised his flag on both occasions.
According to the locals the referees assistant was biased, according to the official both were offside.
Those NFU fans moaning on the way out weren't complaining about Worksop having a late goal by substitute Ben Tomlinson chalked off when the ref sounded his whistle seconds before the ball crossed the line though.

Steve Wilson remains focussed as a Trans Pennine Express train rattles along the roof of the nearby stand at 90mph

Gary Townsend doesn't score ordinary goals, he's already struck a few 'corkers' this season and on 64 minutes he took the ball down in the D on the edge of the box, swapped the ball from his left foot to his right and curled the ball into the top corner of the North Ferriby goal beyond Steve Wilson.
The game was now there for the taking, by either team ... and if those North Ferriby fans who felt they had reason to complain want somebody to blame for them not winning (even though they still had eleven men on the pitch in spite of that penalty they conceded) they ought to vent their spleen on the two NFU players who missed absolute sitters as the clock ticked down towards the end of ninety minutes instead of the match officials.
North Ferriby United had the bulk of play in the second half but didn't have anybody willing to step forward to and turn all that possession into an end product. Maybe there is a clue to a solution for their lack of prowess in front of goal in the picture below???
FT 1-1

The replay is this coming Wednesday 21.10.2009, Worksop's first 'home' game (at Ilkeston) for some considerable time. Pay at the gate - 7.45PM kick off - everybody welcome!!!
Note. Worksop's next 'home' game after that v. Burscough 24.10.2009 has been switched and is now an away game because Ilkeston Town are at home in the FA Cup that day against Tamworth that day.

Ever wondered what's behind that fence at the 'Humber Bridge' end of Grange Road?

'Deano' started his career at North Ferriby United.

Amended 20.10.2009 - Strong rumours abound that Dean Windass may end
up at Grimsby Town as their new manager in the near future.

Scores elsewhere - Mansfield won 2-1 at Eastbourne to keep their play off push in the BSP Conference on course and Hearts drew one apiece at Aberdeen (full game delayed coverage on BBC Alba tonight, twice - and Sunday at 4.30pm if you miss both of those). Retford United went out of the FA Trophy courtesy of an own goal in the last five minutes, a real shame because they need the income from a decent run in an FA competition as much as anyone at the moment. AFC Emley seem to have recovered from the goal scoring shyness that they've been suffering from of late and won 4-2 at Rossington Main in the NCEL.

A BLAST FROM THE PAST
Unibond League Cup 4th Round - Penalty Shoot Out
05.01.08 - North Ferriby United v Worksop Town nostalgia ...

Life Begins At The Hop (Boys & Girls)

Despite this above average song's piece de resistance - the insertion of a one chord guitar solo - we painfully hereby witness, in quite cringe worthy extremes, why some bands should never have been allowed to make promotional videos ...

Bottesford Town v Scotter United - Lincs Intermediate League

Free Charter Standard Club sign with every two baskets of Mothers Pride purchased

Thursday 15th October, Lincolnshire Intermediate League
Birch Park, Bottesford

Bottesford Town (2) 2 (Parry, Robb)
Scotter United (0) 0

Admission Free. Attendance 56
A decent enough game, back home by 10.00PM and two personal firsts ticked off for me at Birch Park tonight too ... my first ever Lincs Intermediate League game and the first time I've ever seen Scotter United in action ... note those are hypothetical ticks by the way, I gave up making lists and keeping concise records of stuff like this many moons ago and I have long since lost count of all the small yet significant data appertaining to how many teams I have seen, grounds I have visited and minor competitions I've witnessed first hand. This blog arrived far too late in the day to salvage any record of my extensive travelogue over the years, oh well.
Bottesford Town were good value for their win, they passed the ball around well and looked every bit the intermediate wing of an up and coming football club that oozes neatness, tidiness and (for want of a better word) professionalism from every pore. The ground has improved even more since my visit a few weeks ago - somebody is obviously backing this club to the hilt, good for them!

Colin 'Capello' Picken- Scotter United

"Matt Lawson, 'the big lad in goal' for the visitors is playing very well and he's had to be from the outset"
I'd just scribbled those words down (25 minutes) when he dropped a cross (but recovered well) and then conceded the first goal a minute later when Josh Parry fired home from inside the box. Sorry for putting the mockers on you Matt.

On 40 minutes (or thereabouts) Joe Robb got away with almost dwelling on the ball too long in the box and steered it across the face of the Scotter goal and just inside the post to put 'The Poachers' two ahead.
On other frequent raids into the Scotter half, the home side had been guilty of some 'Emleyesque' type moments of 'finishing' (see yesterdays post) and the ball spent a lot of time vanishing over the fence behind the goal and onto the training pitches.
The referee, though obviously wanting to let the play flow sans regular interruptions, could, I felt, have been a little more strict in his application of the rules as regards heavy challenges and blatant fouls. One Bottesford player in particular got away Scot free with two very late, heavy and high fouls that ought to have had at least been dealt with by the referee suggesting to their manager that he should be replaced for being too passionate and fired up in his desire to stop opponents playing the ball at any cost.
It was fairly obvious from the reaction of a good few of those around us to these transgressions, that they favoured Scotter and had travelled the four short miles up the A159 hoping to see their lads beat the representatives from the local 'big club'. There was no need for Bottesford to have resorted to that kind of thing because they obviously had the upper hand on the night anyway and possess several really talented young players.
On 65 minutes, Scotter's most effective thorn in Bottesford's side thus far, the lanky 'all arms and legs' James 'Crouchy' Shuker, had to leave the field of play after taking a knock and any Scotter comeback was effectively nullified from then on in. Though they probably deserved a consolation goal for their efforts late on. Shuker had worked his socks off.
Matt Lawson was on hand to make a couple more point blank stops to restrict the deficit to two goals ... he's actually far more agile and athletic than he looks - and in spite of me jinxing him deservedly won the man of the match (an unofficial award I have bestowed on him).

the66pow

Brodsworth Welfare v. AFC Emley - NCEL League Cup

Wednesday 14th October 2009. Northern Counties East League - League Cup
The Welfare Ground, Woodlands, Doncaster.

Brodsworth Welfare 1 (Shane Fox 45)
AFC Emley 2 (Neil Bagshaw 55 OG, Gavin Armitage 96)
After Extra Time.
HT 1-0. 90 mins 1-1. ET HT 1-2 ET FT 1-2

Admission £5. Programme £1. Attendance 50
Occasionally an ugly juxtaposition of clumsily thrown together composite elements, combined with a bit of mistiming and off kelter 'co-ordination', can melt together to produce a quite satisfying mess that is actually a complete joy to behold - take the way the off tempo drumming enhances Hawkwind's 'Silver Machine' for example - but tonight such a chain of events merely made for a rather frustrating spectacle at times.
Emley knocked the ball around well at times and created loads of chances, but they misfired and were completely unconvincing in front of goal.
Going on this performance (and the one I saw at Bottesford a few weeks ago) Emley are possibly the most attack minded team I have seen all season, but they need to address the fact they have a very low percentage pass rate for actually putting the ball away when gilt edged chances by the score are begging for a final decisive touch. Even as a complete neutral, I found Emley's lack of sharpness in front of goal quite alarming.
Brodsworth for their part, were not the best football team on the pitch, but they stuck at it and through employing guts more than guile almost nicked the result a couple of times. Alas they haven't spent a lot of time in opponents penalty areas this season yet and their lack of familiarity with their surroundings seemed to throw them a bit.
Emley had what looked like a blatant penalty waved away on 35 minutes, we were stood in line with the challenge and were unanimous that we would all have awarded a spot kick were any of us fit enough to run around in a black kit for 90 minutes ... but we aren't, the guy that is shouted "Great tackle!" and waved play on. He probably disliked their Hibs style away kit too.
Moments before half time Emley only had themselves to blame for all their poor finishing when Broddy's Shane Fox ran into the area and curled a well placed shot into the net to snatch the lead at a traditionally psychologically premium time to score.

Half Time 1-0

During the break I overheard an Emley fan saying "If we'd have wanted to win this one we would've done by now" ... Hmm, if Emley really were missing all of those chances on purpose because they didn't want to be in this competition, then they were extraordinarily good at it.
The second half followed pretty much the same pattern as the first - Emley passing their way through Brodsworth's rearguard without providing a killer touch and the home home side belting the ball forward and having an occasional flurry around the Emley box.
Eventually Emley hit a long ball forward themselves and Broddy's number 5 Neil Bagshaw showed them how to find the back of the net ... as the ball fell out of the sky towards the edge of the penalty box he executed a perfect back header towards his keeper, a skill that takes no small amount of practice to execute properly, he weighted his defensive strategy perfectly and put the ball well beyond the reach of any of the incoming Emley players who were following the trajectory of the ball. Alas he also put the ball beyond the reach of his own goalkeeper who had advanced from his line to deal with the ball and equalised for Emley on 55 minutes.
I blame modern players for this kind of thing happening, they all shout "Squeeze!" and "Second ball!" these days, instead of "Man on!" and "Keepers ball!"

On 73 minutes Brodsworth were reduced to ten men, that happens when you throw a punch in front of the referee and an 8 a-side posturing and pulling threatening faces competition breaks out on the field of play. It was goal scorer Shane Fox who got his marching orders, Brodsworth's most effective player on the night until the red mists descended.
Now Emley would surely take advantage of their numerical advantage and finally get on the end of one of the frequent balls being played into the final third - wouldn't they?
Err, no actually.

The whistle sounded for 90 minutes and the players got into little group huddles and listened to their managers instructions for the extra half hour that was now going to be needed to separate these sides - and the spitting rain turned into a steady drizzle, the sort that Peter Kay's dinner ladies dreaded.
Extra Time
Typically, now we were going to have to persevere with far more of this game than most people present would probably have wanted to, barely 5 minutes into extra time Gavin Armitage cut into the Brodsworth box from the left and lobbed the ball over the advancing keeper. Armitage's goal was extremely well taken, but his timing could've been a lot better!

Brodsworth kept huffing and puffing and forced a couple of corners late on, but they didn't have enough puff left in them to blow Emley's house down, even though they had pushed 'goal scorer' Neil Bagshaw forward to add some height up front.
In the end disjointed Emley just about warranted their narrow victory over messy Brodsworth and we all went home to watch the England v Belarus highlights on TV.
Like the elderly man sat in the stand had said ... "Who'd want to sit in t'house watching t'England match when Broddy's playing at 'ome!?"
Who indeed?

I wasn't anticipating extra time, not given Brodsworth's hard earned reputation for defensive capitulation this season, nor was I expecting that there would be even more night time closures and diversions on the A1, which after 20 minutes of weaving through traffic cones on the southbound carriageway sent us back up into 'Donny' for a circuitous expedition that more than doubled our mileage on the way home.
But these things happen I suppose ... usually to me!!!

the66pow

Boston United v Worksop Town. Unibond League - Premier Division

Tuesday 13th October 2009. Unibond League - Premier Division
The Jakemans Stadium, York Street, Boston

Boston United (0) 2 (Davidson 59, Newsham 90)
Worksop Town (0) 0

Admission £10. Programme £2.50. Attendance 1137
Strange but true ... The Eagles Fish and Chip Shop, possibly the purveyors of the finest tasting Cod in the known universe, is just up the road from the apparently named 'Jakeman Stadium', but still people eat football ground food when they visit Boston.
I really enjoyed my pre match 'Chippy Tea' and sat at the next table from us was Derek Griffiths, famed for his sterling work in Cabbages and Kings, Play Away and Play School alongside such luminaries as Johnny Ball and Brian Cant.
At least it looked like him.
It all started so well for Worksop, they looked to be carrying on where they had left off on Saturday and their shock troops of an unexpected invasion tactics had Boston on the back foot and struggling to cope for a while.
But then the while fizzled out and the home side grew stronger ... and stronger ... and stronger!
Tom Evans in the Boston goal saved brilliantly from Tomlinson as Worksop threw everything but the kitchen sink at him early on, but tonight will be remembered for the goalkeeping heroics at the other end of the pitch.
BTW, any invasion has to be unexpected for troops to be considered anything even resembling a shock, please excuse my poor diction and grammatical faux pas.
Man of the match: Jon Kennedy - Worksop Town's goalkeeper.
Hmm, I wrote that as soon as I got back in from the game and uploaded a few pictures from my mobile phone onto the blog before I went to bed, because that sentence kind of summed up the rest of the game.
He put on an awesome show, displaying why Blackpool and Sunderland have both had Kennedy on their books since he was first at Worksop. Without him between the sticks tonight, Worksop would've been completely routed ... fact!
I'm told, Jon was on the verge of packing in playing after the end of last season, but Peter Rinkcavage convinced him to join Worksop Town instead. Maybe next time somebody feels like launching a verbal volley Rinky's way they should consider things like that first, hmm????
The first goal game on 59 minutes, inevitably, because my golden goal ticket had 59 minutes printed on it along with word 'Away' instead of 'Home' which lost me £75, bugger!
Danny Davidson lashed the ball home off of the underside of the crossbar following a corner for Boston which was headed on into the danger zone by Anthony Church. At this point the Pilgrims were dominant and only a stiff rearguard action by Worksop's defence and Kennedy's heroics were keeping the score looking respectable for the visitors.

Boston go 2-0 ahead in the 90th minute in a pixelated fashion

Besides Jon Kennedy, the other player who impressed me the most was Marc Newsham of Boston. Davidson won their man of the match as announced over the public address system, but it was Newsham's tireless running, hard graft and movement that allowed him so much room and scope to shine. Newsham wouldn't have minded though, because he smacked home a close range volley to kill off the game, but not until the very last minute, such was Kennedy's defiant stand against a completely dominant home side in the second half.

Blurred 'Tiger Talk In Exile' forum admin hiding in the shadows

Footnote:
As we walked into the club car park from 'The Eagles' one of my travelling companions asked me if I wanted a programme ... I didn't realise until after the game that it had cost them £2.50.
TWO POUNDS AND FIFTY PENCE for a Unibond League match programme!?
Shame on you Boston United.
Draw your own conclusion about whether £10 is a just and fair admission price to pay at this level too.
The price structure at Boston United is a real pity, because I actually like this run down old ground, the social club is excellent, there is a great chip shop just up the road and in fairness to BUFC they play some good football in patches ... but the Pilgrims have to accept that they're not up in the Football League any more or even the top two tiers of the non league game and they should introduce a price structure more in keeping with their current status.

Referee?
OK, kicking the ball away when your team has just conceded a free kick is indeed a bookable offence. But can anybody explain to me why a Worksop player was booked for tapping the ball away (like he should've been) when his team were pulled up for an infringement, but a Boston player who was flagged for being offside wasn't booked (like he should've been) for kicking the ball away nonchalantly and so hard it hit the underside of the stand roof? And did the fact that the Referee was called Mr Dexter have any bearing on this?
Neither decision altered the course of the game incidentally, I just thought I'd mention it.

Best team won.
Kennedy played a blinder.
'The Eagles' never fails to satisfy.
So where are we going tomorrow night?

Durham City v Worksop Town - Unibond League - Premier Division

Two teams, a whole heap problems ... one mutual goal - survival!

Click to enlarge picture

These are some very thin times off the pitch for both Durham City and Worksop Town at present.
The Tigers had only Gary Townsend (currently suffering with Influenza) and Andy White on the bench alongside the untried (this season in first team action) goalkeeper Michael Chapman today.
Assistant manager, the veteran Micky Galloway was in the starting eleven, he actually put in a very good shift..
Durham have none of the playing squad left at the club who I saw play in a pre season friendly here against Ryton, there has been a mass exodus since controversy caused by a Conference ruling over their synthetic pitch caused their main sponsors to bail out on them and the money ran out.
The team Durham City have put out over these past two seasons would be sat comfortably amongst the Unibond Premier pacemakers this season, make no mistake about that ... but the (mostly) young side they put out today are merely fulfilling fixture obligations as the team crash to defeat after defeat. It's a real shame.
There but for the grace of God!

Kevin Sanasy and Alex Callery have both left Worksop this week as the grim reality of cash flow problems caused by struggling to survive in exile have really taken on a quite sinister twist, others are alleged to be leaving soon too.
Alas we'll just have to wait and see, but with an embargo in place stipulating that WTFC can't currently register any new players, it doesn't bode well at all.
This statement was released on the Worksop Town official website earlier this week:
http://www.worksoptownfc.co.uk/news/details.php?news_id=507

Another worry for the club (nowt like putting the boot in when you're down and defenceless eh!?) was that Worksop had been threatened with being prevented from playing their fixtures until money owing to an ex player was paid off ... a director of the club has stated publicly that he will personally cover that debt long before such sanctions are taken - well done Chris Smith.
For the record that is the same Chris Smith who helped Retford United sort their mess of a pitch out (along with WTFC's Steve Hardy) so they can play the remainder of their home games at Cannon Park this season. Not that this inter club act of friendly helpfulness as received so much as a mention in certain places, ahem!

It's not the size of your flag that counts, it's how you use it!!!

Janice & John Hepworth personally (and the WTFC board and supporters organisations) have put up considerable monies to keep Worksop Town afloat at this current difficult time - it's time for the people of Worksop to follow suit now and decide whether they want to save their local football club or not.
There are loads of ways to help even if travelling the 80 mile round trip for 'home' games is not an option to you.
So get up off your apathetic arses while you still can.
Those of you who are exempt from that rebuke will know who you are.
Check out the Tigers in Exile forum and WTFC website links in the66pow index and see what opportunities to help SAVE THE TIGERS there are available.
Without further ado and before this descends into a finger pointing naming and shaming rant (which would be wholly f***ing justified by the way and will most likely be appearing on this humble little blog in the not to distant future any time soon anyway) some thoughts and observations about the Durham v Worksop game ...

The Unusual Suspects
Left to Right. Wheelie Bin, Father Ted, The Spell Checker, Yan, Craig Shithouse,
Finchley Tiger and err ... somebody else?

Saturday 10th October 2009. Unibond League - Premier Division
At Esh Stadium, Durham (It was still the Arnott Stadium when I went there pre season but so much as happened since then)
Durham City (0) 0
Worksop Town (2) 5 (Bacon, Bowler, Tomlinson, Townsend, Hindley)

Admission £8. Programme £2.
Attendance 135

"City's early flair and promise goes unrewarded" read the title in the Durham programme for a match report from their previous game.
Same as today then.
They've nothing to lose by now, having already shipped in 55 goals whilst losing their first twelve league games in a row ... and they started in a very gung ho and lively fashion. Rufus Ayre, Durham's 18 year old centre forward (but he looks much younger) had the best of three early chances for the home side but Jon Kennedy pulled off a great save. Max Stoker had already forced a point blank block from the Tigers keeper and another long distance shot flew wide of the upright too.
On 22 minutes, the Worksop manager Peter Rinkcavage was dismissed from the dug out for verbals directed at the linesman.
Yes, it's been a tense old week, there are livelihoods and football clubs at stake, and yes the linesman did call the decision completely incorrectly, but Rinky, passionate about his team at the best of times, could have voiced his reservations in a slightly less expletive strewn manner.
We all swear in the work place especially when things go against us unjustly, but we aren't all going to be sent up to the back of a stand.
I like Rinky, he wears his heart on his sleeve and he's Worksop Town through and through ... but, sometimes a little bit of restraint is required.
I see on the Worksop Town web site, Tom Jones was given man of the match and in the Non League Paper, Matt Glass got it. But though it was a backs against the wall all round team performance and both those players did very well, in my estimation there could only be one candidate, Ryan Hindley. Back at Worksop and making his debut a second time around, 'Massive' created four goals and scored one for himself.
Retford's loss is Worksop's gain.
On 35 minutes Hindley was involved in the build up and the ball fell kindly for Danny Bacon who had the easiest of chances to lob the ball over the stranded Marc Riches in the Durham goal. It seemed to knock the stuffing out of the home side who had been very lively until then.
Just before half time Hindley lashed in a corner to the far post that Kris Bowler got on the end of to give the Tigers a commanding half time lead. And Durham then adopted the mantle of a boxer caught up against the ropes with a sucker punch who had let his guard drop and lost his gum-shield.

You can just about make out the second goal in the picture below if you squint really hard.

Click picture to enlarge

On 70 minutes a pinpoint pass into the six yard box to Ben Tomlinson from Hindley (who else) found the young striker in front of the goalkeeper and he won't get a simpler tap in goal than that all season.
A few minutes later Kris Bowler put his hand up into the face of Andrew Stephenson shortly after he'd been fouled, it wasn't a punch or a slap, but raising your hand is a straight red card offence. The referee never saw it, but Rinky's favourite linesman did and Worksop were down to ten men.

Gary Townsend, on as a sub, headed home from a Ryan Hindley corner on 84 minutes and the game was well beyond Durham's reach now.

Of course the final slice of icing on the cake was to belong to Ryan Hindley who in the very last minute burst into the box from the left hand side and buried the ball home from an acute angle - it was the very least he deserved.

And here is how the good folk on the Durham City message board viewed the game:
http://www.clubwebsite.co.uk/durhamcityfc/clubforum/messageBoard.pl?teamid=90554&topic_id=1395&index=10

THE66POW

The Lion and Tigers fundraising night (BTTT)

RACE NIGHT
Friday 16th October at the Lion Hotel Worksop
Tickets £7 see any Trust or WTSC08 Committee member.
PIE and PEA supper included in ticket price
Starts at 7pm First race 8pm bar closes 11pm, Deal or No deal, great prizes and much more.

Ollerton Town v Sutton Town AFC - CALLED OFF

Walesby Lane, home to he most arduous and challenging range of hills
& peaks in the whole of North Notts ... and Ollerton Town FC

Tuesday 6th October 2009 - Central Midlands League - Supreme Division
Walesby Lane, Ollerton
Ollerton Town v Sutton Town AFC
Game never even got started ...
MATCH POSTPONED @ 8PM BECAUSE OF FLOODLIGHT/POWER FAILURE CAUSED BY ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS
Admission £3 - REFUNDED. Programme £1
Of course, there are unscrupulous people in this world who would've counted travelling to tonight's postponed fixture as having visited a ground/game ... but not me ;-)

Ollerton 4PM this afternoon - a lovely sunny scene
Ollerton 7.30PM Intermittent floodlight failures
Ollerton 7.55PM third attempt and it's failed again
Ollerton 8.00PM
There are approx 40 spectators in this 'magic eye' picture.
No, these things never work for me either.

Last season I went to see Ollerton play at Clipstone (twice).
The first time, the game was abandoned on 70 minutes because Clipo's floodlights failed.
I went to the rearranged fixture a few weeks later (paying to get in again) and that was abandoned too, at half time, due to torrential downpours of near Tsunami proportions.
Tonight, my Ollerton hoodoo struck again :-(

Oh well, off to work I go, in the pissing rain ... at least I won't be late tonight.

THE66POW

Compromise

The FA Premier League have found a compromise to suit Alex Ferguson's needs after his latest outburst about the suitability of match officials.

The Twilight Zone

This week.
Ah, work glorious work.
The dignity of labour.
My latest irregular shift 'pattern' commenced yesterday with a 12 hour 6pm 'til 6am stint on what turned out to be a bitterly cold night.
Leaked memo's appertaining to just how many of us are really for the chop in the rapidly approaching redundancies cull, combined with an air of mistrust, self serving mercenary politics, and daggers penetrating the backs of anybody who isn't in a perpetual 24/7 state of self defensive alertness, are making for a less than pleasant atmosphere to carry out my 'safety critical' duties in ... err, just a bit.

So what's up ahead on the football front for the66pow this week?
Today: I can't get to Ashton United v Worksop Town because I'm at work at 10pm, but there will be live on line updates available here: http://www.worksopguardian.co.uk/CustomPages/CustomPage.aspx?pageid=80529 ... hopefully with a comments function activated. I may well log on to that when/if I'm up and about properly.
Tuesday: A North Notts football ground a very short drive away from my house is earmarked for a visit, followed by another night shift straight after the game.
Wednesday: The Sheffield & Hallamshire Senior Cup has thrown up a few interesting looking ties that just about make the logistics of getting to work for 10pm (again) possible if only tenuously probable. I'm doing some work for a dear old friend before she goes away forever on Thursday though, so I might still be otherwise engaged when the 'football travel' last daylight hour descends.

Goodbye old f(r)iend ... my loyal and long, long, long distance travel sidekick.

Thursday and Friday: More nocturnal manoeuvres and hopefully some sleep in between, the insomnia is mind crippling at times. A 50/50 opportunity to visit the Hartlepool United v Brentford game on Friday night might present itself at the 11th hour, I shall have to decide at the very last moment vis. that one though.
Saturday: I'm in the Darlington/County Durham area.
Burglars take note, the tribe of cannibalistic ultra violent renegades who frequent my house will still be there in my absence, so don't bother taking your chances.
Depending on when I can mobilise myself away from other commitments on Saturday afternoon I will be watching either Durham City v Worksop Town in the Unibond Premier or Darlington Railway Athletic v Birtley Town in the Northern League 2nd Division. Whichever one I get to will of course be followed by another all night turn of stamina sapping endurance and hard graft.
Be aware, if you're on the A1 southbound between the A68 and A614 on Sunday afternoon ... so am I, so take extra special care ;-)

To coincide with my stint of working nights The Twilight Zone TV show is celebrating it's 50th birthday this week ... even older than me then, but I bet it doesn't feel as ancient as I do at this precise moment.

As for me, right here, right now?

Time for beeeed .... Boing!!!!

Wembley 1972

So in future, when that old chestnut of a question raises it's head yet again, "Who were the greatest team to ever play at the old Wembley Stadium before it was revamped?" You now have the video evidence to back up the only credible answer you could possibly give ...

Screaming Lord Sutch and the Savages

Guiseley V Worksop Town - Unibond League - Premier Division

THE LATE LATE SHOW

Saturday 3rd October 2009, Unibond League, Premier Division
Nethermoor Park, Guiseley

Guiseley (0) 1 (Steve Burton 74)
Worksop Town (0) 2 (Matt Glass 90, Tom Jones 90)

Admission £7. Programme £1. Free teamsheet
Attendance 276
Bright sunshine and a strong wind greeted the players onto the pitch at Guiseley this afternoon.
Worksop played the first half with that wind behind them and it showed as the majority of play was focussed in and around the business end of the home teams half, but Guiseley still showed why they are currently placed high in the table with some good passing football on the counter attack when they did get the chance to move forward.
Ben Tomlinson looked like he couldn't miss from a chance created when Kev Sanasy flicked on a Scott Lowe throw in on ten minutes, but somehow managed to. Maybe the gusting wind had made ball control difficult at the final moment ... but the chance went begging.
Tomlinson again threatened on 21 minutes when he hit a rasping shot that Guiseley's Jon Worsnop did well to keep out ... the ball rebounded out to Kris Bowler who was bought down in the area as he stepped up to shoot with the keeper grounded. A clear penalty. But the ref waved it away.
The Guiseley fans near where we were stood nodded and said it was a foul and even Worsnop turned to the irate Tigers fans behind his goal and confirmed a penalty should have been given. But match official Steve Rowntree was having none of it.
The secret of overcoming these decisions is to stay focussed in spite of an obvious sense of injustice and that is what Worksop did ... both Tom Jones and Gary Townsend bought the best out of the Guiseley keeper before the break too ... he was putting in a good shift this afternoon and no mistake.

HT 0-0, very windy.

In the second half, it was Guiseley's turn to attack with the luxury of wind assistance and it was Jon Kennedy in the Tigers goal who was busiest for a spell pulling off a couple of fine saves.
But Worksop kept grafting and tried to keep pressing forward through the difficult conditions.
On 74 minutes substitute Steve Burton lashed home an unstoppable effort from the left hand side of the box to put Guiseley in front. And for a while the home side looked to be odds on to improve that slender lead ... Kennedy pulled off a blinding save from Reeves demonstrating his side weren't beaten yet ... and then the balance of play switched back as Worksop, fully aware that they deserved something from this game, attacked to claim the equaliser their performance warranted.
And claim it they did too, in some style, Gary Townsend picked up the ball from a Scott Lowe throw in and danced his way through four challenges before teeing up the ball for Matt Glass to strike home an equaliser in the very last minute.
The game crept in to injury time and the Lions of Guiseley defended deep against the Tigers of Worksop (it was truly a jungle out there). With stoppage time ticking away Gary Townsend was once again the provider, as his free kick was headed past Jon Worsnop for a late, late winning goal from Tom Jones ... well worth £50 of anybody's sponsorship money ;-)

After letting their heads drop and having lost any kind of cohesion after going 2-1 down at Retford the previous week, the Tigers seem to have taken on board the lesson that they have to stay focussed when things are going against them ... maybe the injustice of the wrongly called penalty decision today spurred them on too, either way it was good to see the team working through the injustice of it all, rather than having to resort to using the excuse/justification* of an incorrect decision going against them at the end of the day.
Referee's are human, they do make honest mistakes and miss things and no amount of protesting and moaning is ever going to change any decision ... although we've all shouted ourselves hoarse from time to time.
Mr Rowntree's cock up today was one of the worst I've seen for quite a while though.

Credit where it's due, people have been quick to call the manager when things have gone awry, so how about giving him a bit of praise today guys?

It was a team effort here this afternoon and it would probably be wrong to single out a man of the match, but Scott Lowe couldn't have done any more than he did today if you had to choose somebody. Maybe in spells, Guiseley had played some of the nicer 'tippy tappy' football, but the Tigers worked their socks off for those three points and thoroughly deserved the victory they took away from windy West Yorkshire.
A good afternoon got even better when we inadvertently went the wrong way coming home and ended up finding the A1 southbound quicker than we had planned. Ta for the lift Mr Spell Checker.
By the way ... I still can't hear the Harpal Singh.

the66pow