Friday 31 July 2009

Sir Bobby Robson


Rest In Peace Sir Bobby

A legend and a gentleman

Saturday 25 July 2009

Durham City v Ryton - Pre Season Friendly

Plastic pitch - Real food!

Saturday 25th July, Pre Season Friendly.
Arnott Stadium, Belmont, Durham.

Durham City (1) 1 (Nathan Bonar 27)
Ryton (0) 0

Admission £5. Free teamsheet.
Chips & Gravy £1.50 very tasty ;-)

The Arnott Stadium is Durham City's fifth ever home ground, it stands in the Belmont Industrial Estate just off Junction 62 of the A1.
There is only one stand, but it houses 300 seats and 6oo terracing spaces so it is quite adequate for the size of crowds the 'Citizens' attract.
City are in the same division as both Retford United and Worksop Town this coming season, so what can my north Notts friends (and adversaries) expect from their respective treks 'oop north' in 2009-10?
Well if today and previous visits are anything to go by ... rain.
Maybe I've just been unlucky whenever I've been around Belmont, but however sunny and promising it's looked, it always managed to rain at some point.
Durham are a hard working and robust side, firm but fair and whilst not afraid to put a foot in they keep it within the rules.

It took nearly half an hour for Durham to put the ball into the visitors net when Nathan Bonar thumped the ball home from the edge of the box. He'd made a statement of intent a few minutes before when a similar effort skimmed narrowly over the bar.

The visitors keeper was the busiest player on the pitch by far.
According to the teamsheet, the Northern League Division 1 side Ryton had two goalkeepers, both called Tony Davison, which could prove quite useful as the season unfolds, because the one they actually played with today likes going on walkabout outside his box, which makes his goal a bit vulnerable to long range efforts sailing over his head - fortunately for this Tony Davison, the three times he left his goal exposed in this manner, Durham's shooting was narrowly off target, or else the scoreline might have provided a more accurate indication on how the balance of play unfolded over the afternoon.
Maybe the other Tony Davison could guard the goal line while his name sake has a wander off? Maybe it was just a mistake on the teamsheet?
I prefer the former option and thus didn't bother to enquire as to the actual facts of the matter, realising I'd need something ... anything ... to pad out my blog match report.
At least I haven't resorted to posting pictures of the aeroplanes that passed over at regular intervals from the nearby Sunderland Air Show.

Note the wheels on these portable goals.

Stewart Morris and Kevin Dixon of Durham, were operating to good effect on the right flank and attacking midfield axis as a combative and creative pairing.
So if any left sided Retford and Worksop players hear either "Win it Stewy" or "Close him down Dicko", then they should prepare themselves in readiness for an imminent robust (but perfectly legal) challenge. Morris in particular was delivering quality crosses for Durham's forwards all afternoon and it beggared belief that several gilt edged chances went awry as Davison continued to make the most of his charmed existence.

I'm a big fan of both music and football, but I firmly believe the two should never meet. Footballers should not make records.
And music should not be played to 'enhance' any football match.
Snatches of music seranading the scoring of a goal are hideous, unnecessary distractions and as such should be vehemently discouraged.
However if matchday announcers must indulge their disc jockey fantasies during the game, then the James Brown classic 'I Feel Good' that greeted Bonar's goal is probably one of the least gruesome celebratory anthems I've been exposed to of late.
It was certainly an improvement on what sounded like one of those Pickwick's Records in house session bands cover the hits of the 1970's LP's (with some scantily clad, usually quite unattractive nearing middle-aged woman on the cover) that used to retail for about 79p in Woolies, being played over the tannoy before the game ... or it could have been The Beautiful South, it's very hard to tell the difference.



And no Grandma ... they never sounded anything like the original artists, so don't think you got away with fobbing me off with this nonsense, OKAY!

Click on teamsheet for larger image


On arrival at the ground I'd been surprised to see the groundsman mowing the plastic pitch, it transpires that it is actually a mix of organic and synthetic materials - when he got to the awkward bit around the posts he just wheeled the goal out of his way for a couple of minutes - blimey isn't technology fascinating stuff!?
Well ... isn't it!?

Thursday 23 July 2009

Brigg Town v Boston United - Lincolnshire Senior Shield Quarter Final

Thursday 23rd July 2009,
Lincolnshire Senior Shield Quarter Final.
The Hawthorns, Brigg

Brigg Town (0) 0
Boston United (0) 1 (Mikel Suarez 86)

Click on teamsheet for larger image

Admission £6. Free teamsheet.


Both teams had plenty of chances to take the initiative in this tie, but to be frank some of the finishing was quite woeful.
On the balance of play United just about deserved their victory when substitute Suarez netted with a well placed header through a crowded penalty area very late in the game.
The Pilgrims had the lions share of the second half possession with Brigg confined to mounting a few counter attacks.
In the end all the one way traffic eventually paid off.
If the game had finished at 0-0 on 90 minutes it would have gone straight to penalties (no extra time), which could have meant a very late finish given both teams apparent reluctance to get the ball on target all night.

Tuesday 21 July 2009

Mansfield Town v Leicester City - Pre Season Friendly

Tuesday 21st July 2009 - Pre Season Friendly
Field Mill, Mansfield



Mansfield Town (0) 0 v. Leicester City (0) 0
(Hmm, why do people still put the half time score in brackets for goal-less draws?)

Admission £10 (all areas) Programme £2 A4 magazine covering all 4 of the Stags home friendlies. I sat upstairs in the posh seats, I didn't fancy my chances of avoiding the 'scattered showers' in the lower tier.

In which Mansfield Town of the Blue Square Premier (Conference) hosted Leicester City of the Coca-Cola Championship (Football League Division Two in old money).

Prior to kick off there was a tribute read out by the club Chaplain and respectful minutes applause observed for James Sheppard, the 54 year old who passed away as a result of injuries sustained in an unsavoury incident in Mansfield town centre a couple of weeks ago.
He was a Mansfield Town steward and well known to a lot of people at Field Mill.
His daughter has posted on a website set up in his memory that she would prefer people not to comment about the people allegedly involved on the night Jimmy suffered fatal head injuries as it could jeopardise their court hearing and provide them with the defence of having an unfair and prejudiced trial ... the law beggars belief at times, but she's right, so I won't comment further on the events of that tragic night.
Rest in peace Jimmy, lets hope that justice is done mate.

Click on picture to read programme article in full.

Tonight, the Stags paraded their new away strip (see above right, she wasn't playing btw), the new kit sponsor is Hymas Homes, run by Steve Hymas.
If some of you think you recognise his name from elsewhere, you probably do. He's the guy who was fined in court for punching the previous chairman of Mansfield Town on the afternoon of the Stags last football league match before they were relegated to the BSP.
Good lad! ;-)

With black shorts and socks giving the new away kit the appearance of the Argentina national strip, it was easy from the dizzy heights of the West Stand upper tier to mistake the diminutive Ryan Williams for Maradona ... or at least one of those little orphans she's been adopting of late.

I was surprised to read that Andy King was in Leicester's starting line up, but quite relieved to see it wasn't actually the ex Stags and Swindon manager (and Everton player) but a younger and infinitely fitter namesake. Alongside him in midfield was Richie Wellens, a recent £1.2 million transfer capture from Doncaster Rovers. On this showing I can see why the 'Donny' fans I work with are gutted to have lost him to the Foxes, he bossed the first half and if the forward line he was providing a string of quality passes to would have had half his guile, City would have been well ahead by half time. Max Gradel on the left for City was a constant menace too.

In the second half Mansfield kept trying to make in-roads into their 'illustrious' (well, sort of, relatively speaking) visitors box, with Williams and Briscoe looking especially lively and they did actually put the ball into the back of the net on 51 minutes through Daryl Clare, but the linesman flagged for offside.

The last twenty minutes saw the requisite pre season friendly turn over of players via unlimited substitutions which broke up the flow of the game somewhat.

Jason Bradley, a big powerful 20 year old trialist (from the north Notts peoples republic of Retford) came on late in the game ... if running into opponents at speed and sending them clattering to the floor is any measure of talent, this lad will go far - get stuck in son!
In fact, the Stags appear to have bolstered their ranks with a few big, strong lads over the summer, which is probably what they need to get out of the Conference in the right direction, it bodes well actually.
Ryan Williams must think he's turned up on the set of 'Land of the Giants' when he goes in to training.
Weathering the two storms in the first half - the one Leicester's midfield provided and the one those grey skies kept emptying over Mansfield tonight - and then building on that platform and almost snatching the result from a team placed several rungs of the football ladder higher than the BSP showed MTFC have the resiliance and fighting qualities that will be required in 2009-10.
So far, so good for this virtually rebuilt team.

I was hoping that Leicester would be parading Robbie Neilson their new signing from Hearts tonight, but he wasn't even on the bench (maybe it was too crowded) which was a real shame. But the sighting of one of the Chuckle Brothers in the crowd sort of made up for it and he was almost (very nearly) calm and tolerant towards me and the guy sat the other side of him when we decided to torment him with a barrage of "To me, to you!" at wearingly frequent intervals throughout the game. Don't let his scowl fool you, he loves the attention.
You're a star Barry.
Bring Paul in future and you could do the half time draw or something.
By the way, I forgot to ask - are you really brothers?

Saturday 18 July 2009

Lincoln Moorlands v Worksop Town - Pre Season Friendly

Saturday 18th July 2009, Pre Season Friendly
Moorlands Sports Ground, Newark Road, Lincoln

Lincoln Moorlands (0) 0
Worksop Town (0) 1 (Danny Bacon 67)

Admission £2. No programme.
Dunham Toll Bridge 30p each way for a car.

Worksop had 7 players unavailable this afternoon, it's Gary Townsend's wedding day, which meant the starting line up had to be amended accordingly and several players were tried out in unfamiliar positions.
The first half got a bit niggardly in places, with the verbals and a few crunching tackles flying about that made a mockery of the word 'friendly'.
I guess if truth be told, I would prefer a 'competitive' game over a 'softly, softly' completely meaningless warm up game any day of the week (every day of the week even), so I shouldn't complain.
The referee had a bit of a torrid time in spells, but still managed to make things worse by calling a few wrong decisions.

Terrence the Tractor lamented that his friend Bertie the Bus didn't bother with pre season games so he had to come on his own today ;-)

Worksop's Kevin Sanasy hit the deck as he ran into the box, he called for a penalty, the ref waved it away and in that instance he was spot on, contact, if there was any at all, had been minimal.
But a short while later Chris Adam was felled by a Lincoln defender in the area as he surged towards the goal from the left wing ... the ref missed it and waved that one away too, incorrectly.
I guess Worksop had all their quota of penalties at Staveley last week.
The first half ground to a painful close ... both goalkeepers had dealt comfortably with the few (and far between) half hearted chances either side had barely mustered thus far.

Not sure if this was the real Michael Owen or not, I'm quite a shy and reserved person and was too embarrassed to actually ask him for an autograph.

The tempo in the second half picked up a little, not a lot mind, but the intent behind some of those 'firm tackles' rose accordingly too.
Nobody got hurt and all told it was a good rehearsal for both sides for when they have to meet fire with fire in a real match situation ... but it was now definitely game on.
One or two players can be grateful that the referee adopted a relaxed approach to dealing out his cards given that this wasn't officially a 'competitive' fixture. By the same token one could also suggest a couple of them took full advantage of that too.

Lincoln went closest to breaking the deadlock first, when Lee Beesley pulled a reflex save out of John Kennedy (now back with Worksop after his adventures with Sunderland and Blackpool amongst others) and the Tigers were lucky to get rid of the loose ball.
The near miss woke Worksop up and after a couple of threatening moves from play down the left wing (again), Danny Bacon got on the end of a low cross from Matt Glass to score the only goal of the game on 66 minutes (see picture below).
Moorlands nearly equalised (it wouldn't have been undeserved) when McDonagh (I think) rattled the woodwork with a shot that had Kennedy beaten.


Late on Worksop pushed forward and tried to make the score more comfortable from a few dead ball situations, but it wasn't to be.
Final score 0-1.
On this showing Moorlands won't be a pushover this season, they aren't frightened to 'mix it' with anyone. I can't envisage them facing another relegation battle like last term.
Lincoln Moorlands are a friendly and welcoming club with a decent social cub next to the ground and an undercover tea hut inside. Two sides of the ground have covered seating and there is a covered terrace on the same side as the dug outs too.

the66pow

Tuesday 7 July 2009

Hallam v Worksop Town - Pre Season Friendly

Tuesday 7th July 2009 - Pre Season Friendly
At Sandygate, Crosspool, Sheffield

Hallam (3) 3 (Stocks 2, Nolan)
Worksop Town (1) 1 (Tomlinson)

Admission: £5. No programme. Attendance: Soaked!
A 'Pre Season Friendly'.
It does what it says on the tin doesn't it.
On the one hand, you're really glad the new season is on it's way, on the other you don't really expect too much from these games ... and by rule of thumb you don't get a great deal usually either.

Every year I say I'm not going to bother with these warm up games next season.
Then the next season arrives and I say the same about the one after that too.

But next season I won't be ... Hmm, who am I kidding!?
Hallam made the most of their few goalscoring opportunities, Worksop had more chances to score, but didn't capitalise.
Not even after taking the lead on 14 minutes when Ben Tomlinson nicked a chance from Andy White and knocked it home from close range. Poachers instinct ;-)
8 minutes later Hallam were ahead, by virtue of Jordan Stocks smashing home two unstoppable shots past John Kennedy in the Tigers goal.
Tom Nolan hit their third just before half time.

The rain was horrific at times, thankfully it didn't reach me up at the back of Hallam's stand.
I wouldn't have wanted to be out there in that downpour (especially not in a horrible emerald green shirt with white sleeves).
Ahh, the great British summer, it never fails, to fail.

In the second half Hewitt in the Hallam goal pulled off a couple of class saves as Worksop blooded a couple of their new signings for the first time and tried to add some respectability to the score line.
But in essence a lack of sharpness and actual match practice showed, which I guess is why teams play these sort of games innit.
But take nothing away from Hallam, especially those three well taken goals.

Final score. Hallam 3 Worksop Town 1
Oh well, every journey starts with a single step.
This was a very tentative big toe into a bloody big puddle with a backdrop of slate grey stormy skies played out to the rhythm of the drumming of torrential rain showers on the stand roof at Sandygate 'The Oldest Football Ground In The World'.
At least it was just the weather doing it's stuff and not one of those really irritating drummers you get at some games.

Oh well, any excuse, however tenuous, for a bit of Roxy Music will always be taken full advantage of on this blog ...