St. Johnstone v Heart of Midlothian - Scottish Premier League

Saturday 30th January 2010. Scottish Premier League

at McDiarmid Park, Perth

St. Johnstone (0) 1 (Deuchar 17)

Heart of Midlothian (0) 0

Admission £20. Programme £2.50. Attendance 4752.

Such was the sudden nature of Jim Jefferies (re)appointment as Hearts manager yesterday, the first time he will have met most of his players would have been at his pre match team talk today. By the end of 90 minutes here at McDiarmid Park, he had been given a crash course into his new teams strengths and weaknesses, with the emphasis on their weaknesses.

Take nothing away from St. Johnstone, they wanted it more and ran out worthy winners, but Hearts were dire today, in extremes.
You would have thought they would have wanted to make a good impression on their new boss, but that simply wasn't the case.
I don't know if David Obua is in possession of ESP powers, but the message he seemed to be sending out was; "Look at me, I really should be somewhere else, absolutely anywhere else actually"
Might I be so bold as to suggest that in the back of a taxi speeding towards Edinburgh Airport with a one way ticket to absolutely anywhere else, is as good a place as any for David Obua to be.

It remains to be seen if the Tynecastle club's owner Vladimir Romanov will now relax the purse strings and allow Jefferies to invest money in strengthening the key areas of the team that anybody could pinpoint as needing immediate remedial attention.
We can live in hope, though probably not expectation.

I'm not a massive fan of mixing football and music (my first and second loves), but St. Johnstone get massive plus marks in that respect in my book, for running out onto the pitch in time to the Ska classic 'Liquidator' by the Harry J Allstars, how cool is that!?
I also heard 'A Town Called Malice' and some Public Image Ltd belting out over the PA system too ... a vast improvement on all the usual Lady Ga Ga and Sophie Ellis Bextor nonsense, innit!?

Nonsense

Harry J (Johnson not Johnstone) a legendary Reggae producer from Kingston, Jamaica, is actually approximately one third Scottish by descent. I doubt if anybody else at McDiarmid Park today knew that, or possibly even wanted to.
But it keeps us students of musical miscellanea happy to know about such things and right now I'm positively beaming to be sharing this life enriching information and knowledge with you all.

I don't recall Hearts having a single shot on target during the first half, but the home side had plenty.
At half time I sent a text message to my mate who we'd left behind in Edinburgh to attend to some 'family' business ...

'Nil each here, but Saints have been the far better side, good job they don't have anyone who could put a finishing touch to all their chances.'

Filipe Morais ball tampering

Straight from the restart, Hearts very nearly opened the scoring, when Gary Glen smashed a close range shot over the bar. A statement of intent that the Jambos were going to get a grip and stop buggering about maybe?
Err, not quite.

Five minutes later, Kenny Deuchar steered home Danny Grainger's left wing cross inside the six yard box and St. Johnstone were in front. Deservedly it must be said.

"Sack in the morning" and "Jim Jefferies, you're having a laugh" sang the bouyant St. Johnstone fans.
Just as well Vladimir Romanov wasn't present to hear them, given his leanings towards making unorthodox and spur of the moment decisions.

I bet he can't jump over all five photographers at once

Andy Driver, out on the left wing and back from injury was introduced into the fray at half time and gave Hearts a few extra options, but elsewhere on the pitch some of the passing and apparent lack of effort and urgency was, to be frank, woeful!

Christian Nade almost levelled the score when he flashed an header high and wide of the target, but it was always St. Johnstone who looked more likely to add to the scoreline.

Nade flashing the ball high and wide

Gordon Smith had replaced Gary Glen up front on 65 minutes and right at the very death, into injury time actually, he had two gilt edged chances to snatch a point for the visitors.

The first was agonisingly wide, the latter was cleared off the line by Gary Irvine.
The report I heard on the radio after the match, on the Danderhall Hearts bus back over the Forth Bridge to Midlothian, confirmed that Smith's late effort was the only chance Hearts managed to get on target all afternoon.
I guess the Hearts revival and Jim Jefferies feel good factor will just have to stay on hold a while longer then.

... and Smith must score!

The 'Weekender' edition of the Edinburgh Evening News I read when I got back into Bonnyrigg ran the headline 'New boss pledges to land goalscorer straight away.' Fingers crossed then, eh!?

My very apt pick up point for the bus.
Outside a maroon and white funeral directors.

In conclusion:

St. Johnstone deserved their victory. And Hearts got what they deserved too, nothing.
The visitors did apply themselves for the last quarter of an hour or so, but football is a ninety minute game.
It would be wrong and unfair to judge Jim Jefferies on this performance, he was driving blind today, but will now hopefully be in a position to address all the flaws he will have seen first hand out on the park this afternoon, with immediate effect.

Cannon Park, 28th January 2010

Left click for slightly larger image.

Passing by Retford United's Cannon Park ground earlier this morning, on my way home from Leverton, I couldn't help but notice that they had the mechanical digger in, finishing the prep work for a new seating area they're putting in next to the existing one.
The stand to the left of the above picture, originally lived on the wood yard side of Sandy Lane when Worksop Town played there (see picture below).
The former 'Tigers' owner H*w*rd R*ym*nd sold it to the former RUFC owner Dean Vivian heralding a proposed redevelopment of WTFC's (then) home. Of course there has been much water under the bridge since then and no such redevelopment ever took place ... the rest is history.
Bill Wyles, Retford United's chairman is a really nice guy. I hope for his sake and that of the many other good friends I have who support 'The Badgers', that they get the work done in time before the UniBond League ground grading assessors turn up in March.

Long Eaton United v Worksop Town - Friendly Match

Tuesday 26th January 2010. Friendly Match.
At Grange Park, Station Road, Long Eaton

Long Eaton United (0) 0
Worksop Town (1) 3 (Davies, Bacon, Townsend)

Admission Free, Programme 50p

'Friendly Match' ... it does what it says on the tin.
A useful run around for both teams which served it's purpose, i.e. to give the players a work out towards regaining their sharpness after an enforced winter break.

Kevin Davies scored for the Tigers early on, putting the ball home from close range near the left hand post.
The Blues however, gave a good account of themselves for the remainder of the first half and created a few half decent chances themselves.
After the break both sides made quite a few changes to give everybody a chance to get a piece of the 'live action', just like a pre season friendly ... but well, actually a pre 'right let's get this season going again' friendly.
There was a yellow letter M above the numbers on the home team's kit. I'm assuming McDonald's sponsor the back of Long Eaton United's shirts, I'd be very surprised if all of their players were called M.
I wonder if Kingstonian FC ever thought of approaching Kentucky Fried Chicken about some mutually rewarding public exposure?

Half Time. A study of serious concentration as this young mod reads his programme.

Danny Bacon increased the Tigers lead on 73 minutes (a rough guestimation time wise) when he surged through from midfield and lobbed the ball over the advancing LEU goalkeeper.
Gary Townsend completed the scoring with a cheeky back-heel inside the six yard box in the final five minutes and the victory was Worksop's ... not that the score mattered all that much, tonight was mainly an opportunity for both sides to get some match practice in.
None the less, it was a pleasant enough distraction after the M.C. Dexter horror show that I saw a couple of days ago.
It's a decent set up they've got at Grange Park and there's plenty of room to expand too should the need ever arise.

A bewildered and apparently lost old gentleman walking across the end of the pitch.
I do hope he found his way home, they've forecasted a really cold night in Derbyshire.

The Long Eaton 'massive', diligently defending their home turf.

I've always been a big fan of the film 101 Dalmatians, so I was delighted to see
Horace & Jasper had taken the night off from kidnapping puppies to watch the match

Worksop Town v Guiseley - UniBond League Premier Division

Beware! Crap referee 100 yards ahead.

In the build up to this game news was circulating that Jason Clark, a managing director of B2Net, the company Chesterfield's new ground is being named after, is lining up to take over the Tigers as the clubs new owner in the near future,.
I would like to place on record my personal thanks to the outgoing club owner John Hepworth and his wife Janice for doing so much to keep Worksop Town FC in business (along with others, you know who you are) through a very unstable and traumatic time for the club.
Good luck and welcome Jason.
Many thanks and best wishes for the future Janice and John.
Don't be strangers xx

Standing on the outside looking in ...

Saturday 23rd January 2010 - UniBond League Premier Division
At the New Manor Ground, Ilkeston

Worksop Town (1) 1 (Townsend 39)
Guiseley (1) 3 (Muller 21, Needham 50, Burton 55)

Admission by Season Ticket. Programme £2. Attendance 184

Left click on photographs for super-sized versions
Do you remember that black and white Norman Wisdom film, where he found his dad's old police uniform tucked away in a trunk and took to the streets dressed up in it, impersonating an officer of the law ... blowing his whistle 'with hilarious consequences?'
Well today, in a parallel universe, in Derbyshire, a man called M.C. Dexter, acted out a similar drama, give or take a few exceptions:
1) He wore a referee's kit instead of an oversized police uniform.
2) He didn't blow his whistle when he bloody well should have done at least twice.
3) The consequences weren't very funny at all ... unless of course you've got used to laughing at the absurdity of it all in the face of adversity.
In the original version of 'On The Beat' Pitkin, played by Wisdom, actually refereed a game of football some schoolboys were playing in the street.

Alas, today M.C. Dexter was officiating at a game played by grown ups where league positions and livelihoods were at stake.

Good tackle!
A passing Midland Mainline Express train, with some footballers in the foreground.

Worksop had not played for six weeks prior to today's game, Guiseley arrived full of confidence on the back of an excellent result in the FA Trophy at Blyth Spartans last week and are just behind the front runners at the top of the table with plenty of games in hand, so it was fairly obvious which team would be fastest out of the blocks.
It would be a test to see if the Tigers, barely out of winter hibernation, would be able to contain the Lions from Harry Ramsden land in the early exchanges, until they started to find their feet again.
It was inevitable then, that the visitors attacked from the off.
Patrick Lauber, on the left wing, looked a real hand full and both he and Liam Needham came close to breaking the deadlock early on, before ....
It was even more inevitable, that the 'ex factor' would rear it's head again too.
When Steve Burton hit a left wing free kick into the area, former Tigers player Adam Muller headed it back across the goal and it nestled just inside the post.
It looked to be going wide from up in the posh seats ... but it bloomin' well wasn't!
Adam Burley, the Tigers left back almost repeated Muller's trick a few minutes later from exactly the same spot, but fortunately his (own) goal bound header crept just wide of the post.
From the resulting corner, the ball found it's way out to Muller again and Kennedy did very well to stop his well struck shot.
When did Muller learn to head the ball so precisely and shoot like that?
He's come on a lot since he was a raw young player at Worksop.
The Tigers were competing well and will obviously get sharper with a few more games under their belts after the enforced mid season break, but they would have been glad of the half time breather that was drawing close as Gary Townsend actually pulled the game level, heading home Lowe's free kick on 39 minutes, just 'ever so slightly' against the run of play.
Half time 1-1 and the visitors must've wished that they had taken at least another of the clear cut chances they had created.
They had certainly had the 'lion's share'.

Mr Dexter was having an awful game, missing fouls from both sides and generally not keeping on top of the game very well at all, but we consoled ourselves with the hope that at least he couldn't possibly get any worse in the second half.
He could though!
The Lions fans who had been behind the goal in the first half definitely let him know their feelings when he left the pitch at half time.

At corners, always obstruct the keeper to give your forwards a better chance of getting to
the ball first. Alas I've looked through all of my photos from the game and couldn't find any
of a single Tigers player committing a foul. I must've been looking away and missed them ;-)

The second half.
Hmm ... where to begin?
From the outset, neither team were being especially shy about 'challenging firmly' for the ball, but the referee wasn't simply turning a blind eye to a bit of the physical stuff and letting the game flow, he was just missing everything and anything that was happening around him.
On 51 minutes, Worksop's Danny Bacon was flattened in the centre circle as he chased the ball up field, it was as blatant a free kick as you'll ever see, but while the Tigers players protested, Dexter waved it away and Guiseley broke forwards.
Walshaw did well to get a cross in from the left and Needham got on the end of it to score following a bit of a scramble in the box.
At this point let me say, though Guiseley had benefited from the incident, they hadn't cheated, the referee had waved play on and you have to abide to his whistle and his instruction.
He'd got numerous decisions wrong both ways by now, the only difference being this one had led to the build up for a goal.
It wasn't anybody from Guiseley's fault that Mr M.C. Dexter was having an appalling game.

However, five minutes later Steve Hawes, making his debut (again) for the Tigers after rejoining them in time for today's game, was fouled and went down hurt.
The ref didn't stop the game, but most of the players from both teams stopped anyway ... and players from both teams called out to Worksop's Rob Austin to put the ball out of play so Hawes could receive treatment.
But for whatever reason, naivety probably, he didn't.
Both teams had stopped and were stood still by now and Austin just poked the ball away gently towards his own box and joined the other players hanging around waiting for the physio to be waved on.
With all the other players on the pitch stood around, except for Hawes obviously, Guiseley's Steve Burton suddenly ran off with the ball and crashed it into the goal past John Kennedy.
None of Burton's team mates celebrated, but he did ... and chaos ensued.
At this point, we were stood near the technical area benches and Guiseley's James Cotterill ran over to his manager and appeared to ask if they were going to let Worksop walk one in, which would have been within the spirit of the game, if not mandatory under the rules and regulations, after such an unsporting act.
Obviously they weren't.
As Dexter hadn't actually blown the whistle there was nothing he could do to intervene and technically speaking no rules of the game had actually been infringed.
But it sure as hell wasn't very sporting.
The truth of the mater is, you have to play to the whistle ... and to that end there was something the referee could have done, keep up with the game and blow his a bit more often.
There was something that Rob Austin could have done too, or any other player on the pitch for that matter, but nobody put the ball out of play.
As I've said, players from both teams stopped when Hawes went down, but that in itself doesn't mean the physio can come onto the pitch.
Guiseley were good enough to have won the game without Burton's unsporting behaviour and have a few quality players in their ranks - it was unnecessary and added an unsavoury twist to a game that Dexter had already ruined as a spectacle.
The third goal effectively killed the Tigers off, which just rubbed salt into their wounds.
Guiseley had several opportunities to really put the game out of reach but didn't add to their total ... and Andy White, on as a late sub, almost got one back for Worksop, but it wasn't to be.

Any moment now this tranquil scene will erupt into chaos.

Coming next ...

Long Eaton United v Worksop Town
Friendly Match, Tuesday 26th January

Gainsborough Trinity v Stafford Rangers. Blue Square North

Saturday 16th January 2010. Blue Square North
At the Northolme, Gainsborough

Gainsborough Trinity (0) 1 (Beckett 90 pen)
Stafford Rangers (1) 3 (Reid 41, Alexander 70,72)

Admission £10, Programme £2, Attendance 334
Besides the FA Trophy tie with North Ferriby United, every other time I've seen Trinity play this season I could've used a ready made template for a match report that went something along the lines of:
Trinity dominated the early stages and should've taken advantage of the many chances they created because as the game went on they faded away and the opposition were let off the hook ... Ultimately the Blues lost because they didn't take control when they really ought to have done and they will be regretting all of those missed opportunities now.
Against Stafford the only slight alteration I would've needed to make to that overview of the game would be to replace 'early stages' with 'first 40 minutes'.
I'm not sure if Brian Little is the victim of a Gypsy Curse or if there is some invisible force field around whichever goal Trinity attack for the first half of games, but I'm sure even Stafford Rangers couldn't quite believe they went in a goal in front at the interval.

"A green leaf salad and blueberry flavoured low fat yoghurt please"

The visitors went ahead when Trinity captain Nathan Peat decided to head the ball away when he should've left it for his keeper Phil Barnes to deal with.
The headed 'clearance' found Stafford's number 11 Levi Reid who coolly and gratefully tucked the ball away.
At the other end, the Rangers penalty area had (until then) resembled an all hands to the pumps panic zone.

After the break, the Gainsborough players, for the most part, vanished into their shells ... a few heads dropped and for a while they seemed to have adopted the mindset that this just wasn't going to be their day and they were already as good as beat.
This was against a very ordinary Stafford team who up until that point had offered very little in the way of attacking ideas or goalscoring options.
The visitors sensed the defeatist mood prevalent in Trinity's camp and seemed to find a spring in their step now as a consequence.
The revised approach, as Trinity surrended the initiative to Stafford, led to another two goals as they turned the screw, both in the space of two minutes, both from Levi Reid, although the first did take a bit of a deflection on the way in.

As a complete neutral I find Gainsborough Trinity's play frustrating to watch this season, so lord knows how their supporters must feel when they see them chucking the towel in like this.
If their possession in the early stages of games doesn't amount to goals, their application and concentration levels drop right off ... they then seem to resign themselves to yet another defeat in a game they should already have wrapped up.
I'll stick my neck out and say, on the strength of what I've seen this season, GTFC are carrying too many passengers out on the pitch who aren't up to the mark and at times don't even seem interested.
This needs addressing as a matter of urgency if the club don't want to slide into the UniBond League next season.
I'm not going to name names. But there was a former Worksop Town player at the Northolme today, who seemed to know loads more about the present goings on behind the scenes at WTFC than any mere rank and file Tigers supporter might be privy to.
After checking out his rather startling revelations, it transpired that there is a great deal of substance to what he was saying too.
The truth is out there somewhere.
Me, I'm just a football supporter and my new year's resolution was to distance myself as far as possible from politics and other peoples business. And I'm sticking to that!
Besides, some things are best out in the open, others need to be handled a bit more sensitively.

Respect is due to the Gainsborough supporters who put in so much effort to clear snow from the pitch to get today's game on, it's just a shame certain players didn't feel the inclination to put half as much effort in and reward those fans with a whole 90 minutes today.
Oh yeah, I nearly forgot, Luke Beckett scored an injury time consolation goal from the penalty spot, but the outcome of the game was academic by then and despite Trinity showing a bit of urgency in their game once they were three goals behind, this game had been over as a contest for quite a while by then.

"A Little bit frustrating"

This was my first game of 2010, so err ... HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Two weeks ago a problem on the M180 meant I didn't quite get to Scunthorpe United's 3rd Round FA Cup game v. Barnsley, but I did get some nice shiny new parts for my car, at a price.
Last Saturday afternoon, the very nice man delivering my new tumble drier (guaranteed delivery by 11AM apparently) got stuck in the snow and by the time he arrived it was too late for me to reach Elland Road to watch Leeds United play, or the Ricoh Stadium for the Coventry City v Barnsley game.
Maybe I'm jinxed and destined never to see Barnsley in action ever again ... probably not such a bad thing, eh!?
These things are sent to try us, but my wheels are back in motion now, thankfully.
Game 66 for THE66POW was a long time coming