The Ex Factor
Wednesday 28th October 2009. UniBond League Premier DivisionAt 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 imageHmm, 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 bythat 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!!!
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.
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.
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.
