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So the dust has just about settled after the
disappointment of the Gateshead defeat but we were
unable to get it completely out of our systems due
to the Leek pitch allegedly being unplayable on
Saturday. That has just added to the frustration but
a win today and things will seem bright again.
Gateshead were the best team on the night without
doubt but there were some rumblings on the terraces
regarding certain guys playing out of their best
positions. I hope that we can see a more settled
team for the rest of the season as the new faces and
all the chopping and changing is bound to be
disruptive, at least in the short term. However if
the tinkering has been done just right and with some
sort of plan, and I am sure that is the case, then
we should be able to see it coming to fruition
pretty soon. Andy Moran looked sharp considering it
was his debut but Nicky Ellis wasn't at his best on
the night. It was very bad news to see Andy Bell
hamstrung again. We rely on his excellence so much
don’t we?
Enough of that for now anyway as we welcome the
Blues all the way from sunny Whitby this afternoon.
Last season 628 fans saw us win 3-1 at Highbury with
goals from Denney, Bell and Fitzgerald. Three days
earlier the long trek eastwards had gained us a 0-0
draw at the Turnbull Ground although we almost
snatched it at the death with Denney going oh so
close in front of a much smaller crowd of 248!
Talking of attendances Whitby recently recorded
their lowest attendance for a senior game in seven
years. Just 118 saw Frickley knock them out of the
league cup which is a reflection of their mediocre
league position. They briefly hit seventh spot early
in the season but since then they have been rolling
around below mid table and they are now toying with
the relegation area. They suffered the same fate as
us last week with their game at Ilkeston being
called off although they were supposed to play
Middlesbrough in a Mickey Mouse cup semi final on
Tuesday night but, once again, the weather had the
last word and it was called off.
Apart from the last game we seem to have met a
stream of teams recently in a similar position to
Whitby and we have really struggled to show our
apparent (according to the league table) superiority
and stamp our authority on the game from the outset.
I really hope that we can do just that today to
restore some much needed confidence with away games
at Worksop and Gateshead waiting in the wings. I can
think of nineteen teams who would dearly love to be
in our boots at this stage of the season. With
seventeen games left to play we only need to win
seven of them to be sure of a play off place but I
am sure we will be aiming much higher than that. I
am ashamed to say it but the Gateshead away game
will not see me in attendance. Mind you, apart from
my death, it will be the last game that I will miss
this season but I have to keep Mrs Cobb’s Corner
happy sometimes don’t I? It is only a coincidence
that I am missing this one (not just fear ) although
that is one stadium that does not appeal with the
running track keeping you miles from the action. I
just hope that I will be receiving happy text
messages on the day from my buddies!
We have witnessed124 senior goals so far this
season, 78 for us and 46. Our last clean sheet was
seven games ago at Hednesford so we could do with an
improvement in that department straight away please!
A repeat of that great performance at Keys Park just
before Christmas would be very welcome indeed this
afternoon.
With Leek being off I decided to watch the
'Reserves' play a friendly against Castleton
Gabriels instead of another Saturday being
hypnotised by the vidiprinter. It was freezing and
about twenty fans shivered watching a few first
teamers plus some youngsters draw 0-0. We gave the
away keeper the usual stick which seemed to surprise
him but he only lasted until half time when he was
injured saving from Phil Denney. Mike Hale filled in
for him in the second half but he didn’t cheat
despite our best efforts to persuade him. In fact he
seemed to be on their side which was a bit
disconcerting, he was even encouraging them! The
value of a reserve side was proven on Monday night
when Tony was able to put the full first team squad
in against Barrow Reserves. After Saturday’s
postponement the team really needed a competitive
game before today and the 4-1 win gave them a very
useful run out.
Witton stretched their lead at the top to a massive
thirteen points by beating Matlock on Tuesday night
but we will just have to keep plodding on and hoping
for a miracle! That Warlow guy must be worth a few
quid by now with two more goals bringing his tally
to 22 already. We must ensure that we hold on to our
play off position whatever our rivals fortunes may
be. Stay there, win the last two games and bingo we
are promoted. Sounds easy when you say it quickly
doesn’t it?
So after the 34 first team games played my expenses
have reached £707.81. That equates to £20.82 per
game, but that will reduce as it includes my season
ticket, £9.07 per goal and £13.61 per point. With
stay-overs yet to come at Whitby and Lincoln as
well the £1000 will be broken well before the end of
the season. What excellent value I hear you all say!
Our next stop will be in Nottinghamshire with a Cod
Army visit to Worksop. I am looking forward to that
one as it will be a new ground for me although we
almost got sucked into a Tuesday night Trophy replay
last October before Richie Allen scored a late
winner. Our last visit to the Tigers was 30th March
1996 and we went down 4-1. We also lost the home
fixture by the same score. Washington and Haslam
netted for Fleetwood.
I’ll see you there!
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Another hard earned victory, courtesy of a first half Kieran Walmsley
header, saw Fleetwood pick up another vital three points at the expense
of visitors Whitby Town. The result was marred however by a serious
shoulder injury to influential skipper, Ricky Mercer. Following the
defeat to Gateshead and a weather enforced break of ten days
which enabled the walking wounded time to recover, manager Tony
Greenwood made three changes. Out went Nicky Ellis, Kyle Wilson and,
surprisingly, Nathan Pond, with Phil Robinson, Warren Beattie and Jerome
Watt all earning recalls. Shaun Beeley was fit enough to take his place
on the substitutes bench alongside Phil Denney and Pond but there was no
place in the squad for Martin Moran.
A dour first half was brightened only by the winning goal; Walmsley
nodding in a precise header after Andy Bell had picked him out with a
fine far post cross from the left. Bell himself had several
opportunities to extend Fleetwood's lead but either failed to find the
target or saw weak shots easily saved by the Whitby goalkeeper. The
combative Beattie was spoken to after a series of aerial clashes and
Whitby should have been down to ten men moments later after an
outrageously late and pre-meditated challenge by a Whitby forward on
Jerome Fitzgerald left the left back needing prolonged treatment.
Incredibly, an unforgiveably lenient referee failed to even hand out a
booking. With the referee losing control of proceedings the game
featured several flash points and it was a relief to reach the break
with the game still eleven a side.
One man who had illuminated the opening 45 minutes for the right reasons
was winger Jerome Watt; the tricky winger delivering a virtuoso display.
And it was Watt who created the first opening of the second half when
his fine left wing cross flashed across the face of the goal with Bell
closest to getting a decisive touch. Watt also instigated the move which
should have ended with a penalty for the home side; his cross picking
out a Whitby hand at the far post and thwarting Bell's efforts
to connect with a header. Despite the appeals, the referee remained
unmoved. Mercer suffered a heavy fall and it was a worrying sight as the
defender, who has been a model of consistency this campaign, left the
field in obvious pain. Pond came on as Mercer's replacement and Whitby
moved in for the kill, creating a series of chances as Town desperately
tried to re-organise. Goalkeeper Danny Hurst made two fine saves and
there were several close shaves but the home side held on to their
slender lead to close the gap on leaders Witton Albion to just ten
points.
Watt deservedly won the sponsors man of the match award and there were
impressive displays too by Michael Brown and Beattie. |
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Despite a much-improved performance from a new-look
Whitby Town line-up, the Seasiders went down 1-0 at
second-placed Fleetwood on Saturday - their third
successive defeat.
The North Lancashire outfit, trailing league leaders
Witton Albion by 13 points with four games in hand
at kick-off, began purposefully. A succession of
corners inside four minutes culminated in Kieran
Walmsley blazing high and wide from 25 yards.
Seconds later, the same player saw another
speculative effort, this time a chip from a
difficult angle, loop over the Whitby crossbar.
Walmsley remained a thorn in the visitors’ side and
drilled dangerously across the face of goal from the
left flank in the 11th minute as Fleetwood dominated
the early exchanges. As Whitby finally stirred at
the other end, debutant 19-year-old forward Alex
Rhodes scooped the ball over the top from an acute
angle, 12 yards from goal. Earlier, the on-loan York
City youngster had outstripped Jez Fitzgerald down
the Fleetwood left with ease but an impatient low
cross, as the teenager waited for support, was
cleared.
However, half way through the first period, the
hosts led, though Lady Luck played her part in the
opening goal. Ashley Lyth fired an attempted
clearance against another Whitby player, enabling
Andy Bell to regain possession and cross from the
left, for Walmsley to get above Karl Charlton at the
far post and loop a perfect header into the opposite
corner of the net. A horrible Highbury Avenue bobble
on 35 minutes then prevented Bell from threatening,
instead the Fleetwood forward fired high over the
crossbar from 18 yards. Within three minutes, a
right-wing corner somehow found its way past the
near post and into the Whitby six yard box but new
signing Richard Forster cleared off his own
goal-line. The former Blyth Spartans captain, who
was also making his Whitby debut after signing on
Friday, again came to his new club’s rescue, bravely
taking Michael Brown’s fierce angled drive straight
in the abdomen from point blank range.
At the other end, the Blues’ leading scorer Danny
Brunskill fired an optimistic but cleanly struck
25-yard half-volley straight at home keeper Danny
Hurst. But as the red tide continued to press,
Bell’s near-post shot flew just past the side
netting, and the ex-Wycombe Wanderers striker nodded
another chance wide after good work down the left
flank. Finally, in the last minute of the half, Bell
turned provider. After beating Alex Janes to a loose
ball down the right-wing, he centered for Jerome
Watt to head past David Campbell’s right-hand post.
The men from North Yorkshire will have been relieved
to get back to the dressing rooms with just a single
goal separating the teams, but promptly emerged as a
completely different proposition for the second
half. Two minutes after the restart, Brunskill broke
and saw a lively near-post effort blocked. Within
moments, the Blues had a corner, and at the second
attempt, Charlton lofted a pinpoint cross onto
Forster’s head, only for the big centre-half’s
goalbound effort to be charged down by a covering
defender and cleared. Whitby weren’t messing about,
and on 53 minutes, skipper Matty Appleby, coming
into the game for the first time, exchanged passes
with left-back Alex Janes, who continued into the
six-yard box but scuffed his shot wide from close
range. Tom Claisse hooked wide on the hour mark, but
a golden chance for the visitors to level matters
came two minutes later when Hurst dropped a routine
lofted ball under pressure from Brunskill. The big
marksman’s shot on the turn was blocked by a
handily-placed defender. Three minutes later,
Anthony Ormerod tricked his way down the right and
crossed for Charlton at the far post, whose close
range header was brilliantly kept out point blank by
the, now fully redeemed, Hurst. On a rare foray
forward, such was the turn around with Whitby
dominating, Fleetwood won two successive corners and
the home fans behind that goal were stunned after
loud collective handball shouts from both kicks as
the ball twice struck Blues defenders on the goal
line.
Two big turning points then arrived at the other end
with 15 minutes remaining. A ball from the left
struck a home defender in teapot pose, on the elbow,
but more handball appeals were waved away by the
referee. A corner was eventually won as Whitby laid
siege, from which, Janes nodded against the
crossbar, with the loose ball failing to drop for
Brunskill or Appleby nearby. Neither side were
helped by an inconsistent refereeing display, as
Brunskill clashed with the Fleetwood backline,
elbows in the face were not deemed bookable
offences, nor were going in with studs catching
opposition legs. Instead the 23-goal Whitby forward
ended up seeing yellow for an innocuous and
successful stabbed attempt to play the ball, while
home skipper Ricky Mercer had to be replaced on 60
minutes, sustaining a suspected fractured collar
bone after a foul on Campbell, during an aerial
contest. With eight minutes left, a great Warren
Beattie through ball threatened to put an unfair
gloss on the scoreline as Bell raced clear, only for
Campbell to pull off an excellent reaction stop to
tip the shot round a post. Claisse saw an
unconvincing effort deflected wide, but it was the
hosts threatening right at the death as the
Seasiders ran out of steam. However, Campbell again
fended away from Bell at the near post, and
Fitzgerald headed off target from a last gasp
corner.
Despite other results dropping the Blues one place
to 16th, messers Brumwell and Clark can take heart
from an excellent second half display that deserved
much more, and promises much, especially with bottom
side Lincoln United in town this coming weekend. |
Danny
Brunskill
