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Saints and sinners - weekend match going 1st Feb

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    #51
    Originally posted by cantagalo View Post
    I can't remember ever having done it before but, thanks to TV rescheduling, I should be able to make two matches on the same day.

    Hull v Brentford is the lunchtime kick-off and then it's Notts v Chesterfield at 5:20.
    Did you make it to both?

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      #52
      Originally posted by HORN View Post
      Newport play well.

      But they lose to a 5th minute goal (scored by an ex - Newport loanee).
      That was a good win for us. We rode our luck and how Newport didn't score just before half time will forever remain a mystery. The sending off was fair and, apart from the resultant free kick smacking the bar, it energised us because up to then all I could see was a coming equaliser.

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        #53
        Grange Albion 1 v 1 Merthyr Saints

        Early goal for Albion. Lots of missed chances. Very late penalty for the Saints to rob a point. Lovely and sunny but very windy. I traded a single finger Twix for a caramel Freddo.

        This evening I went to Swansea and played 12 holes of obstacle golf. Mrs Thistle won. I was second. Our friends trailed behind.

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          #54
          Originally posted by TonTon View Post

          Did you make it to both?
          Yes, I did!

          Hull City 1 Brentford 5

          One thing about Brentford is that after a disappointing defeat they always bounce back. A comprehensive win but frankly we barely had to get out of third gear to beat a desperately poor Hull side who had just sold their two best players. It could have been eight or nine but Brentford were their usual profligate selves but it was wonderful to see Said Benrahma get his second hat-trick for Brentford after losing his father last week. His previous one was last season, also against Hull.

          Notts County 3 Chesterfield 0

          A drive down the M62, M18 and M1 and I was back in Nottingham just in time for the 5:20 kick off. In the end a comfortable win for Notts but it could have been different if the Spireites had converted an early penalty. I fear for Chesterfield; it would be unthinkable to see them fall into the National League North but they had the look of a potential relegation candidate here. By the end about a thousand of their 1400 following were already on their way home.

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            #55
            That’s a good effort cantagalo.

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              #56
              Indeed.

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                #57
                Originally posted by RobW View Post
                Off to Southend for first time since god knows when. Not watched Lincoln since our defeat against Sunderland and don't have high hopes of improving our away form, despite Southend's struggles. Gonna get their early and walk down the pier. If we lose, I might go back there and throw myself off.
                Didn't throw myself off the pier, nor could I walk if in the morning as it was 'too windy', so had to take the train. That was the highlight of my day. Absolutely appalling performance from Lincoln again. They did at least make a bright start, Jorge Grant forced a save from a free kick and but for poor decision making in the final third, we might have got an early breakthrough. Southend duly came back into the game as the half wore on, without really threatening. The second half was worse and the home side took the lead with a rebound off the bar and City's defence static. Lincoln only really started playing in the last 10 minutes, and with about his second or third touch since coming on at HT, Harry Anderson scored with a header. There was 7 minutes of stoppage time however, and Lincoln contrived to concede from another corner with a minute or two left. Cue delirious scenes at Root Hall, and anger in the away end.
                Couple of brave/pissed up twats dared to suggest to Jason Shackell that he wasn't making an effort and should be ashamed to wear the captain's armband. Shack came over, put his hand on one of their shoulders and told them straight to never question his commitment. Already seen some twats online describe him 'as scum' for dare answering back to criticism.
                I don't doubt his effort, but he and half a dozen players at least were very poor. Still not sure what Michael Appleton's game plan is, besides pass the ball out of defence really slowly and allow side to press. Portsmouth did it very well on Tuesday and Southend did it yesterday. Tayo Edun started well and looks like he has something about him, but he and too many other players were caught in possession in dangerous areas. Need the experience of Liam Bridcutt I think in the middle as soon as possible, and of course another striker.

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                  #58
                  Originally posted by cantagalo View Post
                  I fear for Chesterfield; it would be unthinkable to see them fall into the National League North
                  I can assure you from bitter experience, finding yourself falling into that league as a (comparatively) big(gish) club is all too real a scenario. Speaking of which...

                  York 4 Chester 2, an absolute ripper and if that turns out to be my final visit to the old place I'll be more than happy. Not really sure how it ended up being a 2-goal game mind you – Chester were pretty dreadful, and it was nothing like the cagey/slightly fortunate 1-0 win over at their place in the autumn.

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                    #59
                    Parkrun at Erddig on the outskirts of Wrexham, then a bit of walking around an ancient hill fort near Churchstoke. I then was planning to go to watch football in Churchstok itself, but I needed to find something to eat and the village has no shops. I headed for nearby Montgomery and found that their team were at home, so decided to stay here for the afternoon.

                    Montgomery's ground has a stand which has a tea bar built into it. From the ground you can see into Montgomery itself, with the church and castle ruins prominent. It appears that someone uses the ground as a space to do wood carving, as there were seats, owls and snakes at various stages of completion.

                    Montgomery hosted Builth Wells in the Central Wales Cup. Both sides are in the top tier of the Mid-Wales League, with Builth having the better season to date. It was the visitors who got the only goal of a first half that didn't see many chances. The second half was another matter as Montgomery roared back and took the lead. It didn't last too long as Builth Wells quickly equalised and then got the winning goal with a few minutes left. For some reason Montgomery's emblem shows a cartoon duck.

                    Short journey to Newtown where Connah's Quay met second tier STM Sports in the Welsh Premier League Cup final. Cardiff-based STM have made a rapid rise in the last decade and looked dangerous in the first ten minutes. However Connah's Quay soon showed their superiority and it was surprising that they only won by three goals in the end. The STM keeper pulled off a number of excellent saves.

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                      #60
                      Originally posted by Patrick Thistle View Post
                      Grange Albion 1 v 1 Merthyr Saints

                      Early goal for Albion. Lots of missed chances. Very late penalty for the Saints to rob a point. Lovely and sunny but very windy. I traded a single finger Twix for a caramel Freddo.
                      Forgot to mention this game was the first time I've ever seen a drop ball have to be retaken because no one knew what was going on.

                      Comment


                        #61
                        Bolton 2-0 Tranmere

                        Our first home victory by 2 goals in over 2 years. Set on our way by a wonder strike from Dennis Politic in the 2nd minute, the rest of the half was fairly even. Both sides trying to play good football but neither having a cutting edge. Tranmere perhaps waiting on Vaughan to get up to speed.

                        We were much the better side in the 2nd half but couldn't make our dominance count. Tranmere were no longer stringing passes together and looking like a bottom 3 side but it was still a relief when O'Grady got our 2nd to make it safe.

                        We'll be meeting again in Division 4 next season. Hopefully with both sides nearer the top of the division this time.

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                          #62
                          Originally posted by Southport Zeb View Post
                          Parkrun at Erddig on the outskirts of Wrexham, then a bit of walking around an ancient hill fort near Churchstoke. I then was planning to go to watch football in Churchstok itself, but I needed to find something to eat and the village has no shops. I headed for nearby Montgomery and found that their team were at home, so decided to stay here for the afternoon.

                          Montgomery's ground has a stand which has a tea bar built into it. From the ground you can see into Montgomery itself, with the church and castle ruins prominent. It appears that someone uses the ground as a space to do wood carving, as there were seats, owls and snakes at various stages of completion.

                          Montgomery hosted Builth Wells in the Central Wales Cup. Both sides are in the top tier of the Mid-Wales League, with Builth having the better season to date. It was the visitors who got the only goal of a first half that didn't see many chances. The second half was another matter as Montgomery roared back and took the lead. It didn't last too long as Builth Wells quickly equalised and then got the winning goal with a few minutes left. For some reason Montgomery's emblem shows a cartoon duck.

                          Short journey to Newtown where Connah's Quay met second tier STM Sports in the Welsh Premier League Cup final. Cardiff-based STM have made a rapid rise in the last decade and looked dangerous in the first ten minutes. However Connah's Quay soon showed their superiority and it was surprising that they only won by three goals in the end. The STM keeper pulled off a number of excellent saves.
                          Here I am feeling really smug doing two games in a day and I discover Zeb has done two AND a Parkrun!

                          Comment


                            #63
                            Charlton 2-1 Barnsley

                            I had no intention whatsoever of going to this game, but I took my twelve year old and we did the planetarium beforehand to make it worth going.

                            We saw a presentation on the moons in our solar system which was as awe inspiring as everything is in there. My son was a bit disappointed they didn't talk about the moons of Uranus but I didn't care.

                            (It's just too soul destroying talking about our 'defence' at the moment so I'm not going to.)

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                              #64
                              Haringey Borough 1-1 Bowers & Pitsea

                              Did a 'miss a goal at the start of the second half and don't realise what the score is for about another half hour' for about the fourth time this season. Did manage to work out that Powers & Bitsea (Basildon, basically) were ahead in time for Anthony McDonald's brilliant solo equaliser, wriggling through from way out on the left to squeeze home from an impossible angle. Antwerp Arms before the game was rammed for what seemed to be a wake, but a pleasant walk through Tottenham cemetery to the ground.

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                                #65
                                When I planned the trip I decided to stay in Erfurt, partly because I got a decent rate in a hotel and partly because I’d been wanting to see Rot-Weiß Erfurt for some time. That said, the fixture dates hadn’t been released at the time so that bit was a gamble. More later.

                                Hallescher FC 3-4 FC Viktoria Köln

                                A strange game, this. Halle were at it from the off and dominated the first three minutes. Then Viktoria hit them on the break to take the lead. The game continued with practically all the action in the Köln half and somehow it remained 0-1 until half-time. Then the second half started almost identically to the first – 0-2 to Köln. More of the same from Halle but somehow you couldn’t see them scoring. Then a goalkeeping error and a goalmouth scramble brought the scores level and a Halle victory seemed like the only outcome. Except that Viktoria had another attack left in them which ended with a 40-metre lob into the net after the ‘keeper had come out to clear. A shot from outside the box made it four goals from, maybe, five attacks all game. Halle added a third in injury time but there wasn’t time to restart.

                                Programme. German programmes are interesting in that you are never sure what, if anything, you are going to get. It seemed like nothing here. I passed two stands offering stuff to buy but with no programme in sight. Then I spotted someone going in with what looked like a programme so went to the next stall where there were four programmes at 1.50 euros. A5, glossy, mostly adverts and with all the editorial material in block capitals. I saw one other. Perhaps there were more in the seats.

                                RB Leipzig 2-2 Borussia Mönchengladbach

                                Yeah, OK. It was the stadium I really wanted to see and I’d convinced myself that RB Leipzig weren’t all bad. But I was unprepared for my own reaction. The crowds were there in their thousands, all done up in their RB merchandise, and I just wanted to scream, “where were you ten years ago?” Especially as Leipzig has two ‘proper’ clubs who have really struggled over the years. In fact Lokomotive were at home that afternoon and I’d thought about going, but a combination of bad weather, poor planning on my part and the fact that I’d been before meant I’d opted for some beer instead. By now I wished I’d gone. I know we’ve all seen clubs suddenly attracting large crowds when the money comes along, or they get a new ground, or they become more successful, but at least some of those new supporters can say that they’d always been fans but just didn't go. RB Leipzig’s can’t. In fact the ones around me seemed a decent bunch but they’ve really bought into all this. So I was pleased when Gladbach took a two goal lead and less pleased when RB, with the benefit of an extra man, levelled it.

                                Programme. An A6-size free fold-out leaflet which seems to be becoming a popular format these days. I don’t have a problem with that, especially as it helps with storage space, but a list of both squads, with numbers shouldn’t really be much of a chore, especially when you fold it out and one side is given over entirely to a picture of two players each with a rampaging red bull.

                                Hertha BSC II 1-2 VfB Auerbach 1906

                                I’d hoped to be seeing Rot-Weiß Erfurt on the Sunday but when dates were announced they were allocated to Saturday. When I got back to the hotel on Saturday I checked to see what I’d missed (I don’t use a smartphone) and found the game hadn’t taken place. The club had gone out of business the day before I arrived, which is really sad.

                                There was not much left that was doable on Sunday so I went to Berlin to see a Regionalliga Nordost game. Hertha reserves play In a tidy little ground next to the Olympiastadion. Does the first team come out to Black Sabbath? Well, the reserves certainly do. I don’t really care too much for Hertha but this sends them up a notch in my estimation. It’s certainly the first time I’ve seen a team come out to Black Sabbath, though Duncan Gardner will probably say that most of the teams in the West Midlands Combination do. Anyway, the game. Not bad but looking like a 0-0 until Hertha scored with a shot from outside the box on 68 minutes. Then the scores were levelled when an Auerbach striker had three attempts. The ‘keeper saved the first two but the third went into the net. A couple of minutes later Auerbach sealed it with a shot from outside the box.

                                Programme. There wasn’t one but they were happy to let me have a team sheet when I asked.
                                Last edited by Capybara; 04-02-2020, 18:30.

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