Gedling Town v Cradley Town

Saturday 17th November 2007 F.A. Vase 2nd round proper


Arrrggggggggghhhhh --- bloody extra time on a freezing cold afternoon. We never flaming learn!!!!

What started out as a quite pleasant November day ended up with us both frozen through, and left Kev wishing he had taken his long-johns out of their summer storage!!

We went down by the Riverside to see if Gedling Town could advance further in the FA Vase. We got there 10 minutes before the KO, and decided to have a pre-match cup of tea....well -- if you know the Riverside "tea room", you will know it ajoins the changing rooms, and while enjoying our cuppa, the visiting Manager could be heard giving his team talk --- this consisted of a few meaningless phrases intermingled with a shedload of effs and blinds. Now I know I swear a lot, but this guy was ridiculous ( mind you, I didn't tell him that - he was well over 6ft and built like a brick out-house)!

Neither team created a deal in the 90 minutes of regulation time .. Alan Jefferies missed a couple of sitters and Nick Kennerdale headed against the bar, but it ended 0-0. The highlight really was the Cradley Manager carrying on his tirade of foul language throughout !!!

3 minutes into the 1st period of extra tie, Ben Cobley and Sam Saunders combined well to trip the Cradley no. 16 - the referee quite rightly awarding a penalty that was despatched with some style.

H-T ET 0-1

2 minutes from the restart, James Whitehead hammered home from 18 yards to level the scores after some slick midfield play. Then just as the players were contemplating a replay on Tuesday, Gedling went and snatched victory. With just one minute left on the clock, a ball to the far post was met by Whitehead, bringing a terrific save from the Cradley keeper - but he could only watch in anguish as Tim Wilks slammed home the loose ball to seal the victory and put another £1000 into the Gedling funds. F-T 2-1

NOW -- and you have to trust me on this ........after the Cradley penalty, I kept telling Kev not to worry - Gedling would win 2-1 ...HONEST !!

Tuesday -- options limited. Not many games at all, so we are looking to visit Carlton Town who take on Goole AFC in UniBond Div One South.