Sevilla v Arsenal

Tuesday 27th November UEFA Champions League

Kev was "on the road" again...nipping next door armed with a bag of Fosters. We sat hoping to see the Gunners, with their smooth, silky football take on and beat Spanish high-flyers Sevilla.
What happened? The Arsenal were poor and got exactly what they deserved. Not good to watch but Sevilla are a strong team, full of International players -- while the team that Mr. Venger sent out was made up of too young kids and ring rusty old uns.... Gilberto and Senderos were awful. It was a Gunners team that looked like they had never played together before, and to be quite honest most of them hadn't! No Clichy, Gallas, Sagna, Flamini, Hleb, Rosicky, Adbayor, Diaby, Walcott.

I am in no position to argue with Vengers team selection, but playing a second string in the Champions League is not on, whether already qualified or not. Arsenal lost 3-1 and it could have been worse if Canute had had his shooting boots on...

Saturday .... looking at Eastwood v Prescot Cables ( this is to be on the UniBond TV site apparently) or South Normanton v Long Eaton...

Shepshed Dynamo v Brigg Town

Saturday 24th November 2007 UniBond League Div One South

Made the short trip down the M1 to the Dovecote on Butthole Lane - home of Shepshed Dynamo. They were taking on Brigg Town -- this was Lee Wilson and Jimmy Albans 1st game in charge since they joined from Gedling Town.

Got to the ground at 2:45pm and straight away bumped into James Whitehead ! Lee has moved quickly to secure the services of their former quality skipper at Gedling. Unfortunately "Topps" was unable to play - something wrong with the paperwork apparently.

After a quick chat it was off to the snack bar -- 2 sausage, chips and peas for me, with Kev settling for pie, chips, peas and gravy. Nice food but the tea and coffee was a bit wishy-washy!!

Brigg were second bottom of the table, with Shepshed 3rd bottom, so we knew this would not be a classic.. indeed it was not -- and it was flipping cold! Mind you, the trees around the ground serve well as windbreaks - this kept the chill bearable.

Shepshed took the lead 10 minutes in - a 25 yard effort from Lee Mellon looked to have been tipped over by Steer in the Brigg goal, but to everyone's surprise the ball crept under the bar.

Mellor added a second on the half-hour - the Brigg left back tried to clear the ball but miskicked comically, leaving Mellon an easy drive to double the score.

H-T 2-0

Chris Parr added the third with about 15 to go - a poor clearance driven home by the substitute from 20 yards out.

F-T 3-0

Brigg were not very good and look likely relegation candidates -- Shepshed? If Lee and Jimmy can attract more players of the calibre of Whitehead, they will soon be climbing the table......

Impressed with :

Robbie Banks on the right wing ( should work well with Topps)....

Lee Mellon : midfield general....

Ade Adelukan : quick as you like up top..

Joe and Sam Carter : defended well.....

No footie on Tuesday - the only game is Borrowash Vics v Blackwell MW in the Derbyshire Senior cup, so it looks like Sevilla v Arsenal on the telly.

Eastwood Town U19's v Matlock Town U19's

Thursday 22nd November 2007 North Mids U19’s Football League Div One

For the past three / four seasons, the Under 19 sides at Eastwood have been graced with a few decent players, and the team was always either first or second in the League, with a Cup thrown in at times for good measure …..the U19’s were necessary because players were needed to progress through the youth team to augment the 1st team squad. A few names that come to mind are Marc Stevenson, Deon Meikle, Lindon Meikle – these players are still at Eastwood. Ian Wheat is at South Normanton, Liam Garner and Jason Bedward are at Arnold – Ben Hutchinson is at Middlesborough, Junior Daniel is at Crewe. Now it seems that the Under 19’s can no longer attract players of that calibre.

This season P8 W0 D1 L7 F4 A23 Pts 1

It also seems that this path to the first team is no longer needed – any players that are needed can be brought in thanks to an injection of cash from the new Chairman. The end of an era looming? Time will tell.

Visited Coronation Park to see the Badgers youngsters take on Matlock. Watching this was hard work, let me tell you. Matlock had a couple of half chances well saved by the Eastwood keeper, but the visiting keeper was untroubled for the majority of the first half and neither team looked capable of scoring. H-T 0-0

Maltock did go ahead 6 minutes into the second half – a long shot rebounded off the post straight to a Matlock player who tapped in from close range. Eastwood tried hard for the next half-hour or so, but were killed off with 5 minutes to go, a shot from an acute angle beating the unlucky Eastwood stopper.
F-T 0-2

Anyway – Saturday – still undecided on Shepshed or Teversal ..

England woe

Wednesday 21st November 2007

No, we didn't go to Wembley, but Kev was "on the road" - nipping next door to wach the game at my house.

What can one add to what has already been said?

Well, firstly -- TACTICS -- whoops -- the 4-3-3 was not 4-3-3 it was 4-5-1 and that is not a formation that a home team should adopt . EVER!

OK - some damage was repaired in the second half, but why, oh why, when we had it back to 2-2 did the Coach tell his players to drop back? This just invited Croatia forward and ultimately cost the Coach and his Assistant their jobs... ( I have just seen the press FA press conference on Sky Sports News ). I am preparing my CV to send to the FA. Me and Kev will sort it out .. no problem.... !!!!

After the game we switched to Sky Sports News -- Alan Mullery was also decrying the "drop back" call, but had no idea who the little man was that was with McClaren issuing this order. Anyone know?

Secondly -- PLAYERS - unlucky with injuries but the players selected were not up to the job.

One by one

Carson -- too young -- James may have been a bit dodgy, but he is experienced.

Richards - too young -- ran out of puff after an hour! Good player, but failed to deliver.

Campbell -- too old, experienced but now not good enough.

Lescott -- who told this guy he was England standard, goodness knows!

Bridge -- had a mare -- usually reliable.

Wright-Phillips -- too lightweight -- knocked off the ball too easily.

Barry -- had a 'mare.

Gerrard -- had a 'mare.

Lampard -- for once and for all someone tell the England boss that Gerrard and Lampard cannot play together.

Cole -- tried his best, but ineffective really.

Crouch -- top player -- both myself and Kev rate this striker so highly -- Liverpool don't even play him!

Beckham -- oldie, but goodie - only McCLaren knows why he didn't start the Croatia game.

Defoe -- England class? -- not a big fan of Defoe.

Bent -- is this bloke a striker? Is he England class?

Thirdly - the stadium. No idea of the final cost - but no roof? Fans wearing plastic bags to try and stay dry after paying an arm and a leg for a ticket? A pitch that is crap! We watch Unibond and NCEL games played on much better pitches. Tear it down, sell the land ( must be worth billions! ) -- get either the builders of the Emirates Stadium or the guys who built the Millenium Stadium to erect a new National Stadium somewhere in Birmingham.

Rant over

Carlton Town v Goole AFC

Tuesday 20th November 2007 UniBond League Div One South

Before leaving for the ground, I checked on the UniBond website to see if the game was still on - saw a news headline " Wilson takes over at Shepshed".
A bit of a stunner really, Lee Wilson and Jimmy Albans have put together a great team at Gedling Town, but the chance to manage at step 4 rather than step 6 was one that the duo could not turn down.
Arrived at the Bill Stokeld Stadium and straight away bumped into Lee and Jimmy ( Shepshed v Stocksbridge had fallen foul of the weather). Lee said straight away that he had enjoyed his time at Gedling, but pointed out that he has left the Riverside club with a great squad and wished them all the best for the future.

Our first visit to Carlton since pre-season -- have to say that the pitch is superb - no evidence that this game was ever in danger of being called off.

After some early sparring, Goole took the lead on 23, Rose tapping home - a poor clearance from the Carlton keeper setting up the chance. Smith levelled inthe 38th minute, rounding the Goole stopper superbly before slotting home.

H-T 1-1

Great chip cob at half time -- very nice!

Carlton started the second period on the front foot, and with a bit more luck and a little and a bit more clinical finishing, should have, could have been 4-1 or maybe even 5-1 up. Thomas, Chaplin and Gent wasted golden chances, and were made to pay 6 minutes from the final whistle when Bray fired home to give Goole the lead, a lead they defended until the end of the game.

Had a bit of banter with the Goole keeper - this added to the evenings enjoyment - a half decent game between two skillful, well organised and commited teams... excellent evening!

F-T 1-2

Moral -- score when you are on top!!

Saturday -- choice between Teversal v Dinnington or Lee and Jimmy's Shepshed v Brigg.

Saturday 17th November 2007 results......

Other results from games we decided not to go to...

UniBond
Eastwood Tn 2-2 Frickley Athletic
Ilkeston Tn 2-0 Gateshead

NCEL Prem
Arnold Tn 2-0 Brodsworth MW
Glapwell 5-0 Thackley

Blue Sq North
Hucknall Tn 1-4 Hyde Utd

CML
Gedling MW 2-0 Grimsby Borough
Greenwood Meadows 2-2 Heanor Tn
Rolls Royce 0-4 Askern Welfare

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.

Midweek games

Tuesday seems we missed out on some good games, judging by the results.

Glapwell had won 9 out of 9 but were held 1-1 at home by Liversedge.

Borrowash beat Pontefract 4-1

Eastwood came from 1-3 down to beat Matlock 4-3

The only downer was Rainworth losing 1-2 at home to Bottesford

Wednesday saw rapidly improving Hucknall Town win 3-2 at Boston United....the Yellows were struggling at the foot of the Blue Square North until we paid them a visit - they beat Worcester 5-0 on that occasion and since then are unbeaten..... 3-0 at Stalybridge. 2-2 at home to Solihull Moors and 3-2 at Boston. Long Eaton also recorded an away win in Lincolnshire, beating Lincoln Moorlands 2-1.

Saturday 10th November 2007 results......

Last Saturday we had oodles of games to choose from ... here are the results of those games....

Blue Sq North...
Alfreton Tn 1-0 Leigh RMI
Hucknall Tn 2-2 Solihull

UniBond
Shepshed Dynamo 1-1Spalding Utd
Eastwood Tn 4-1 Whitby Tn
Carlton Tn 4-1 Sheffield FC
Retford Utd 3-0 Grantham Tn

NCEL -- Cup games
Arnold Tn 0-1 Hallam
Long Eaton Utd 1-3 Rainworth MW
Shirebrook Tn 1-2 Lincoln Moorlands Railway

CML
Rolls Royce 2-0 Heanor Tn
Dunkirk 2-2 Gedling MW
Sutton AFC 5-0 Thorne Colliery
Greenwood Meadows 0-3 Clipstone

F.A. Cup
Mansfield Tn 3-0 Lewes
Notts County 3-0 Histon

Missed out on Tuesday due to ill health, but Saturday 17th November sees yet another feast of local footie on offer......

UniBond
Eastwood Tn v Frickley Athletic
Ilkeston Tn v Gateshead

F.A. Vase
Gedling Tn v Cradley Tn

NCEL Prem
Arnold Tn v Brodsworth MW
Glapwell v Thackley

Blue Sq North
Hucknall Tn v Hyde Utd

CML
Gedling MW v Pinxton
Greenwood Meadows v Heanor Tn
Rolls Royce v Askern Welfare

No idea which to go to .... the grounds on offer not visited so far are Greenwood, Glapwell and Ilkeston.

Gedling Town have done really well to get to the 2nd Round of the FA Vase, with a real chance of progressing against a team they have already knocked out of the FA Cup ( 3-1 away in August ). We may just end up by the Riverside again......

Sutton Town AFC v Thorne Colliery FC

Is this really me? Fat old duffer !!

Kev always has trouble fastening his coat !!

Saturday 10th November 2007 Central Midlands League Premier Division

Interesting choice from Kev was this...non-league step 8. We had no idea what standard to expect, so this was groundbreaking for us both.

Anyway, good friend Danny Bryant is in charge at the Fieldings so we knew the commitment would be there. Commitment yes, but for the first 10 minutes this was awful. Taking into account the really strong wind, both teams struggled to play anything like football at all . ... but when Sutton went on front on 13 the game changed dramatically. A little more endeavour and the "Snipes" went in 3-0 up at the break.

A FIRST --- we actually won the raffle -- 8 cans of Fosters, MAGIC!

Sutton missed a penalty early in the second half, but added a couple more goals to run out 5-0 victors. ( footnote -- Thorne had the smallest centre-forward we have ever seen!)

Strange game though -- the visitors were not very good, and Danny, even after a 5-0 win was less than impressed with the home teams performance.

The Fieldings is the same as the last time I visited a couple of years ago, nice neat and tidy -- every other person wears a Sutton town jacket and there were a lot of ball boys -- trust me they were needed - the ball flies out of the ground on a very regular basis !! Lots of kids present as well -- seems to be a family day out, although the players language was a bit strong at times !!

Roll on Tuesday-- Glapwell v Liversedge / Borrowash Vics v Pontefract / Rainworth v Bottesford / Eastwood v Matlock - my choice would be Borrowash...a visit to the grandly named Robinson Construction Bowl !!

Games on Saturday 10th November 2007

I have just checked the various games on offer -- blimey - what a selection.

Blue Sq North...
Alfreton Tn v Leigh RMI ( too expensive )
Hucknall Tn v Solihull ( been there )

UniBond
Shepshed Dynamo v Spalding Utd ( maybe )
Eastwood Tn v Whitby Tn ( been there )
Carlton Tn v Sheffield FC ( been there )
Retford Utd v Grantham Tn ( too far )

NCEL -- Cup games
Arnold Tn v Hallam ( been there)
Long Eaton Utd v Rainworth MW ( been there )
Shirebrook Tn v Lincoln Moorlands Railway ( too far )

CML
Rolls Royce v Heanor Tn ( been there )
Dunkirk v Gedling MW ( been there )
Sutton AFC v Thorne Colliery ( maybe )
Greenwood Meadows v Clipstone ( maybe )

F.A. Cup
Mansfield Tn v Lewes ( too expensive )
Notts County v Histon ( too expensive )

Nottingham Forest v Southend United

Tuesday 6th November 2007 Coca Cola League One

The Wallis & Co season tickets were available again, so I thought I'd give the Florists one more chance to impress me...

With Kev driving all I had to do was sit back and enjoy the ride into town..... decent burger before we went in...cup of coffee before taking our seats.

What a difference from last Tuesday ! Although the Reds went a goal down in the third minute, after they shook off that reversal, they looked a different team from the shower that played against Oldham - here's the thing though - there was only one change - Davies in for Holt.

After Gowers strike, Forest played well enough and their efforts were rewarded on 40 - Brechin stooping to head home Clingan's cross.

H-T 1-1

10 minutes into the half we were treated to the sight of Davies leaving the field for what was probably a "comfort break" ! He was subbed soon after his return - and his replacement Nathan Tyson made it 2-1 to the home team after latching onto a superb through ball and firing past Collis in the visitors goal.

Southend went down to 10 men after Clarke nutted Chambers - signalling a 20 man melee under the "Capital One Corner". Agogo tried his luck from 25 yards - and saw the ball beat Collis to make it 3-1. The same player headed home Tysons fine cross from the left to make it 4-1 and sent the majority of the 26000 fans home happy.

We stayed for a drink after the game - hoping to miss the heaviest traffic.... Kev knows the back streets fairly well, and managed to avoid any jams - most of the time I hadn't a clue where we were.....although my back suffered a bit -- the million speed bumps taking their toll on this aging body.....

Saturday .. supposed to be going to Long Eaton, but probably opt for Shepshed Dynamo v Spalding Utd.......

Tuesday 6th November 2007

Seems we have yet another chance to visit the City Ground if we wish.....

Forest v Southend or Long Eaton v Glapwell ...mmm

Nottingham Forest v Tranmere Rovers

Saturday 3rd November 2007 Coca Cola League One

Strange today not having my 't'old fella' with me as I venture to see Forest for the 2nd time this week. After Tuesday's awful display was it the right choice? Well after 45 minutes maybe not. A slight improvement but not a lot!!

Can't remember too much incident although the Stags winning 4-0 caused a stir at half time.Phoned my blog buddy who sounded pretty miserable as the game at Gedling was apparently a re-run of the Forest vs. Oldham debacle - dire!!!

Second half was loads better. We had a great view of both goals scored at the Trent end. Credit to a very fussy referee for seeing the handball for the penalty for the opener. From our view it was deliberate - no debate. It was one of the few times in the last two games that I was confident Junior Agogo wouldn't be offside...... as he stroked the spot kick into the bottom corner....1-0 and the atmosphere changed at last.

Midway through the half and Nathan Tyson was introduced - back after injury.Strewth he's quicker than Malc going straight into the loo when we enter the pub!!! (joke pal). From a break down the left by Julian Bennett - he fires over a terrific cross for Tyson to volley acrobatically left footed and high into the net from 12 yards out. 2-0 and what a superb strike.

More chances followed as the Reds turned on the confidence but credit at the other end to Paul Smith for a brilliant save near the end as he pushed a goal bound effort onto his post before it was hacked away. All in all a good second half to make up for the other suffering this week.

Today I didn't mind having freebie tickets for the game. Thanks to Malc and his colleagues at Wallis for Tuesday's tickets and thanks to Nigel Woolley at NFFC for today's - they were greatly appreciated.

Roll on Tuesday's trip out.

Gedling Town v Scarborough Athletic

Saturday 3rd November 2007 NCEL Division One

During the course of the season, you will see and hear about various "misses of the season" on tv and radio etc... let me tell you something -- Alan Jefferies missed a goal in this game that Stevie Wonder would have scored !! Less than a yard from goal - the ball sitting up lovely after being flicked on ..... Jefferies decided he had to smash it's face in, and instead of the ball into ending up in the back of the net, it crashed off the crossbar and away to safety ------errrr,,,, Alan, that was uncalled for, you only had to tap it home !!!!

The visitors opened the scoring on the half-hour mark - a breakaway after defending a corner saw the no.9 outpace his marker and fire home.
H-T 0-1

Borough netted their second in the 89th minute - another breakaway, another goal .. Matt Millns headed powerfully home seconds later to make it 1-2, but the unbeaten record has gone - and it has to be said -- the better team won ....wound licking time in the home changing room. Verdict ? Must do better.....

Gedling on the attack

Long Eaton won 2-0 at home to Winterton Rangers, Rainworth won 3-1 at Rossington Main, Mansfield beat Macclesfield 5-0,,, all this plus I turned down the chance to go to watch the Florists - they beat Tranmere 2-0 ( Kev is going to add his thoughts about this game) .... ah well, you pays ya money, ya teks ya choice !!! Can't get it right every time....

Tuesday -- a visit to Long Eaton again -- they take on Glapwell who have won 8 out of 8 games so far .... may be a chance for me to see Willis Francis play again... young lad played for me in the YEFL rep squad a couple of times before going on to play for Notts County.....