Rochford Sports and Social 5 – 3 Aveley Academicals – a.e.t. (Essex cup 1st round)

It is becoming a worryingly familiar story, that by the time Aveley arrived in Rochford just before 10am, the available squad had depleted from 15 to 8 relatively fit players, 2 pissheads, a crocked winger and Sharpy.  It seems that having a full squad to choose from is as difficult as telling the difference between an orange and a grapefruit.

This led to the latest cabinet reshuffle, with utility man Brian starting on the left wing (I think keeper and striker are the only two positions he hasn’t played now!) and Ryan partnering Sharpy up front.  Liam got kitted up, but the hope was that the most strenuous thing he would have to do was run the line.

Sub: Liam

Chappers and Jake were placed in their positions and rotated to face the right direction, and the match got underway under the warm Sun.  It soon became apparent that any pre-match concerns about being up against a quality outfit (further reinforce by someone from the oppo being heard to proclaim: “Who the f@*k are these lot”) were misplaced.  They weren’t anything special and didn’t really trouble us with the frequent ball over the top.  Unfortunately we weren’t quite at the races ourselves, which made it a pretty even contest.

Given the fact that we played 120 minutes, you may expect there to be more memorable highlights.  However, what the game lacked in quality, it more than made up for in Accies character.  To come from behind three times is no mean feat, especially when we didn’t have the luxury of taking advantage of the roll-on, roll-off Essex Cup rules.

We went behind midway through the first half when we allowed a low shot from the edge of the area to be aimed goal-wards and nestle inside the far post: 1-0.

I said this game didn’t have many memorable moments, but an Eye-Ball shot on target is a rare and noteworthy event.  On this occasion he followed up as the keeper spilled a free kick from the edge of the box, but he then spread himself to block Eye-Ball’s firmly struck effort from close range, and the half finished 1-0.

Once we had decided that grapefruit wasn’t actually all that bad, we took to the field again for the second half, and quickly restored parity.  Ryan – leading the attack in the absence of Dale – latched onto Foggy’s ball to race clear and showed that clinical finishing runs in the family, as he creamed the ball back across the keeper and into the corner of the goal: 1-1.

The game didn’t improve much following this display of quality, and it was about 20 minutes from the end that we found ourselves behind again, when Rochford’s winger drove the ball across Andrew and into the net from the left side or our box: 2-1.

Again, our response was almost immediate. A whipped in cross by Jake was spilled by the keeper, right onto Robin’s trusty right knee, and he walked the ball into the net: 2-2.

What then followed was a series of over-reactions which put the fly on top of the massive turd that had been the previous 80 minutes.  Foggy found himself on the wrong end of an eye-watering collision, which was definitely a foul but seemed devoid of malice.  Jake saw it differently and reacted when he knows he shouldn’t have.  However, this should never have led to World War III, and in the heat of the moment the ref sent off Jake and left all of the villians on the opposition team to wallow in their smugness.  The gaffa and Luke then had a DoTD nominated handbag duel before some sort of calm was restored and we got on with playing the next 40 minutes with 10 men.

Luke had picked up an injury of his own towards the end of 90 minutes, which left no choice other than to bring on Liam.  This meant moving Brian – who had put in one hell of a shift on the left – to the middle, Sharpy to the left, Liam right and Ryan upfront on his own.  A combination of tiredness, loss of concentration and being vertically inferior saw us concede three times from set pieces in extra time, the first coming with 93 minutes on the clock: 3-2.

Rochford had a habit of playing a high line and committing too many midfielders in attack.  Eye-Ball had already exploited this twice in normal time by catching them in possession and racing forward with the ball.  The first time the through ball to Ryan wasn’t good enough and the second time vertigo set in and Eye-Ball found himself at least 10 yards offside.  When it happened again in extra time, the pass for Ryan was better, but when he superbly turned the last defender he could only shoot wide with tired legs.

Liam played through the discomfort of an injured knee to make a real impact in extra time, and when Sharpy won the ball on the left and played it inside to his FIFA buddy, Liam hit triangle (or whatever through-ball is), and Ryan calmly slotted the ball home: 3-3.

Two goals either side of half time in extra time then killed us off – one was another headed goal and the next a rebound after Andrew saved a free kick at his near post: 5-3.

I say these goals killed us off, but it was fantastic to see that we refused to die quietly.  Chappers had sobered up enough now to instruct us to play three at the back, and (along with Rob, Eye-Ball and James) continued to defend as if his life depended on it.  The defence were backed up by Foggy, who ran himself into the ground, and Ryan continued to harass Rochford’s defence as Sharpy, Liam and Brian looked to help him get the third goal his performance deserved.  However, it wasn’t to be, and although we went out of the Essex Cup in the first round for the first time in 4 years, at least we went out fighting. Now we can concentrate on the league and cup double!

Ryan was deservedly voted MoTM for his two excellently taken goals, and for being pretty much our only attacking outlet for much of the game – a job he did without a word of complaint.  Despite Sharpy trying to deflect thoughts from the main incident (which included his handbag antics) by highlighting a skewed pass from Eye-Ball, the DoTD award had to go to Jake – although there were definitely no hard feelings and the subsequent apology for getting sent off was met with the following words of wisdom: “Jake should have hit him instead of a girly push.” Oh well, you live and learn.

Eye-Ball

Next game: Sunday 11^th October – @ home v FC Deportivo Thurrock

Goal scoring chart

Thameside 0 - 7 Aveley Academicals

In 1991, the discovery of a pair of glasses by the cliff edge led to the conclusion that Harold Bishop had been washed out to sea, and most likely drowned.  However, this was never proved, which left the door nicely ajar for the portly, tuba playing Neighbours legend to return to our screens in 1996.  Perhaps he returned because he realised that appearing on Noels House Party really is a huge step down from turning out regularly on one of the country’s best loved soaps, but then sometimes getting into a gunge tank with Mr Blobby is what it takes to realise that you actually had it pretty good in the first place.  When Ryan Kenyon left Clements Athletic after four seasons with the club he also knew that the door would always be left open for him to return, and after one game for South Shell in division three he was handing over photos to Sharpy and returning to his rightful home.

Despite the massive boost of Ryan returning to the squad, the midweek availability check still raised concerns that what should have been a straightforward 3 points could easily turn into a slippery banana skin; especially as we were playing on the pitch where we had been humiliated by the league whipping boys the previous season.  Our entire central midfield from last week had evaporated, with H and Jake unavailable and Foggy having to play in goal because of the Andrew’s absence.  Al – who would have been first pick to take up a central midfield position – was also not available, and the option of moving utility man Brian into midfield appeared to be a no go because of Mark having far more important family matters to attend to.  Scott was available, but admitted openly that there was no way you’d get 90 minutes of him.  However, things were looking a lot rosier as we assembled at the Billet;  Ryan and Dale turned up with something far better than a tuba (another Kenyon), and Chappers pulled out the stops to make himself available for kick-off.  Rumours that Sharpy trumped TACA’s offer of £5 a week for Chappers to play (seriously!) by offering £5, a packet of Werther’s Originals and DoTD immunity are yet to be confirmed.

The one concern was James P’s sleep deprivation, but all was fine as Sharpy showed his managerial expertise for dealing with such a situation by smashing the ball at the unexpecting winger from 10 yards.  I don’t know if James was more shocked by the impact or the fact that Sharpy hit the target, but either way it seemed to do the trick.

The team therefore had a pretty familiar look, apart from a very odd looking central midfield which saw Liam partnering Brian with Ryan handed the roaming number 10 role.  Despite having a centre back and winger/striker in the middle there was something reassuring about knowing that these three would give 100% from start to end, and would also relish the opportunity to get stuck in to every tackle.

Subs: Scott, Rhys

If we thought we had problems, our opposition just about managed to scrap a side together, and they were noticeably weaker from the team we played the week before.  It was quickly apparent that Liam and Brian were going to boss the midfield, and maybe playing together on Mondays has helped them gain an understanding which meant there always seemed to be one of them available to make a tackle whilst the other was an option to move the ball forward or out wide, where the James duo could look to get us on the attack and bring Dale and Ryan into play.

Despite our attempts to play short, passing football, sometimes there is no substitute for the big hoof up field, and when Chappers leathered the ball away from danger, Ryan caught Thameside’s fragile defence napping and took a sublime touch before scoring off the far post with the outside of his right boot – welcome back! 0-1.

We had struggled against set plays with this opposition last week, but an early corner which Eye-Ball headed wide, after finding himself unmarked 15 yards out, suggested this was an area we might find some success this time.  So it proved, as from the next corner James P delivered a perfect low outswinger which Brian met on the run and powered into the net: 0-2.

There was no way Dale was going to be kept out of the goals for long, and when Luke lifted the ball over the back four, our enigmatic striker bravely capitalised on the goalkeeper’s hesitation to prod the ball into the goal: 0-3.

By now it was a case of not if we would win, but by how many.  However, the Accies defence were determined to get their first clean sheet of the season, with Chappers leading by example as he got back to make a block on the edge of the box when we appeared to be temporarily outnumbered.  On the one time that their lone striker did break free of Rob’s strangle hold, he ended up as the meat in an Eye-Ball Foggy sandwich, and Luke tracked the run of the opposition attacker to clear a dangerous cross into the middle.  With Foggy dominating his penalty area to claim and punch clear the ball every time it threatened our goal, it looked increasingly likely that we would feast on the clean sheet we craved.

Thameside’s response to leaking three goals in the first half was to put an even worse keeper between the sticks for the second, and the flood gates well and truly opened.

The fourth saw Liam feed the ball through to Dale, who was basically left free to walk the ball into the net after James K had dragged away the only defender in the vicinity: 0-4.

Next it was Liam’s turn to deservedly get on the score sheet, as James P crossed from the left and Ryan obeyed Liam’s call and left him to slot the ball into the net.  James graciously handed the assist to Ryan, seeing as the ball had brushed off his chest on the way to Liam: 0-5.

With the game won, and a clean sheet practically guaranteed, Chappers took his Werther’s Originals and returned to family matters, giving Scott a run out in midfield and Brian the opportunity to take a well-deserved breather at the back.

The goals continued to flow, and James P popped up in the box to stroke the rebound from Ryan’s initial effort into the far corner.  Some said they thought he nearly missed, but considering the fact he was still probably seeing double, it’s a miracle he made contact with the ball at all! 0-6.

Dale asked during the post-match debrief in The Ship if he had now scored more hat-tricks for the club than any other player, after volleying home from Ryan’s pass to score at least three in a match for what I believe to be the fifth time since joining in 2012. He is definitely the most prolific striker in my 10 years at the club, and there is no doubt we wouldn’t have held our own in this league for the last three seasons without his goals.  Having said that, the gaffa may still be able to lay claim to having the most hat-tricks, having achieved some pretty remarkable goal scoring feats; including a 10 minute hat-trick after coming on as a sub in an 11-0 demolition of Beauchamps, and a double hat-trick in a 10-3 victory against F.C. Deportivo Thurrock.  At last count I had made it 4 for Sharpy since I’ve been keeping track, and he would have had at least three seasons before that: 7-0.

Sharpy brought on Rhys for Eye-Ball for the last half hour, to make his first competitive appearance for Aveley.  He put in an assured performance on the left, working hard up and down the flank and putting in a couple of vital challenges when there was a risk of getting overrun.   His help in defence was definitely needed at this point, as Rob was venturing further and further up field, and even popped up on the right wing at one point.

It was inevitable that Thameside would great some chances, but Foggy saved well on at least two occasions from one-on-one situations, and Brian’s last ditch slide was enough to clear the ball off the line after he came closest to scoring for the opposition following a deflection.

Despite our margin of victory, Stanford beat Stifford 9-2 to match our goal difference and stay top on goals scored.

If MoTM was going to be a hard decision, DoTD nominations were pretty much non-existent until the last 10 minutes when a flurry of comical and ridiculous incidents came into the running:

1.      Foggy attempts a simple boot upfield, but scuffs it with his left across the box and out for a throw in.

2.       Foggy throws the ball with a bit too much zip to Luke, who valiantly sprints after it before being upended by the bags on the sideline.

3.       Dale rubs salt into the opposition’s gapping wounds by pulling off a Robinho(?) flick

4.       James Kenyon subs himself (even though we had no more subs) after looking a gift horse in the mouth for at least the second time.

It was no surprise that James K won the award on his first appearance; walking off the pitch and leaving your team with 10 men because you can’t finish from 3 yards is a pretty amazing reaction.  Although apart from his finishing, he showed what a great addition he is to the squad with his pace, technical ability and vision shining through on an impressive debut.  Much like the Kenyan long distance runners, our own three Kenyons are a fearsome attacking unit, and when they aren’t arguing (we know to expect plenty of that) they are sure to terrorise many a defence in this league.  It’s just a shame that on this occasion – much like the pace-setter – James felt he had to bail out before the end of the race!

MoTM was a much more tightly contested affair, and although all the attacking players (for scoring all those goals) and the entire defensive unit (you can’t beat a clean sheet) could have argued their case, the award really had to go to one of the two guys who played out of position – and out of their skins – in the centre of the park.  Both scored, but Liam probably just edged out Brian thanks to also contributing an assist (it should have been 2 but we’ve already talked about James K’s finishing), and for being a constant source of direction and encouragement – well done Liam.

We know we aren’t going to have many games as easy as this.  Savour the victory, but be ready for a fight next week against what we expect to be a strong side in the Essex Cup.  We don’t get to travel outside of Thurrock much, so let’s enjoy our trip to Rochford and make sure they remember the Accies of Aveley.

Eye-Ball

Next game: Sunday 4^th October – Away v Rochford Sports and Social

Goal scoring chart

Aveley Academicals 4 - 2 Thameside

After a long and emotional pre-season, the new campaign finally got underway on a warm, sunny September morning at our new home – Aveley Fireman’s Club.  The move away from Blackshots has, in theory, a lot of positives: The Ship Inn and Kev and Drew’s warm welcome is only a stone’s throw way; we don’t have to put up the goals and nets (I know, like me you feel it’s just not the same); we have somewhere we can train (albeit in the dark) and there is no way Eye-Ball can head the ball into Thurrock Harriers from there.  They have tried to spoil it a little bit by charging people to park under the disguise of offering you £2 off a delight of your choice in their club house – Foggy says don’t touch the pies – and they want to fine Sharpy for shedding the slightest flake of dandruff, but then I suppose nowhere is perfect.

The ground is not the only thing that has changed; we also have a new name: Aveley Academicals.  Unfortunately the league saw through our ploy to get round the sponsor embargo by name ourselves TSI Aveley – they’re not quite as stupid as they look.  Although not a popular choice, I think it will grow on us, and I can hear the cries of “COME ON YOU ACCIES” ringing around Tilbury Football Club as we add the League Cup to our League and Essex Cup triumphs – a man’s got to dream.  Also, by a strange twist of fate we are not the only Academicals in the amateur leagues.  I stumbled across Farlington Academicals, who are based in Portsmouth – a part of the world very close to the Gaffer’s heart.  OK, so you’re still not convinced, but it’s the best I've got.

Sharpy and others have also been trying really hard to recruit some new players to strengthen the squad.  By the end of last season we were really struggling to get a side out, but apart from injuries that are keeping Webby and Alex out, and the sad departure of player’s player of the season Ryan Kenyon (or so we thought – watch this space), the core of the squad has stayed together.  I wasn't sure about Sharpy's scouting approach, but it turns out you can find some decent footballers in the local boozer.  Of those who have come over James is the one who has shown the most promise and greatest level of commitment, and his pace and determination have made him a great addition to the squad.

Also making their competitive debuts in the starting eleven were Andrew: a young, likeable keeper who has fitted in like a glove (or two) and Mark Chapman, who it is arguably our biggest catch of the close season.  In fact TACA are still flapping around in the shallows, trying to reel in the broken line that allowed Chappers to wash up on our shores.  Mark is probably one of the only centre backs in the Thurrock Sunday League who is feared and respected as much as our own Robin Lawrence, and now they are both in our team!  There are going to be a few strikers begging to play at left back after their first encounter with this pair.

Subs: Scott, Alex B

We knew the importance of getting out of the blocks quickly, and we did just that, as it was Thameside displaying most of the first game nerves.  They looked shaky at the back and nervous in possession, which encouraged us to put them under pressure and force the mistakes.  There is no doubt that many in a red shirt would have been feeling some nerves as well, but these were eased when we took an early lead when a free kick was awarded by our old friend Glenn Webb about 35 yards out.  Jake lifted the ball invitingly into the box where it was attacked by Rob.  The Thameside defence managed to clear the ball, but only in the air and as far as the edge of the eighteen yard box where Dale had time to set himself and hit the ball low on the volley into the bottom corner of the net.  This lifted our spirits no end, as not only had we taken the lead, but we now knew that our main source of goals had his shooting boots freshly sharpened and ready for the kill: 1-0.

The Accies weren’t about to sit back on a one goal lead, and we continued to pile on the pressure, with our two turbo charged whippets – Luke and James – motoring down the right (sometimes both at the same time, which gave Sharpy heart palpitations)  and drawing defenders to give Dale the opportunity to exploit the space down the channels.  The chances started to come thick and fast, but Dale couldn’t add to his early season opener and Foggy could only look on in disbelief when his bullet header produced a remarkable save from Thameside’s keeper.

Our perseverance did finally pay off when the very same goalkeeper and his defence made a mess of clearing the ball in the six yard box, and Luke reacted quickest to poke the ball into the net: 2-0.

Aveley lost their way towards the end of the first half with the passing and general concentration leaving Sharpy scratching his head and wondering what had happened to the team that had been so dominant in the opening 20 minutes.  Despite this, Andrew’s goal was very rarely challenged as Chappers displayed his qualities both in leading the defence and reading the game to snuff out any slim chance there was of Thameside breaking through our lines.

The one area in which Thameside had an obvious advantage was height, and we were far too sloppy in giving away free kicks which would enable them to exploit this.  One such free kick resulted in a strong header finding the corner of our net, and meaning we only went into half time with a slender 2-1 lead.

The half time discussion was as passionate as the oranges were sweet.  But comments were generally constructive, and we went out in the second half with the aim of playing the ball on the floor more, and getting Jake and Foggy on the ball more so that they could feed H and Dale.

Despite showing immediate improvements, we once again committed the cardinal sin of giving away a free kick on the edge of our box, and Thameside again overpowered us in the air to squeeze the ball in at the back post: 2-2.

Things could have got worse if Andrew hadn’t come out to bravely bring an end their striker’s progress, and our new number 1 was then instrumental in giving us the lead.  One of Andrew’s biggest strengths is his kicking from the ground, and he picked up the first assist of the season with a ball forward from a goal kick which caught Thameside’s defence napping.  Dale raced clear, and smashed the ball into the net off the far post from a difficult angle: 3-2.

Not long after, the feat was almost repeated, but this time Dale’s effort from Andrew’s kick came back of the post, where the ball was given a warm welcome by Liam, who calmly nodded the ball past the despairing keeping and into the roof of the net: 4-2.

With our two goal lead restored we could relax a little and start to enjoy ourselves.  Sharpy also gave two more players their debuts.  For Al Blake it was actually his second, as he had been a popular and promising member of the 2011/12 double winning squad. Back then he caused havoc on the wing and through the middle with his youthful energy and enthusiasm, and I actually remember writing that the holding midfielder role wasn’t one that came naturally to him.  How time, a growth spurt that still doesn’t seem to have ended, and no small amount of alcohol can change things.  He’s now more Big Bird and less ostrich, but boy can he defend and win a header.  A calm head on young shoulders who will give us a great option both in midfield and defence.

"And Betty when you call me, you can call me Al"

We know a lot less about Scott – or was it Rhys? No, it was Ryan.  Whoever he is, he definitely looks at home on a football pitch, and much like Blakely looks like someone who isn’t going to panic on the ball and will help us develop into the footballing side we know we can be.

We were completely on top by this point, with our midfield three of Foggy, Jake and H now bossing things.  The joke is that a heat map of Jake’s movement would be a red dot on the centre circle, but the weekly training session seems to be paying off, and the ground was scorched from left to right and box to box.  The opposition’s frustration was starting to show, and some of our players were on the receiving end of some nasty challenges, including James and Chappers.  The latter was scythed down whilst on one of his trademark marauding runs and was left with an ankle that looked like it had been caught in a bait trap (possible set by TACA’s manager).  There was talk of returning the favours next week when we meet Thameside again, but perhaps just make sure it isn’t within range of our box boys.

We might not have managed any more goals, but we came close to doing so with Luke smashing the ball against the post from 25 yards with a sweet right foot shot.  Dale and H also both had chances which ended up being the two front-runners for DoTD (what does that tell you!).  I’m not quite sure what Dale was attempting with his free kick, but the one strip of freshly mowed grass 10 metres from the goal tells you he didn’t quite get the desired lift or curl.  At least Dale was 20 yards from the goal; H was only 5 yards out when the ball came across to him in the middle.  The keeper was rooted to the spot, and H didn’t seem to want to risk hurting him, as he caressed the bouncing ball gently into his grateful grasp and in doing so gaining an early lead in the defence of his DoTS title.

Despite his 17 goals and 13 assists last season, Dale only managed one MoTM award (which I think just shows how highly we rate him, that banging in a goal a game is nothing extraordinary), however he deserved his award this week for being involved in all our goals, chasing everything and leading the team from the front even when it wasn’t going our way.

It was refreshing that, despite winning, we still felt we could have done better. It shows we are ambitious, and although we want to win, we want to win playing as well as we know we can.  Last season was hard – this is actually our first league win since 28^th February 2015 – but we got through it, and hopefully we have enough committed players who want to give their all for the team to make this an even more successful year. 

Eye-Ball

Next game: Sunday 27th September - Away v Thameside @ The Billet

Goal scoring chart

Staines United 3 - 2 Clements Athletic

To finish the season with a defeat was obviously not the outcome we had hoped for, but there can be no arguments about the performance against the (soon to be crowned) league champions.  Twice taking the lead thanks to two goals from Liam (contributing to his well deserved and long overdue first MoTM award of the season), assists from Ryan and Sharpy, a penalty conceded by (DoTD?) Brian and the subsequent save from Webby were the highlights from this match.

More details and a post season review to follow...

We finished the season in a very respectable fifth position.

Congratulations to Dale for leading the goal scoring stats for the third season in a row, and also for pipping his brother to be top assister for the second year running.  Honourable mentions to Liam and Eye-Ball for playing every league and cup game, and to Ryan, Robin and Eye-Ball for three MoTM awards each.  Must improves to DoTD specialists H and Sharpy.

Mossops 2 – 0 Clements Athletic

Obviously a two nil defeat isn’t what anyone wanted, but we should be proud of our performance which was characterised by a level of determination and effort that has been missing at times in recent weeks.  We’re still not playing great football, but with no consistency in team selection – we just about scrapped the bare eleven again this week – it really is no surprise that we are not really ‘clicking’ when players are having to play in different positions every week.  The situation was so bad that Sharpy had to go out and buy some new boots.  They seemed to do the trick though, as he had a really good game despite battling Mossops’s defence on his own for much of the game.

Subs: -

We started the season with five centre backs, but only one of them was available for this game.  Fortunately Neil returned just in time, and impressed in his first game for Clements in this position.  His organisational and vocal skills were key in us more than holding our own in the first half.  In fact, if Dale (2)’s rasping drive had dipped a bit more rather than hitting the post, or Ryan hadn’t been given off-side by the referee, we may have gone into the break with a lead.  The offside issue was a contentious one; a Mossop’s player ran the Clements line because we had no one to do it (there was no way Milesy was going to), but because he didn’t want to give offsides against his own team the referee instructed both linesmen to just award throw ins.  It would have really helped if the referee had told the rest of us!

The offside debacle contributed to the first goal we conceded in the first half, as the player looked to be offside when the ball was played across the box.  Nothing was given, so Eye-Ball had to intervene, but his interception ended up being a perfect assist for the Mossop’s striker, who had bags of time and space to slot the ball into the net: 1-0.

Mossops’s record shows that they are a hard team to score against, and their keeper obviously plays a big part in this as he snuffed out a lot of our attacks in a period when we dominated and created the best chances.  Harry had a well struck effort saved when he guided the ball into the far corner, and also had a header cleared off the line from one of Ryan’s many dangerous corners. 

As we pressed for an equaliser, it wasn’t surprising that we got caught out, with Eye-Ball giving possession away high up the pitch.  Credit to Mossops though, who were deadly clinical to break and finish the chance from their own half: 2-0.

We may have lost the match, but the spread of votes for MoTM was an indication of how well we played as a team.  In the end Robin just edged it, having once again led by example from the back, not only in terms of the countless balls he won but also showing the youngsters how you should conduct yourself in the face of some poor refereeing.  One lad who definitely needs to take a few leafs out of Robin’s book is H, who once again completely lost the plot, which is a real shame as he was surely a contender for MoTM.  Still, at least you can’t accuse him of being ageist, as this time it was a more experienced referee who felt H’s frustration.  I won’t write down here what he said, as I wouldn’t want to risk conflicting with the referee’s notebook, but needless to say our two centre halves may have been a little offended. Ironically, with only one league game now to go there is only one man who can equal H for the overall DoTD award, and that is the man whose referee bashing role H seems to be trying to inherit. I expect that both H and Sharpy will be on their very best behaviour in the last game!

Enjoy next week’s friendly and let’s make sure we play the last 90 minutes of the season with smiles on our faces!

Eye-Ball