BFC 2-2 Bristol City, Friday 1st November 2019

‘Sack the board, sack the board’

Friday night under the lights.

Who’s idea is Friday nite footie?  What a pile of the proverbial.  Days off work (not everyone lives in Grove Street) for a Sky audience of…what?  350?  Tho maybe it was more, given the crowd at Oakwell can’t have been more than ten thousand, whatever the claims of 12k+ were.  It’s like at Arsenal, where they claim 60,000, despite the fact you can clearly see the pattern of the cannon in the seats.  So maybe plenty were watching it at home.  Or else in ‘tarn’ drinking.  Why let Sky ruin a perfectly good Friday night?  (Mind, it could be worse…Dutch second division games are always played on a Friday!)

Welcome to ...

We were very down on Friday night.  Losing 0-2, it p***ing down with rain, little to no hope of a comeback…chants calling for the owners’ heads (are they going to sack themselves???)…everyone wishing they were somewhere else.  In fact, thank goodness for said rain.  It’s problies wot stopped more folk from leaving early.  That they came in the first place was testament to some delusion…or faith…that this team would pull something off.  And for 71 minutes, it looked bleak.

Talking of bleak...thirty quid to see THIS?  Good luck.

Don’t get me wrong, we’d played well (again) but we were losing (again).  Having had the advantage of seeing a repeat of the match the next day on Sky, I concur with whichever commentator said ‘the keeper’s saves were better than the finishes’ in describing a couple of incredible saves by Daniel Bentley, saves that somewhere gained him the MOTM (announced, with perfect timing, before we equalised).  Firstly, Malik Wilks cut inside and curled an effort to the far corner, which the keeper tipped around the post.  The second was even better, as the keeper got a touch on Chaplin’s close-ranger and it cannoned back off the post.  Either would have put us in the lead.

The teams line up.

City went ahead just before half-time.  Like a child disappointing a parent, former favourite Marley Watkins was given a tug and went down like a sack of s***.  Free kick, and a chance for Cavare to stand still as Ashley Williams (the biggest bloke on the pitch) had a free header.  Cue boos ringing round Oakwell for Watkins’ ‘professionalism’.  Having seen it again, the question I’d ask is ‘was his shirt pulled’ (yes) and ‘is this a foul?’ (yes).  So what’s everyone complaining about?  Watching it again on telly, I was able to see several decisions in OUR favour, but no-one mentions them; a corner gained when our guy blatantly headed over, and a Diaby bodycheck which went unpunished.  This alleged bias against us is complete rubbish.  (Tho a free given against Cauley, when their bloke climbed all over him and landed badly was a poor decision.)

A sparse Ponty v Bristol City.

Second half came around and we were going nowhere, absolutely nowhere, when they bagged a 2^nd, again from a deadball.  Interim head coach Murray has introduced 3 at the back, and still we can’t defend a corner, Weimann dropping off from his marker and looping a header to the back post.  Of course we don’t have a man on the post – why would we?  No-one ever scores there (!)  What is it with this fad for zonal marking?  Abysmal.  Those preferring a walk in the downpour to watching this rubbish start to trickle out.

Barnsley, on a Friday night.  Well done Robins!

More fool them, of course, as Halme powers in a header from a corner of our own.  Looks like City are just as good as us at marking.  We proceed to miss chances, each one looking like the last…Diaby heading over from close range…Cauley bobbling one with Diaby in close attendance (putting him off in way he doesn’t put off opposition strikers?)…a misunderstanding on the backpost (Sibbick and Simoes?) while a couple of other Cauley strikes are wayward.  Then, with time virtually up…was it sub Simoes playing a one-two with Sibbick?...the ball is rolled across, Schmidt knocks it goalwards and Cauley pokes it home.  Oakwell has not seen celebrations like this since the last time we equalised in the last minute, about 3 weeks ago.  Carnage.  How long left?  Just enough time to worry about City breaking up field to nick it, yet not enough time for them to do so.  Phew.  We got out of jail here.  We have reached the heady heights of second off bottom.
Onwards and…upwards!

The teams take advantage of a break in play.

*** Halme.  Sponsors’ MOTM.  Good interceptions and cracking header to put us back in it. 

** Thomas.  We were going nowhere till he came on, running at players, popping balls off down each wing.  Best player on the pitch once he was on.

* Cauley.  Can’t argue with bagging a last minute equaliser when playing in a team as poor as this.  Shame he thinks the same, often going for goal from improbable positions, such is his lack of belief in the rest of the numpties.

Londontykes' MOTM: 1. Mowatt  2. Halme  3. Dougal
Despatches:Big thanks to Mrs Reed, who picked junior and I up from Donny pre-match.  Not sure her cat was so grateful tho, as we returned from Oakwell to see the soggiest puss I’ve ever seen.  Double thanks, as Mrs R let Andy and I watch a re-run of the match on Sat morn while she’d planned to watch the rugger buggers.  As it was Andy’s birthday (Happy Birthday Andy!!!!) we’d rocked up to the pub at 11…but it was shut, so tail between legs, I was forced to watch the 1^st half of the rugby anyway.  We left again at half time.  I hope England lost.  I hate rugby.  Where’s the fun in watching big blokes push each other, repeating the same routine time and time and time again?  Without any paint to watch dry, I stood up and stared out of Cynthia’s front window, gazing at the raindrops splashing into the pond/lake (this is Hoyland; it’s posh like that).

The players?  I know everyone else thought little Alex Mowatt head and shoulders above the rest.  While he was tidy, most of his corners were the usual dink into the middle, and I wasn’t impressed to see him lose the ball late on, then fail to track back.  Dougal had another good game, breaking down the opposition.  Wilks had a very promising first half, before disappearing.  Brown showed potential going forward, but I’m at a loss as to why some folk say we look more solid under this new manager; between Brown and Sibbick were great swathes of pitch asking to be attacked.  Diaby looks like what he is…too big and slow to turn.  And he’s not even that commanding.  I guess none of them (the centre halves) are, which is why we need 3 of them.  Cavare again showed he’s better going forward than defending…which is great, when he’s a defender.  Noticeably, the comeback started after Chaplin went off.  What does he do, apart from make Woodrow look even better than he is?  Later on Simoes came on, as did Schmidt, who (we think) touched the ball once in 20 minutes.  It was a very good once though (we scored).  

Drink du jour: Leffe, on the train.

Away: 512.  A fabulous turnout from a team with a tradition of fickle support at Oakwell.  Still, they were due to go 2^nd if they won.  Which they didn’t.  Unlucky, Little Lee.

The Damage:£21 train= £21

The Tunes:
Crush (Floating Points)
It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (Public Enemy)
Blindfold EP (Curve)
Cherry EP (Curve)
Frozen EP (Curve)

A soggy moggy gets dried.