*No, not my pet name for Nozzer.
I found the first half an odd one, much like the Brentford-Spurs game I watched on Sunday. Not much quality, but plenty of opportunities to score. We had at least 4 efforts saved; Russell volleyed one down the throat of the keeper. Cadden drilled a low one through a crowd. Russell had a header on target. And, and…I forget the other one. But I’m 99.9% sure it didn’t involve either of our two hapless forwards, COW (Cole or Watters). Yet still we conceded the best chance of the half...
Russell’s in possession a few yards outside of our box. Was he fouled? Was he looking for it? Views differed, but it allowed the Posh player to thread a pinpoint throughball to the centre forward (the good one? Dunno. Surely Jonson Clarke-Harris buries these?) Anyway, he’s clean through and the keeper’s barely off his line. It’s a simple finish….which Roberts somehow turns around the post. Phew.
The second half was still finding its feet when we opened our account. Right wing back Cotter drills one across the box and the keeper fumbles it in. That must have been a cross? And does Watters get an assist for being the last Reds player to touch it before Cotter? Anyway, great, one nil and more to come. Only ‘more’ misses his train and I don’t think we troubled their keeper again. In the meantime, Roberts pulls off another worldy before somehow (somehow) a Posh player misses an open goal on the back stick, hitting the post from 3 yards. Now I KNOW we’re gonna win this game if that didn’t go in. We’re so confident, we can take our star forwards off just before the 70 minute mark. Within 8 minutes we are losing.
It was my fault. I’d been staring at the scoreboard, one nil, and thinking how once we (comfortably) see out this game, we’ll not have had too bad a start to the season. 2 wins, one draw (we’ll ignore losing at home to lower division opposition in the league cup). 7 pts from 3 games, a home game on Satdy to come. Despite needing two top draw saves and an unmissable miss, I allowed my mind to drift. This has happened hundreds of times over the years and normally I try to snap myself out of it. There is absolutely no point in thinking positively about Barnsley FC’s chances on the football field. Experience tells me that. So I wasn’t surprised in the least when Posh ran up the field and scored.
It started with our left wing back being our furthest man forward, on the high press. Nothing wrong with that. But even schoolboys understand the need to cover their position. We didn’t. As a 15 year old left back, I hated Dave Wayman playing left wing, cos if I ran up the wing with the ball, he’d just cluelessly run along beside me. Far better Phil, or Clemmy, or Geoff, who’d understand to cover. (We went through a lot of left wingers; Clemmy ended up in goal and we won the league minus Wayman, who’d finally been dropped.) So, yes, Cadden was in their half. They proceeded to put a ball down their right wing and there wasn’t a Reds player within 20 yards of their bloke. I think he then ran forward and coolly passed it to another bloke in the middle who stroked it home. (Forgive me if I get any of this wrong, I can’t watch the highlights as our broadband lack of width means Sarah won’t be able to work.)
Still, we have probably 20 minutes to go for a winner. Leading 1-0, we’d forgotten what it was to attack, so it should be an entertaining last quarter. 2 minutes later we are losing. I can’t remember anything about this goal beyond that it was bad, but not as bad as the other two. Then on 85 they completely kill the game. Was it Kitching being robbed in his own penalty area? Whatever, in a game of poorly conceded goals, this is the worst. Aside from one trademark run forward, Kitching played all night like a man not interested in a transfer. He was woeful.
By now the manager had given Phillips his first trot out of the season, but the players looked shellshocked. 3 goals conceded in a little over 10 minutes and now forced to listen to the crowing of the meagre away support. The one crumb of comfort I can think of is this: we lost at home to them last season too, and in neither game has Connell played. I miss Luca. Everybody does.
Onwards and upwards!
*** Cadden. Superb delivery into the box time and time again. Wasted on COW.
** Roberts. At 1 nil, he’d won us the game. Couldn’t do owt about the 3 goals eventually conceded.
* Cotter. Go on then. Him or Jordan Williams, but I’ll give it to Bazza for the goal.
Official MOTM: Cotter
Londontykes’ POTY: 1. Roberts 2. Cadden 3. Cotter
Despatches:
Max Watters. We’re 3 games into a new season and I’m already running out of adjectives to describe how poor he is. I know Chris says he’ll get at least 12, and he probably will – his contract is 3 years. Pre-match, Nozzer’s mate Mark* says Watters will bag at least 15 (fifteen) this season. I said they were innocent times. Later, Nozzer reminds me he’s the Brexit-supporting bloke I shared a car back from Shrewsbury c.2016. So he has form for not knowing anything.
*Nozzer will deny it’s his mate, but let’s just say the twice I’ve met him, it’s been in Nozzer’s company.
Meantime, I think someone said Cole ‘had run his blood to water’. By which I think they meant ‘never got near the ball’. That hattrick against Port Vale looks a lifetime away already. It’s been a week and a half. In defence, Williams looked assured, while the Polish bloke (name to be learnt at some point this season) headed balls away that were straight at his head. Russell and Kane (Russell Kane?) were strangely anonymous in midfield, while Styles looked busy early on before petering out. And Shaw and Dallas (the new SAD?), on up front, ran around like the eager new puppies that they are. All they need is an Andrex toilet roll wrapped around them and they’d be complete. Useless.
Drink du jour: Tiny Rebel Clwb Tropica in Heaven and Ale.
Away: 531. I’m sure the PA said that. Unbelievable. 300 at best.
The Damage:
c.£30 petrol
= c.£30
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