Swindon Town 0-1 BFC, Saturday 30th January 2016

‘Don’t sell Winnall, Sammy Winnall
I just don’t think you understand
That if you sell Winnall, Sammy Winnall
You’re gonna have a riot on your hands’

Welcome to ....

This little ditty has been going round and round my head all weekend.  Goalscoring wunderkind Super Sammy Winnall (SSW) has only gone and done it again, scoring his 9^th goal in 5 games to ensure a deserved, if late, victory at Swindon.  Can anyone stop him since yours truly bet a tenner he’d not get to 20 goals this season?

Well, seems there is hope.  Dirty Leeds have only gone and made a bid.  How much can we rob them?  And will we have Slacki cheering on his goals for DL in hope of winning his money?  Do Leeds realise they’ll need to buy Marley Watkins as well, if Winnall is to function?  Still, class is permament, form temporary; let’s sell him now while the going’s good!

The Arkell's Stand

In more betting news, I have deviated from my normally pessimistic stance;  I heard pre-match we were 33s for promotion; I thought this a decent bet, given our current form. All we need to do is sneak into the play-offs…. Anyway, Pompey offered me 100/1, so I’ve put a pound on and he says he’ll be delighted to pay out.  (I’ve got to scrape back that Winnall cash somehow.)

To the game.  Good pre-match, a decent turnout in the Glue Pot and it’s real ale. And a tremendously hungover Jack, with tales of his latest ‘conquest’.  No Selwood though.  Rumour had it that he’d hired a classic car for Le Weekend and it had broken down.  Classic.  But Molly had come down to celebrate his birthday and BFC made it go with a bang.

The gladiators enter the arena

We bossed the 1^st half.  I’ve no idea how we didn’t score, but it struck me that if we have the same chances at Fleetwood, we’re going to Wembley.  Watkins had a one-on-one saved; same for Hourihane on the left.  Winnall headed over from Hourihane’s drilled-in cross.  Mawson jinked his way past a defender and hammered one narrowly over; Brownhill ‘Ronaldo’d’ a free kick narrowly over, stabbing it into the floor and making it dip suddenly, while Hourihane blazed a free kick out of the ground, after I’d confidently predicted which seat in row Z he would hit.  (Actually, it narrowly cleared the bar, bounced up the steps behind the goal and dribbled out of through an exit.)  So, somehow 0-0 at the break.

After the interval we allowed Swindon some kicks of the ball.  We stopped giving the ball to Isgrove, our main threat 1^st half, and let Swindon come on to us. Even then, Davies only had one half decent stop to make at his near post.  With tremendous backing from the away support, on came Josh Scowen for the disappointing Fletcher.  And who was that, whipping in a teasing cross which missed everyone apart from SSW who banged it home with the confidence of a Young Jack in a field in Barnsley, midweek?

The County Ground, bathed in sunshine

A few minutes remained and Swindon came at us, once.  A ball was laid back and with the goal gaping, that man Scowen threw himself across to block the shot (I’m cheating here, I thought it was a centre half, but it looked like Scowen on TV).  We appear to have a TEAM willing to do whatever is necessary to win a game.  Were we lucky? Well, wasn’t it Gary Player who once said ‘Yes.  And the harder I work, the luckier I get.’  Well done BFC, a tremendous victory.

*** Watkins. 

** Isgrove.  

* Scowen.

Londontykes' Top 3:
1. Watkins / Isgrove
3. Mawson / Brownhill  

Despatches:

Drink du jour: Verdett Belgian witte bier in the pub, followed by a disappointing array of strong but s*** lager.  Kroney, Stella and something Polish on the train. 

Away: 477.  Great atmosphere from the off.  Made a change standing at the back with the vocalites.  Andy and I still can’t bring ourselves to join in anything approaching worship of Little Lee though.  All he’s doing is what we said he should have done months ago.  (Bah humbug).  You know, 2 up top, others joining in the attack, kicking the ball forwards not sideways, etc

The Damage:
30 travel
25 ent
3.80 an abysmal hotdog which had obviously been sitting for a while.  40 mins in and the ‘steak and ale pie’ had run out.  I’ll try not to let it ruin my day.

I don't miss that away end.  In winter.  With horizontal snow.

Hometime.

It's cosy in 'ere.

Magnificent silhouettes

Behind the goal, pre-match

Back of the Arkell's

BFC 6-1 Rochdale, Saturday 23rd January 2016

‘OAP loses tooth in pothole trip’

Pre-match at t'well

Talk about poor timing.  On the day I make a bet with Slacki that Winnall won’t score 20 this season, he only goes and scores a hattrick as we DESTROY a Keith Hill XI six goals to one.  SIX GOALS.  I will need Waddington to tell me the last time that happened.  We were superb, save for a dodgy 10 minute spell when they pulled one back and made it a little nervy for a few minutes before the Man U bloke came on and ran them ragged.

We went ahead early…though not early enough that Hammill hadn’t already been chopped down twice.  However, Rochdale got their just desserts as Hamill curled in a free kick for Mawson to head home.  This was only minutes after Mawson made a brilliant clearance from virtually on his line as the visitors blasted one on from the left.  How costly that proved.  Otherwise, we were on top and in one fabulous move, Bree beat a couple of players, played a one-two and, despite the chance to score himself, laid it on a plate for Winnall to toepoke it to the keeper.  My money’s safe, I thought.

The teams come out...

Second half and it’s the Adam Hammill show once again, as he attacked down the left at speed before firing in a low cross for Winnall’s shin to score.  Only kidding.  It might have come off his foot.  By now we’re cruising and we can even afford Hourihane to miss in similar fashion to Winnall’s, 1^st half.  Actually, it was Winnall who laid it on for Hourihane to scuff.  Then we concede from a corner, as the bloke guarding the post decides not to guard the post.  The ball goes in somewhere near the post.  Poor.

Then we play our trump card: Fletcher of Man U is on and within a minute he has roasted the left back before whipping it in for Winnall to bag.  Feed the Sam and he will score.  3-1, the game is safe and the fans wake up.  ‘Lee Johnson’s red and white army’, ‘Johnson Johnson give us a wave’.  Still, I preferred ‘Keith Hill what’s the score?’ and an ironic ‘Keith Hill, give us a wave’ (he didn’t).

The Ponty

Another bit of Fletcher magic as he holds the ball up, shimmies, then puts a delightful throughball for Marley Watkins to run on to and drill high into the net.  4-1.  Dreamland!  But Fletcher’s not finished yet and outjumps the keeper.  Even more surprisingly, Winnall then outjumps the defender to head the ball into an empty net.  As someone (not me) said: Winnall’s at his best when he doesn’t have to think about it.  

Then comes our nightmare scenario.  Hammill is cleaned out in the last minute (fair, but brutal) and after prolonged treatment, is helped off.  There goes our chance of Wemberlee and Winnall’s chance of 20 goals this season.  Let’s hope it isn’t serious.  And to prove anyone can set up a goal, Hourihane floats the resultant corner in and everyone stands and stares as Long rises highest to head in.  See – we don’t miss Hammill after all!

The Dale, half a thou of 'em (507)

The top 3 is a real ‘mare today.  EVERYONE had a good game.  Again I was impressed by the midfield 2, Hourihane and Brownhill, holding it together, allowing the front 4 to do their stuff.   Brownhill played like a Pearson, nipping in to win balls and laying it off simply.  Perhaps he even lays it off a bit faster than Pearson, who sometimes held it too long (lack of options?)  The centre halves were superb (and both scored) while both fullbacks impressed.  With Aidey White out injured, I had my first sighting of George Williams, who we got from Worcester (I think) and he looked at home, while Bree was outstanding on the right.  Why’s he not been there all season?  Isgrove was busy, while we mustn’t forget Adam Hammill set up the opening goals which laid the foundation for victory.  Heskey and Owen (Watkins and Winnall) again showed they’re a real partnership.  In fact, I had a bit of sympathy for Winnall, who was pulled up for precisely nothing by the referee more than once.  The ref was possibly the worst I’ve seen all season. He really didn’t have a clue, including NOT giving them a free kick when Isgrove chopped their player.  (Isgrove retreated 10 yards…the whistle didn’t come, so he turned round and ran back to take the ball off their bloke who was lying prostrate.  I think this was what led to Hourihane’s unmissable miss.)  But that Fletcher guy looks the business.  Came on for 22 minutes and set up 3 goals.  But can he do it from the start?  Oh, and Scowen came on to a rousing reception near the end.  Unfortunately he came in for Brownhill, thereby ruining our chance of having the most Joshs in a team over the age of 11.

Match action

*** Hammill.  What can I say?  Take him out of our team and we’d be any other 3^rd division side.  Don’t believe me?  Well, we might be about to find out.

** Winnall.  Twitter MOTM.  Who am I to argue with Super Sammy Winnall’s ‘perfect hattrick’ (left foot, right foot, head).  8 goals in 4 league games, the only blemish being the Fleetwood game when he was on his own up front.  Maybe Little Lee is learning…

* Fletcher of Man U.  Bree and Mawson in particular should be well peeved I’m giving 3^rd to Fletcher’s cameo, but he was unplayable.  If he set up 3 in 22 minutes, by my reckoning, if he’d been on from the start we’d have won 14-0.

Londontykes' Top 3:

1. Winnall
2. Watkins

3. Mawson

Drink du jour: Train half an hour late, reputedly due to a body on the line, so only time for one pre-match Erdinger.  Spiced rum and ginger ale for the train (and a bottle of Prosecco: we were celebrating).  And  mini JD.  We were celebrating.  We even had our token lunatic (a Scottish nutter) on the train with us.  Thank god he got off at Donny.  He was an accident waiting to happen.  Back in London, we had an Asahi for every goal Winnall scored.  I could get used to this.

Later, fell asleep on the bus on the way back, woke up panicking (‘wherethehell am I?’) and jumped off.  Had no idea where I was, walked back the way I came and discovered I’d only just missed my bus stop.  Idiot.

Away: 507.  Decent turnout, when you consider the size of their home crowds.  I bet they wish they hadn’t bothered.

The Damage:
22 travel

Shrewsbury Town 0-3 BFC, Saturday 16th January 2016

‘E-i-e-i-e-i-o up to seventeenth we go’

Shrewsbury, yesterday

Can the Reds’ juggernaut be stopped?  I make that 3 away wins in a row I’ve seen (I missed P’boro).  Only 2 more and we’ve equalled the 5 in a row I saw us lose at home earlier this season.  That means, in the last 2 months we’ve enjoyed 5 (FIVE!) wins.  If one were to ignore the luck in beating Millwall, that means we’ve beaten 4 sides on MERIT - the sides currently occupying 19^th, 21^st, 22^nd and 23^rd.  Lies, damned lies, etc.  Anyway, we’re certainly either reeling teams in (Rochdale and Swindon are next; beat them and we could be above the pair) or we’re leaving teams behind (surely we’re destined to finish above the 4 sides we’ve recently beaten, as well as the hapless Crewe.)

The Main Stand from the outside

The fans (tremendous vocal support today) still sang ‘how s*** must you be’  but a couple of golden oldies joined the fray; ‘up the football league we go’, ‘It’s just like watching Brazil’ (once, not many takers).  How the tide turns.  ‘Lee Johnson’s red and white army’.  No wonder he came over at the end to milk the applause.  Tactical genius:  2 up front, with wingers in support.  I don’t know why no-one else thought of it.  Now, if only we can beat Barcelona this season, that’ll cancel out the Altrincham defeat.  

A la Wycombe, the last building in town.

Mind, I’m not sure about baiting these Welshies (Shrewsbury!) by singing the BRITISH national anthem…or ‘Ingerlund, Ingerlund’.  But I could understand ‘sheep sheep sheep shaggers’ cos we could definitely see a flock in the distance; a la Wycombe, this really was the last building in town. But as Andy has said, singing ‘Shrewsbury is a s***hole’ is clearly the work of those deluded enough not to have spent some time IN Shrewsbury.  I hope they stay up…

'Super Blues'.  Almost as funny as 'The Super Reds'

We battered Shrews in the 1^st half and coulda, shoulda been 3 or 4 to the good.  Instead, we nearly went in at two-all, as Davies saved a pen and a bullet header off a corner as the half closed.  How the ref found them that pen, I’ll never know.  It looked a perfectly good tackle to me – and I had a better view than the ref.  Perhaps that was the problem.


By then it was 0-2.  Their defence look worse than ours, a long boot from Davies resulting in Winnall clean through.  Cunningly, he chose to blast it with his left THROUGH the keeper.  With such left-footed confidence, I thought it was Hourihane at 1^st.  Phew.  Then, Winnall runs at a couple of defenders, they back off, and he bobbles one in to the far corner from 20 yards.  I’d be embarrassed myself if Winnall scored from that range against ME, so I bet that keeper’s not playing next week.Winnall was, of course, joined by Marley Watkins this week – our very own Heskey and Owen (a carthorse and a one-trick pony).  We’ll be alright till we qualify for the finals and play against some decent opposition.  Or, more likely, Rochdale.  Anyway, well done the pair of them, they tore Shrews apart.Second half…we sat back, invited them on (to no danger whatsoever) before the Adam Hammill show took effect  for the last half hour and he took the p*** and destroyed them down our left.  Still, we only had a Mawson header to show for all our promising opportunities, as he bundled home after his header was blocked from behind the line.  Would the 1^st effort have counted?  I’ll never know.  

Davies saves the pen.

My marks?*** Loko.  Thanks for the lift to and from the ground.  Shrewsbury is a lovely, lovely place, but their new ground is a bit of a f*** on to get to.  I certainly wouldn’t fancy walking it.** Hicksy.  Had a fiver accumulator which rested on Leicester beating Villa in the evening game.  I caught the end, showing Mahrez missing a pen and Villa equalising.  ‘F***ing Mahrez’ I texted our resident gambler.  ‘It’s ok, I cashed out 4 mins earlier for £130’.  Genius!  (And also the 1^st person I’ve ever known to use that ‘cash out’ thing I see advertised every time I watch football on telly)* Mrs Loko.  For telling us the reason she doesn’t care for football is cos it’s ‘too aggressive’ (just after telling me why she likes rugby league and boxing).  I presume she means the fans…(Hicksy and Loko??)
Otherwise:

*** Winnall.  There is a definite correlation between his ability to stand up and his likelihood of scoring.  If he fancies his chances of scoring, he’ll do his best to stand up and vice versa.  Today he stood up.  And he scored (two).  Always said he was brilliant!  

** Davies.  What can I say?  Shouldn’t have even been needed what with our dominance, but who knows what would have happened had they bagged.  Another BFC collapse?  

* Hammill.  I love you, Adam.  You make watching Barnsley almost a pleasure.  Don’t ever leave.
Londontykes' Top 3:
1. Winnall
2. Davies

3. Hammill

'bury 0 'sley 3

Despatches:
Nice to see Bree get another run-out.  Not perfect, but more pluses than minuses.  AT LEAST as good as Wabara.  White again looked good going forward, while I never noticed the centre halves save for Mawson scoring.  Hourihane played deeper (told to look after debutant Brownhill?) and looked all the better for it.  Wadd will point out he took the corner for Mawson to score.  I will point out he took the free kick which flew over the bar (again).  Brownhill…I never noticed…performed the Luke Berry role very well…and Isgrove ran around a lot.  Someone should throw him a stick.
Drink du jour:  ‘You’ve come all the way here and you drink exactly the same drink you could have had anywhere in Europe’.  Yes, we hunted out the Shrewsbury and District CAMRA pub of the year so I could have a bottle of Leffe.  Later on, I enjoyed a bottle of Erdinger in another pub.  Sorry lads, I just don’t care for bitter.  
I’m with Andy though:  next time, we should get here at 10am and have a pub crawl.  Shrewsbury really is charming.  Especially when juxtaposed with the charming village of Wolverhampton down the road – where I changed trains.  Honestly, there’s a lot to be said for lower league football, one being the lack of visits to the likes of Wolverhampton and Brumingham.
One point of note re: the home fans; however well they were getting beaten, there was no flooding out the ground for them, so give them their dues.  If we were getting drubbed by the likes of Barnsley, we’d be…well, we’d be confused for a start!
Onwards and upwards!
Away: 789
The Damage:
99.80 train (via Solihull, Fri nite - treating the other half!)
70 hotel in Shrews (see above)
20 ent (see above - she didn't want to come to the match!)
3 prog

= £192.80

Londontykes' flag

Drab day for Shrews fans

The teams come out

Two of these may or may not run Reds' fans bar Redfearns

Shrews fans to our right

A Barnsley flag in the home end. 

A minute's silence.  I never did catch why.

Couldn't resist.  Genius.

BFC 1-1 Fleetwood, Saturday 9th January 2016

‘I can’t get to mi’ seat fo’ t’part timers’

After 2 successive home wins, it was business as usual at t’Well:
4-5-1 and zero threat ✓unable to defend against poor opposition ✓a loanee making his debut ✓Hourihane and Winnall awful ✓rescued by Adam Hammill ✓
The Northern Area Final of the John Stones Paint Trophy and a fiver a ticket.  Cue our biggest home crowd of the season (in terms of home support), nearly 11,000 and something I’ve not seen in a while at Oakwell: queues to get in.  And what with it being a Saturday fixture, my 1^st ever BFC ‘Associate Members Cup’ game.  I think the last one of these I went to was Darlo v Halifax where a certain David Currie was playing.

Busier than normal around here...

Fast forward 27 years (is it REALLY that long ago?) and this is the level we’re punting at. A couple of changes too.  Out went Marley Watkins (injured) so in came Little Lee’s one up front again.  How many times does Little Lee have to see Sam Winnall play on his own up top before he realises it’s beyond his capability?  Can’t hold a ball up, can’t beat a man, can’t shoot…Christ.  Pearson meantime has gone back to Man U and was replaced by Brad Abbot, who was also awful.  Poor tackling and passing, he fitted right in.  Hourihane was back to his ‘best’ while Williams spent the match looking confused.  When I think about it, given the number of poor performances in our side today, I don’t understand how we didn’t lose.

Queues!  Unheard of.

*** Davies.  Caught crosses, saved a few, excellent kicking.  Somehow got done for the goal and I’m still not sure what happened, just as I’m not sure it crossed the line – but the linesman was and he was in a better position to see it than me.
** White.  Drove past players 3 or 4 times.  Howthehell is he not good enough for Rotherham?
* Isgrove.  Twitter MOTM.  Another good 60 minutes, before he disappeared.

Londontykes' Top 3:
1. Isgrove
2. White

3. Davies

Despatches:A mini Hourihane-watch: He lost the ball twice in areas he shouldn’t in the 1^st half, once being rescued by a Davies flying save and once by a Brad Abbot block.  He also got injured twice, one of them being from his failure to win a tackle he ought to have been favourite to win.  I have since read he had a shot, but I don’t remember that.  ‘Selective memory’ obviously.  We must be fighting off those bids this month…
Oh, and we equalised.  Little Lee dragged off a s*** midfielder (spoilt for choice today) and went 2 upfront.  Within 5 minutes we have equalised: Hammill whips in a cross and Man U loanee Fletcher make a great run and crashes the header home off the underneath of the bar.  Wembley here we come (!!)

Into the cauldron...

Drink du jour: Erdinger, then vodka and orange and more beer in the pub.  And yes, I fell asleep on the bus.  I said it was business as usual!
Away: 415.  In terms of home support, our biggest, bestest crowd of the season.  The Ponty were full of singing all match – which just showed quality support makes FA difference to this team.

The Damage:
£5 ent
£34 train

The teams shake hands

417 Fish Heads or whatever they call themselves (seriously, I don't know)

The Ponty in 1st half action.

A full(ish) Ponty as darkness descends; a fine sight.

BFC 2-1 Millwall, Saturday 2nd January 2016

‘I never thought seeing a bloke’s arse would make my day.’

Oakwell, 2:45pm.  Dismal.

Having woken up feeling under the weather, I seriously considered giving this one a miss. But I don’t live to be holed up in bed all day, and I’m glad I went.  Exciting game, chances either side and the Super Reds winning AGAIN.  I make that 2 home games in a row.  Is this a record?

Millwall looked a decent team too (unlike Blackpool).  Once we were 2-1 up, we were put under a lot of pressure and rode our luck.  They hit the woodwork 3 times and we cleared another 3 off the line.  More jam than Hartleys, tho perhaps we deserved the luck.  We’d played well and, whatever possession stats say, it felt like we were the team in control, while Millwall tried to kick us off the pitch.  Some things never change.

The weather wasn't much better inside.

Like Blackpool on Monday, we led early; this time Winnall flicking in a header from a sublime Hammill cross, whipped in with pace.  Later, like Blackpool on Monday, we concede an equaliser despite being on top, a scramble in our box and the ball coming off a post for Morrison to knock it in on the rebound.  Then, like Blackpool on Monday, we take the bull by the horns.  We do what any average team with one star player would do – give it to said player and let him win the game by himself.  Hammill does the necessary, cutting inside one, cutting inside another and burying it low into the net.  So much for putting 2 men on him.  He’s too good for this division.

No way!

*** Hammill.  Twitter MOTM.  What can you say?  Is capable of something from nothing.  While having a tendency to be a bit greedy at times, why shouldn’t be be?  If he does pass, someone else only goes and messes it up.  Nearly grabbed a second a minute after his goal, when he cut back and hit a sizzler to the far corner, superbly tipped out for a corner by the keeper. 

** Pearson.  A welcome boost.  Thought he'd played his last game for us.  Where would we be without someone to win the ball for Hammill to do his magic?

* White.  Got skinned once in the first half but continues to be a threat going forward, running at players.
Londontykes' Top 3:
1. Hammill

2. Pearson

3. White

The 'wall wall.  All 385 of them.

Despatches:News hot off the press:  The Flying Scotsman is no more.  Following refurbishment, it’s only gone and turned into some poncy looking pub, ‘The Scottish Stores’.  Appalling name, appalling looking pub.

I was told Satdy must be my dream game – we won and Hourihane was s***.  No, my dream game is we win and Hourihane plays WELL.  No-one will ever come in for him at this rate.  Millwall fans know the score, chanting ‘winka winka’ at him after one poor challenge.  I did enjoy ‘proven goalscorer’ Michael Smith coming on as sub though..to a collective groan.  Has anyone told him his contract isn’t being renewed?  Most of us thought we’d already got rid.  Wabara had another improved game.  If contract negotiations improve a player this much we should put him on a weekly contract.  Mawson had his best game in ages, really being put through the wringer against the powerful (dirty?) Morrison and standing up to it.  Long got his mouth going and organised the defence, possibly one reason they were throwing their bodies all over the place as Millwall pressed late on.  Watkins had a good game, another one needed in a physical battle, while I didn’t see Winnall have a go at the ref till the 80^th minute.  (I problies missed the others).  Talking of which, Pearson ran 25 yards to have an argument again yesterday.  He must be a nightmare to live with.  Oh, and nearly forgot Isgrove.  There’s a reason for that.

Onwards and upwards!

Drink du jour: Erdinger, then Vodka (Finlandia…mmmmm!) and orange for the athletes, JD and coke for the rock stars.

Away: 385.  Where does Salisbury get his figures from?  (‘700 sold, hoping for 1000’)  Millwall NEVER bring numbers, one of the reasons there’s never any trouble between us.  We also never saw a Millwall fan there or back on the train to London, which was a shame, COS WE WON!

Nearly there...

The Main Stand, sheeting rain.

The Ponty