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.