Brid 4 Shirebrook 0 (a) & Brid 4 Lincoln Moorland 0 (h)

I have had time to digest yesterdays great offering. I wish I could have got to Shirebrook, unfortunately, it just wasn’t going to happen, I’d had to take my good lady (well my wife if truth be known) and my little ‘un to the food market in Hull. During our late lunch, I sent a text to PaulNFFC asking for an update on the score – he sent one back saying we were 2-0 down and down to 9 men. Bollocks ! I sent him one back saying I’m glad I didn’t go, then he called me to say he was only joking and that we were 2-0 up, they were down to 10, but we weren’t playing too well. And then he kindly told me that Palms had got 2 more and it finished 4 zip.

I was quite happy listening and watching the old ding dong going on at the Brittania, where Stoke were having a right old ding dong with Aston Villa, eventually big Mamady Sidibe getting an injury time winner – I was so pleased for him, coz he’s such a top bloke. Apparently the Villa fans were moaning about the size of the Stoke team,”it’s like playing a basketball team ffs, and you had even bigger players on the bench (such as Mama – 6′7″) – so the London 2012 GB basketball team should be managed by Mr Pulis……

Bank Holiday Monday brought Lincoln Moorland to the theatre of wet dreams, and for a while, were a tough nut to crack, mind you, our expectations are such that after 10 minutes, some sections of the Town faithful were giving Craig Palmer a hard time coz he hadn’t scored yet – and he took it with the amusement it was dished out in. Moorland were like the others that we’ve seen so far this year; they struggled to make an impact, resorted to some fairly bad tackling, but lost out to a good footballing side. As is the problem I’ve come across when videoing the game, we create so many opportunities, I run out of battery (should be rectified for next time) – I missed three good goals, but I also missed a couple of sitters – Liam Cattermole’s would be worthy of some decent bribe if I had caught it.

Songs chosen : McFadden & Whitehead’s Aint no Stopping us now (cooommmeeee ooonnnn), Chumbawumba’s tubthumping (no matter what they do to the lads, they keep getting back up), Warren’s cow cry and The Strawbs – Part of the union, (because I feel we have a great “union” within the team).

Any requests for tracks will be noted and I will try and accomodate.

Raffle : 0/5

Games seen : 10

Goals seen : 25 home 20 away 1 other

Out of /10 : 8 another cracking effort from all the guys, gotta worry about the tackling from the opposition and the very weak ref. And a special mention to Warren, who was very downbeat when he got told off. I told him not to get pissed off by it, he had managed to wind the opposition up, so much so that they moaned about him, plus he had great banter with the bus shelter – keep it up Warren !!

Brid 3 Guisborough 2 (h)

Today was the start of our FA Cup campaign, but it was also the start of Stoke’s foray into the Premiership. I’d managed to find a live stream for the Stoke game and thought i’d watch a piece of history in the making. It turned into a first half nightmare. So I thought i’d nip over to Queensgate in the second half to see how the lads were doing.

With half hour to go we were 2-1 up, and within two minutes of arriving, Craig Palmer gets his hat trick with a smartly taken goal. 5 minutes later and the visitors pull a goal back with a goal, a bit of a soft one, but well taken none the less.

What was interesting from the half hour or so that I saw, was their number 8. He epitomized that kind of player who’s aggressive attitude borders on thuggery. It looked like his job was to stop our midfielder play maker Ash Allanson – no matter what. He was over the top with his tackles, plenty of verbals and hand gestures – and he was what, 4 foot 6 !. No doubt he had some talent but skill wins through most of the time, like it did today.

It would be interesting to know who was the last Brid player who scored back to back hat tricks in competitive games, and if only he’d put away one of those other chances at Hall Road, he’d have 3 back to back hat tricks.

Brid 5 Dinnington 3 (h)

Ok, back from my trip away and to top a shitty week (bar the football), I crashed my car, well rammed it up the back of a landrover, virtually nothing to the landrover, mine is battered – see pic at the bottom.

What can I say about Tuesday thats not already been said or seen on the vid. The lads were superb. Plenty of passing, plenty of efforts and plenty of commitment. Only worry has to be two of their goals where we seemed to let them “waltz” through – but hey we can’t have everything. Was nice to get a bit more of the game and goals on the vid, but i’ll try and invest in a new battery before Sat to try and get it all.

Songs chosen : Back Home (because we were for the first home game of the season), Johnny Cash’s Walk the Line (as the forwards and defenders will walk the line) & New Order’s True Faith – which we all have !!

Raffle : 0/4

Games seen : 9

Goals seen : 21 home 20 away 1 other

Out of /10 : 9 another cracking effort from all the guys, gotta small worry about 2 of their goals. Palms with a hat trick – good for him. But the fitness of the team needs a special mention, as we really did come into our own in the second half. Thanks guys, was really enjoyable, especially Warren, who despite being sin binned, kept me laughing throughout.

Brid 3 Hall Road Rangers 1 (a)

The first game of the new season took us to one of our nearest foes, Hall Road Rangers. For many fans, getting back to competitive footy was long overdue, but to the home of some of our old boys – Paul Palmer, Jamie Barnwell, Marting Thacker, Lee “skip” Harper and Dave Ingram.

Guess what ? It was bloody raining again.

A brilliant turn out from the Town faithful, saw us outnumber the locals, even in the torrential rain.

The scoreline was a poor reflection of the game, in fairness 8 or 9-1 would be more that realistic given the number of chances and amount of possession we had.

Please try and enjoy the attached video of todays game. I had to cover the sound with music, because some of the language wasn’t suitable. So I covered it with Tenpole Tudors war cry “Swords of a thousand men” and the Farm’s “All together now.”

I’m no Martin Scorsese but hopes it reflects the dominance we had in todays game. And I will learn to keep my battery life, because i missed three of todays goals ( I got Palms’s 1st though.

Raffle – 0/3

Games seen : 8

Goals seen : 16 home 17 away 1 other

Out of /10 : 9 was a brilliant performance by everyone today. HRR really struggled to get into the game. Great to see so many traveling fans at the game and to be so buoyed by the teams performance – that hasn’t happened for a very long time. The only downer was their goal, but well taken by Jamie Barnwell.

Sir Bobby Robson…

A man who has been a truly inspirational person throughout his career, he nearly brought the nation to a standstill in 1990 when we got knocked out of the world cup on pens to the Germans.

Sadly, as many people know, Sir Bobby has been suffering from Cancer, and like anything else in his life, he has battled vigorously to over come this awful disease. Here is a press release from the press association that was released earlier today…

Time Short in Robson’s Cancer battle

10 hours ago

Former England manager Sir Bobby Robson has admitted he will lose his battle with lung cancer “sooner rather than later”.

Robson has been battling a fifth bout of the illness and has accepted doctors’ prognosis that he is unlikely to beat it.

Speaking to The Sun, he said: “I have accepted what they have told me and I am determined to make the most of what time I have left. I am going to die sooner rather than later. But then everyone has to go some time, and I have enjoyed every minute.”

He added: “I have been fortunate to survive this long. It is thanks to the doctors and their dedication.”

Sir Bobby, who took England to the brink of a World Cup final in Italy in 1990, has enjoyed a football career spanning six decades – from playing days with Fulham and England, to managerial triumphs first with Ipswich and then as national coach at two World Cups, to continental coaching appointments.

He later returned to his native north-east to take over at Newcastle and most recently spent a short time as consultant for the Republic of Ireland.

I only hope the great man doesn’t suffer anymore than he has to, but god willing I hope he enjoys life as best he can until then. Here is a youtube vid (about 10 minutes long) which is an interview he did with Gary Linekar on the BBC a while back, a fantastic tribute.

Brid 1 Smith & Nephew 2 (a)

Jesus Mary and Joseph it was raining again. The game was taking place at some smart all weather pitch at Hull Universities facilities. We were putting out a reasonably strong side in our last friendly before the league opener at Hall Road Rangers on Saturday. But with 6 or 7 subs to cater for, it was going to be a difficult night accommodating everyone.

The game was played in poor conditions, but the Brid lads continued in their style of playing the ball on the deck and working for each other. The opposition were up for the game and were certainly no mugs – they were very big and powerful winning most of the highballs. Their goalie was in truly sensational form tonight, winning every high ball into the box and making some excellent saves – he certainly impressed squad member Warren Spear !

We took the lead on the half hour with a well worked goal down the right, made by Alex Rhodes and well finished by the returning James McGarry, probably no more than we deserved at that point. Second half beckoned and we made wholesale changes for it, and as the half progressed we made further changes – we had a good 7 or 8 attacking players on at that point when the opponents scored two cracking goals within 10 minutes of each other. It was hard to come back from that with a few minutes to go.

Games seen : 7

Goals seen : 13 home 16 away 1 other

Out of /10 : 7, the weather was crap, the game was good for a run out come training session, the opposition gave a good account of themselves, and the officials were pretty good tonight – my glasses must have been misted up throughout, and the facilities are something Brid would be proud of.

Annoyingly, well sort of, I drove past Queensgate to see mass numbers spilling out of the place and the floodlights beaming out brightly in the misty night sky – Scarborough were at “home” – I might have kept dry and had a beer and seen Boro beat Brodsworth 2-0 – one of the goals can be seen here —>

and the other one here ……

lol there were more fans at SMith & Nephew than at Queensgate tonight by the looks of it !!

Thieving bastards……

You know what I find scandalous, and very irritating ? Hospital car park charges.

Haven’t we paid for these things in our “contributions” to both the tax system and the NI scheme ?

Apparently not !

In order to visit my wife (or any patient come to that), Hull Royal Infirmary have partnered up with NCP to allow me to park in “their” car park, the princely sum of £1.50 for 1 hour, £2.50 for 2 and a whopping £5 for up to 6 hours. This isn’t London you know people. We are merely people wanting to go and visit loved ones to help them with their recuperation process whilst in the hospital.

If the escalated fuel costs aren’t difficult enough as it is, but bloody hell, those charges are just out of proportion. And how much do NCP cream off ? Or their % ? It’s just not right.

Brid 1 Farsley Celtic 6 (h)

It was a topsy-turvy kind of a day weather wise, hot and sunny one minute, peeing down and threats of showers intermittently. Starving and thirsty and ready for some footy, I headed off to the theatre of wet dreams to watch the boys entertain Conference/ Blue Square premier league outfit – Farsly Celtic. There were now a massive 4 divisions between the teams.

In 2004/2005 season, we played these guys in the Unibond Prem, losing 2-0 at home (30-10-04 in front of 222) and a 3-1 defeat at their place on the 9th April 2005, with Steve Heath getting the goal.

I raise this point as we were competing with these guys 4 years back, now there’s a huge gulf, sadly.

It would be a real test for the lads against, effectively, a full time semi-pro outfit. This would be a sterner run out than that against a Hull XI recently.

I think we started with a 4-3-3 formation and battled well with some good forays into the opponents half. Farsley though, were much sharper, better vision and more comfortable with the ball – as you’d expect really. We only conceded one in the first half, which looked soft from where I was (a mile away) but you have to give credit to the Farsley scorer who made it look easier than it perhaps was. I had a good chat with Mr Allanson (the don of the family) whose undoubted knowledge and tactics have obviously rubbed off on his boy and his grandsons – was a real pleasure to have a chat with him.

Raffle continues in the same vein – 0 wins out of /2 entries

We had a real problem dealing with things down our left side in the first half and the two fullbacks were left a little exposed, 2nd half came and changes were made – goalie and out field players. Poor old Jody Barford went in goal and “had a bit of a mare” for 10 minutes early into the half – lobbed from 20 yards, then he passed to their centre forward whilst clearing wide to a full back and then..something else that I couldn’t remember – oh yeah two more goals. He did make a few good stops in the half, but was under pressure throughout from the traveling army, taking the piss out of him big time.

Craig Palmer scored a peach of a goal, and on my little digi camera, I got the moment he cracked it from outside the box – but thats it, coz the camera’s sooo sloooow !! Great goal though. Eventually we lose 6-1, a very smartly taken 6th goal by the visitors. Towards the end of the game, they stretched us far and wide and we struggled to contain them – again as you’d expect.

I think our lads have seen what they need to achieve if they want to move up the ranks in the footballing world, but I think they gave good account of themselves.

Games seen : 6

Goals Seen : 12 home 14 away 1 other

out of 10 : 8 another good run out, Ash Allanson was absolutely awesome today, can’t see him staying for long, be a shame for the team if he does move, but great for the lad if he can better & improve himself elsewhere, somewhere higher up the pyramid.

Herewith some pics – Palms taking his shot (a long way off i know), Chibs free kick in the first half (just over the wall, the bar, the building….) and todays starting team sheet.

NCEL teams for 2008-2009

An interesting find on the NCEL website, that shows a google map with a tag for all the clubs in both divisions. I just thought it would be interesting to see where all the away games are going to be this year.

Herewith the map, alternatively, click the link to get a bigger view.

View Larger Map

Red toggles are the premier division, blue are the first. THe pink (i.e. us) are where there is NCEL club groundshare – why pink, the cheeky sods !