Harrow Borough’s Rocky Baptiste is currently on the front page of the Yahoo site with the above title. It stems from an amazing run and shot from him. The more I look at the video, the more it looks like a set up. Anyway, you decide, here it is…

A James Cordon sound-a-like is in the background shouting “Whats he done, Whats he done,   What has he done”  Any higher and only the dogs could hear him.

Another away game, and again against our old adverseries. I love the ground, the club house the atmosphere especially when 100+ of the 147 are Brid fans. How do they know there were 147 in the ground ? When the guy on the turnstile didnt dish out any entrance tickets and didn’t or couldn’t distinguish between the number of oldies, kids and Brid faithful coming in.

Some of our old players are still there, though no Jamie Barmwell, but they had James McGarry within their ranks. It wasn’t cold cold, but chilly enough. And the atmosphere got even icier when McGarry bundles a ball home on 5 mimutes, this after we missed a couple of decent early chances. The game gets a little scrappy after this, but we dominate posession, but the pitch doesn’t help matters. We restore parity on 15 minutes when an unlikely hero smacks the ball into the roof of the net when the ball pings around the penalty area, at first I thought it was Frank that had blasted it, but it turned out to be Carl “Gibbo” “Fleshman” Giblin. And i am pleased for Carl, because he has been such a great player for Town and nobody deserves a goal more than him.

Mssrs Thacker and Palmer receive a very warm welcome from some of the away fans, in fairness to Martin, he takes some of it with a pinch of salt and a smile. The half finishes 1-1, in reality, we should have been 3 or 4-1 up.

The second half starts well and its not long before Danny Buttle is brought into the mix and nearly caps his start with a cross come shot come “oooh just inches wide” effort. Moments later he crosses in and Alex Rhodes looks “oh so surprised” when his effort actually goes in.

Somewhere around the second half, and Ash Allanson is fouled in the box by James McGarry and another defender and we gets another penalty. Frank steps up and belts it one, over the bar !! Flip he missed one. I think the pitch played a part, as I saw the ball bobble just as Frank was about to take the kick.

11 minutes later, I think it is Wayne Wallace that drives a ball at goal from outside the box and he hits it straight at Craig Burdicks face, Craig contorts his body, and probably his face too, to steer the ball into the goal.

Moments of the game left, Wallace hits another shot from outside the box and this time Tom Fleming steers the ball into the goal. We thoroughly deserved the win, we were by far and away the best team, and Tom Fleming was by far and away my Man of the Match, though special mention to Ash Allanson who had a good game and all the other lads, we also had the best fans, the best songs, the smartest fan (Jordan), the best put downs, the best goals blah blah blah. Stoke didn’t lose either.

A quick funny from Sundays FA Cup 3rd round draw, you know, thee most important draw of the year. I was painting my little ‘uns room when the draw was being made,3rd or 4th tie and Stoke come out as the home team (Number 36 – Stoke City). I’m shouting “Number 61….Number 61″ the lads going who’s that then….(Number 61) yeeeessss I scream, “its York City”  (YORK CITY) says the man on the telly, well Jim Rosenthal does. My lads going, “how the hell did you know it was 61 ? and how the hell did you know it was York City ? Is this recorded ?” ha, I was quite pleased with myself for that shout, which was probably a 57-1 chance or so, if only i’d had a fiver on it.

Okay okay I haven’t updated this for a teeny while, and it’s 8 days since we beat W&W in the East Riding Cup. i suppose me and a few others expected a deluge against our lower league rivals, whose numbers included a few ex Brid players like Matt Fyvie. We were playing a near full strength team, so hopes were good.

The visitors were no pushover, they did have one or two attacks, but we really did struggle to break them down. It wasn’t until the 77th minute when Frank Belt dispatched one of his infamous thunderbolt penalties into the ether that settled the game, this after Ash Allanson was brought down in the box. There isn’t a lot more that I can remember.

The weather was clear but cold, but the threat of another storm was on the horizon. Incredibly, there were 153 through the gate, especially given the status of the game we were playing, especially as we had 156 at the game on Saturday.

Well, it was a bit like after the Lord Mayor’s show. Many years ago, I visited QPR to watch a game, and then a few weeks after that, I went to watch their reserves in action. What I found completely bizarre, was the contrast of watching a game in front of 15,000 and then watching a game in front of 600 in the same stadium, there is a very eerie silence watching a match in such a big stadium with no fans. And that is what it felt like today, well not so much the big stadium bit, but the contrast in crowd size to last weeks.

We were entertaining Hallam today, the floodlights were on from the start, whilst it promised to rain, persistantly, it never got more than a few spots. The wind was in attendance, but not the 100mph stuff that had been plying its trade this past week.

The game was a good workout, though we didn’t need to step out of second gear. Hallam were good opponents, but apart from a couple of efforts in the second half, didn’t really trouble Mark Wilberforce. Giblin and Dexter worked hard in the centre of defence, Brunton and Belt were solid in defence and  supportive to the wingers. Ash and Wayne in the middle controlled the game, Buttle and Rhodesey getting up and down the wings, and todays hat trick hero Craig Palmer up front. Phillo came off the bench to get the fourth. But my man of the match (plenty of contenders today – again !!) goes to our captain Tom Fleming, who seemed to be involved in everything. He was tackling, running, getting involved and leading by example today.

And all the while, news was coming through from the Scarborough game at Shirebrook. They were 2 up at half time and “cruising,” but within 7 minutes of the restart they were losing 3-2 and after 20 minutes they were down 4-2. Hoggy gets one back with 5 to go, but it was to no avail. The Seadog Forum was in overdrive with peoples reactions. Unfortunately Rainworth win also. The league standings are :

Bridlington P15 37pts

Scarborough P18 37pts

Rainworth P15 37pts

Armthorpe P15 35pts

And finally, my 4 year + wait for a win in the raffle has at last come to an end. A fine bottle of Merlot is sat ready to be glugged !!

A very good day indeed.

This weekend saw the most hits on the blog for over 14 months. Previous record for 1 day was 117, thanks largely to some video I’d put up Youtube.  Sunday’s attendance was 164, this I know was primarily because of Scarborough fans stopping by to read up on Saturdays Vase game. So a little Xmas ditty to show my thanks.

And now a football related funny from this weekends game Bury v Notts County, poor old Daniel Nardiello

So, the quirky hand of fate had us all playing again, just 7 days since we were last at it. During the last week, we had played and beaten Arnold Town at their place in El Presidente’s Cup and Scarborough had a (soon to be) mid-table clash with Armthorpe, where it finished 1-1, nice.

The tingle wasn’t there this week, the cloud of doom from above my head had only just cleared from last week. Another healthy crowd drinking and eating plenty, the chairmen would be pleased.

Conditions for the game were not that bad compared to what had been happening – it had been lashing it down and swirling a gale just the night before.

We started off well, it was scrappy at times, but the majority of chances went our way. Our passing and movement was good, and the lads at the back were making some exceptional last ditch tackles to keep the lively Scarborough strikers at bay. Again it was Nathan that broke the deadlock, a “disputed” effort, as the lino had flagged for an offside, but stood where I was, Nathan had come through the line, but there was a player in an offside position (i think it was Frank Belt). Fair play to the ref, who I think had a great game, he had kept up with play and seen Nathans run, and quickly consulted with the lino to tell him he was wrong with his decision.

As we neared half time, it felt like I was living some kind of Groundhog Day, oh god we’re 1 up and Boro are getting back into the game, but thankfully Craig Burdick puts my mind at ease with a fine goal.

Second half and Scarborough do try and get back into the game, with a fine goal from Ryan Blott, shit it is happening all over again. However, this goal is only the start of an 8 minute period of goal action. Frank Belt scores another “belter” from outside the box in open play two minutes later. I have read on the Seadog forum that the keeper was at fault for letting this one go through him, in fairness, Frank hit it with such force that the keeper was shaping to save it, but it took a slight deflection on its way through, the keeper had little time to react.

Jordan of the Mafia, jumped onto the pitch to celebrate with Craig Burdick, and was promptly rugby tackled by a very very keen steward and frog marched out of the ground. If, a big if, the steward had done that to me, I would have been frog marched out of the ground by the rozzers, coz I would have chinned the steward for the way he handled the situation. 1) there was no need to man handle Jordan like that 2) whilst I don’t condone what Jordan did, some perspective of what the game meant to everyone should be observed, just someone showing a little passion. A good ticking off would have sufficed. 3) there are NO SIGNS saying to stay off the pitch 4) the stewards were probably pissed off at the singing and the fact we were whipping their arses on the pitch.

A massive four minutes later and the majority of the 1002 fans in the ground are cheering as Craig Hogg reduces the deficit again. But undeterred by this, we go up the other end, and Ash Allanson delivers a bullet corner that is met on the nearpost by Wayne Wallace with a thunder header. Wayne had an excellent game today and topped it off with an identically worked goal 10 minutes from time.

We did have a few other chances, but their keeper made some smart saves to keep our lads at bay. All in all a great day, great display by the lads, because they all played out of their skin, the back four were immense, the midfield made great runs with some slick passing and Palms up front, whilst he didnt get much of a sniff in front of goal, he did hold the play up and chase down their defenders and keeper.

The cloud of doom has been replaced by a sparkling ray of sunshine.

BionicBarmby has put highlights of the first half online, so credit to him for this footage, thanks.

To celebrate todays joyous occasion, a small prayer from the year 2000. Fat Les and The Pet Shop boys cheering England on with an updated version of a timeless classic.

Ok, it’s 6 days after the game, and I can only just gather the inspiration to jot down my thoughts and views from last Saturdays first game.

The tenant v landlord game has always sparked a highly charged atmosphere, irrespective of how good the football or the teams are. Saturdays encounter was no different. Many Brid supporters had been very excited relishing the thought of this fixture, yeah I had a tingle too, but mine didn’t really materialise until I got to the ground at 2. There were probably 150 in the ground at this point, wow.

We warmed up in our normal fashion, SAFC turned up in ones and twos and had a reasonable workout, and all the while the turnstiles were kept very busy. Our angelic choir boys were in full sing, with numbers swelled for the game. Kick off comes, and the ground is busier than that of the FC United game nearly 2 years to the day, as it turns out there were 1082 in the ground – an NCEL record.

3 o’clock comes and the whole ground is buzzing, that sort of “first game of the season” “non-league team drawn against United at Old Trafford” kind of a tingle. The early signs were good and we have the majority of play and posession. Nathan breaks the deadlock on about 6 minutes, I cheer, but there isn’t that many around me doing the same, GULP. But thankfully, everyone around me is there for the game, like me. And on that point, the spirit amongst the two sets of fans was brilliant.

Talking of brilliant, the SAFC keeper made some excellent saves in the game, and we do waste a few more of our own in the first half. However, we do go into the break 1 up. There were a couple of talkie points in the first half, but this is not the forum to discuss them – coz I can’t be bothered.

Second half and someone has sprinkled some magic dust on the “visitors” and some “play like a mongue” dust on the home team – thats a bit harsh, in fairness we just weren’t allowed to play, and when we did, the keeper was exceptional form or we just lost our composure in front of goal. They scored a well taken goal from a free kick, and not so long later, the most dubious of handballs was given and they were given a penalty. The ball was driven at goal and hit a hand down by the defenders side, 750+ people shout for a penalty and the man in the middle gives it. Its duly dispatched.

We lose 2-1, and then the next day Stoke lose to Hull in exactly the same fashion. It was such a choker, and it really pissed me off if truth be known. Hence the motivation to only now write up some old drivel.

Hot Shots Part Deux tomorrow, lets hope its not a comedy like its film namesake.

The day started at the sort of time I would normally be going to bed, followed by a 4 hour drive in the pouring rain to Cambridge for a meeting. There wasn’t a hope in hells chance that I was coming back the same day after the 9 hour discussion so I decided to stop down for three days (and do some proper work) and take in a local match. The only game within a reasonable distance was this very local derby, albeit it was their yooof teams playing in the first round proper of the FA Yooof cup (winners to play Tranmere yooof).

From my temporary digs, the ground was about 6 miles away and when I got there I was very surprised to see loads and loads of cars and people queuing to go in. The Glassworld Stadium is the home of Conference side Histon – when someone told me I had to go to Glassworld, i had visions of some glass themed Theme Park – ride the Stained Glass roller coaster of death, or, glass blowing through the ages in spectacular imax 4D motion.

But it turned out to be a tidy little stadium, with an entrance fee of £4 for this game and a quid for a tea / coffee (they were doing burgers the size of frisbees and hot dogs the size of John Holmes (allegedly, not that I’d know these sorts of things) for £3. The actual attendance was 313, though I’m sure there were more for mums and dads and grannies etc of the lads playing. It  was a cold night, and I watched the first half from the comforts of one of the two main stands. I chose the right area as I saw all the goals in the first half from here in a good lofty position.

It looked like a Stoke v Arsenal type of match up, with the Cambridge lads averaging about 6′2″ and the Histon waif like boys in comparison measuring about 5′2″. The Cambridge lads probably growing up on a diet of John Beck and his excellent adoption of the 4-2-4 hoof formation. However, the lads in gold from Cambridge were very good in the first half, slick passing, excellent movement and great skill gave them total dominance in the half. The first goal came from a corner and was scored in the first minute or so, with their 6′5″+ freak of a central defender (well he was from where I was sitting) nodded in. The second came from a corner too and the third was nicely assisted by the Histon keeper who spilled the ball over the line. The fourth was an excellent finish from the number 9 who got the ball on the corner of the box, made a little bit of room and swerved the ball into the far top corner, was applauded by most of the crowd.

Histon came out fighting a bit more in the second half and made more of a game of it, but the damage had been done. I moved to behind the Histon goalie in the hope that there was going to be another goalfrest in the second half, but it didn’t materialise, and to be honest, I left with a few minutes to go, I was cold, very tired, I wanted to move my car before the rush and I wanted to catch the last ten of the Champions League games.

I enjoyed the ground and the game, but theres always something missing when you’re Billy no mates, cold and a long way from home.

A report on the Cambridge website can be found here ——>http://www.cambridge-united.co.uk/page/YouthReports/0,,10423~1850404,00.html

I get news via text of our win at home, 5-2 over the mighty Shirebrook, and with the 2-0 win on Saturday at Winterton puts us back at the top of the league, 2 games in hand on our dear neighbours, with whom we have a couple of interesting fixtures coming up over the next couple of weeks.

1990 saw the emergence of Steve Coppell as a manager when he took Crystal Palace to the cup final (and subsequent replay) against Man U.

Both teams were adorned with now familiar names to us, but Palace’s likely lads were not so familiar until this brilliant cup run. Would we have heard of Ian Wright Wright Wright or John Salako or Mark Bright or Alan Pardew et al had it not been for this cup run. (Also spot Geoff Thomas, Nigel Martyn etc etc).

If i’m not mistaken, it was this Cup run and eventual win for United that kept one Sir Alex Ferguson in a job.

More on the cup final games can be found at wikipedia here, team line ups etc ——–>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1990_FA_Cup_Final

Summary of the first game here (Motty commentating)——–>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqxSVE6pAts&feature=fvw

Summary of the replay here (yes Motty commentating again) ——>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkrTEYSTLQs&feature=related

And a rematch with the players from the final, played in 2006, to support the Geoff Thomas foundation is here ——>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wH9QoV_8wE&feature=related

This clip was taken from the Derek “Do they mean me?” Jameson chat show. Ironically I heard the Port Vale goonies sing this the other week against Accrington.