As the English domestic season came to it’s stuttering anti-climax at the weekend, the lack of drama at either end of both EPL and WSL part of me was glad I was working and unable to make any of the matches.
If my weekend had been free I would have spent the Saturday at Old Trafford watching Emma Hayes lead her Chelsea side to their 5th successive WSL title before heading down to London on Sunday to see my beloved Bees torn apart by the Magpies on Tyneside, whilst constantly checking my phone for updates that could give any hope of Arsenal overtaking Guardiola’s juggernaut and saving us all from more City title celebrations.
City became the first team ever to win 4 English Men’s top flight titles in a row and when added to Chelsea’s quintuplet of Women’s titles it leads me to one undeniable truth…
Whilst dynasties are being challenged in Europe and toppled in Germany, new ones are being built in England and that makes me nervous.
One of the huge selling points of English football is it’s unpredictability, whilst Spain, Scotland and Germany are all leagues where one of 2 teams will probably win the title and France has just one title contender, in England any of the top 6/7 teams used to be able to succeed.
Heck, there used to be a time not so long ago when a team in there second season in the league could win the title despite 5,000-1 odds!!! Welcome back Leicester…
However it seems these heady days of underdog stories and a hyper-competitive league with something resting on every game are long gone.
Perhaps that golden age of competitiveness is also a myth, nostalgia lying to me, but I still remember it.
With the introduction and flawed implementation of VAR already sucking much of the joy out of top flight football, Wolves attempt at removing it and returning the game to it’s pure form looking dead on arrival, the rise of these new all conquering dynasties threaten to make certain games just not worth going to anymore.
A large part of the joy and magic of the game is the hope that today might be my team’s day, we could beat that ‘big’ team and make memories that will last forever, that this season could be my team’s Leicester or Leverkusen of the moment and create miracles that bring joy to people far outside the usual reach of us ‘little’ teams.
The English top flights seem worryingly short on that vital hope that keeps fans coming back every week, with it feeling inevitable all season that every new team heading straight back down there is none of that fundamental hope for miracles that makes this beautiful game of our so incredible to be a part of.
The stories of Wrexham and Stockport County, Crawley and Ipswich Town (promotion on their first ever Wembley day and back to back promotions back to the top table respectively), provide glimmers of hope that those miracles we all live for are still possible.
I cross my fingers that those glimmers bloom into beaming rays that light up the game once more.
Sorry this blog turned into such a sombre one, but that’s where my head is at with the game as things stand at the end of a season that has left me drained and empty.
I may take a break from the blog now OR I may be back very soon with a more uplifting blog about the WSL game I was at this time last week, at a stadium I love and with an uninterrupted pitchside view of the action that may have led to me taking 434 pictures across the 90 minutes.
The Magic Of Football
With the Premier League becoming boring and predictable as Guardiola’s juggernaut strut their way to their 4th straight title and the 3 newly promoted teams drop straight back down to the championship, https://the-football-tourist.com/2024/05/13/straight-back-down/ ,it is to the lower leagues that those desperate to feel the magic of football send their soul soaring are increasingly turning.
There is nowhere better to find this magic than the crazy lottery of the playoffs.
Once most teams are on the beach there are 4 teams from each EFL league that keep going on a course they hope will end up with a day to remember under the arch.
To get to Wembley and the chance of promotion they must first face off in a two-legged home and away showdown and it’s these semi-finals that I found the magic again.
Pouring out of the Mornflake Stadium onto Gresty Road at the end of Crewe’s 2-0 first leg defeat the fans around me were convinced their team was done and another season in League 2 was on the cards.
Later that week this downcast throng of humanity was exploding in ecstasy after an incredible comeback in South Yorkshire that ended with an incredible shootout victory to send the Alex to Wembley and leave Doncaster Rovers fans wandering what the hell just happened.
It’s days like those that fans live for, your team is dead and buried and then from nowhere a miracle is pulled and you’re planning a trip to Wembley for next weekend.
Whilst Crewe’s crazy comeback provided a dose of magic for one fanbase the Crawley Town’s crushing of a franchise on the other side of League Two provided magic for two fanbases.
Obviously witnessing your team humiliate the opposition 3-0 in the home leg before going to their soulless Stadium MK and sealing an away win, 5-1, in front of half empty home stands will have been incredible for fans of The Red Devils.
It may have been even sweeter for fans of the true Dons though as the franchise that stole their team got humiliated on the national stage, on the back of beating beaten at Plough Lane for the first time in MK’s short history.
The True Dons fans will relish the chance to make it back to back home victories over the franchise next season.
On Sunday Crewe Alexandra will face off against Crawley Town for the ultimate prize of promotion.
Surrounded by friends, family and strangers they will celebrate or commiserate at fulltime, joined together by an unbreakable connection with the team they love, that is the magic of football…
Straight Back Down
This weekend confirmed what many of us thought would happen all season, the 3 newly promoted teams are heading straight back down to the Championship.
Sure there had been moments where it looked like one or more of them may survive, but even with points deductions galore above them and injury ravished runs of poor form for others the return of last season’s second tier teams straight back to that level is now all but confirmed.
Sheffield United’s relegation was confirmed weeks ago and with just 3 wins all season they looked more likely to snatch Derby’s record than safety. A paltry 16 points from 37 games is a woeful return in any league, but whilst their inability to average a goal scored a game (35) is dreadful it is at the other end that their hopes of survival fell apart.
Conceding triple figures in any league would be terminal, but to concede 101 goals so far is criminal by the brittlest blades ever forged. They come from the steel city but there defence is made of wet paper. To avoid the dreaded double drop next season it is at the back that they need to strengthen most.
The second team to follow the Yorkshire men through the Premier League trapdoor ply their trade just across the border in Lancashire and they made a far better fist of fighting for survival.
Burnley put together some excellent performances and even looked at times to be putting together a run of form that would propel them out of trouble, but their inconsistency in keeping these form runs going has proved their downfall.
They were better than Brentford when we visited Turf Moor a few months ago (https://the-football-tourist.com/2024/03/21/the-nightmare-was-real/) and if they had put together more performances like that they could still be in with a chance on the final day.
As it is though Vincent Kompany’s battling Clarets continue their yo-yo trajectory between the top 2 leagues.
A late loss to Spurs on Saturday turning the final day visit of Nottingham Forest from a potential winner takes all nail-biter into nothing more than a chance for the home faithful to show their appreciation for the never-say-die attitude their team has shown all season.
The tenacity shown by the Lancashire lads makes me hopeful that another promotion parade will be making it’s way down the streets of Burnley next summer.
By far the most galling of the trio of relegations for the neutrals is the demise of Rob Edward’s Luton Town.
Luton have been many neutral’s second or favourite club in the league this season and as underdog stories go it would have been incredible to see them survive, but alas reality is often disappointing.
On a shoe-string budget, for the Premier League, Luton have played some incredible football this season and those fans lucky enough to visit Kenilworth Road’s enigmatic away end will have had an experience matched by few others in Premier League history.
This tiny Bedfordshire club has given as good as its got across the season and many teams have found out just how difficult they are to kill off in games.
After a baptism of fire in which the Hatters lost their first 2 games 7-1 on aggregate they slowly found their feet and gave more than one of the big boys a huge challenge to overcome.
On January 30th they avenged their opening day defeat on the south coast by smashing the Seagulls 4-0 at Kenilworth Road. Winning against a team on their way to the knockout rounds of the Europa League will have provided memories that will stick with the home fans for decades to come.
Coming agonisingly close to doing the double over Newcastle is another incredible memory for Hatters fans to treasure, but it could have been even better had they held on for the win on Tyneside when holding a 4-2 lead just after the hour mark.
The draw at St. James Park hinted at an underlying issue for the hatters though as they found themselves unable to hold on for crucial results under pressure, as they would show again just weeks later by surrendering a 3-0 half-time lead to leave the Vitality Stadium without a point.
Pushing Liverpool and title-chasing Arsenal to the wire at home, with both all-star teams requiring goals after the 90 minute mark to secure results against the tenacious Hatters.
One more result goes Luton’s way and they could have stayed up and every neutral in the land would have celebrated like it was their own team winning the league.
Unfortunately, losing 3-1 to West Ham on Saturday has left them a mountain to climb on the final day. Not only do they need already relegated Burnley to destroy Forest, but they also need to humiliate Fulham at Kenilworth road to have any hope of overturning their 12 goal deficit on goal difference to the East Midlanders.
Realistically Luton Town are already down, but in this crazy league many fans will be hoping for one final crazy day that keeps them up.
Derby Dozed-Off
Some days you should just stay in bed, some games put you to sleep, some days things just don’t go your way.
Yesterday was one of those days and one of those games.
The date had been etched into my diary ever since this season’s fixtures were announced last summer. The big home Derby against local rivals Fulham should have been a classic match and if we still had our safety at stake it might have been.
Unfortunately, by kick-off neither team had anything to play for and it showed…
Far be it for me to agree with the away fans, but after the match when a couple of them said “out of 10, that was a 1” all I could do was nod.
As I was leaving the stadium at full-time a few of the other quotes I heard were:
“That was embarrassing”
“What a crap game”
“Could’ve been carboard cut-outs”
and my personal favourites
“That was a waste of my Saturday”
and
“You didn’t have to sit through 90 minutes of that shit” – to the stewards telling us to relax as we waited for access to the platforms at Kew Bridge after the match.
Perhaps Gary Lineker summed it up best on MOTD:
“the clue was that Friday night’s 1-1 draw with Luton and Everton went ahead of it”.
No-one who sat through the full 90 can argue with that.
There was not a single moment that looked like breaking the deadlock and saving the 17,090 souls in the stands from being subjected to the first 0-0 we have hosted against that lot since 1949.
Whilst Bryan Mbuemo smashed a shot off the bar for the Bees that was the closest either team came to making the net bulge, as the visitors in particular seemed intent of crushing the faces of fans in row Z.
The worst offender for the Cottagers was Raul Jimenez who ballooned over from just 10 yards out, after a cross had deflected to him in acres of space towards the end of this snooze-fest.
Mbuemo’s wait for his 50th Brentford goal goes on as Ivan Toney, who I’m told was on the pitch all game, sees his run of goalless games reach double figures for the first time in 5 years.
In a season that will not live long in the memory of most Brentford fans this was a game many will be happy to forget.
Both Are Safe Now
As I took my front row seat at Goodison Park I was filled with the hope of back-to-back wins that had propelled us clear of the dotted line and the joy of knowing that Luton’s loss at Molineux had rubber stamped our Premier League status for another season.
As the final whistle blew I was filled with relief that those previous results had launched us to safety as what I’d just witnessed from the Bees was pitiful.
With both teams looking to make it 3 wins in a row and historic results in their most recent match my hopes for a classic were high; I was about to be mightily disappointed.
After a frenetic opening 5 minutes the teams settled into the midfield morass that would characterise the rest of the half.
On the few occasions the ball broke out of the morass it was the visiting defence that found itself by far the busiest. The visitors attacks ended when no-one gambled to get end of the decisive balls being whipped in, whilst the hosts should have taken the lead within 6 minutes.
Dwight McNeil was allowed to sprint into acres of space on the Everton right and Youssef Chermiti was milliseconds away from sliding home the resulting tantalising cross.
That was the closest either team came to scoring in a half where both keepers could have gone for a refreshing shower and no-one would have noticed.
Everton did at least try to create some moments of excitement but they were strangled in the crib thanks to a masterclass in team-defending by the Bees, with Mbuemo, Wissa and Toney all seen tracking back to cut out attacks far more than launching their own.
The lack of half-time substitutes from either team was mystifying, but as Everton made their first of the match in the 75th minute, it spoke volumes that Brentford were making their 3rd and 4th.
In a half totally bossed by the Toffees, the visitors best chance came early in the half when Ivan Toney was fed the ball in the box and slid the ball in true daisy cutter style towards goal only for his England teammate Jordan Pickford to drop on the ball like a bear on a salmon.
It was a good thing for both that Gareth Southgate was not in the stands though as that was the last telling contribution from either player.
The second half was Everton’s playground and after McNeil rattled the bar with a 20-yard thunderbolt it was not surprise that the hosts got the only goal of the match on the hour mark.
McNeil’s shot would have been a beautiful way to win a match, but Idrissa Gana Gueye smuggling the ball home through a jungle of legs after a tussle in the box was far more fitting for this match.
The rest of the match was more mediocrity from the Bees and a lack of killer instinct from the Scousers but at full-time the home fans didn’t care.
Riding high off the back of their first home derby win since 2010 the win in this one confirmed the Blue scousers final season at Goodison Park will be a Premier League one.
As for the lacklustre Bees, this felt like they were on their way down from the high of an unforgettable victory at Kenilworth Road as we had a day to forget in a season to learn from.
Today’s performance will be a distant memory as we step out at the Gtech on Saturday to celebrate securing a 4th straight Premier League season in-front of a packed house, with just the ultimate party-poopers from round the corner to overcome.
Doing the double over those Cottagers would be the perfect response to this toothless display.
5-Star Bees!!
Having been unable to secure a ticket to Luton for Today’s match I’ve been a bag of nerves all day. Unable to even follow the match because of how crucial it’s result will be for our season.
A win would mean a 10 point gap to the drop zone with just 12 left to play for and the chance to be safe before kicking off at Goodison next weekend, but a loss would drag us back to just 4 points away from the dreaded dotted line.
I had to run out to Wembley and experience the atmosphere of the FA Cup Semi-final build up just to distract myself.
Our record outside London this season is undeniably abysmal and with Goodison Park our destination next weekend being a notoriously hellish place to go today would be the day to turn that record around.
The bottom 2 are no threat, so today we were facing down the only team that could send us down. They could reach a maximum of 40 points before kick-off, so all we need is 8 points from the final 5 matches and getting 3 from this one would settle a ton of my nerves.
Those were my thoughts before the match so the grin that splashed itself across my face as I watched the highlights on Match of the Day could have lit up the whole of England.
From minute 1 the Bees belied any nerves by swarming all over their hosts and refusing to retrieve their knees for the orange necks until the final whistle.
Yoane Wissa’s first goal of the afternoon saw the visitors sweep the ball from one end of the pitch to the back of the net with just 3 touches.
A sumptuous ball over the top from Kristoffer Ajer dropped into Bryan Mbuemo’s stride down the right, the Cameroon international’s deft flick took out the remains of the Hatter’s defence and left a charging Wissa the simple task of smashing home past a stranded Thomas Kaminski.
The home keeper was left wandering how his defenders had evaporated into fresh air again just before the break as a simple 1-2 between Wissa and Mbuemo left the former with the simplest of tap-ins from the edge of the 6-yard box.
If Rob Edwards hoped that the half-time break would hail a change in the host’s fortunes this was snuffed out by the returning Ethan Pinnock just after the hour mark.
On his first start since picking up an injury during the miracle of Wolverhampton the Jamaican international proved his worth to the Londoner’s by firing a bullet header home from 8 yards simply by outmuscling his marker.
Luton’s defending to this point could charitably be described as amateurish and for the Bees fourth goal, just 2 minutes later, it was truly woeful. All it took was one misplaced pass 20 yards out and 5 seconds later Kaminski was picking the ball out of the net.
Mikkel Damsgaard picked up the loose ball and with one flick of his foot took 6 Luton players out of the game.
Mbuemo was on his wavelength though and snapped onto the pass before stretching to flick a bouncing ball across a six-yard box devoid of teammate for a Keane Lewis-Potter to ghost in and nod home at the back post.
With fresh air all that was left defending the home goal Kevin Shade took the opportunity to reopen his Bees account as he continues his return from a season curtailing injury. He was picked out by a Vitaly Janelt’s lateral across the edge of the 6-yard box for him to rifle home at the back post with not a hatter in sight to stop him.
As with many of Brentford’s best moves of the match Mbuemo was involved again and it was solely due to his unwavering unselfishness that his virtuoso winger/midfielder performance was not capped with a goal, having seen a thunderbolt cannon of the bar when the score was just 1-0.
The only thing that could take any shine of the Bee’s 5-star performance was the 92nd minute consolation goal gifted to Luton by a loose pass from Janelt on his 100th Premier League appearance for the club.
In truth though Brentford were so dominant that nothing could ruin the elation of their victory over the only team that can still squirm out of the bottom 3.
The visitors returned home safe in the knowledge that they could be safe before they kick-off again and even in the unlikely event that Luton win every one of their remaining games 3 more points is all we require to be mathematically safe.
With this win in the bag Brentford can start planning in earnest for another season in the Premier League and with better luck on injuries and returning to the top half of the table they had finished in during each of their previous seasons at this level.
As for Luton, things now look extremely bleak with just 4 games left to bridge the gap to safety and their nearest rivals awaiting the results of appeals against the points deductions that have left them within the Hatter’s reach.
Remember This Feeling
Saturday should have been a dreadful day for me.
My alarm didn’t go off which left me sprinting for a train that was then delayed on it’s 2 and a half hour journey south. Then problems on the tube had me rushing to get in before kick-off.
After the game I was already cutting it close to get back to Euston for my train north. Then the EIGHT minutes of injury time and a closure of Kew Bridge station threw a spanner in my plans and left me watching the train leave the station as I ran down the platform.
Twenty minutes and £50 worse off I was grinning from ear to ear as I headed back north, with joy surging through my veins having just witnessed the wonderful.
For the first time in 10 games and more than 2 months I saw my beloved Bees win again!!!
Vastly improved performances recently had seen Brentford secure decent draws in our last 3 matches in a row, all against teams on the edge of Europe, and today we would finally get the 3 points our performance deserved.
Our last 3 point haul came from this game in the midlands, https://the-football-tourist.com/2024/02/20/witnessing-a-miracle/, and on paper this was the perfect opportunity to grab our next.
As the teams trudged down the tunnel after an uninspiring half there was no sign of what was to come after the break. Both teams had struggled to create clear cut chances and with the exception Neil Maupay firing the ball past the post from 12 yards with the goal at his mercy, having sprung the visitors’ offside trap after 35 minutes neither keeper had been nearly busy enough.
This was especially worrying for the home faithful as the hosts had barely troubled a back line that had leaked like a tsunami all season, conceding a ridiculous 82 goals so far.
The second half would change all that.
Whatever the words of wisdom Thomas Frank imparted to his team during the break were they worked wonders as the bees came swarming out of the traps in the second half and 20 minutes later they scored a hat-trick of goals, just a shame only one of them counted.
Within seconds of the restart Yoane Wissa had sliced through the blades defence like it was made of butter and only a poor final touch prevented him opening the bees account.
Perhaps this is why he used his head to bundle home Mathis Jensen’s tantalising cross from point blank range in the 55th minute only for the outpouring of relief and joy to be stuffed back into the bottle by a late offside flag.
Nothing was coming to the Blades rescue in the 62nd minute though when Mikkel Damsgaard picked up the ball just inside the United half and drove forward through a half free of opponents. He looked to cut the ball across to either Wissa or Bryan Mbuemo only for the ball to ricochet off the legs of the luckless Oliver Arblaster and nestle in the net.
It was the luckiest of breaks for the hosts and they would follow it up by finding the net again less than 120 seconds later.
This time Damsgaard needed no deflection to rifle a gorgeous finish into the bottom left corner from 18 yards out, having been picked out perfectly by Mbuemo’s freekick, only to see the goal chalked off by VAR, which spotted a foul by Nathan Collins in the build up.
Having watched the replays it feels generous to suggest that Ollie McBurnie would have closed down the chance if he hadn’t been blocked off but no matter, it would just take us a while longer to double our account and secure the victory.
It took two of the three 89th minute home subs just 3 minutes from entering the fray to combine for that long overdue second.
On their return from long term injuries Kevin Shade got a deft flick on a long throw from the left to knock the ball into the stride Frank Onyeka, who celebrated his return by stroking the ball underneath the Grbic’s desperate dive.
As the final whistle blew the noise inside the Gtech deafened me as my soul soared high above me drinking in this feeling. The euphoria of seeing my team win again after so long and launch themselves 7 points clear of the drop in the process, I’m holding back tears of joy as I write this.
Coming into this weekend there was a scenario where we ended it just 1 point above the dotted line, instead we won convincingly and jump 7 points clear with just 15 left to play for.
With the run-in ahead, starting with crucial back to back away games against those around us, there will be nervous moments when doubts creep in about our ability to stay safe. When those doubts rear their ugly heads remember how you felt last night, remember the unbridled joy of victory, remember this feeling and smile safe in the knowledge that WE WILL BE STAYING UP
Boring Brentford
When the away fans are chanting ‘Boring, Boring Brentford’ at full time and when you look around for someone to fight your team’s corner but everyone is just going “They’ve got a point” you know it’s been a dreadful game.
As spectacles go it was 1,000 times worse than watching paint dry and certainly duller than ditchwater.
The worst part of sitting through 90 minutes of the Bees sit back and let Brighton amble around in front of them without threatening to make Mark Flekken work for his money was knowing that the game a few days earlier, that I couldn’t get too, was a cracker.
The showdown with Manchester United on the Easter weekend saw Brentford hammer their visitors into the ground for 90 minutes, hit the post more times than could be counted only to get hit by a 96th minute sucker punch and when all hope looked lost Kristoffer Ajer popped up with a 99th minute equaliser to salvage a point for the Bees that should’ve been all 3.
As I write this Brentford have played their first game since the Brighton borefest and at top 4 place chasing Aston Villa’s Villa Park they fired in 3 goals in 9 second-half minutes to flip a 2-0 deficit on it’s head, only to see ex-bee Ollie Watkins nick a point for the hosts in the final 10 minutes.
Either game was an enthralling spectacle and would have made a thrilling blog… I was working through both. So instead I travelled the 2 and a half hour south on delayed trains, dodging cancellations, to sit through a pile of dross where it took 35 minutes for the first corner to occur (the hosts wouldn’t get their first till the 59th minute).
Apart from a brief 5minute spell half way through the first half it was Brighton dominating possession all match.
What did they do with this domination? dribble the ball round the edge of the penalty area whilst the Bees refused to get within 5 yards of an opposing player.
Despite a nap on the train down I’m certain I drifted off in the second half, I’ve never seen two teams so determined to make people prefer Golf…
The only even vaguely interesting moment was provided by VAR, which took everyone in the stadium by surprise when it flashed up on the screen that it was checking for a possible penalty to Brighton.
Not even the away fans seemed clear on what might have caused the penalty.
The most shocking part of the whole VAR saga was not the lack of info for fans in the stadium, we are all far too used to that, but the fact that the ref went to the screen to check the incident and gave a freekick to Brentford.
The whole thing was surreal and a welcome if short diversion from the dearth of quality on the pitch that was leaching the hope out of the stands.
When the final whistle blew I felt only joy because, unlike American sports, if the scores are equal at the end of the 90 there is no overtime.
Feeling relief at leaving a football ground is new to me and it’s a crushing feeling I never want to feel again.
We are so much better than the team that showed up on Wednesday and the games that sandwiched it are proof of that. All that I can do is hope that when I’m down again next weekend for the Sheffield United 6-pointer we play much better than we did at Bramall Lane on December 9th.
Without a win in our last 9 games and slowly sinking into the relegation battle with just 5 points added to our tally from those games, this visit of the bluntest blades known to man is the perfect opportunity to begin the climb back up the table.
Want to relive happier Brentford times, click the link for the story of the miracle of Wolverhampton https://the-football-tourist.com/2024/02/20/witnessing-a-miracle/
Bee Hopeful
The form is stark, the table looks ominous and yet here I am again on the long train to London to take my church pew for an evening match at the Gtech.
Brentford are hovering just 5 points above the drop zone having taken just 8 points from a potential 36 this calendar year (2W, 2D, 8L), which is hardly scintillating form…
Our visitors tonight are a Brighton and Hove Albion side that have already beaten on their turf, thanks to a debut goal for 18 year old Jack Hinshelwood,
Bearing all this in mind and with a hectic Easter weekend to recover from why am I putting myself through another long travel day with a possibly extremely disappointing ending?
HOPE! Hope born out of brilliant team performances that deserved better endings, Hope from watching highlights of the game against Man U at the weekend where we played our illustrious visitors off the park for vast periods of the game only for the woodwork to deny us a huge victory, Hope from witnessing the fighting spirit of the team to never give up despite having to play for 81 minutes with a man disadvantage at Turf Moor… but above all this Hope lies the ultimate Hope that pulled me on this Southern odyssey, the Hope that tonight could be the night our luck changes, that tonight the marginal calls will go our way, that tonight the ball will fly inches inside the uprights instead of smashing into them.
This is the Hope inside me as I sit on this delayed train to London watching England fly by from my window seat, the Hope that this time things will go Brentford’s way for once.
You, my fellow fans, seem to understand this as the swarm descended on the ticketing site yesterday to pick clean our allocation for Kenilworth Road. It’s clear the belief is still coursing through our veins and so it damn well should be.
Through all the adversity we have faced this season losing; David Raya, Pontus Jansson, Aaron Hickey, Rico Henry and Josh Dasilva for the season, either due to transfer or long term injury; losing most of the rest of the team to the hospital at Jersey road for a short time at some point during the season and missing our talismanic main man Ivan Toney to a ban for the first half of the season we have never once dropped into the relegation zone.
So why would we do so now? WE WONT!!!
I think tonight will be the spark that lights the afterburners to launch us clear of danger, because after so many brilliant performances throughout the season, so many dropped leads and so many horrendously unlucky breaks, it’s about time the football gods paid us back with some decent luck for once….
STAY HOPEFUL MY FELLOW BEES
An Unbelievable Day
It’s not often I get the chance to cross off a ground that I’ve wanted to visit for more than 2 decades.
Saturday 23rd March 2024 was my chance and Notts County’s Meadow Lane was my destination.
As home ground to the oldest professional club in the world Meadow Lane holds a special draw for football fans the world over.
It was with a smile in my voice that I made my way to the banks of the Trent for what turned out to be one of the most mind-boggling games of my life.
As I took my seat above the tunnel, looking out googly-eyed at the pristine meadow, there was no sign of what was to come.
Notts County sat 7 places above their visitors Salford City and had already taken 3 points from their visit to the Peninsula Stadium all the way back on September 15th.
If the chance to do the double over the Ammies wasn’t enough, despite them playing in Forest red, then they had the perfect motivation to secure their first home win of 2024 with just 6 points separating them from the playoffs.
it would also get the monkey off Stuart Maynard’s back, having yet to win at the Lane since he took over in the dugout.
With this motivation the Magpies soared out of the traps and the Ammies struggled to deal with it throughout the first half.
Limiting their visitors to a handful of chances on the break throughout the first half, whilst creating a hatful of guilt-edged of their own should have given the eldest pros in the world an unassailable lead at half-time. Instead a display of astonishing profligacy saw them head back down that tunnel trailing their Mancunian visitors.
A tantalising ball that bisected the 6 yard box only for Macauley Langstaff’s slide to be short by mere inches from opening the scoring within 3 minutes of kick-off was the first of many chances the hosts left begging to be finished off.
Jodi Jones was a constant thorn in the visitor’s sides throughout the half and he was next to create an opportunity for County. After carving his way through City’s midfield and defence he slammed the ball towards the bottom corner only to be denied by Alex Cairns getting down smartly to smother the effort.
Next up was an unmarked Jaden Walker, who headed wide from point blank range after being picked out beautifully by Jones.
Jones would take it on again in the 20th minute as he scythed through the visitors again only to fire agonisingly wide of the right post, taking paint with it as it whipped it’s way behind. The mastery Jones had over the opposition, especially their left back was mesmerising.
County bossed the first 30 minutes so much that in my voice notes I uttered the prophetic words ” the only problem for County is they haven’t put the ball in the net” a minute later County were behind.
Salford showed their hosts how to be clinical by scoring with their first proper chance of the match. A misplaced pass in midfield by Adam Chicksen was picked up in midfield by Conor McAleny, who waltzed his way past 3 defenders before slotting the ball under the despairing dive of Sam Slocombe to give the Ammies the lead against the tsunami of play.
The ‘pies were straight back on the attack after this sucker punch and barely let the opposition touch in for the next 14 minutes, but other than Alassana Jatta adding his name to the list of County players to miss golden chances they were able to offer little in the final third.
Having seen him team dominate the first half but still go in trailing Maynard acted decisively at the break, replacing the ineffective Chicksen with Jim O’Brien.
With O’Brien on the right and Jones switched the left flank County were able to create almost instant results. After Jones had danced past the entire Salford team only to curve his shot within atoms of the right post, it was left to Dan Crowley to provide the equaliser the whole stadium had been waiting for.
When the goal finally came for County it was the result of a pass from Langstaff that was deflected to the feet of Crowley, who smashed it home.
One person who failed to feel the euphoria of the equaliser was Salford’s number 9 and Callum Hendry would actually find his way into the ref’s book for his protests, he was subbed off with 20 minutes to go to prevent his frustration from adding to his yellow.
He was lucky not to be sent down the tunnel before the hour mark after catching Slocombe with his studs chasing down a weak back pass.
Taking confidence from this County were all over their visitors for the rest of the game and other than a couple of hairy moments caused by more wayward passes back to Slocombe they were unruffled for the rest of the half… till they were hit with the ultimate sucker punch with 3 minutes of normal time remaining.
Jones was once again the biggest threat County possessed and in the final 10 he whipped a ball across the box of such quality it was a miracle of biblical proportions that no-one else in black and white could provide the telling touch.
After battering on the door for 42 minutes without finding the weak spot that would let them break through, during which time Scott Robinson picked up a yellow as his frustration at seeing his teammates fail constantly in the final third, it was the visitors who would snatch the 3 points at the death.
It was the simplest of route one goals that would prove to be the ‘pies undoing.
A simple ball over the top landed at the feet of McAleny and he slid it under Slocombe to break every black and white heart in the lane. It was a lovely way for him to grab his brace, but way too simple for a Sunday league team to concede, let alone the oldest pros in the 92.
The despair that engulfed my soul on seeing that ball ripple the net is impossible to overstate.
Having seen the team I had dreamed of watching for 2 decades make the field their playground for the full 90, playing Salford off the pitch for vast periods of the match, only to now have to witness them lose was devastating.
I was still in a state of shock when the ref blew his whistle a full 10 minutes later, with County failing to grasp the opportunity to grab a second equaliser in the 7 added minutes gifted to them by City’s constant time-wasting, and it was only thanks to following the flow of fellow fans that I found my way back to the train station.
This unbelievable day and the insane result of an incredible match shows both the beauty and the heartbreak that football can provide.
It is the shining example of what so many the world over love this sublime sport where for 2 hours thousands join in an act of worship that shuts off the worries lurking back in the real world.
Best of all for me though, it is an item ticked off my bucket list and the result means I will have to come back sometime just to see Notts County get the win they deserved.
The Football tourist 