The Football tourist

Saturday 5th March 2022: DW Stadium: League One: Wigan Athletic vs AFC Wimbledon

To open up my football travels for March I headed back to football at Wigan for the second time this season. The first time I went to the DW was back on September 11th 2021 for the visit of Doncaster Rovers and that was the match that inspired me to begin writing this blog. It’s a good thing that game was inspiring as the match I went too this time was anything but.

The match I headed to the DW this time was the visit of relegation threatened AFC Wimbledon. The visitors came into the match in 20th place, just 2 points above the drop zone and having not won a match in 3 months. They had an up-turn in form last weekend though as they came into this match off the back of a 2-2 draw with Doncaster Rovers. They had come back from 2-0 down at the hour mark to draw in that one so there were green shoots of recovery in their season but how would it go today.

Their hosts are riding high coming into this one placed 2nd in the league and just 7 points behind league leaders Rotherham with 2 games in hand over them. They beat Fleetwood 2-0 in midweek to start their March off on a winning note. The end of the match didn’t go quite the way they would’ve hoped as James McClean got himself sent off in the 97th minute. Even without him available though I had no doubt that the home side would waltz their way to winning this one.

Despite my feelings on how this game was obviously going to go I headed off to the match in a good mood. My mood was even sustained despite the fact that a faster train to Wigan than mine left minutes earlier from the platform opposite me. I couldn’t use that train because of the way my ticket was booked and then my train got delayed by 5 minutes too. My mood remained excellent though despite these issues.

To get to the DW you can head to either Wigan Wallgate or Wigan Northwestern stations if you’re coming in by train as they’re on opposite sides of the street from each other. From either you head under the bridge and just follow the road round till you reach the huge roundabout with the Fire Station. At the fire station roundabout you need to take the Asda exit and 2 minutes down that road you turn into the retail park and head diagonally across the park in the direction of the double arches of the DW. The whole walk takes just 15 minutes from the station and if you’re driving you can find a parking spot no problem. The retail park and the attached leisure centre provide so much parking that no matter how late you get there you will always be able to find a space.

For my part I had given myself so much time to get to the stadium that even with the delay on my journey I arrived at the ground an hour before the match. I headed straight to the ticket office round the left side of the stadium and picked up my £20 ticket to the Springfield stand, skipping past the club shop and a programme seller on my way that I doubled back too. The ticket office is cash or card but the programmes are cash only, so just bear that in mind if you’re heading to matches here.

I grabbed a burger before taking a lap of the stadium trying to find the right turnstile to head inside. On this lap I stopped by the statue of Dave Whelan outside the reception, this man was the owner when the Latics won the FA Cup back in 2008. That was also the season they got relegated from the Premier League, but it’s still their most recent success and it’s awesome to see them celebrating it. Finding the turnstile wasn’t easy though as there was no turnstile mentioned on the ticket, so I just found a turnstile into the Springfield stand and headed inside. There were no bag checks on the home turnstiles, but it was a squeeze getting through with one on my back.

The concourse was a wide tunnel with no way out. To the left there are pre-order machines that you can use to buy food and drinks for anytime in the match upto the end of half time. Wigan still have some work to do on getting the word out about these though as they were marooned in a sea of isolation. For the food kiosks themselves you will need your card with you as they do not accept cash. I grabbed a drink then careered down the stairs to my seat in the stands, just a couple of seats to the left of the dugouts, almost directly on halfway and a mere 5 rows back from the pitch. Thank you to Declan at the ticket office for such a great seat.

The DW stadium is a classic modern bowl stadium, but here you enter half way down the bowl and have to know where your seat is in order to get to it. Unlike other bowl stadium’s it is not linked up all the way round, with gaps between each stand. On the pitch the visiting Dons were warming up directly in front of me in their all red away strip, with Wigan warming up away to my right in their blue and white kit.

Away fans at the DW are given free reign of the stand away to the left side of me, in the springfield stand, but the Dons were not making much use of it for this match with barely a quarter of the seats actually in use. To my intense joy, after my experience at Prenton Park recently, the DW has two huge screens in opposite corners of the stadium that can be seen by all the fans inside. There was even a large rectangular dot-matrix screen at the back of the stand opposite me that showed both the match clock and match score throughout the match.

The announcement of the teams a strange one on me as they announced the starting 11’s of both teams at a whisper but also extremely slowly, which gave me time to figure out who they were talking about. Wigan also take their loyalty to sponsors a step further than I have seen from any other team in the country by announcing the sponsor for each player before the name of the player themselves. Most teams stick to just having the player’s sponsors written next to their names in the get to know the team section of the programme, it was surreal. There was one good thing in the announcement though as they announced both of the team’s captains, an honour usually reserved for the home side.

In the Dons’ starting line-up was Sam Cosgrove, one of those introduced to the crowd when I visited Plough Lane back at the beginning of the year. Having been intrigued by this new striker when he was unveiled at that match I was now looking forward to seeing him in action against the Latics, who he had once been of the books of without actually appearing in a competitive match for them.

Leam Richardson in the home dugout emerged before the teams to accept a standing ovation from all 4 stands. I could not understand why the away fans were applauding him at the time and my research after the match has been no more illuminating. He only played a single season outside the north-west during his career on the pitch and this was on loan at Notts County. Whilst his management credits encompass only his ex-team Accrington Stanley before he took the job in the Wigan dugout. If anyone out there understands why the away fans were applauding him then congrats as I still have no idea.

That was the last act before the match kicked off, but it would also be the high point of the action for a while as it quickly became clear that this was not going to be a high quality affair. Wigan were on top early but lacked the quality in the final third to threaten the Don’s goal and the Don’s simply could not find an out ball to get themselves a foothold in the game.

Despite this early possession it took till the 10th minute for the latics to have their first decent shot on goal and even then it didn’t come from open play. The visitors conceded a free-kick 12 yards from goal near the left touchline and once Wigan had laid it off to the right to get a better angle they thumped the shot into the side netting. Now all the match needed was a shot from open play.

Just before that chance for the hosts they had something a little less enjoyable to deal with as Glen Rea went down on halfway. The physios rushed on to attend to him and the home fans breathed a sigh of relief when they passed him as able to continue. Why he went down I do not know, but that was because the match itself had not gripped me yet and unfortunately it never would.

The visitors did create a chance of their own in the 13th minute, but it was completely against the run of play as they had barely touched the ball upto this point. Their chance wasn’t very threatening though and I think it only made my notes as it was the first time they had made it past the halfway line in the game. Paul Osew was the Man with the chance and it was a cross from the left that flew straight into the arms of Jamie Jones in the Wigan goal. It was the best that Don’s had created so far though so it caught my attention.

The attention of the home fans will have been caught instead by Glen Rea hitting the turf as Jones caught the ball and this time there was no relief. Rea was unable to continue this time and in just the 14th minute of the match Wigan were forced into their first change of the match. The replacement that Richardson went for was Tom Bayliss and we will see if he had any effect on the match as this blog continues on its merry way.

Wigan created their next chance from a corner in the 18th minute. They swung the ball in from the right to the back post, once there it was tapped back across the box and with the visitors defence in disarray all Stephen Humphrys had to do was slot it home from point blank range in the centre of the 6 yard box. He couldn’t do it and instead sent the ball cannoning off the post and back into the forest of legs in the area, from where the reconstituted Don’s defence was eventually able to hack it clear.

The hosts were back in the Don’s area just 2 minutes later though a defence splitter by Will Keane was collected by Humphrys, only for it to be picked off his toes seconds later by a well timed tackle by a visiting defender. If that tackle had been mistimed I would have noted who made it as they would likely have been collecting a red card for Denying a clear goal-scoring opportunity, but it was well timed and thus I made no note of who made it.

This failure did not deter the hosts as they were back again in the next minute, determined to give the visitors no rest. This proved to be an excellent tactic as I bring you the tale of how Wigan took the lead with this attack in the 21st minute of the match. The hosts unleased a powerful shot from the edge of the box and despite getting his body squarely behind it Nik Tzanev, the Don’s keeper, was unable to hold it. He dropped it to the feet of Keane, who had followed in the original shot, and he made no mistake from 4 yards out slotting it away to give Wigan the lead. If he had messed it up at least his nearest teammate was Humphrys, who would’ve had no leg to stand on after his earlier miss.

Having taken the lead Wigan seemed content to let the match limp towards the half hour mark, with the only actions of note being comical ones. First Wigan had a freekick on the edge of their own area that they dithered over taking. They must have changed the taker of it at least 6 times before the ref ordered them to get on with it and then they thumped it upfield, straight to the feet of a Don’s defender who sent it right back where it came from. Second a Wigan cross from the left was cleared from under the bar by Paul Kalambyi for the visitors only for his teammates to slam the clearance between the shoulder blades of the ref.

That clearance was indicative of the lack of quality offered by the visitors who had yet to create a single decent chance and were even struggling to retain possession of the ball for any prolonged period of the match. They only gained possession of the ball in the 35th minute when a shambolic pass between the host’s centre-backs landed at Cosgrove’s feet, but even the Dons dithered on the ball for long enough to allow Wigan to recover their defensive shape and block the resulting cross from the left and clear the ball.

Wigan continued their dominance of the ball from this point till the penultimate minute of the half, but in this time they only created one half -decent chance when Joe Bennet fired towards goal from the edge of the box. Though even this failed to hit the target as it was deflected off the visiting defenders for a corner that was poked goalwards but rebounded off the forest of legs to the edge of the area. From there sit was lashed back towards goal but that shot met the same fate as it’s predecessor.

When the Don’s got their next touch of the ball in the 44th minute and created their first truly decent opening of the match. A cross from the right landed on Cosgrove’s forehead just 8 yards out and whilst his header had the keeper beaten all ends up it failed to beat his marker who readjusted to send the ball clear of the box just 2 yards from the line. Having created this chance it seemed the Don’s though half-time had come early as they downed tools and let Wigan have another chance. Keane was given the freedom of the DW to advance down the centre of the pitch till he just had Tzanev to beat, but his contact on the shot was lighter than being tickled with a feather and the ball dribbled into Tzanev’s arms.

That was the last action of an abysmal first half of football that Wigan had still somehow managed to find a goal in. The ref had done little to help the flow of the game as he whistled up at every opportunity as though he was getting a bonus dependant on there being 50 freekick in each half. Given this it was shocking to me that he took no action at all against Cosgrove when he caught his marker in the face with his elbow in the 42nd minute, but that incident seemed to escape his notice.

I stepped out on the concourse at half-time and spent the time looking at the scores around the grounds at the rest of the days matches. The only one I remember is that MK were leading Rotherham 1-0 at half-time as they kept the pressure on Wigan for the automatic promotion places.

As the hosts emerged for the second half I was shocked to see that neither manager had made any changes during the break. Surely they couldn’t both be happy with the first half display? I certainly hadn’t been.

The Don’s emerged from a blind spot for the restart. I looked up at one point and they were just there on the field. Not that it mattered early on as Wigan attacked straight from kick-off, but that attack petered out before it could threaten the visitor’s goal. Neither team created any chances of note in the first 5 minutes of the new half, but Cosgrove did get away with making contact with his marker’s face once more though. This time it was the palm of his hand instead of his elbow, but in most games both would have merited at least a yellow card. Luckily for Cosgrove and the visitors though the ref was oblivious to both of them in this game.

It fell to the hosts to have the first chances of the second half and when they came they arrived as a pair in back to back minutes. The first of the pair arrived in the 52nd minute when Gwion Edwards won a battle to break free on the right and advanced into the box before thumping a shot towards goal. Tzanev was equal to it as it hurtled straight down his throat and although he couldn’t hold it he was able to punch it behind. The cannoned shot from the D that came from the corner deflected out off a Wigan Man for a goalkick.

The second chance of the pair came through Humphrys who came charging down the left hand side and failed to look up before unleashing a shot across goal that Tzanev was able to save with his legs. If Humphrys had taken a second to acquaint himself with his surroundings before taking a shot at glory he would have have seen a teammate unmarked in the box who had the simplest tap-in I have ever seen on my football travels ready to go. In keeping with the rest of the match though that moment of composure and quality was left missing in action.

This lack of awareness for teammates, the lack of quality passes all over the pitch and the dearth of a decent set of finishing boots from any of the players was infuriating me at this point to the extent that I started checking my emails. The officials had also begun to drift off and so they tackled this by whistling up for every tackle or misplaced pass. It added some hilarity to the match but it also risked turning the whole thing into a huge farce. This was not helped just before the hour mark by a soft freekick that was given to the hosts in their own box when they had Humphrys setting them on the break down the right. Just let the match flow ref please.

In the 66th minute Mark Robinson in the away dugout finally made a move to mix-up the action and perhaps even allow the Dons to establish a foothold in the match. The way that Robinson decided would accomplish this best was to replace Jack Rudoni with Daniel Csoka. Despite this it was the hosts who had the next attack,5 minutes later, and once again it came through Humphrys down the right hand side. This time he looked up and chipped the ball to Max Power at the back post who headed it straight down into the ground and into Tzanez’s arms.

This was the final goal-mouth action of the match as the match limped to its conclusion, but in the meantime both teams made 2 substitutes each. The visitors replaced George Marsh and Ayoub Assal with Anthony Hartigan and Terry Ablade. The hosts for their part removed Joe Bennett and Callum Lang, who trudged off the pitch moving like flowing trudge in the middle of a Siberian winter, and brought on Tom Pearce and Gavin Massey.

Entering the final 5 minutes neither team had looked like creating a decent opening for ages let alone actually scoring a goal as they both seemed to be begging for the final whistle to be blown as soon as possible. In the stands I wanted it to be blown sooner than that just to put me out of my misery. Max Power would not have to wait the final 5 minutes to escape this game as he went down holding his left arm in the 86th minute and he appeared to be in an awful lot of pain. The physios decided after a short burst of treatment that he would not be able to continue and the hosts lost their second player of the match to injury. This time though they could not bring on anyone to take his place as they had already used up their substitution quota. They didn’t seem to care about the numerical disadvantage they were left with and with the way this match was going they had no reason to.

The most interesting incident of the whole 90minutes occurred in the final one of those regulation minutes when Humphrys was once again running free towards goal. This time though he was blocked off by a frustrated Paul Kalambayi. This was the clearest freekick of the match and the ref did manage to give it. He then reached into his pocket and when his hand reappeared it was carrying a red card which was brandished to Kalambayi as the last man and for denial of a clear goal-scoring opportunity. It appeared to me to be a stonewall red card and the first time the ref had been un-ambiguously correct in his decision making all match.

The lino had a different opinion though and after a 2 second chat with him so did the ref. After that chat he returned to the scene of the incident and rescinded the red card, then went one step further and reversed the freekick too. He eventually settled on giving a free kick to the Dons instead, but the reasons why the got the freekick are anyone’s guess. I still have no idea what the reason for this swift u-turn was but the ref was not about to explain it either. I have never been so confused about a turn of events on a football pitch.

I was still trying to decipher that turn of events as Wigan created the only change of the 3 tortuous minutes of injury time. They had the goal at their mercy just 3 yards out and with the keeper beaten, but instead of just tapping it home they went for the backheel instead and predictably it went comically wrong. Why they went for the theatrical there when they hadn’t managed to execute simple finishes throughout the rest of the game. The ball slowed to a snail’s pace allowing Tzanev to recover and scoop it up before it had covered a third of it’s required distance.

That was the last act of the match as the ref put the fans out of our misery, particularly the away fans who had travelled up from south London only to see their team fail to keep possession of the ball for any decent period of time let alone create a decent chance. That is an incredibly long journey for such an abysmal performance. My journey was much shorter than the away fans but I still felt that I had wasted my afternoon with this match.

My next blog comes from far further south than this one in the northern reaches of the midlands as I fullfill a childhood dream to see Nottingham Forest in action on the banks of the picturesque river Trent.

27th February 2022: Women’s FA Cup 5th Round: Prenton Park: Liverpool vs Arsenal

I have decided to leave my experiences at England’s final match of the Arnold Clark Cup for a blog that will form part of a series building up to the Women’s Euros in the summer. So we jump past that mid-week journey to Wolverhampton and land far closer to my abode on the final Sunday, as I popped across the Mersey to watch the leaders of the WSL take on their hosts who are soaring away from the rest of the Women’s Championship.

These two teams leading their respective leagues clashed in the final 16, also known as the 5th round, of the Women’s FA Cup. Arsenal lead the WSL by just 2 points coming into this match with Chelsea breathing down their necks with a game in hand. Their defence came into this match with an excellent record of conceding just 8 goals in 14 games in the league and they had only lost once in the league all season.

Liverpool for their part came into this one with a 10 point cushion over the chasing pack in the championship, with just the 5 goals conceded in 15 league game and just the 1 loss all season. They came into this match having won their last 5 on the bounce whilst their visitors have drawn 3 of their last 5 and only have 1 win in that time. The FA Cup is known for it’s shocks, so would it see another today?

With the match kicking off at midday I had to be up way too early for a Sunday and grab a bus to the stadium. Whilst on this bus ride I decided to use the free-wifi on board to check the team sheets, but I got a little distracted by the breaking news of Bielsa’s sacking by Leeds United. This was Leeds telling the man who had masterminded their return to the EPL to take a hike, it seemed unreal. That’s like Liverpool sacking Klopp because he won them the top division title for the first time in 30 years. Insane.

I had recovered from the shock of this news by the time I arrived at the stadium. There was still 45minutes till kick-off when I arrived, but I decided to head straight inside anyway. On the way in I passed the burger van in the carpark and the blue van from fans supporting foodbanks, it’s awful that foodbanks are still needed but good to see them being supported by those with the means to do so. I bought a programme, a cheeseburger and a drink on my way to my seat. There was a little mix up on the programme price though as one seller told me it was £2 but when her colleague served me the price was set a £2.50, now the programmes did say £2.50 in them so I paid it but I could’ve done without the confusion.

When I got into the stands it the teams were already warming up, with Liverpool in the shade at the fans end and Arsenal bathed in sunlight at the far end of the pitch. The back up Liverpool keeper was earning her keep with calls of “heads” in the warm up as the crosses the coaches thumped during catching practice were perhaps a little over zealous. I was certainly glad that the seat I had chosen to rest in was further back than I had first intended to be and that I was positioned just nicely behind the posts, in such a way that any crosses that were aimed towards me would bounce off the posts and away from where I was sitting.

The other thing that caught my eye in the warm-ups was the different way that the teams ran their cones drill. I don’t actually know if it’s technical name is the cone drill, but it’s what I know it as. This drill sees the starting outfield players split into 2 groups and tasked with maintaining possession of the ball whilst keeping it in a small coned off box area. The normal way of running this is that the groups consist of 4 players each and 2 designated neutral players, this duo tend to be the team’s playmakers who can see passes that most of their teammates can. They are the creative powerhouse of their team and as neutral players in this drill they have to be the most focused. This set up of 4,4 and 2 is the normal way because it forces the players to rely on each other. Liverpool had the drill set up differently, with 2 groups of 5 players and 2 coaches playing the neutral roles. Why they chose to do it this way is a private matter for them, but it seemed to defeat the object of the drill to me. Just one man’s opinion.

The team sheets were announced 10 minutes before kick-off and with no screens in Prenton Park it was difficult to ensure I had them down right. I know you’re in League 2 Tranmere and surviving at that level is difficult enough without spending money on stadium improvements, but a screen would make it so much nicer to attend matches and you are the best team the people of the Wirral have and you can only grow by enticing more of them to come to matches.

The team sheets themselves revealed a strong team for the hosts, with Melissa Lawley, Taylor Hinds, Missy Bo Kearns, Leanne Kiernan and captain Niamh Fahey all in the starting 11. However, there was no place in the squad for defender Meikayla Moore who had scored a perfect set of own goals over the international break the week before.

Arsenal for their part had not gone with nearly as strong a squad as their hosts. Beth Mead had been left back in London and Manuela Zinsberger, Jordan Nobbs, Tobin Heath, Stina Blackstenius and record goal scorer Vivianne Miedema were all on the bench for the start of the match. Arsenal had followed the tradition of teams naming someone in their squad who is not on the programme with Stenson on their bench being the player allotted for that role for this match.

Before kick-off there was a special presentation to Fahey for reaching 100 international caps for Northern Ireland over the international break. Congratulations to her for reaching this milestone and may she enjoy many more matches with her international teammates. Back to the game I had come to watch though and it was time to get it underway.

The hosts started the match with Katie Stengel the furthest player forward before reverting to their main striker Kiernan leading the line. For the visitors, without the talismanic Miedema had Caitlin Foord leading the line for them.

It only took 5 minutes for the first mistake of the game to come close to a goal. That mistake came from the home captain Fahey, who was getting a little too comfy at the back and under pressure from Foord she put a little too much on the back pass to Rachael Laws. Luckily for Fahey it looked to be heading just past the post, but Laws was able to recover and clear it.

Arsenal made a mistake of their own in the 8th minute, but this one was in midfield. Leah Williamson was a little too casual on the ball and this gave Lawley the chance to nick the ball off her and flick a ball in behind the visiting defence. Kiernan was onto this ball like a shot and managed to out-run the attentions of nearby defenders. Unfortunately for her and the home fans the ball managed to out-run her and it was easily scooped up by Lydia Williams in the Arsenal goal.

Liverpool used this chance to gather momentum behind them and they got on top in the match. They had the next chance of the match when Missy Bo Kearns fired a free-kick miles over the bar from 25yards out. It may not have threatened the goalmouth, but it was a symptom of the control of possession that the hosts had managed to cultivate so far. Perhaps it was this control that lulled Rhiannon Roberts in the hosts defence into a false sense of security. She got far too sloppy in clearing a searching ball over the top allowing Foord to ghost in behind her and beat her to the ball. Luckily for Roberts her blushes were saved by an offside flag.

The first proper threat from the visitors came in the 17th minute as a ball down the left set Katie McCabe running free in the box. She flashed the ball across the 6 yard box just begging her teammates to get on the end of it and tap it home for the opener. None of her teammates were there to tap it home. Roberts got there to slap it away from goal and towards the back post then cleared fully by Taylor Hinds. This was the first time Arsenal had shown any threat in this game.

Two minutes later Arsenal did more than just threaten as they took the lead. A searching ball through the hosts defence made it to Foord with just Laws to beat and she finished it across Laws and it nestled in the left corner of the net. Laws got fingertips too it as it whistled past her but not enough to keep it out. The quality Arsenal showed to go from under pressure and struggling to breaking out and scoring with their first shot on target was exceptional. Despite being in control for the first 15 minutes Liverpool were behind in the match just 4 minutes later and now it was all up to how they would respond.

The first signs of this response were extremely positive as Kiernan flashed a shot right across the face of goal in the 21st minute before a cross from the right hand side was inches too high to go straight in without another touch just a minute later. Then the signs became less positive as another back pass to Laws was once again closed down by Foord and this time there were mere nanoseconds between Laws successfully clearing the ball as Foord closed in. Laws was able to get the ball clear but it was not a great moment for the hosts as they tried to reassert themselves in this match.

Then things fell apart completely for the hosts as the match hit the half hour mark, they conceded 2 goals in just 4 minutes as the game was dragged out of their hands by their WSL visitors. The first of the brace for the visitors came exactly on the half hour mark. A beautiful 50 yarder out of defence by Williamson landed on the head of Kim Little at the left hand post and her header across goal was palmed towards the other post by Laws. At this post Foord was waiting to smuggle it home, but Fahey wasn’t waiting for the ball and got in front of Foord to tap it behind for a corner. The corner was taken short to Little and her cross was punched out to McCabe on the edge of the box who volleyed it straight back towards goal. It flew deliciously into the back of the net and past the despairing dive of Laws to double Arsenal’s lead.

The second of Arsenal’s 4 minute brace was a lot simpler for the visitors, a ball over the top by McCabe sent Foord running free and completely unmarked in the 6 yard box. The home defence had stopped like statues with their feet in concrete expecting an offside flag that never came. Even Laws took on statue form between the sticks and it was far too simple for Foord to knock it past her to increase the visitor’s lead to 3. The tiny score screen at the far end of the pitch showed 4-0 to the Gunners for a second before correcting itself, but even at 3-0 a comeback looked beyond the hosts.

The visitors had a penalty appeal waved away in the 38th minute as McCabe went over a leg in the area. It would’ve been soft in my opinion, but it goes in the category of ‘seen them given’. Seconds after waving this appeal away the ref gave the hosts a freekick on the edge of their own box, which did nothing to placate the Arsenal players still appealing for the penalty.

In the 40th minute Hinds attempted to take kick-start Liverpool’s comeback singlehandedly. Her shot from 40 yards out skimmed past the right hand post of the visitors goal. The ambition was awesome to see and it would’ve been a gorgeous goal if it had come off, but the execution was just short of what it needed to be.

The match had reached the 42nd minute before either team picked up a card of any colour, but when it came it was a yellow and it went to the host’s Leighanne Robe. She got this questionable honour for hacking down the visitor’s Rafaelle Souza and ending her gut busting run from midfield up to the edge of the host’s box. Souza needed treatment after having her legs hacked from under her, but she was able to continue. The free-kick was comically wasted as little rolled it 10 yards to the grateful boots of Hinds, but the break she set the hosts on came to nothing.

This was the last noteworthy play of a half that had been competitive in parts but where the quality of the WSL showed itself in the crucial moments allowing the visitors to head down the tunnel with a 3-0 advantage in their pockets. I went to grab some food, but changed my mind when I saw the queues for the kiosks. Returning to my seat didn’t go to plan though as I picked the wrong stairs first time round and had to head back down before finding the right stairs on my second try. This may not seem like a huge inconvenience, but I had fallen off my bike the afternoon before the match and my knee could’ve done without the extra work.

The teams emerged piecemeal for the second half, but Liverpool were shooting towards the fan’s stand in this half so I was hopeful for a consolation goal at the very least. Both managers had faith in their respective teams after their first half performances as neither the hosts Matt Beard nor the visitors Jonas Eidevall made any changes to the personnel at half-time.

The first occurrence of note in the second period was a collision in midfield in the 49th minute that left Nikita Parris and Roberts down flat out. The match was stopped immediately as physios from both teams rushed onto the field to tend to their respective players. It was great to see that the medical procedures were being followed properly and even better when Roberts got quickly back to her feet. Parris was down for a little longer, but she was eventually cleared to continue with the match.

It took until the 54th minute for the first chance of the half to be created and it went to the hosts. They wrestled the ball free on the left and advanced, but with Kiernan on the overlap there was no-one in the box to connect with Stengel’s cross when it arrived and Noella Maritz was able to clear for the visitors. Her follow through on the clearance caught Hinds, but the only thing given by the ref was a throw in. Being caught left Hinds down needing treatment and in the lengthy stoppage Missy Bo Kearns and Roberts took to practising passing to keep warm. Hinds was able to continue and much to my surprise she was not one of those substituted when Beard made his first changes in the 62nd minute. Instead Ceri Holland and Leighanne Robe were the ones who made way for the hosts to be replaced by Megan Campbell and Rachel Furness.

Beard was not the first to shuffle his pack as Eidevall had blinked first 5 minutes earlier and he’d even gone bigger than the hosts double. He went for a triple replacing Rafaelle Souza, Leah Williamson and Noelle Maritz with Jennifer Beattie, Simone Boye Sorensen and Tobin Heath. For anyone who knows the women’s game the fact that Arsenal can consistently utilise Heath as a substitute is incredible. She is a world class winger and I have yet to see her start for the Gunners.

Back on the pitch it was Liverpool who created the first chances past the hour mark with back to back crosses from the right by Lawley. The first was a cross into the 6 yard box that was cleared away by Boye Sorensen with Missy Bo Kearns, Stengel and Furness lurking to turn it home. A minute later the second cross was just a little too high for Stengel to connect with properly and she could only help it past the post.

Having not created anything of note in the first 20 minutes of the second half Arsenal finally sorted out a decent attack in the 68th minute and just like their first attack of the first half they scored with this one too. A beautiful team move was finished off by Little from 6 yards out as she stroked it under the despairing dive of Laws. That made it 4-0 to Arsenal and all without Miedema on the pitch. The gulf between the best team in the championship, who created tons of chances and couldn’t finish one and the best team in the WSL, who created very few chances and were still 4-0 up with 20mins of the match left, was clear for all to see.

As the match entered the final 20 minutes both teams dipped further into their resources on the bench. The hosts bought off the excellent Missy Bo Kearns and replaced her with Carla Humphrey and also replaced Rhiannon Roberts with Charlotte Wardlaw. The visitors removed Foord from the action, thus denying her the chance to complete her hat-trick. They still didn’t bring Miedema on though instead sending on Frida Maanum as the new player for the last 20.

The ref had been doing very well with her decisions so far in the match, but she then blotted her copybook with a howler in the 74th minute. It occurred as Lia Walti and Stengel were tussling for the ball in the Arsenal penalty area. Walti caught Stengel with a hand to the face which normally would have resulted in a penalty being given to Liverpool, but as both players went down the ref instead gave a free-kick to Arsenal. This infuriated the home fans around me so much that they broke into a chant of “you don’t know what you’re doing”. A little harsh on the ref perhaps, but understandable given the scale of the mistake.

This was forgotten a minute later though as Heath went on the attack for the visitors. She found space on the left of the box and unleashed a shot across the keeper that beat the Laws and had to be cleared behind off the line by a covering defender. Great last ditch defending to prevent Arsenal scoring their 5th goal, but I didn’t catch who managed this feat as it happened at the other end of the pitch.

Arsenal were on the attack again in the 77th minute as Heath set Maanum clean through the centre of the host’s defence and it looked like a simple tap in for Maanum. Until the lino’s flag stopped the attack in it’s tracks and saved the blushes of the Liverpool defenders who had been bypassed so simply.

Liverpool had the only attacks of the final 10 minutes of the regulation 90 and they spaced them excellently in the first and last minute of the 10. In the 81st minute a long throw into the box, over the leaping head of Maya Iwabuchi was punched clear to Humphrey on the edge of the box. She lashed a shot goalwards but Lydia Williams was equal to this too and then Hinds toe-poked her shot high over the bar from 6 yards out. Whilst not what Hinds had intended it was still rather impressive as an attempted finish. The host’s final chance of the match in the 90th minute was a fizzing shot from 25 yards by Yana Daniels that skimmed the top of the bar on it’s way behind and was the closest the hosts had come to finishing off one of their openings all match.

In between these chances for Liverpool the visitors took the chance to make their final substitution of the match, but by this point they had decided not to introduce Miedema and to instead save her for closer matches than this one had turned out to be. The substitution that they did make saw Lia Walti replaced by Jordan Nobbs who I always enjoyed watching when I visited Meadow Lane, during my time in London, as her first thought when she gets the ball is always forward.

There were 3 minutes added to the end of the match and in this time Arsenal had two presentable chances to add to their tally for the match. The first fell to Heath when Iwabuchi found her in space on the left side of the box. Heath was in the same position that she had been in when she scored Arsenal’s last minute equaliser against City in the WSL earlier in the season. This time the keeper was equal to her effort.

Heath then turned creator for her teammates as she found Nobbs in space just 20 yards from goal in the centre of the pitch. Her first time shot flew mere millimetres over the bar on it’s way behind and really should have been the gunners 5th of the match. They would never get that 5th though as the ref whistled for full time as soon as Laws had taken the goal-kick.

The match ended 4-0 to Arsenal and they progress to the quarter-finals of the Women’s FA Cup where they will face Coventry United at Meadow Lane on the 18th March. As for Liverpool they had just been subjected to a lesson in how good a football team can be and been given a warning of the level of quality play that they will be up against when they are back in the WSL next season. They will need to improve if they wish to be completing near the top of that league next season, but for now they can enjoy the rest of the league season as they romp to promotion.

For me it was a match with some excellent play but one that also exposed the gulf between the two professional leagues of women’s football in this country. I’m actually heading to another WSL game in midweek as I head to my third Everton women’s match of the season as they welcome Chelsea women to Walton Hall Park as the visitors compete for the WSL title during a testing time for their club as a whole.

That blog will have to wait a while though as I get back in chronological order mode and bring you my experience of visiting Wigan’s DW Stadium for the visit of AFC Wimbledon. Latics vs the Dons, who wins?

Sunday 13th February 2022: Manchester City Women vs Manchester City Women: Etihad Academy Stadium

Having already been to the Academy stadium for Arsenal’s WSL visit I thought I knew what to expect when I got off the Metrolink tram at the Velopark stop. I was wrong because the queues to get in were biblical!! I had never seen queues like that for a Women’s game and whilst I was impressed to see the awesome level of interest in Women’s football, but then the worry set in that I wouldn’t get in before kick-off. The queues for the North-West and South-West turnstiles were inches away from joining up back to back.

I had been delayed in getting to the stadium by a problem on the trams out of Piccadilly and as such I had to think on my feet to get inside before kick-off. I had bought my book on the train to Manchester in a plastic bag, but the no bag queue was moving an awful lot faster. So I joined it and the steward at the turnstiles was great to me as he realised there was just a book in there and he allowed me to stuff the bag in my pocket and carry the book inside. I was extremely grateful for this as the other option was being sent to the back of the queue, this would have been extremely annoying given the fact that there were no signs to let anyone know the reason for the two queues.

My show of initiative got me into the ground with 15minutes to go before kick-off, but I then had to cross all the way across the north stand to find a programme seller then back across the stand to join the food queue. A queue that, like the one to get into the stadium, moved at a glacial pace. The queue was so bad that I actually missed the first 3 minutes of the match and a pre-match presentation to Ellie Roebuck. I don’t even know what the presentation was for, but it was great to see her back between the sticks for City.

Whilst waiting in the queue I was able to take down the starting 11’s for both teams. I knew City’s team would be missing their injured captain Steph Houghton, but it was a surprise for me to hear that Chloe Kelly, Caroline Weir and Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw (their goalscorer against Arsenal) were also missing from the City starting line-up. Only one of those three would enter the action in the match, but when she came on the impact she had was astronomical. The only players of note missing for United were Lucy Staniforth in midfield and Leah Galton, their greatest goal threat from the match I saw against Tottenham at Leigh.

My seat for the match was excellent, right on halfway and with the dugouts mere metres to my right. I could see Steph Houghton sitting just behind the dugouts, she may be injured and unable to play but she was still there to support her teammates and this was awesome to see. Another even better thing about my particular seat was the set of 5 amateur ex-players in the Women’s game. Their knowledgeable conversation kept me entertained during half-time and in the brief breaks in play throughout the match. It was from then that I found out that Kim Little has retired from international football. This seemed too convenient to me at the time, but on doing my own research after the game it turns out to be true.

Back to this game and United were the noisy neighbours in this derby, but going into this match they were 3 places and 5 points ahead of their hosts. Looking at their respective squads I couldn’t work out why the visitors were ahead in these metrics, but then I remembered all the injuries that City had been dealing with and it made more sense. City had such an awful start to the season that they were behind Reading and level on points with West Ham in the table coming into this one. City’s form had been improving coming into this one though and before the match I wrote in my notes that I was betting on a City win. Was I right? let’s find out.

Early on that bet was looking good as it took just 5 minutes for City to create their first chance of the match as Lucy Bronze got in down the right. Her cross was cleared by the home defence, but only as far as Jess Park who sent it straight back where it came from and this one fell to Vicky Losada on the edge of the box who let rip towards goal and succeeded in nestling the ball on the roof of the net. Mary Earps, between the sticks for United, appeared to have it covered either way but it was a sign of intent from the hosts.

It was a good thing for Alex Greenwood that her City team were on the attack early on because she was wearing a Zorro style mask and seeing that tested was not something anyone needed. Luckily for her and the home supporters City were on the attack again in the 7th minute with Park getting in down the wide open right-hand side and her pinpoint pass to the back post was screwed wide from a yard out by the unfortunate Lauren Hemp. The end result may not have been what the home fans had been hoping for, but the ease with which they got in behind the United defence was impressive and gave me a huge amount of confidence in City’s ability to turn dominance of the ball into goals in this match.

The 11th minute boosted my confidence in this even further as a beautiful 30 yard pas by Bronze dropped on a dime to Ellen White on the right side of the box. Instead of shooting herself she attempted to pull the ball back to Losada at which point the United defence was able to recover their shape and nip it off her toes as she was shaping to shoot. Worse new for City came just 3 minutes later as Georgia Stanway went down under a tackle in the middle of the pitch, but luckily she was able to continue after a quick stint of treatment from the physios.

United got their first chance of the derby in the 16th minute when Vilde Boe Risa shot straight down the Roebuck’s throat, when she had teammates in better positions to her left. The shot had enough power on it for it to squirm out of her hands, but she was able to recover in time to gather the ball before it could be turned home by the lurking Ella Toone.

This attack was a mere blip in City’s domination of the match to this point though as the hosts were back in down the ever leaky United right just 2 minutes later. This time it was Hemp who was in behind on that side this time round, but her cross into the centre was just an inch too close to the keeper and Earps was able to grab it off White’s outstretched toes. Any professional ballet dancer would have been proud of White’s form as she gave her all to connect with the cross but it came to nothing.

In the 24th minute City took to overplaying in the final third to keep the scores level. Losada had the ball in space on the edge of the box but rather than shooting she chose to play the ball out to Park on the right. This gave the home defence the time to organise to the point that when Park crossed the ball back into the box neither Losada or White were able to find the space to shoot through the forest of United legs. If Losada had shot first time there would have been a lot of pressure on Earps, but as it was the United keeper found herself with nothing to do at this point of the match.

United were getting so frustrated at this point in the match that they starting making crazy decisions in an attempt to create chances. A lunge on the half way line from Greenwood gave United a rare free-kick and they lumped it directly towards goal. To attempt to score direct from halfway could be seen as a ballsy move, but in this case it appeared to stem from sheer desperation to find some way back into the match. It was approaching the half hour mark by this point and United had barely had a sniff of the City goal.

A mere 3 minutes after half an hour of play had elapsed City were in behind again and yet again it was down the right that the found the space to create. Park, who had been United’s chief tormentor so far in the match, took the ball to the byline this time before delivering the ball on a silver platter to a teammate at the back post. This teammate managed to keep the score at nil-nil by heading the chance over the bar, till it nestled in it’s comfy spot on the roof of the net. The ball was getting far too used to landing in this spot for my liking.

This chance for City was followed a minute later by United’s best opening of the match so far, though that was not difficult as it was only their second significant chance from open play. Ella Toone had grown infuriated with her teammates lacklustre chance creating ability and so set off on a one-woman mission to create one for her team. She weaved past the City midfield and into space on the left. Her teammate had picked up on this mission and there were 4 of them running free in space in the box looking to connect with the cross that was bound to come, to give the visitors a lead they had no right too.

When Toone whipped in her cross it beat Roebuck but not Greenwood, who had raced back to cover for her bypassed teammates. Greenwood connected with the cross and headed it clear to the palpable relief of the majority of the fans in the stands and the excruciating disappointment of the waiting United players who would have had an empty net to turn the ball into without Greenwood’s intervention. I was amazed that the game remained 0-0.

Having survived this scare City were back on the attack with 5 minutes to go before halftime. Again they got in down the gaping hole that the right side of the pitch became every time they looked to go forwards. This time the City player on the attack was Bronze and her cross had a little too much on it for anyone to connect in the centre of the box. One of her teammates was able to sneak in at the back post, but her connection with the cross was too strong and the ball simply cannoned straight into the ground and then bounced harmlessly into Earp’s arms.

City were not done for the half yet though as Bronze got in down the right yet again. This time she advanced into the box before chipping the ball up for White to connect with just 6 yards from goal in the centre of the area. Once again though the ball found it’s comfy spot on the roof of the net from the resulting header, Another gilt-edged chance goes begging for City and the back of the net must have been starting to get at least a little bit jealous of the close relationship the ball was developing with it’s roof at this point.

The half ended on a sour note for City when Greenwood fell to the turf just as the board went up for 3 minutes of injury time. The City defender was down for ages and it certainly felt like it should have added to the injury time, but the ref blew the whistle to end the half seconds after the physios had finished with Greenwood and it was clear she would be able to continue after the break.

I had no idea how the half had come to a conclusion without a single goal being scored, but it had somehow managed to be so. I spent the half talking with the ex-players next to me and learning from their knowledge of Women’s football. Half-time passed swiftly for me, like a bullet train through the countryside of Japan. I was caught on the hop by the lack of substitutions from the visitors in the break. Given the ease with which City wandered into the space behind the left of their defence I thought that they would have bought on re-enforcements in that area, but they decided against it for reasons that I hoped would become clear during the course of the second half.

The second half took a while to get going and it wasn’t till the 54th that the first decent chance of the half presented itself. It went to City as they attempted to exploit the space on the right that had been so simple to find in the first half. This time though that space had been closed right up and the attack was going nowhere, till Katie Zelem slid in for no reason and took the player rather than the ball. She received the first yellow card of the match for this and give City a free chance at goal. The free-kick was launched towards goal by Greenwood but it just never stopped rising and ballooned harmlessly over the bar.

City were causing United problems again in the 58th minute, but this time they tried their luck down the left. They found the space for Demi Stokes to whip the ball into the centre but, like Greenwood before her, she put too much on the cross and it sailed over everyone in the centre of the box and it then came in too hot to Park at the back post for her to adjust in time, so all she could do was shin the ball behind for a goalkick.

It took till a minute after the hour mark for City to find that space down the right that they had been searching for all half. The insanely energetic Park was the one who found that space and she used it to embarrass the defender opposite her. She zigzagged inside, outside and then inside again to leave her marker dazed and confused on the turf. This done and with space in the box she toe-poked her shot past Earps for what was looking like the goal that City had deserved all match, till it rebounded off the left stick of the goal. The disappointment that I felt as the ball bounced off the post has only been beaten recently by my disappointment at England’s loss on penalties in last summer’s Euro’s final.

United’s first creditable threat to the City goal in this second half came in the 63rd minute and just to make up for lost time they squeezed two into the single minute. The first of these came from the left side of the box and once this one had been palmed off the line by Roebuck they tried again from the right side with the same result. It may not have been a goal for United, but forcing Roebuck to work for her living was certainly an improvement on their efforts so far this half. Just as the visitors were finding a foothold in the half their manager, Mark Skinner, decided to shuffle his pack, bringing on Martha Thomas for Vilde Boe Risa.

This shuffling almost backfired within a minute as a passage of silky interplay between Stanway and Park, including Stanway nutmegging Zelem in the build-up, resulted in Stanway 20 yards from goal slap-bang in the centre of the goal. Her shot was hit like a bullet out the barrel of a AK-47, there was no time for Earps to adjust and get anywhere near it. The aim on her bullet was every so slightly too high though and it whizzed mere millimetres over the bar.

The next 10 minutes died off a cliff as the match entered a mid-half lull, but in that lull City boss Gareth Taylor made his most important call of the match. He made his first substitution and in replacing Vicky Losada with Caroline Wier, who I had expected to start, he changed the course of the derby.

Before we get to Wier’s crowning moment there were two other moments of note in the dying minutes of the 70’s. Both of these moments fell to the visitors, with them first heading agonisingly wide of the back post from a floated corner from the right. Then United attempted to change the match in their favour with their second substitution, replacing Alessia Russo with Kirsty Hanson.

Wier’s crowning moment came in the 81st minute of the match, when she had only been on the pitch for 7 minutes. The ball was worked to her in the centre of the pitch 25 yards from goal, she advanced to the edge of the box and flicked the ball goalwards with exquisite nonchalance. The ball flew gracefully into the top right postage stamp of the goal before finally being able to nestle in the back of the net, as it had threatened to do so often. There is no keeper anywhere in world football that was saving this shot and there were many a jaw that needed to be scooped back up as the supporters processed what they had just seen. It was one of the best pieces of skill I have seen at a football match in a long time and well worth the entrance fee for the stadium record 5,317 fans that had made their way to the match.

The home fans day was almost ruined just a minute later though as a cross from the visitors right beat everyone in the home defence, but luckily it also beat the runs of the United players in the centre and the match remained 1-0 to City. This scare was enough to convince Taylor to shut-up shop though and in the 84th minute he removed the brilliant Jess Park from the action to a standing ovation and bought on Hayley Raso to help her teammates see the match out. The hosts also took to time-wasting on the ball, it’s a fair game management tactic but not especially exciting from the fan perspective.

It worked though as it took until the final minute of the match for United to create another chance. This came on the break down the centre as a ball over the top gave Thomas the chance to run clear, Roebuck wasn’t giving her it all her own way though as she engaged the United striker in a race to the ball. Roebuck won and hacked the ball out for a throw-in and it was a good job she did, as if she had lost then Thomas would have almost certainly equalised into an empty net and robbed the status of match winner from one of the truly great goals I have seen in all my years of attending football games.

As it was the match remained at 1-0 to the hosts and after a last minute substitution for the visitors, Signe Brun replaced by Ivana Fuso, this was how the match ended. A spectacular first-time finish sealing a derby win for City that was a lot more comfortable than the scoreline suggested.

There was a moment of confusion for me after the final whistle though as City’s Kiera Walsh was announced over the PA as the player of the match, for my money Jess Park would have been a much better choice for the accolade as she was a thorn in the side of the visitors right up until being substituted. Wier was also a good shout for the award simply for the quality of her match-winning goal, but I would still have chosen Park myself and I expect to see a lot more of her in years to come. Whether she will break through in the England set-up in time for the Euro’s this summer remains to be seen, but her quality is undeniable.

I took 10 days off after this match before heading down to Wolverhampton to see how England’s preparation for those upcoming Euro’s were going as they faced the old enemy Germany in the Arnold Clark cup. the tournament in which they faced top 10 ranked opposition for the first time under Sabrina Weigman. It was set to be a true test of their credentials as challengers in the Summer and I will bring my report on my experiences of that game in next blog.

February 9th 2022, Manchester City vs Brentford

Fresh on the back of a humiliation at the hands of Frank Lampard’s new Everton team Brentford stayed up in the north west for their next match against the runaway league leaders Manchester City. Brentford came into the match having not won in the league since beating Aston Villa on the 2nd January and having not managed to win in any competition since beating Port Vale of league 2 in the FA Cup 3rd round on January 8th. Between that 4-1 demolition of Port Vale and this match against Manchester City, Brentford had played 5 games across the Premier League and FA Cup losing every single one and not managing to score twice in any of them.

This abysmal form for the Bees has seen them slip to 14th in the league table and every team below them in the table at kick-off had at least one game in hand over them. They also had not beaten today’s opponents since a match on Christmas day in 1937, granted they haven’t played each other much since then but 85 years is still a long time to go without a win against a single opponent. The only positive omen for the Bees heading into this match was that they had not lost 5 league matches in a row since December 2007, when they were on their way to a mid-table finish in League 2, sandwiched between Bury and Lincoln City.

Their opponents for this midweek evening game were Manchester City, who lead the Premier League by 9 points at kick-off and had not lost in all competitions since being beaten 2-1 away at RB Leipzig on the 7th December. To find City’s last loss in the league you would have to go all the way back to the 30th October when they were defeated 2-0 at home by Crystal Palace. They had prevailed in every domestic match since, including defeating the Bees 1-0 in the reverse match at the Brentford Community Stadium, and this incredible run of form appears to have set them on a path to another simple stroll to the league title.

This was a match pitting the runaway league leaders against a newly promoted team in dreadful form and in freefall in the league table so there was only one winner looking likely. As such I made my way to this match with no expectations of a good result, after all only a fool would bet on the visitors winning this on, but I still made my way to the match looking forward to it. I had always wanted to visit the Etihad and having visited the Academy stadium across the road for a WSL match now I had the chance to visit the real thing in the Premier League. It was a dream come true and at least the journey was simple, just a direct train into Manchester Piccadilly and then a tram out towards Ashton-Under-Lyme and off at the Etihad campus stop and through the excessive barrier system out of the stop.

I got talking to another Bees fan on the tram and we got chatting about the team’s recent form and their prospects for the rest of the season. His knowledge was a pleasure to imbibe, though our conclusions were less enjoyable as we both agreed that the current form was grim and unless something changed soon the Bee’s chances of staying up were very slim indeed. Our conversation continued as we walked round half of the stadium and only came to an end as we reached the barriers set out for the arrival of the coaches in-front of the main entrance to the Colin Bell stand. My tram companion decided not to stick around to see the home team arrive, but I could not miss the chance to see Pep Guardiola and his team of millionaires greet the fans as they arrived for the match. The only player I really wanted to see was Kevin DeBruyne, a world-class player whose skills would grace any pitch the world over.

DeBruyne and the rest of his teammates emerged from the two coaches that stopped just out of my view, whilst Pep and the coaching team had been on the second coach and thus stepped down mere metres from where I was standing. It was a surreal feeling to see the man who had transformed City from also-rans into the most feared club in domestic competitions that close to me, probably within touching distance though I did not try to find out. The stewards on the spiral ramps either side of the entrance would have had an excellent view of both players and managers as they disappeared into the bowels of the stadium.

This view may have made up for the elongated wait for the coaches to arrive. The announcer filled the gap by putting on a quiz for a couple of young fans, with the prize of an upgrade to hospitality for the match. The questions were on both the hosts and the visitors and even I learnt something, the names of the Brentford mascots. Whilst this was going on I snuck away to buy a programme for the match and I managed to sneak back to the barriers just in time for the arrival of the coaches.

There was a surprise waiting for me on the squad lists just inside the back cover of the programme, Benjamin Mendy’s name is still listed on there. Granted there is an asterisk linked to a footnote at the bottom stating that he is currently suspended, but given that he is currently under arrest on rape charges it feels wrong seeing his name on the programme at all.

Once I had seen the coaches arrive I decided to head straight inside and this was a very good call. The security you have to pass through to get to the turnstiles is belt and braces, just guards with sniffer dogs and a strict no bags at all rule. You can bring bags too the stadium, but you can’t take them inside. City are good enough to provide secure bag drops outside the security line for you to leave your bags at, but I didn’t trust these arrangements and so travelled to the match without my trusty backpack.

The turnstiles themselves are wide and easy to get through, but once you’re through prepare for a work out if you’re on the upper levels. There are no lifts to the Level 3 in the away area and whilst not exhausting on the Newcastle scale it was still a decent work-out that shows just where you are at fitness wise. When you get to the top of those stairs the huge food kiosk just to your right comes in very handy indeed. Less handy are the screens on the concourse which were showing a pop concert that had previously been staged at the stadium rather than anything remotely useful or football related.

With the screens being of no help whatsoever I decided to look online for the matchday squads and when I did I was in for a shock. Ivan Toney was nowhere to be seen for Brentford. The official line being that he was unavailable due to a calf knock picked up against Everton but given his performance in that game I would not be surprised if he had simply been dropped. In better news for the Bees, Bryan Mbuemo and Yoane Wissa were able to return to the bench after missing the Everton humiliation due to positive tests.

Despite these returnees Brentford still had to name 2 keepers on their bench to fill it out as their squad gets stretched wafer thin as we approach the crucial part of the season. For their part City only had 1 notable absentee from their squad with Gabriel Jesus rested for this match. Other than that it was a full strength City team that lined up against the newly promoted visitors with Sterling, Mahrez, Foden and DeBruyne all on from the start.

Having worked out the squads without the screens and bought a drink from the kiosk I headed into my seat and I’m glad I went in early. The view from the seat was both incredible and ass-clenchingly frightening for me as I’m not the best with heights. It wasn’t as high up as my seat at St. James’ Park for sure, but the stand was far steeper so if I slipped at all the trip downwards would be a lot more destructive. With this in mind I was glad to have the time to adjust to the view and there was no way I was looking over the bar 2 seats to my right.

There was no denying the stunning view I had of the pitch though and of the rest of the stadium too. The Etihad is vacuous beyond words and the sight-lines for every supporter are incredible, but the tannoy was far too quiet to fill the space before the announcing of the teams. So I thought that I would be relying on the huge screens behind each goal for the final announcement of the starting-11’s, just incase anything had changed in the warm-up. I was right on this for the Bee’s starting-11 and substitutes, which the announcer sped through as though he was driving on a motorway and needed to get home to stop his house burning down. For the City squad things were taken at a far more civilised speed.

The show that was made of the hosts starting-11 was a little much though. First there was a few smoke machines going off around the pitch perimeter. Then the light show started and as the tannoy was turned up by a factor of 50 the names of each of the player’s names was lit up around the centre circle with their shirt number accompanying this. The final touch was a row of huge flags with each of the starting player’s names and numbers on them being waved along along the touchline opposite the dugouts. I understand that this was all done to enhance the experience for the home fans, but as an away fan it really did feel like they were trying too hard.

This was the last act before kick-off and at this point I would have bitten your hand off for a draw but 10 seconds in Brentford came milliseconds away from taking the lead. A weak backpass left Ederson under huge pressure in the City goal and he was only just able to clear in time to scramble the ball away from the onrushing Samman Ghoddos.

Having survived that early scare City created their first chance of the match in the third minute as they find Raheem Sterling in space on the right. He cut inside Frank Onyeka and had a clear shot on goal with just David Raya to beat in the Brentford goal, so he shot right down the keeper’s throat and made it as easy as possible for Raya to save which he did with ease. City had another chance a minute late though as a mistake in the Bee’s defence gifted the ball to City in the box and it took the best of Raya to get down and keep the ball out with his legs.

The hosts had their next chance in the 5th minute as they had the Bee’s goal under early siege, this time they managed a diving header just past the right-hand post. It was the closest that City had come to taking the lead so early in the match. Brentford had their first attack a minute later as a delicious 40 yard crossfield ball from Raya set Sergi Canos running free down the left hand side, but he slipped as he attempted to turn inside and find support to help continue the attack and City were able to clear the ball.

The game had started at breakneck speed and it continued this way in the 8th minute as City created another attack through Sterling, he then fell over under the slightest of contact and, with his reputation preceding him a little, the ref waved away his protests. This incident annoyed the fans behind me so much that I heard them mutter that “you could blow him over with a feather”. I wish I could disagree with them.

Whatever his faults Sterling had been the most active and threatening player for the hosts so far and he was at it again in the 10th minute. A quick freekick caught the visitors off guard and set him free down the left channel. His cut back was just too close to the Bee’s centre backs and it got cleared just in time to stop the onrushing City midfielders from connecting with it.

City were running the show in midfield and choking the life out of Brentford at this point in the match and it had clearly had an effect on Thomas Frank as he was waving his arms like a madman on the touchline, doing anything he could to inspire his team to get back into the match. It was great to see this passion in a manager and it did appear to have the desired effect as the Bees managed to break upfield from a City corner in the 14th minute. They got the ball running in space on the left and had three players in space in the centre waiting for the cross that they would tap home into the net for a lead that they had done nothing to deserve. The cross that came in was not one to be tapped home as it was way too close to Ederson in the City goal, who pouches it without having to move at all.

City then regained control of the match and moved the ball into space on the right side of the box with no Bees defenders within 5 yards. They delay the shot long enough for the visitors to recover and get back in place in time to deflect the ball behind for a corner. The corner came to nothing, but the amount of space City were finding in the box was scary. It was only the 20th minute and City were already finding ways to cut the visiting defence to shreds.

Brentford were only able to create chances on the break at this point and they managed it in the 23rd minute. They tried to beat the keeper with a 20 yard dipping fizzer and they almost succeeded. Ederson had to scramble to adjust his feet and get in position to palm the ball over the bar. This incredible last second save was rendered moot seconds later as the linesman threw up an extremely late flag. It did at least keep Ederson on his toes though and show City that, despite their dominance the visitors were not going to roll over and gift City the win.

In the 29th minute City came inches away from taking the lead their dominance deserved. A teasing cross into the corridor of uncertainty snuck past 2 despairing Bees lunges and just needed the slightest touch in the centre, but no-one manages to connect. The ball bounced out to Joao Cancelo 12 yards out who smashed the ball over the bar with his first-time effort. City came right back on the attack in the 32nd minute as intricate play in midfield fed the ball to Kevin DeBruyne on the right side of the box. Before he could unleash a word-class shot Pontus Jansson got back and nipped the ball off his toes.

City were not letting up though and, just a minute later, a ball over the top found Raheem Sterling 7 yards out in the centre of the box with no defenders anywhere nearby and just the keeper to beat. Somehow he contrived to balloon the ball miles over the bar from this distance. It was a satisfying miss for me as an away fan, but City were getting closer and there would only be so many let-offs for the Bees before the hosts made one of their chances count. They would give Brentford at least one more let-off though and this one came in minute 35. A city freekick was threaded through to Aymeric Laporte 10 yards from goal and his shot on the turn was lashed just wide of the right hand post.

The visitors finally managed to fashion another chance of their own in the 37th minute as they grabbed the ball in midfield and allowed Mathias Jensen to unleash a shot from 25 yards out. It deflected through to Ederson, or it would have done if the defenders had been paying attention. They weren’t and instead tapped it behind from inches in front of his waiting arms. Brentford wasted the corner as has become their tradition in recent games.

City finally got the goal their control of the match so far deserved in the 40th minute, but they decided not to try and get it from open play. Sterling received the ball on the left hand side of the area and when Mads Roerslev slid in and took the ball off him, he proceeded to fall over and roll around. The ref saw this as a clear indication that he had been fouled and gave the hosts a penalty. Riyad Mahrez stepped up to slide the ball down low to the keeper’s right to put City 1-0 up and on the path to yet another league win. These penalty moments elicited the only cheers from the home fans all half.

Bees went up the other end and had 2 chances in 2 minutes before the end of the regulation 45. A cross from the left was headed out to 25yards by the host’s defence where Onyeka was waiting to flash it inches wide of the left post for their first chance. The second came down the other side as a cross into the box from the right was poked towards goal from point blank range only to be blocked away by Ederson, who then got back to his feet in time to grab the ball off the feet of the waiting strikers.

In the added minutes Sterling had a gilt-edged chance to double the host’s lead from 6yards out and instead of shooting he went to tap the ball past the keeper and then attempt to fall over his outstretched arms as he went for the ball. When Sterling realised that the keeper was not going to give him that opportunity he cut back inside to the penalty spot and saw his shot blocked by a recovering Brentford defender.

This was the last action of the half that City won 1-0 and as such I headed for halftime in a pretty dreadful mood. The long queue at half-time actually improved my mood as I still managed to get the last available pie, which tasted great, and whilst queueing I was able to have a long chat with an extremely knowledgeable fellow Bees fan from Hammersmith called Abigail. She was less pleased once we got to the kiosk though as she was vegan and they had nothing more substantial than a packet of crisps to offer her for sustenance.

Feeling lovely as I returned to my seat my mood then soured again as I saw that neither side had made any half-time substitutions. With the hosts so clearly on top throughout the first half I was amazed that Thomas Frank had decided to leave things as they were instead of bringing on reinforcements to try and change the direction of the match.

With no changes at half time it only took 5 minutes for City to create their first chance of the half as Laporte let fly from 30 yards out on the left-hand side of the pitch and it skimmed over the bar by inches. Then City created an even better chance in the 55th minute. The first of those chances saw Cancelo waltz past the entire defence with consummate ease then whip a shot across the keeper from just inside the left angle of the area. Raya got down to his left just in-time to save and keep the game at just 1-0 to City.

It took until the hour mark for Brentford to create a chance of their own in the second half. A looping cross from the left got slid back in to the penalty spot, once it had been collected on the right. The shot was powerful enough, but was also straight down Ederson’s throat and never looked like being the equaliser that Brentford badly needed to get themselves back into the match. This was enough to finally shake Thomas Frank from his slumber on the touchline as, two minutes later, he removed Canos and Ghoddos from the fray and replaced him with 2 of the best attacking players in the Bee’s squad, Byran Mbuemo and Josh DaSilva.

This change almost paid dividends as the Bee’s had a great chance to equalise on the break in the 64th minute. An awesome 40 yard ball up-field left Mbuemo in behind the host’s defence and running free with only Ederson to beat. That is till the City defence re-organised and forced him to cut inside before he could find the space to take a shot on goal and with this opportunity Kevin De-Bruyne was able to rush back and nip the ball off Mbuemo’s toes as he is shaping to shoot. This was too much like Brentford getting back into it for Guardiola’s liking and it pushed him to dip into his expensive bench resources. He pulled Jack Grealish from the pack and sent him on as fresh legs in attack to replace the goal-scorer Mahrez.

At this point it was only 1-0 to City and there had even been signs of Brentford getting a foothold in the match, so this was of-course the time City doubled their lead and it came from a dreadful mistake from Raya in the Bee’s goal. In the 69th minute he messed up a goal-kick and it ended up being passed straight to Sterling yards from goal and completely unmarked. Luckily it was Sterling and he proceeded to slam his shot into the keeper’s legs from point blank range. Unfortunately, the ball rebounded out to the feet of Kevin DeBruyne, whose killer instinct is far more refined, and he stroked the ball back where it came from until it nestled in the back of the net. That was 2-0 to City and the game was basically finished off as a contest. To say I was apoplectic at Raya at this point would be the greatest understatement of any of my blogs so far.

With this 2-0 buffer over their visitors now established Guardiola was able to substitute the attacking threat of Phil Foden and replace him with the steel in midfield of Ikay Gundogan to help City retain possession and ensure they didn’t give their visitors and easy way back into the match. In the 79th minute Brentford break from the back, just as a City player nearby went down and the ref then gave the hosts a freekick. From which the hosts were able to engineer a chance to shot from just outside the box that Raya had to get down to his right very quickly to palm it behind.

The visitors then created 2 chances in 2 minutes in the early minutes of the last 10. In the 82nd minute Rico Henry got in down the right and his cross into the box was blocked by the hand of City captain Ruben Dias. Perhaps his hand was in a natural position, I can’t remember now. Whatever the case it was only a corner that got given and the resultant shot from the left was deflected behind and the second corner amounted to nothing at all. The second chance came from an attempted assist by Raya than got headed down to Mbuemo on the edge of the box, but he fluffed his shot and it was far too simple for City to clear.

At this point City took total control of the ball and proceeded to just knock it about between themselves as the remainder of the 90minutes ebbed slowly away. The home fans decided not to wait for the inevitable final whistle to put a seal on their victory as they started trickling towards the exits in the 86th minute and by the 90th it had become a tidal wave. It seems when you get used to seeing your team win every match it gets far too boring as the home stands were almost fully deserted when the board went up for 3 added minutes.

Brentford created one final chance for a consolation goal in those added minutes. Rico Henry surged forward on the left and slipped an inviting cross across the 6yard box that Mbuemo came millimetres away from tapping home. The ball back across from the other side landed to the feet of Frank Onyeka who smashed it into the keeper’s body from point blank range, that sent the ball cannoning away from the box.

That was the final chance before the ref whistled for full-time and a 2-0 win to City. The only good news for the visitors was that this performance was a vast improvement on their humiliation by Everton at the weekend.

One the downside for the visitors, this loss brings up a month of losing for Brentford and without an improvement in results they will struggle to avoid relegation at the end of the season. It would be a huge disappointment for a season that started with a 2-0 home win over Arsenal to end with relegation and the improved performance in this match gives them hope of a turnaround.

The home stands were a wasteland seconds after the final whistle blew as the home fans are so used to seeing their team win that they didn’t feel the need to stick around to celebrate the victory with their team. If only all supporters were so lucky.

My next blog sees me return to Manchester and to the Manchester City complex, but I switch my attention back to the Academy Stadium for the Manchester derby in the WSL.

Having been back to London to pick up the tickets for this FA Cup match and taking the free evening to pop into Plough Lane, it was now time for me to head to the FA Cup showdown between the Franks of Thomas and Lampard. Thomas Frank is the manager of the visiting Brentford and for his first match Frank Lampard was taking charge of his new team, Everton. The blue side of Merseyside had finally taken the step of ending the ill-fated reign of Liverpool legend Rafa Benitez, who had lead them into a relegation battle in the league, and replacing him in the dugout with Chelsea legend Frank Lampard. Lampard’s reign as Everton manager began today with the visit of Brentford in the 4th round of the FA Cup.

Getting to the ground for me was one simple cycle, but for those coming in to Liverpool by train you can either head across the road from lime street and get the 19, 20, 21 or the matchday 919 bus from the Bus Station. To walk to Goodison Park from Lime street is simple you just head right out of the station and then follow the tourist road signs towards Anfield, there are no such signs for Goodison, until you see Anfield appear up the road to your right and you then carry on straight. You head down the side of Sefton Park and Goodison appears in front of you. The first thing I saw of Goodison were the large blue letters of the sign above the stadium, although I could only see the section spelling out Good from my viewpoint and that was one thing that Everton had not been till this point of the season.

They now had a new manager though, who had been confirmed on Transfer Deadline Day and had made a couple of marquee signings who should improve their squad no end. They bought in Dele Ali to give them more threat going forward and Donny Van De Beek to shore up their defence. Brentford had responded on the same day with a huge signing of their own in the incredible Christian Eriksen, returning to England and competitive football for the first time since the Euro’s last summer. None of these players were able to play for their club in this one though, Ali and Van De Beek are cup-tied whilst Eriksen will not be able to play for Brentford for “a few weeks” as he works to return to match fitness. Everton were also without their main striker of Dominic Calvert-Lewin who was still recovering from a knock.

I arrived at the ground with ages till kick off and having bought my programme from a Red lad on the walk to the ground, who had been hoping that Benitez would stay for the season and relegate the blues, I walked past the shop without heading inside. I then passed the statue of Dixie Dean on the main road and then proceeded down the Goodison road stand, where there were huge banners on the side of the stand of notable players from Everton’s past and underneath that was a timeline of Everton through the years. The timeline wraps round the Goodison Road, Sir Howard Kendall Gwladys Street and Bullens Road sides of the stadium and tracks the history of Everton from their 1878 founding right up to 2014, why it goes no further into modern times is anyone’s guess.

As I walked down Goodison Road it became clear why Everton are the known as ‘The People’s Club’ as the whole of L4 appeared to have turned out to greet their new manager. Lampard returned this show of passion for his appointment by giving a quick fist bump in the fans direction as he headed straight inside the stadium off the bus. Way to get the fans onside Mr. Lampard, but he would improve that welcome on the pitch.

Having seen this interaction between the new manager and his new fans I headed down to the far end of Goodison Road and found a three-sided statue that had Howard Kendall on one side, Colin Harvey on the second and Alan Ball (who joined after winning the 1966 World Cup) on the third side of the triangle statue. Each of them were legends for Everton in their own era, but they have to share a statue whilst Dixie Dean has one all to his own at the other end of Goodison Road.

I bought my lunch from a food stall near this triple statue, all the food stalls and programme sellers are cash only by the way, then headed past the Gwladys Street end of the stadium and the second club shop on the corner of the Gwladys and Bullens sides of Goodison. I then had to go past the barriers that separate the away fans turnstiles from the home areas and then inside the barriers and all the way back along Bullens Road to turnstile 46/47 , that then turned out to be outside the barriers anyway and I couldn’t get in through. The stewards had obviously dealt with this situation with other fans as they knew to send my back to turnstile 50 where the steward let me in without needing to scan my ticket.

Once inside the stadium you can feel the age of the place everywhere you look. The ceilings are low and the concourse is thin and claustrophobic, the away fans were packed like sardines into the tiny spaces and I can understand why Everton are moving to a new stadium in the docks. Goodison Park was the first custom-built, football only stadium back in 1882 and it’s all wood under your feet and the seats are tiny metal flip-down one with just a metal bar across the back for lumbar support. Not comfortable, but as an away fan I would be standing most of the match anyway if things went well. My seat was right by half way and though Everton had been generous in giving the away fans a full side of the stadium they had also put a pillar in the way of my view to the left so I could hardly see the penalty area, but I could see the goal though I would wish I could not as the game progressed.

The big screens in the stadium are diagonally opposite each other and the one I could see, between the Goodison Road and Gwladys Street stands, showed only the starting 11’s for the teams and no substitutes at all. Writing them on the programme was a nuisance though as the outsides of the programme are glossy paper which cannot be written on, I had to resort to writing the player’s numbers on the CEO’s and Captain’s pages of the programme.

Those numbers did show me one thing which had been whispered round the away fans before the match was actually true, David Raya was back in goal for the Bees for the first time in months after recovering from injury. This was both great and awful news as Raya is undoubtedly one of the best keepers I have seen for the bees in a long time it normally takes players returning from injury a few matches to bed back into the team. The last time the Bees were in this situation they lost their first game 3-2 to Burnley and had one of the worst first halves of football I have seen from any team in history. I was hopeful they would avoid a repeat performance.

Following current protocols the teams entered from different areas of the stadium, with the hosts entering through a tiny opening at the top of some stairs, that I think must lead to the changing rooms. The visitors entered from a huge tunnel far away to my left and as they entered from different areas they also entered at separate times and the stadium PA decided to sound an ear-splitting siren as the Bees entered. This infuriated me to the point where a comic version of me would have had flames coming out of his ears. It was in this mood that I watched the game get underway.

My mood did not immediately improve as Everton were the first team on the attack as they fed off the wave of positivity in the crowd. They got the ball up to Richarlison in the box and as he attempted to hold the ball up he lost his footing and ended up flat on the turf. He felt he had been tapped and thus turned to the ref screaming for a penalty that no ref would ever give. It may not have been the most successful attack from the hosts, but it was certainly a signal of intent and indicative of the control they had established in midfield early on.

Brentford had their first attack of the match in the 6th minute and it came from a throw in. The long throw on the left landed in the box and created pinball in the area. Kristoffer Ajer won this pinball but his tempting ball across the face of the 6 yard box was deflected behind by the home defence and then the visitors wasted the corner.

The first truly threatening attack of the match came in the last dry minute of it, the 9th minute. Everton worked the ball out to Ben Godfrey on the left and his pin-point ball to Richarlison gave him just one defender and the keeper to beat. He left the defender for dead with ease, but then shanked his shot far wide of the right-hand post. Then the clouds broke and the rain streamed down, it peppered the turf but luckily the stands were well under cover and I remained dry.

This change in conditions underfoot along with his attacking efforts had an effect on Godfrey as he fell to the turf in the 12th minute with little attention from the visiting players. He was unable to continue and with the help of the physio he was forced to limp off the pitch. Lampard’s first substitution as Everton boss saw the introduction of Yerry Mina to the action in place of his injured defensive colleague and it would turn out to be an excellent call.

This personnel change did nothing to halt the hosts attacks and they were back in down the right in the 14th minute, the cut back was dreadful though. It was straight to the feet of the defence who were able to clear it back towards the hosts goal. The visitors break came to nothing, but Pickford’s clearance from it was a little more coincidental. Richarlison and Pontus Jansson went up to challenge for the ball, but only found each others head’s to make contact with and they came back down far quicker than they went up. The break in play as they were checked over by the medics was a nervy one for both sets of fans but, much to the relief of everyone, both players were cleared to continue and the match continued.

Everton were nearly gifted a goal in the 17th minute as a throw from the left is then worked into the centre of the box where it looked to be heading straight to the feet of Mads Bech Sorensen to clear for the visitors. Except that he allowed the ball to bounce in front of him and the bounce took the ball past him and to Richarlison instead, who had been a menace for the visitors defence so far. Richarlison turned and volleyed towards goal, but the ball was always rising and it sailed over the bar.

Another mishit goal kick from Pickford provided Brentford with their best chance yet. This time the ball simply squirted from under Pickford’s feet and lay invitingly in the box, begging to be tapped in for a lead Brentford didn’t deserve. Luckily for the home keeper his defenders were on the ball seconds before the onrushing Mathias Jensen could turn it home for the visitors and the score remained at 0-0 for now.

Brentford used this mix up by the hosts to gain a foothold in the match and in the 24th minute Ivan Toney got the ball, by dropping all the way to halfway, and ran at the home defence. I hoped that having turned away from his marker and finally in space he would make something from this opportunity. He was pulled back by a recovering Demarai Gray and the attack was murdered in it’s crib. Gray went into the ref’s book for his foul but it was the right move for the team and he won’t have minded the yellow card too much, particularly when Brentford wasted the free kick.

These embryonic shoots of hope for the Bees seemed to sprout further in the 27th minute when Christian Norgaard wrestled the ball free in midfield and seeing Toney making a run in behind, he tried to drop the ball at his teammate’s feet. The ball had a little too much on it though and the aiming was off too as it drifted to the right of the pitch and the readjustment that Toney had to make allowed Pickford to beat him to the ball and sheppard the ball behind for a goal kick.

These shoots of visitor revival were cut off at the source in the 30th minute however, as the hosts took the lead their play so far deserved. The goal came from a corner after a shot from inside the penalty area had deflected behind off a defender. The corner that came in from the right was an in-swinger into the 6 yard box that was badly misjudged by the home defence, which allowed Yerry Mina to ghost into position and head home for the opening goal just 17 minutes after coming on as a substitute. 1-0 to Everton and the home fans responded by going wild in the stands, they had been rather quiet upto this point but now we heard their joy.

This joy was almost destroyed 5 minutes later though as Brentford fought back and came agonisingly close to equalising the match. Toney collected the ball on the edge of the box and laid it off to Canos who made hay down the left before laying on a perfect defence splitter for Toney to tap home. Unfortunately for visiting fans, like me, Toney had not moved after laying the ball off to Canos and thus was not in position to collect the return ball and tap home the simplest finish of his career.

No matter though as Brentford created another chance to equalise just 4 minutes later. This chance was created by a great passage of team work. First Mads Roerslev collected the ball on the left then he played the ball to Jensen who slipped it through to Ajer. They all had chances to cross the ball in, but declined to take them as Toney was their only teammate in the box and he was at the back post. So instead Ajer rolled the ball to the advancing Canos who unleashed a powerful shot that got deflected just over the bar. It was the closest Brentford has come to scoring and would be the last time they would threaten to do so this half.

Everton’s regained control of the match in the 42nd minute from a Brentford corner. Everton took control of the ball from the corner and broke upfield. This break was cut out in a slightly different way to the one Gray had chosen when the team’s roles were reversed earlier in the match. This time Richarlison’s threatening run through the centre was ended when Roerslev blocked him off with a simple body check that resulted in a yellow card for the Bees player and a freekick to Everton that they duly wasted. However, this break did smother Brentford’s momentum and put the initiative back in Everton’s hands.

Mina nearly added a second goal for the hosts in the final regulation minute of the first half as he glided through the centre of the visitors defence only to slip as he made contact with the ball, sending the ball spiralling harmlessly wide and keeping the match at 1-0 to Everton going into half time.

My half time was serenaded by my fellow visiting fans, who had created a chant for Christian Eriksen, the highest profile signing the Bees have ever made, that went like so ‘OOOH Christian Eriksen, he plays for Brentford in red and white, he passes with his left foot and he passes with his right foot, he plays with Christian Norgaard and he’s fucking dynamite’. It was so catchy that I couldn’t help but join in with it, to the point where I almost missed the start of the second half.

This would have been a mistake as the start of the second half was filled with action. My first feeling when I saw the teams lined up for kick-off for this half though was disappointment as it was clear that Canos and Toney had swapped positions. Brentford’s main striker was now out on the wing with a winger through the centre. Sure Toney had been seeming more allergic to the penalty area with every passing game since November but it felt like a backwards step to actually change his position like this.

Despite no changes for either team at the break it took just 3 minutes for Everton to double their lead. The worst thing for me as an away fan was how easy it was for the hosts. A simple ball over the top took out the whole of the Bee’s defence, Raya reacted just fractions of a second too late and the onrushing Richarlison beat him to the ball then poked it past him into the empty net. It was one of the simplest goals I have seen scored at a football match in a long time.

Brentford responded to going 2-0 down by going on the attack. They worked the ball through to Toney, finally in the penalty area, who went down with minimal contact and the ref waved away his protestations for a penalty. The Bees tried again in the next minute, the 51st, this time down the right but again they went through Toney and once he weaved his way from centre of the box to the right side of it he arrowed the ball back across the box nanometres out of reach of the despairing slide of Mathias Jensen.

Toney got his penalty in the 53rd minute when a ball by Vitaly Janelt splits the defence and finds him in space in the box 8 yards out. He taps it past Pickford, who clatters into him as he attempts to connect with the ball and it’s a clear penalty to Brentford. The first time Toney has had a threatening touch in the box all match and it gets a reward. The whole of the away stand was on tenterhooks as Toney stepped up to take the penalty he had won and the release that followed when he slotted it away, low to the keeper’s left, was biblical in proportion. Brentford had a goal, it was 2-1 and now the comeback was surely on.

The chance for the Bees to level the scores came on the hour mark as a deflected shot goes uncollected by Pickford and gifts Brentford a corner. The bees work the corner short before crossing into the box with a pinpoint effort that finds Toney in space just 8 yards from goal. Toney then contrives to somehow miss the target entirely and the hopes of a comeback began to fade.

Those hopes were completely snuffed out in the 61st minute as a defensive mistake gifted the ball to Richarlison on the right and his cross into the box confused the home defence so much, that all they could manage to do was deflect it just over the bar for a corner to the hosts. As Everton scored their first goal from a corner so that is how they got their third aswell. It was another simple inswinger whipped into the 6 yard box and this time Mason Holgate was the player in blue who was there to guide it home and make it 3-1 to Everton.

Brentford responded to conceding again by making a substitution with Vitaly Janelt making way for Shandon Baptiste a minute after that goal went in. Meanwhile, Everton celebrated retaking a 2 goal lead in the match with a couple of agricultural tackles on Toney in the 67th minute. The second of these tackles was after the ref had blown the whistle for a Bees free kick, but this didn’t mean the ref would do anything about it. The ref gave a yellow card for the first tackle, so then to see nothing given for a similarly rash challenge after the whistle had already been blown was both confusing and infuriating to me and the Bees fans around me. It became even more so 2 minutes later when Anthony Gordon went down whilst on the attack despite no-one appearing to be within 3 yards of him and still got a free kick for the hosts.

No matter though as both teams would make double substitutions in the 73rd minute and Gordon was one of those removed from the action by Frank Lampard. He was joined in his removal to the bench by Vitaly Mykolenko (who I hope is holding up okay with the current situation in his homeland) and they were replaced by Andros Townsend and Jonjoe Kenny respectively. The Bees substitutions at this point of the match saw Mads Roerslev being replaced by Josh Dasilva, on for his first appearance in months after recovering from injury, and Sergi Canos replaced by Samman Ghoddos in an attempt by Thomas Frank to salvage something from the remainder of the match. Lampard’s substitutions would turn out to be more successful.

Brentford almost gifted Everton a 4th goal in the 75th minute when Mads Bech Sorensen headed a clearance back towards his own goal instead and only the quick feet of Raya allowed the keeper to recover the situation before the onrushing Richarlison could finish the chance. So close to 4-1 to Everton with 15 minutes left of the match, but they would get their 4th before the final whistle.

First though Brentford had another chance to waste in the final 10 minutes. This came in the 81st minute after great play on the left by Mathias Jensen created the cross that was begging for a finishing touch. All it got was a punch clear by Pickford that skimmed over the head of Kristoffer Ajer who was unable to get the touch on it that it needed. Toney was nowhere to be seen in the box when this gilt-edged chance was playing out.

As the final 10 minutes of the match ebbed away both teams made further substitutions. First Brentford replaced Rico Henry with Finley Stevens in the 83rd minute, bringing on fresh legs in defence in an attempt to keep their hosts to just the 3 goals. Everton for their part made a double substitution in the 88th minute, the imperious Richarlison making way for Cenk Tosun to a standing ovation from the Everton fans and Demarai Gray being replaced by Alex Iwobi as Everton went looking for that 4th goal that would cap a great first game under Lampard.

In a moment indicative of his performance Toney missed the chance to intercept an Everton pass in the 90th minute and instead of tracking back to help out his teammates he instead chose to kneel down and whack the turf. It shows that he still cares about his football I suppose, but it wasn’t the most helpful action for his teammates at that point.

The 4th goal for Everton came in the 4 added minutes at the end of the 90 and it came through the substitute Andros Townsend, who had only been on the pitch 20 minutes. Everton broke free on the right hand side and advanced towards the Bees goal, the cross that came in was delicious and with Townsend in acres of space in the area he picked up the ball and rifled it home. There was no attempt to mark him of close him down by a visiting defence that had given up trying by this point. 4-1 to Everton was the final score and it was no more than their performance deserved. Congratulations to Lampard on his first win with his new team and if they perform like this in the league they’ll have no trouble staying up. Brentford on the other hand were embarrassing and I couldn’t wait for the full time whistle to blow to put me out of my misery in the second half.

Everton were on top all over the pitch and the only team looking likely to score for the whole of the first half then they took over the pitch in the second half and put the Bees to the sword, despite the penalty moment. I felt that a large part of the reason that the Bees were failing to credibly threaten for most of the match was the allergic reaction that Ivan Toney seemed to have to getting in the box. He spent most of this half coming as short as the halfway line for the ball and as he is the Bees main striker this left them with few options to get up the pitch and the few times they made progress on the wings their main striker was nowhere to be seen in the box when they looked to put in a cross. This personal belief led to a heated debate between and a fellow Bees fan the row behind me, in the 35th minute. He felt that Sergi Canos has been the main reason for the drop in the Bees form as he does not have the motivation to play well when he starts and is only any use when bought on as a second half substitute.

Whatever the truth truly is, Brentford’s form had begun to enter an alarming slide and the second half had been truly dreadful and as such I was not looking forward to my midweek game as I watched the Bees on their trip to the Etihad, attempting to prevent themselves going a month without a win in the league. That blog will be up soon as I attempt to catch up on a backlog of blogs that has built up as I have had to focus on other things this month.

As I’ve been writing this there has been excellent news for Brentford fans. Christian Eriksen has made his return to competitive football for the first time in 259 days and I am so glad to see him back in action. His return as a substitute lasted 38 minutes and I’m sure he will play the full 90 as soon as he reaches full match fitness. I hope to secure another Brentford match ticket soon to see Eriksen in action for the Bees. WELCOME BACK CHRISTIAN.

This match fell into my lap, to start February, whilst I was down in London to pick up tickets for my FA Cup team at the weekend. I had an evening to fill whilst in the Big Smoke and I have always had a soft spot for AFC Wimbledon so I took the chance to go and visit the south Londoners. They moved back to their home borough of Merton for the first time since the disaster of 2004, when the AFC had to be formed by the fans due to the Milton Keynes debacle. Milton Keynes was the successful option of those being considered at the time with one of the rejected ideas being a move to Dublin where the team would still play in the English divisions, so perhaps Milton Keynes was the best of a bunch of bad options.
To me AFC Wimbledon are the true Dons and as such I will be referring to them as the Dons for the rest of this blog.

With that disclaimer out of the way, the game that I saw from the Dons was their league 1 game against Cheltenham Town and it was back at Plough Lane. The Dons went into this game just one point above the relegation game and on an awful run of form. Their last win was on the 7th December away at Accrington in the league and their last home win was against today’s opponents on 4th December in the FA Cup. That game ended 4-3 to the Dons and having seen that I was hoping for another such high scoring game today. Then I saw that the Dons had only scored 2 goals across their 7 games in January and hadn’t scored 2 goals in a single match since a 2-2 draw against Wycombe Wanderers on December 11th and those hopes drifted away.

Their visitors were only 3 points above their hosts in the league having played a game more and came into this match in a similarly dreadful run of form. Cheltenham had not won since 23rd November when they got a 2-0 win away at Gillingham. That was the last of a run of 3 straight wins, but they haven’t won since and they hadn’t even manged to score in their last 2 games in the run up to this one. December 11th is also the last time they scored twice in a single match and, as with their hosts, it was also in a 2all draw though theirs was against Lincoln City. This run had really hurt their goal difference, to the point that a win for the Dons would see them leapfrog the visitors on that score.

With the teams so tightly matched in the league and their awful form coming into this one I was eager to get to the game. The journey was anything but straightforward though as there were delays and then a cancelled destination on the District line as I was travelling on it. Luckily the cancelled destination was Ealing Broadway, which would’ve destroyed my chances of getting to a Bees game, and I was just delayed by 15 minutes at Earl’s Court on my way to Wimbledon Park.

Yep that’s right, just like the famous Wimbledon Tennis Tournament, the best station to alight for Wimbledon FC is not Wimbledon itself but Wimbledon Park instead. It’s just a 20 minute walk from there. You turn right out of the station and then right again when you reach the T junction where ‘ahead’ isn’t an option and 15 minutes later Plough Lane appears on your left. The turn into Plough Lane is easy to spot as it’s marked by a monument to the old Wimbledon FC that the current AFC Wimbledon owes it’s existence too. Finding the stadium itself is a little more difficult as it’s tucked away on the left hand side of the road, just keep your eyes peeled that side as you pass between the Ford and Vauxhall showrooms and you’ll spot it though.

It’s not the most visually imposing stadium from the outside, but it is in the place of the old Wimbledon dog track so it at least has some history in the local community and now it’s making more history for the community with the return of Wimbledon football to Merton. As you step down into the stands you feel as though you are stepping into a Roman amphitheatre, a huge bowl of a stadium that you step into to watch gladiators of the pitch battle out to settle who is the best.

Before I headed inside I needed a ticket and unlike most stadiums this one had no clear ticket office. Collections were done from the till in the club shop, but to actually buy a ticket I had to head out of the shop and down the side of the stadium to a guy behind a rickety table. I was able to buy a ticket for the dugout stand and it was very useful that I was able to get a ticket for this stand as it was the only one I was able to locate the entry too. The rest of the stadium backs onto flats and whilst there must be entry points around those sides I was unable to spot them. I didn’t enter immediately after buying my ticket though as I hadn’t got my keyring or a programme yet, but having picked those up from the shop I was ready to head inside.

Getting inside would turn out not to be as easy as I hoped though as it turned out that my ticket would not scan on the turnstile. Luckily the steward was right there and, after checking with the security personnel waiting to get in behind me, he was able to tap his pass to let me inside. There are more programme sellers, cash or card your choice, just inside the turnstile line as you step into the cavernous concourse. There is so much space on the concourse that it felt like they could play the match in there. There was also space in there for two huge food kiosks, each with its own specialised fast track queue for those who order through the new swipe station app that they were advertising throughout the concourse. I did not try the app, but I did appreciate the free Wi-Fi that came with it.

I cannot eulogise about the concourse and facilities enough at Plough Lane, they were absolutely incredible and if the same quality was evident on the pitch the Dons would be back in the Premier League in no-time. The programme was more indicative of their current position in the league though as it is put together in what feels to be a very haphazard manner. As a seasoned football fan I am used to seeing the team’s player lists either on the back cover of the programme or on the page inside the cover, but AFC Wimbledon instead choose to hide theirs on page 23 of the programme. The coaching teams and match officials info was a page turn further in, with the league table another turn away and the season’s fixtures are two further turns on.

The screen in the stadium was as unhelpful as the programme. It was on the far side of the stadium to me and the writing on it was so small that it’s very lucky for the away fans that it was down their end or they’d never have been able to keep up with what was going on in the game. Not that there were many away fans at the match, though given the journey from Cheltenham and the fact that this was a midweek winter match the lack of travelling fans is perhaps understandable.

By the time I had located these pages I was already in my seat and unable to use the Wi-Fi to note down the starting 11’s and I’d already missed the visitors matchday squad so I had to read those numbers off the players back once play was underway. I did work out 3 of their substitutes though as they stayed out after the warmup to get a little more shooting practice, practice that on the evidence of the earlier warm up was badly needed. One of those Cheltenham subs was a Man named Aaron Ramsey. I knew it was unlikely to be a loan move for the Man who had just joined Rangers from Juventus, but with Robinho agreeing to turn out for a Sunday league team in Shropshire in March I figured anything was possible. It was not him.

The home team sheet was a simpler affair, though the only name I recognised on it was number 21, Luke McCormick. The only other player on the Dons programme that I recognised for the hosts was their designated captain Alex Woodyard, who was left out of their matchday squad with Ben Heneghan given captain’s duties for this match instead. I did recognise the iconic womble mascot for the Dons though, a great nod to the famous song.

The Dons did had a surprise for their fans before kick-off as they unveiled their deadline day signings to the home fans. They had a keeper and, perhaps more importantly, a striker to unveil and given their recent struggles in front of goal it is Sam Cosgrove who comes in with the bigger burden of expectation of the two. Time will tell whether he can live up to those expectations.

The first five minutes of the match set the tone for how this one would be played with a lot of physical tackles raining in from the visitors and the Don’s number 10, Ayoub Assal, bearing the brunt of them early on. Perhaps he used this treatment as motivation though as with the first attack of the match he swept the hosts into a 1-0 lead in the 9th minute.

The opening goal came from a Dons corner on the right that was cleared back to where it came from only for Assal to collect it and advance a couple of yards into the area before flashing the ball across Evans in the Cheltenham goal and in off the left hand post. It was a great finish by Assal and a case of first chance, first goal for the Dons.

Going behind seemed to wake up the visitors as they created their first chance of the match a minute later. They fired it just over the bar from 20 yards out, but it was a sure sign of intent from the visitors. The Dons would not let it go unanswered though and they took control of the match for the next 10 minutes.

The first Dons attack in this time of dominance came in the 12 minute as Assal nabbed the ball off Charlie Raglan and set the Dons forward through McCormick. He laid it off to Terry Ablade with his back to goal, he turned and shot low to the Keeper’s right to pouch the ball and keep things at 1-0. Ablade had a second chance just 2 minutes later, but he launched this effort high into the stands.

The Dons were even able to create opportunities on the break as they cut out a Cheltenham attack down the right in the 15th minute and Ablade was set free down the centre. This time though he was cut off at the knees before he could advance into the box by the hosts Alfie May. This was an extremely cynical tackle from May and many in the home stands were crying out for a red, but the distance from goal worked in his favour and the ref let him off with just a yellow. It would prove to be a very important decision for the match.

First though the Dons wasted another chance when an inviting cross from the right evaded all the waiting Dons players in the box and Cheltenham were able to clear once more. The first 20minutes had been a period dominated by the hosts and a one goal lead was no more than they deserved at this point.

They should have had a chance to double that lead from the penalty spot in the 23rd minute when Ablade’s chasing of a lost cause down the right resulted in a gorgeous cutback into the path of the onrushing Assal. He did up two visiting defenders like kippers before being tripped by another defender as he went to unleash his shot. The ref saw nothing in this though and gave nothing at all. The visitors thanked him for this by cannoning their clearance into the back of the ref’s head.

Another cynical tackle on Assal in the 25th minute left him flat on the turf requiring treatment, but once again it was only a yellow for the offending Cheltenham man. When Assal was back on his feet and able to continue there was yet another Cheltenham based problem as May refused to get 10 yards from the free-kick until the ref came over and dragged him back. This was a ballsy move from a player already on a yellow card, but once again the ref was in a lenient mood and he remained on the pitch.

These let-offs for Cheltenham inspired them to finally create some threatening attacks as the game reached the half hour mark. Their second chance of the whole match came bang on the half hour as they worked a ball down the right and then their striker, who I had down as number 9 despite him not being in the matchday squad, turned and flashed a shot just over the bar.

This sighter for the visitors prompted a chance of tack for their next attack a minute later and it paid dividends with the equalising goal. They picked up the ball on the right, but this time they switched it across the park to May. He advanced to just inside the left side angle of the penalty area and his driven shot has enough on it to beat Nik Tzanev in the Dons goal at his near post and draw Cheltenham level in the match.

In the 33rd minute things would get even better for May and worse for the Dons as May raced Tzanev onto a loose ball in the area. It looked to me as though Tzanev had won the race and May then went over his hands after the ball had been palmed away from danger. The ref disagreed feeling that May had won the race and Tzanev had taken the player instead of the ball. Since it’s the ref’s decision that matters this meant a penalty to Cheltenham and a chance for May to complete a quick fire brace and give the visitors the lead. May slotted the ball straight down the middle with Tzanev diving away to his left, 2-1 to Cheltenham and a brace for May who was lucky to still be on the pitch. He rode his luck again in the 35th minute as the ref gave him a talking too for an incident that I missed, but which had incensed the fans around me.

The rest of the regulation 45 of the first half descended into a midfield battle that the Dons continued to just about maintain the upper hand in, but they then had no-one to provide the out ball. Assal had the pace to trouble the visitors back line but had decided to consistently come short at this point of the match and this left the Dons with little threat in the final third.

The Dons did create one final first half chance in the four added minutes though as a freekick from their left was headed away by the visiting defence only to land at the feet of McCormick on the edge of the box. He volleyed goalward but it was always rising and ended up ballooning harmlessly high over the bar. The Dons were attacking wide down the right as the ref blew for half time and the frustration of the home fans at this timing was palpable.

The first half may have ended 2-1 to the visitors but I still felt lucky with the match I was witnessing, not only had the Dons managed to score but they had also dominated the majority of the half and only saw themselves behind due to a 3 minute spell visitors who had shown little threat the rest of the half.

The Dons were the first to emerge for the second half and I was certain that if they played as well as they had for the first 25 minutes of the first half they would create the chances to draw level and then win the match. Mark Robinson in the Don’s dugout was thinking down the same lines as he made no changes at half time but nor did Cheltenham’s Michael Duff though who had taken heart from those two quick fire goals.

After the Dons had two kick-offs for the second half, the ref making them retake the first for reasons that were not obvious to me, it appeared that Robinson had made the better call. It took all the way to the 47th minute for the Dons to create their first gilt-edged chance of the half. A cross from the left was headed back across goal from the back post and it looked to be sneaking in as an advancing Don’s striker was pushed over as he advanced to make sure of it’s final position. Nothing was given for this blatant push as Evans was able to shepherd the ball behind for the visitors.

A minute after this dubious decision there followed another. The ref gave Cheltenham a free-kick after a true 50/50 challenge from which neither team emerged with the ball. This turn of events further stoked the anger of the home fans, after the penalty decision that went against them, and they started chanting “2-1 to the referee” then moved on to the old classic “You don’t know what you’re doing”.

The game continued though and the Dons created another great chance in the 52nd minute, with a whipped cross from the right that presented Ablade with a free header from 6 yards out that he somehow managed to aim straight into the keeper’s grateful arms. Cheltenham then went straight on the attack themselves as Matty Blair advanced on the right before nutmegging the Don’s defender opposite him before trying to run through his opposite number. The ref gave him a freekick for this attempt that the visitors took an age to decide what to do with before sending it into the area, where it was pinballed around for far too long before the Dons eventually managed to clear it away.

In the 56th minute the Dons had a freekick of their own on the right hand touchline. They tried to take it quickly, but the ref pulled them back and when they did send it in it evaded all their players including one who ended up in a heap on the turf. Once again nothing going from the ref, third time wasn’t the charm it seems.

As the hour mark came and went Robinson decided it was time to shuffle his pack, taking off Ablade and sending on Aaron Cosgrave in his place. This would prove to be an excellent call by the Don’s Head Coach and having made it in the 63rd minute there was plenty of time for it to make a difference. It almost paid dividends in the 67th minute when a deep cross from the Don’s right was flashed agonisingly wide of the left hand post by Cosgrave.

A minute before that Don’s chance came one of the worst tackles of the match as Reece Hutchinson came flying in like a missile on a Don’s midfielder in centre field clearing him out and leaving him in a tangled mess on the turf. Once again it was just a yellow card from the ref, but it convinced Duff to make his first move of the match and he chose to remove Hutchinson from the field and replace him with Lewis Freestone. Robinson made a move of his own at the same time and took off the excellent Luke McCormick and bring on Ethan Chislett in his place. The match was on a knife’s edge as the match entered into it’s final 20 minutes.

The visitors would have the first chance of these final 20 and it came, once again through Alfie May. He collected the ball 20 yards from goal and weaved his way into the box before unleashing a shot from the left side of the area that squirms just wide of the left-hand post and denied May the hat-trick he so clearly wanted. The sides then traded tame shots into the keeper’s arms over the next three minutes. This convinced Duff to make his second move of the match, this time replacing Kion Etete with Aaron Ramsey.

The Dons created a chance to equalise in the 77th minute when Cheye Alexander had a pop at goal from the edge of the box. It managed to weave it’s way through the forest of legs in the box, but it was infuriatingly off target and the visitors retained their lead. The visitors then had a chance of their own to get the goal that would’ve killed the game off, but their cut back from the by-line on the right hand side sailed straight into the grateful arms of Tzanev in the Dons goal.

As the final 10 minutes of the match approached the Dons were definitely taking control of the game again and in the 80th minute they made use of this control by finally scoring the equaliser. I’m not quite sure how they did it as I missed the build up to the goal, but I saw the finish from Cosgrave. He rifled it across the keeper and into the back of the net, a great composed finish by the substitute to draw the Dons level with 10 minutes of normal time left to play. Enough time for a winner perhaps?

The first team to go close to that winner were the visitors and again it was May with the chance. The ball found him on the edge of the box with space, but his shot was tame and rolled harmlessly through to Tzanev. May would get one more chance before the final whistle. First though both teams made substitutions with the Dons replacing Alexander with Paul Osew in the 83rd minute, then Cheltenham replaced Callum Wright with Charlie Coikett in the penultimate minute of the match.

The rest of the final 10 passed without chances and then May had his second chance to win it in the last minute of the regulation 90. He was sent running after a ball in behind that had the whole of the hosts defence beaten. He reached the ball and sent a shot in to complete his hat-trick and win the game. Unfortunately for the travelling fans Tzanev was equal to the effort getting down to save with his legs and the scores level as the board went up for 5 minutes of added time.

The Dons had a chance a minute in the added period but every time the move broke down at the crucial moment and they didn’t give Evans a single save to make during this period. It began to rain as the ref whistled for full time and that change in the weather was mirrored by the reaction of many of the fans around me, as they saw their team only manage to draw a game that they had controlled almost from start to finish. I was just pleased to have seen goals from each team when their form coming into this one had been so abysmal. Sure it would’ve been great to see the Dons win on my first visit to their home back in Merton, but it was still a great spectacle and nice to see them back where they belong.

My next blog will be chronicling my experience at Frank Lampard’s first match in charge at Everton as he started his managerial reign with an FA Cup match against Brentford and their manager Thomas Frank. It was the battle of the Franks and next blog you’ll find out who won, amongst other things.

With the Premier League on their winter break over the last weekend of January, I took the chance to go to a Manchester derby. Not the big Manchester derby between City and United, but a derby down in the lower reaches of League 2 between Oldham Athletic and their local rivals Rochdale.

They are separated by 6 miles as the crow flies and also by 6 positions in the league. Oldham started the day bottom of the League and 7 points from safety, with Rochdale not fairing a whole lot better in just 18th place themselves at the start of the day just 9 points clear of the drop. The form of both teams was indicative of their league positions too. Rochdale had only managed 6 wins all season and the last of these had been on the 18th December, though to be fair to the Dale they had only played 2 games in the interim. Oldham’s form was even worse, as they only had 4 wins to their name all season and none since the 20th December, though they have played out a 5 all draw with high flying Forest Green since then and one of their four wins this season came in the reverse fixture against Rochdale back in September.

The hosts could also take encouragement from the return of John Sheridan to their dugout for the remainder of the season. He masterminded their successful survival pushes in both the 2015/16 and 2016/17 so now the Latics’ owners have turned to him to keep them up yet again. They call it a Shezurrection in this part of greater Manchester and they’re hoping he will make it a hat-trick this season.

First though there was the game today to play and for me it took longer to travel too and from than it actually lasted on the pitch. Having got a delayed train into Manchester Victoria there are two ways to get from there to Boundary Park. One way to do so is to get a train to Rochdale and then get the bus down to Oldham from there but, as I was going to be in the home end, I chose instead to get a tram from Victoria to central Oldham and then walk up to the stadium from there.

The trams are well signed at Victoria as Metrolink and once you get to the platforms you need to get a tram heading towards either Shaw and Crompton or to Rochdale as both head through Oldham. I got off at Oldham King’s Street tram stop, as it was a straight shot from there up a single road to the Royal Oldham Hospital when you turn left down Sheepfoot Lane. Boundary Park then appears on your right a minutes walk down the road. The whole walk from King’s Street takes about 30 minutes so for a quicker, but windier journey to the stadium you can get off one stop earlier at Westwood from where the walk is down as taking just 20 minutes.

However you get there the stadium is no much to look at from the outside. It looks like a bog standard brick walled block of flats as you approach it from the road, with the ticket office well hidden in an alcove in the wall. It is on the right hand side of the official entrance to the stadium and when I finally located it I was able to secure a ticket for the Jimmy Frizzell Stand, despite their being no such stand shown on the stadium map on the back of the ticket itself. I decided to take my normal lap of the stadium and locate the correct stand that way.

The lap of the stadium makes it seem no more impressive than the view from the road though as the two sides I was able to access were not in great shape. One of the sides backed onto a large carpark and the other backed onto what was essentially wasteland. The fourth side was the away end and with a large police presence at that end I decided not to head that way.

I did however head into the club shop and buy my traditional keyring before heading back round to my turnstile to head inside for the match. There were programme sellers everywhere around the ground and right by the turnstiles too, so it won’t be hard to find a programme before heading inside and you will also have lots of time to grab one if you wish because the queue to get inside that moved at a glacial pace.

Despite getting into the turnstile queue with an hour to go before kick-off those queues were already taking up the whole of the car park which was impressive for a team that is doing so badly at the moment. The queues took a long time to clear though with how slow they were moving though and whilst waiting to get inside I checked the team sheets on Twitter whilst in the queue. Getting inside once you reached the turnstiles was not easy either as the entrances were very thin indeed and it was a hip squashing experience to get onto the concourse.

Once through the turnstiles the food kiosks were easy to find though as they’re right in front of you as you enter the concourse. There was a drinks only kiosk to the left and a food kiosk to the right so I grabbed a pie, that was attached to the foil container, and headed to my seat. There were no screen or clock to see though so all my timings for the match will be approximate. What I also couldn’t see was the away fans who were seated far away at the other end of the ground. The tannoy was no help either as it was set at such a low volume that no-one could hear anything that was being said over it, this would become a particularly important shortcoming early in the first half.

Before that though I had to write in the squads on the back of my programme and, as has now become a running joke for me, this meant I had to write players on that their own teams had left off the programme. This time it was just the one substitute for the hosts and two of the visitors starting 11. I hope that at some point soon I get to go to a match where all the players are already on the programme.

Getting to and into the stadium was a nuisance for me, but it certainly hadn’t effected the home fans appetite for the match though as their chants were loud enough to be heard over the driving wind in the stadium. The wind could do nothing to drown out the noise of the drum that one of the home fans had brought into the ground and that drum itself did more to raise the atmosphere than any of the chants. With the away fans at the other end of the ground the normal atmosphere at a match was unable to build but that didn’t stop the home fans setting off the thing that I will remember most from the match, flares and lots of them.

The wind was doing it’s best to become the main feature of the match though after it kicked off. It was blowing towards the goal Rochdale were attacking in the first half and it had an effect on the Oldham keeper’s goal kicks early on. He put the ball straight out from them twice in the first 3 minutes of the match.

Rochdale were getting forward at will early on, but the only time they threatened early on the ref whistled them back for offside. The keeper managed to keep the freekick in play this time, but he was back to his normal method of putting the ball straight out of play from the next goal kick.

The most interesting thing happening on the pitch at this point were the truly old-style tackles that were going in all over the pitch and the ref was letting them all go too, which was helping build the atmosphere in a way that the layout of the stadium was not helping. Having the opposition fans at the opposite end of the stadium may have been a good call from a security stand point, but it left the atmosphere feeling flat throughout.

The pitch got a little more interesting in the 15th minute as the visitors got their first corner of the match, so I looked down to make a note of this incredible turn of events and when I looked up again the hosts were without a keeper. I thought he had been substituted for a moment and then 4 Rochdale players headed off down the tunnel. I had no idea what was going on at this point and with the tannoy at whispering level there was no way of finding out. The moment I knew something serious had happened was when the rest of the players and then the officials all headed off down the tunnel too.

The next thing I knew a stretcher was being taken down the tunnel and word filtered through the fans around me that there was a medical emergency in the crowd. I never had any clue how serious the medical situation was with this fan, but I hope they are okay now. I don’t even know if they were taken to hospital as the information for the fans in the stands was non-existent. This is exactly the kind of situation that a screen would be really useful for.

Play was suspended at this point and the delay lasted 25 minutes before the match got underway again. As the teams came back out after the delay the home fans released 4 flares and then they let off another one as the corner Dale restarted the game with was whipped straight into the keeper’s arms.

From this point on though I had not the faintest clue where we were on the match clock so the rest of the match was just a blur of mediocracy. Oldham put a 50 yard ball down the right at one point in the half but their striker had wandered offside. Apart from that one moment of wasted quality from the hosts it was the visitors dictating play in the first half, but they were seriously lacking with the final ball.

Every shot that Rochdale had was either sent straight into the keeper’s arms or harmlessly high and wide. They were being given a lot of chances by the home team too because they seemed completely allergic to closing their opposition down at any point. At one point in the first half an Oldham defender even managed to clear the ball into his teammate and set Rochdale running free in their attacking half. Rochdale had three chances to shoot and they didn’t take any of them, they took the fourth that they created seconds later but this was one of their high and wide efforts. I’m genuinely not even certain that either keeper had to make a save all half.

Just before the ref mercifully blew for half time there was a collision between opposition players at the far end of the ground from me. Neither player was seriously hurt, but the Rochdale player did require a lengthy treatment session before he was able to continue. Despite this delay and the earlier match suspension there was no added time at the end of the half, which has to go down as the most surprising thing about a half of football that could’ve put an insomniac into a coma.

After grabbing a drink at half time I returned too my seat just in time to see Oldham coming out for the second half. Each team was shooting towards the end with their fans behind the goal and I hoped that this would improve the quality of the attacking play. At the start of the half Rochdale had two excellent chances and they came inches away from scoring. The first of these chances came from a cross on the right that came close to going straight in but that ended up wrapping round the post rather than inside it. Then minutes later a mistake by Piergianni gifted Dale the ball on the right and once they had moved the ball across to the left they shot straight into the keeper’s grateful arms.

The visitors were finding so much joy down the right hand side that the amount of chances they were wasting was not even funny, it was ridiculous. What was also ridiculous was the wind that had got so bad that the ball wouldn’t even stay in the corner quadrant for the corners that Rochdale were consistently getting.

Oldham for their part were struggling to even get hold of the ball let alone attack and when the home fans released yet more flares later in the second half it made it more flares than home attacks in the match. Sheridan will have to improve his team immensely if they are to have any hope of staying in the league.

It really should have been 1-0 to the visitors at what felt like the 70minute mark as they had a cross form the left that they managed to knock goalwards, but somehow even this came to nothing as the final touch from yards out sent it just wide of the right-hand post.

In truth neither team had looked like scoring all match and for most of the second half the hosts hasn’t even looked like getting the ball. So it was a huge surprise to me when in the final 10 or so minutes they finally managed a sustained spell of possession and then actually did something with it too. They had a decent cross into the box from the left that was headed inches wide by Bahamboula, then Bahamboula created a chance all by himself. He weaved his was through the visitors defence and then, just as he should have shot, he tried to set the ball of to Missilou but his pass was cut out by the visitors and cleared up field.

Then in a barely justifiable four added minutes at the end of the 90 Oldham went close again and this time Missilou took the matter into his own hands entirely. He waltzed through the visiting defence and made it all the way to the by-line from where he attempted to chip the visiting keeper and he came extremely close to managing it too.

This was the most quality there had been in the entire match and it was also the final action of the match as the ref whistled for time on one of the most lacklustre games it has ever been my misfortune to experience. It was also a really long journey back to my flat and with the round trip it was one of the most wasted day of my life.

My next blog will come from a much better game and one that I hadn’t expected to go too but that fell into my lap midweek, when I was back in London picking up my ticket for the FA cup game I went too today. The midweek game in question took place at Plough Lane and the visitors were Cheltenham Town. See you once I have written that match up, it was a vast improvement on this one.

So after the warm-up in Leigh it was off to Manchester proper for Man City against Arsenal at the Etihad Academy Stadium that is just across the road from the Etihad Stadium proper. This match was between two of the biggest hitters in domestic Women’s football in England. They are both perennial challengers for the WSL title and with the hosts in 5th and their visitors leading the way by 4 points and a game in hand I was expecting one hell of a game. I was not disappointed, but first I had to get there.

Getting out of Leigh was the hardest part of the journey as I made the call to get lunch before leaving and thus missed the bus by 5 minutes and had to wait 50 minutes for the next one. Having finally gotten out of Leigh and survived the long journey to central Manchester down awful roads I still had hours till kick-off so decided to get dinner in the city before getting the tram from Piccadilly station to the game.

The tram to get is the light blue line towards Ashton-under-lyne and then you can either get off at Velopark stop, just across a busy dual-carriageway from the stadium, or you can get off at Etihad Campus stop and take the connecting bridge over the road from the Etihad to the Academy stadium. The view either way from the bridge is incredible, with the two stadiums in the 360 view and if I can work out how to get pictures on this blog at some point it will be added to the blog.

I got to the ground 90 minutes before the kick-off and decided to tour the stadium and try to make it all the way round. This is not possible as there is a fenced off area with pitches for youngsters to play on. This attempt to lap the stadium did however get me to the team’s entry point to the stadium just as the Arsenal coaches arrived and the ladies headed straight down the tunnel. I understand that is probably a Covid protocol, but it would be great to see players interact with the fans again.

Once all the players had headed inside I continued round the south side of the stadium, past the blue cartoon wall that was painted using inspiration from drawings by local schoolchildren. The wall is known as the ‘Football Effect’ wall and it is great to see the connection between the team and it’s local community. This cartoon wall is incredible, but the rest of the local area is lacking in things to do and with the merch and programmes only on sale inside the stadium there is no reason to get to the ground early.

I however had got there early and so I headed inside the stadium as soon as the turnstiles opened, an hour before the game, and headed from my entry point, at the South East end of the stadium, to the programme sellers at the North East end of it. Once I had the programme I grabbed food and a drink, non-alcoholic drinks are free at the stadium for all WSL games, then took my seat. I was in my seat for the keepers warm-up and I have never been in my seat that early before. It also seems like the sprinkler guys were not expecting warm-ups that early as the sprinklers were still on and they were also not set up correctly. Instead of just watering the pitch they were also watering the walkway in front of the stand that the home fans had to walk down to get from one end of the stand to the other, it was rather funny watching people running the gauntlet and trying not to get soaked. The sprinklers were turned off before the outfield players emerged for their warm-ups.

At the end of the warm-ups the City players came over to the East stand, populated by home fans, to applaud those who had come out to watch them. This was a lovely gesture from the home team and a great way to connect with their fans, more fans should follow their lead. Arsenal reciprocated the gesture by coming across to the east stand to pose for a team photo in front of the fans, after they had re-emerged for the start of the match.

The away fans were in the west stand, but they had the line-ups and handshakes between the teams to enjoy. There were no fans behind either goal but the screen was away behind the north goal, in north west corner of the ground and large enough to be easily seen by both sets of supporters. I was hoping it would work better than the screen for the United game had and I was not disappointed.

After whizzing through the visitors squad with Mead, Little and Miedema all starting and Heath on the bench the announcer went very slowly through the home team. It was a good thing too as injuries had forced the hosts to give game time to a 17 year old goal keeper, Kiara Keeting, but they had not seen fit to include her on the programme and the tortoise speed of the announcer allowed me to get her full name right and write it onto my programme. City had also elected to leave Ellen White on the bench, with Alex Greenwood and Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw leading the line instead.

With those few things all sorted out and having moved seats 3 times, due to other people already having taken my seat and not wanting to cause a scene to get it back, the game got underway.

It didn’t take long for the action to commence and in the second minute Arsenal had their first chance of the game. This chance came from a freekick from 25 yards out and it didn’t quite go as planned. The freekick was taken quickly by Leah Williamson, but it went straight into the face of Kim Little from point blank range. Not a great move from Williamson there to hit your team captain in the face, but luckily Little was able to carry on after a bit of treatment.

City were working their way into the game, but then almost gifted the Gunners a goal in the 9th minute. A mix-up between Steph Houghton and Keeting in the goal left the ball free to run to Beth Mead but, luckily for City, she was unable to sort her feet out in time and by the time her shot came in there was a defender in place to clear it away.

Arsenal just kept coming though and a minute later they fashioned another chance. This one came down the right and the cross to the back post was turned towards goal by the outstretched boot of Vivianne Miedema, but Keeting made up for her mistake a minute beforehand by getting down low to save a certain goal.

The game was interrupted in the 12th minute as Williamson once again smashed a ball into another player’s face. This time it was a clearance that hit Lauren Hemp of City from point blank range. Once again though the player hit in the face was able to continue after a bit of treatment. The Ladies were outshining the Men on this front, there was none of the rolling around and messing around that you see after tackles in the Men’s game.

The game was all pass and move, a real game for the purists. In the 15th minute City finally fashioned their first presentable chance of the match as they had a cross from the right that was met by Hemp in the centre, but her header looped into the waiting arms of Manuela Zinsberger. It was an unfortunate end to the first great chance for the hosts.

The hosts had been getting a lot of joy down their right through Jess Park, who had the beating of Katie McCabe every time she carried the ball forward. These attacks were coming to nothing though and when their attack broke down in the 16th minute their visitors broke on them. This break was unceremoniously bought to an end though as Georgia Stanway cleared out McCabe and got a yellow for her troubles. I don’t believe there was any intent behind the tackle, but it was still one of the clearest yellows I’ve seen at a Women’s match.

In the 22nd minute Arsenal were on the attack again and Mead whipped over a cross, but this time it was cleared away and set City on the break through Lauren Hemp. She worked the ball upfield and her ball across field to Park was perfect. Park then advanced into the area and then fired just over the top. It was the closest City had come to scoring and it underlined my belief that there were goals in this game for certain. I didn’t know when the goals would come, but I knew they would come.

The first goal almost came in the next minute as Arsenal rob the ball off Kiera Walsh in their attacking third. They worked the ball to Miedema on the edge of the box, who only had to turn and shoot. Instead she overplayed the ball by trying to lay it off to a teammate on her left and this allowed City to get back in and grab the ball back. This was a huge wasted chance for the visitors and it really should have been 1-0.

City took this let off and went on the attack in the 25th minute. This chance came through Park down the right as she beat McCabe and tried to cross the ball into the net, but Keeting was once again equal to the visitors effort. Despite having the beating of McCabe it was just minutes after this that Park decided to change sides and give up the biggest advantage City had over their visitors. Arsenal chose the same time for their wingers to change sides of the pitch as well. This change only lasted a short time though as less than 10 minutes before all the wingers switched back to their original sides.

Whilst the wingers were on the switched sides there was the first sign of rising tensions in the game. There was a freekick to City in the 33rd minute that had to be delayed due to a confrontation between Hemp and McCabe, for which they both picked up yellow cards. As they were getting yellows though my attention was drawn to Williamson who had gone down on the turf. Thankfully she was able to continue after treatment and the game continued without injuries.

The 36th minute was when City took control of the half for the last 10 minutes, a deep cross from the right picked out Hemp 10 yards but she could only head it over the bar. Then in the 39th minute City had another free header from 10 yards out that was also put inches over the bar. This time the gilt-edged chance fell to Lucy Bronze as she was picked out by a gorgeous freekick from Greenwood. Bronze was so frustrated not to have taken this chance that she thumped the ground to dissipate her frustration. It’s great to see this passion from players as it will bleed through to the fans and build the passion in the fans that is needed to keep them coming back and build up the Women’s game.

There also need to be controversial decisions once in a while too that fans can argue about and one presented itself in the 41st minute when Mead was making a covering run and accidently ran into the City player with the ball and knocked her down. Some people would say that this was an accident and not a foul, but in this game the ref decided that it was a foul and gave a freekick to City. This is the kind of decision that could go either way and gives fans something to talk about once the game is done.

From there the half petered out as City kept on the attack but never looked threatening enough to actually score, so I decided to go join the half-time food queues early. With City on the attack I knew I wasn’t going to miss anything, there was a great view of the penalty area that City were attacking from the food queue. That queue took ages, despite the two queues at my end and another kiosk at the other end and I was only just getting my drink as the teams re-emerged for the second half.

Whilst I was waiting the first half ended 0-0, but I was still certain that there would be goals eventually. Over half-time the tannoy played Meat-loaf over the speakers in a tribute to the recently passed music legend.

Jonas Eidevall had other things on his mind during half time though as he decided to make changes to his Arsenal side for the second half. He took off Williamson and replaced her in central defence with Rafaelle Souza. It didn’t make a lot of difference to the momentum of the game as City created the first chance of the half in the 49th minute as Vicky Losada got herself into space on the edge of the box and fired a shot in that missed the post by inches. It looked to me like it had been deflected on the way through, but a goal kick was given so it must have gone straight behind instead.

Before that though there was a collision in midfield which left players down from both teams. The City player was on her feet so quickly that I couldn’t work out who she was, but Mead was down for longer, but she was able to carry on after treatment. She then created a great chance for herself in the 52nd minute as she was set free down the left-hand side where she turned Bronze inside out then moved into the box before shooting straight at the keeper.

City made a substitution in the 57th minute with Caroline Weir entering the fray for Losada but it didn’t turn the game in their favour. Arsenal were back on the attack in the 59th minute as they got the ball to Miedema on the left, who cut inside and shot straight down the throat of Keeting. Either side of the keeper and it would have been 1-0 to the gunners, but there is no way this game was ending goalless.

In the 61st minute a ball out to the left from Little got to McCabe as Bronze slipped as she went to clear. McCabe’s cross was deflected goalward by a City defender, but Keeting was equal to the shot. She got to the ball no problem, but then spilt it out into the centre of the area. It looked like Miedema would get a simple tap-in until Keeting recovered just in time to gather it off her feet as she went to shoot.

With this scare survived it was the City’s turn to go on the attack. They worked the ball out to Park on the right who dribbled into the area and then shot into the bottom left corner of the goal, but Zinsberger was equal to it and got down to save. Unfortunately for Arsenal the ball then squirmed out of her grip and back into the area. Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw was running onto it and looked like she would get there first for the simplest tap-in of her career, but there was a defender who recovered just in time to nip it off her toes and get it clear. I was still convinced that one would go in soon though, it had too surely.

Arsenal made a double substitution in the 63rd minute when they replaced Nikita Parris and Frida Maanum with Lia Walti and the American legend Tobin Heath. The latter substitution would be the more consequential in the scope of the match.

After that double substitution one finally went in. and it went to City. They got it as Hemp got the ball on the left and sprinted down the wing. Her cross put the ball on a plate for Shaw just 6 yards out. She wasn’t missing from there and finally we had the opening goal of a truly enthralling match. The goal was not without controversy though as the ball that set Hemp free on the wing had hit the referee on the way to her. Normally when the ball hits the ref play is restarted with a drop ball but in this case, as the ball went from one City player to another and didn’t change teams, the ref played on. This is completely legal by the rules of the game and I was happy the goal stood as I had been waiting to celebrate a goal all game. The Arsenal bench were less impressed though and Eidevall even got a yellow card for his protests. Shaw had put City 1-0 up and as far as the ref was concerned that was the end of it.

Arsenal made a substitution in the 72nd minute, with Jordan Nobbs replaced by debutant Stina Blackstenius, and City then reciprocated with one of their own in the 74th. Having given them the lead Shaw was then removed from action and replaced by Ellen White, the last person Arsenal will have wanted to see having just gone behind.

City almost doubled their lead in the 77th minute as they attacked through the middle at speed. Stanway had the ball and with White running free in the centre it looked like the right move to play her in. For some reason though Stanway played it to Hemp on her left and the shot was saved by the legs of Zinsberger and behind for a corner.

Arsenal were searching for an equaliser as the game entered the final 10 minutes of the match, but it was City who were in control the whole time. They created the first chance of the final 10 as they worked the ball to Weir 20 yards from goal. Her shot was aimed to the keeper’s right, but Zinsberger got down to keep the game at 1-0. City were back on the attack again in the 85th minute and this time it was a solo effort. Their striker weaved her way through the Gunner’s defence with ease, but was then eased off the ball just as she shaped to shoot. No matter though as they had another chance just a minute later, this time shooting from distance, but once again Zinsberger was able to get to it and palmed it wide.

City then decided to make a substitution in the 88th minute as they looked to close the game out and it rather seemed to disrupt their momentum. Stanway was replaced by Laura Coombs and it was from this point on that Arsenal were on top till the final whistle.

First Arsenal launched a freekick into the area which ended up making it’s way to Miedema at the penalty spot. She turned and volleyed the ball towards goal, but it was deflected just over the top. Then the board came up for the added time and it turned out there were 6 minutes, which Arsenal would use to their advantage.

They finally got the goal their play deserved in this added time. They worked the ball out to Mead on the left who couldn’t get a shot away, so she passed to Blackstenius who also couldn’t get a shot away. She laid ball back left to the onrushing Tobin Heath who did get a shot away, a beautiful shot. Curled from the left of the box and right round Keeting in the City goal and into the bottom right corner of the net. It was a thing of beauty and there was still time for either side to get a winner.

It was Arsenal that had the chances to get the winner, they had two. The first came from a ball across the box that landed at the feet of Miedema, but her shot was tame and easy for Keeting to save. Then the final Arsenal chance was ended just as it began. Little was running free down the centre and was setting the Gunners on the break when she was stopped in her tracks by Walsh. The City lady went in the book for what was a cynical challenge, but it was also the smartest yellow of her career and an excellent tactical decision which kept the scores level.

The scores ended level too and whilst it would not have been fair for either team to have lost the match I would have loved to have seen a winner as it would have been a cracking end to an awesome match. A match which was a brilliant advert for Women’s football and for Women’s sport in general. It was certainly one of the best football matches I have been too in a long time and I’m looking forward to returning to Women’s football in 2 weeks time for the Manchester derby, as long as I can get a ticket that is.

I have a lot of football to go to between now and then though as I have games to go to at weekends and midweek until then and a blog to write about my trip to a League 2 derby in Manchester yesterday. That was Oldham Athletic vs Rochdale and I’ll be writing that blog in the next few days, if all goes to plan. See you then for the quintessential 0-0.

This Sunday I took the whole day out of my life and go on a trip through the Women’s football on offer in Manchester at the WSL level. This of course meant heading first to Wigan and then on to the little village of Leigh a 25 minute bus ride away. My destination was Leigh Sport’s Village and my first game of the day was Manchester United Women vs Tottenham Hotspur Women.

This was 3rd in the league hosting the team just below them in 4th, there was nothing separating the teams on points coming into this one and only settled into their respective league places on goal difference. I was expecting a competitive game once I get there, but first I did have to get there.

Getting to Leigh in time for the noon kick-off meant getting up early enough on a Sunday to get a 9:13am train out of Lime Street to get to Wigan for 10am and then get either the 9 or 10 bus towards a place called Higher Folds. That is an hourly bus service and as such missing one bus would’ve meant not getting there for kick-off and I couldn’t risk that. I chose the 10 over the 9 because the bus stop for the 10 was right outside North Western station, whilst 9 was across the road and round the corner so imagine my annoyance seeing the 9 head off up the hill and off to Leigh whilst I was left waiting.

Luckily I wasn’t waiting long as 5 minutes later my bus turned up and after a scenic journey through Lancashire I got to the ground with just over an hour till kick-off. With no club shop to go buy a keyring from and no programme sellers outside the ground I went for a walk in the nearby woods before taking a lap of the stadium and heading inside.

The lap of the stadium was interesting in that it revealed the huge car park on the other side of the stadium that I hadn’t explored yet, that also serves Leigh college next door and the large Morrisons across the road from the stadium. The stadium seemed more set up for rugby league games than football games though and the statue outside the West Stand was of a rugby league player just referred too as ‘Woody’, who seemed to be a club legend for Leigh in rugby league. This statue was right outside the main entrance to the stadium, but this entrance looked more like the entrance to a shopping centre than one to a football stadium.

The turnstiles were at least normal for a football stadium though and whilst I used an E-Ticket to gain entry there is also a ticket office selling paper tickets at the stadium, so you can pick your preference. Once inside the south stand I headed to the food kiosk at the far end of the stadium to grab some food and pick up a programme before heading into the stand itself to find myself a seat.

The seats were first come first served and this made the way that the food kiosk was managed particularly annoying. There was one steward managing the queue who decided that the one queue for the two tills was too simple and so decided to split it into a queue per till. Perhaps this would have worked better than the single queue if the steward in question had then let people choose which queue they wished to join instead of assigning each person a queue as they arrived. He seemed determined to always direct people to whichever queue was moving slowest at the time and woe-betide anyone who dared try to use their own initiative to pick a queue for themselves. It was truly infuriating, but I kept my cool and after a needlessly long wait I had my pie and programme and went to grab a seat.

The seat I chose was half way up the stand behind the goal in line with the left side of the 6 yard box, with the only screen in the stadium away to my right and the dugouts away in the stand to my left. For this game the East Stand away to my right was closed as was the North Stand at the other end of the ground to me, but the two open stands were both at least 75% full and this was a promising sign for the growth of the Women’s game.

The strange thing about the location for this game though was that it was not taking place in either a non-league Men’s team stadium or in a purpose-built stadium for the Women’s game. Perhaps this had something to do with the lack of proper use of the stadium’s screen, which showed the first 6 starters for the visitors and then cycled through 6 different screens in quick succession and then was never used again in the match other than to show the current score. The tannoy was not much help in working out the squads either as it was certain that Man United were starting with 2 players wearing the number 12 shirt. I had to go to google to find the actual team sheets for the match and the second number 12 for the hosts was actually their number 17.

These few problems sorted though the teams were ready for the off with the visiting Spurs shooting towards the fans stand in the first half, whilst Man U were saving this advantage for the second half. The orange clock that was actually tracking the game was not nearly as prominent as the large red clock that was not being used so the timings, till I noticed the clock in the 39th minute, will be approximations. The timings from then onwards will be exact.

Despite these two teams possessing some of the best attackers that the WSL has to offer, including Ella Toone, Alessia Russo and Leah Galton for the hosts and Jessica Naz and Rosella Ayane for the visitors, the first ten minutes were completely devoid of any attacking threats from either team. Every time either team came forward in the opening minutes of the match the respective defences were able to cut out the move before it developed enough to become a chance for the attacking team to score.

This extremely disjointed opening to the match was not helped by the referee who was blowing up and interrupting the match for even the smallest infraction from both teams. This was in line with the laws of the game, but it was draining the momentum from the game. It took till the 12th minute for either team to create a chance that actually threatened. The home team created this chance with a pass through to the right corner of the penalty area that forced the Spurs keeper to get down to her left and gobble the ball up at her near post. From this save Korpela set Spurs on the break down their left which finished with a slide-rule pass across the 6 yard box from Jessica Naz, only for it the be called back for an offside against Naz.

The next two presentable chances came from free-kicks and it was one per team. First the hosts created their first threatening chance through a free-kick on the right which was flicked on in the box and slides just wide of the left-hand post in the 16th minute. Then came Spurs free-kick chance in the 24th minute from the right-hand touchline that got cleared to the edge of the box and was then sent back in with venom only to be deflected out for a throw-in. This corner was put behind for a Spurs corner and from that corner Untied broke upfield. They worked it to one of their strikers, at the far end of the pitch from me, who shoots high over the bar from 20 yards out.

This was the closest either team would come to scoring for a while as the game settled back down into it’s previous midfield battle as it has been up till this point. The 29th minute bought the first card of the game and it went to Ella Toone of United. She went into the book for blocking off Naz on the left hand side of the pitch as the Spur’s player looked to turn and run at the United defence. It was an unnecessary card for Toone though as Naz was not turning her with any speed at all and, like most of the game so far, the attack looked to be completely threat less.

Given the lack of excitement in the first half hour of the match it was almost a relief to have a break in play that allowed the game to reset. I say almost because this break in play came due to a Spurs player being down in the visitors penalty area needing treatment. It’s never a good thing to see a player down injured and needing treatment, but this break in play seemed to do all the players the world of good. The player needing treatment was able to continue after her time with the physios.

This break seemed to recharge the hosts more than their visitors though as it was them who had the best chance of the match so far in the 37th minute. This came from a deep freekick that landed to Toone on the left hand side of the box, who flashed a powerful shot right across the face of goal which skimmed the post on it’s way behind for a corner.

From this corner, in a game of so few quality attacking moves so far, we had the first goal of the game. United’s corner from the left was turned home in the centre by their number 8, Vilde Boa Risa, but I only know this thanks to the announcer over the tannoy as I was so amazed by the chance a minute earlier that I was making a note of it safe in the knowledge that nothing was then likely to happen until half-time. Whether I saw it or not though United had scored the first goal of the game and now lead 1-0.

In the aftermath of this goal and determined to focus more on what was happening on the pitch, this is when I spotted the dim orange clock on the railings of the deserted East Stand and was now able to tell for certain how far through the match we were and thus when things were actually happening.

This is how I know that having taken so long to take the lead it took just 4 minutes for the hosts to double their lead, I saw this one. United found space down the left and the cross into the box was pin-point perfect to the waiting Hayley Ladd in the centre of the goal who had the simple job of directing it into the goal off the left-hand post. I may not know exactly how United took the lead, but their goal to make it 2-0 was a move of sheer quality.

It was also the last action of note in the first half and a first half that was sorely lacking in excitement and quality for the first 36 minutes ended with 2 goals for the hosts and a lead that would prove to be unassailable for the visitors. It certainly shows why you should never leave the stands early at the end of a half. The two goals for United at the end of the half were perfectly timed to change the half-time team talks for both managers and take all the momentum away from their visitors in a way that they would never be able to recover from.

Despite the lack of quality attacks from their side in the first half, the Spurs dugout decided against making any changes at half time. Man U for their part also decided to stick with their team from the first half, though given their brace at the end of the half this was perhaps more understandable.

In half time I joined the queue for food, but with just one kiosk working and having not moved an inch after 10 minutes I decided to cut my losses and head back to my seat for the second half. I hoped it would be more entertaining than the first, but with the last 10 minutes of the half fresh in my mind it was going to have a lot to live up too.

The second half started well though as the hosts went on the attack in the 47th minute and really should have had a third goal. A mistake in defence by their visitors gifted the ball to Russo and her delicious cross picked out Galton 2 yards out in the centre of the goal. It was the easiest tap-in I have seen at a football match but somehow, with the goal at her mercy Galton managed to send the ball over the bar. It will go down as one of the miss of the season in the WSL without a doubt.

Having nearly taken a 3-0 lead at the start of the second half the hosts almost gifted the visitors a way back into the game just 3 minutes later. Mary Earps in the United goal tried to clear the ball upfield, but the clearance was a little wayward and the ball smashed straight into the face of Jessica Naz. She was able to continue without needing treatment though and luckily for the hosts the ball ricocheted out for a throw on the right hand side.

These two early chances in the second half were a good sign that this half would be a much more exciting half than the first. Unfortunately not as for the next 10 minutes the game reverted to the midfield battles of the first half and it looked like the game might fade out to the end with United happy to settle for just the two goals and a win that would move them clear of their visitors in the table.

Imagine my relief then when Russo wrestled the ball free from a melee on the right and surged forward with intent. Her cross found Galton at the near post, but her deft finish at the near post was kept out by Korpela who stopped it going in. However, she could not paw it behind and the ball flew across the face of goal where there were no waiting United players to turn it home for a third goal.

This was the last straw for the United bench who decided the time was finally right to make changes. They decided on two at this point with Kirsty Smith and the exceptional Alessia Russo replaced by Martha Thomas and Hannah Blundell. No movement from the Spur’s bench yet though.

These changes had the desired effect within minutes for United as they were gifted a third goal by their visitors. Galton won the ball on the left and put in a dangerous cross on the edge of the 6 yard box. Luckily for the hosts though Neville looked to be in the perfect place to clear the ball away, but in going for the clearance she got her feet caught underneath her. The keeper had switched off, relying on Neville to clear the ball and this left Vilde Boe Risa with the simplest of tap-ins from the centre of the goal. This one went in and now it was 3-0 to United and game over.

This finally sparked movement on the Spur’s bench as, in the 65th minute, they removed Josie Green and bought on Angela Addison, their most dynamic midfielder, and not before time. United made a substitution of their own as this point too bringing on Jackie Groenen, but a mishap in my notes means that I have no idea who she replaced.

These changes did nothing to help Spurs as they almost gifted United a fourth goal in the 69th minute. A simple pass to the keeper was allowed to run across her body by Korpela and then she slipped as she went to clear upfield with her right boot. Galton was on the ball and rushed in looking for the goal her play so far deserved, but the keeper recovered to poke it off her toes just in time.

By this point in the match United were easily on top and barely having to try in order to maintain possession. They were also attacking with speed and intent now and looked likely to score every time they came forward. That said Spur’s had not completely given up and they threatened on a rare break in the 72nd minute as they found space on the left, then worked the ball out to Ayane on the right. Ayane let fly in an attempt to beat Earps at her near post, but the United keeper was equal to this effort.

This excellent chance for Spur’s would also be the last involvement in the game for Rosella Ayane as she was substituted 5 minutes later with right-back Asmita Ale coming on in her place. This change freed up Ashleigh Neville to move forward into her more natural winger position, with Ale taking the defensive role on at right back.

This change almost bore fruit for Spurs in the 79th minute as they broke down the right. The cross to the back post from deep was pin point and the onrushing Rachel Williams met it with purpose, but her header knocked the ball just wide of the post as she collided with the post instead. Thankfully she was just a little winded and was able to carry on after treatment.

This chance bought the game into it’s final 10 minutes and with United clearly feeling that the game was now won they removed Leah Galton from the action, to a standing ovation, and bought on Ivana Ferreira Fuso in her place. This was an excellent call from Untied as it was Fuso who had the last chance of the match.

In the 86th minute Fuso came close to setting up a goalal that would’ve put all the other goals in the game to shame. She picked up the ball on the right side of the penalty area and then proceeded to turn 4 Spurs defenders inside-out, bamboozling them with an exquisite show of skill that would have graced any game in any competition in the world. Her whipped cross across the 6 yard box was just begging to be turned home by any of her teammates, but the defence beat them too it and the best move of the match was denied the finish it deserve, keeping the score at 3-0.

This was the last chance of the game as the action faded through the final 5 minutes, with both teams just waiting for the match to end. When the game would end though was not made clear to anyone though as no board was put up for the added time at the end of the 90, leaving the 1,518 spectators in the stands none the wiser as to how long remained in the match.

Not even the match clock was any help as this stopped recording time at 91:16 and the game just kept going. There was just enough time for the visitors to make one final substitution, taking off Jessica Naz and bringing on Isabella Lane. I’m still trying to work out why they waited till this stage of the game to make a substitution though as the game was gone by then and there was nothing that the new Lady on the pitch could do to change the course of the game.

Minutes later the ref blew the final whistle and the game ended in a deserved 3-0 win for Manchester United Women over their sub-par visitors Tottenham Hotspur Women who will certainly have better performances this season and will hope to turn things around soon, because if they have more days like this they will get turned over again and again.

As for me I now had 5 hours to get out of Leigh and across to the far side of Manchester for the second game of my day to watch the blue side of Manchester take on the red side of North London, who also happen to be the league leaders.

This week I went back to London for a game at the Brentford Community stadium that had originally fallen to the Apocalypse and was now going ahead just over a month later than scheduled. The Brentford game in question was the visit of Manchester United to the newly promoted Londoners.

This was the first meeting between the teams since a League Cup meeting in 1977 and their first meeting in the league since 1946. Both of those games were United wins, with the Brentford win dating back to 1938 when they won 2-0 in the FA Cup 5th round. That is quite the gap in time since Brentford have won this fixture, but I went down for this one with hope that they could be successful this time around and even the Man U fans that I met on the tube to the game were positive about the Bees’ chances.

The visitors were in better form coming into this one than perhaps their fans recognised though as they have only lost one of their last eleven games in all competitions since Rangnick took over in November. Yeah they did surrender a two-goal lead last weekend but other than that they have been doing well under their new manager. They are one of only two teams that have scored in all of their away games this season and came into this one looking for their 300th away league win of all time.

Add to that the fact that Brentford had conceded seven goals in their previous two games and only scored once in them and it certainly looked like the away fans had hopes of a positive outcome to the match. One thing the visiting fans could be sure of though was that their team would be getting the first goal as Brentford had conceded the opening goal in 13 of their last 14 matches. The gap between the clubs in only 9 points at this point in the season and 7 places, with Man U in 7th and their hosts in 14th.

For this match and with a free day beforehand I was able to get to the ground for the arrival of the visiting coaches. The visiting players went straight from their coaches into the stadium without waving at the fans lining the barriers to see them. Only David DeGea and Juan Mata broke the mould on this and acknowledged the fans, many of whom were visiting fans, but I didn’t see Cristiano Ronaldo making his way off the coaches. Unless he got off the coaches before they arrived or me and everyone around me at the barriers somehow didn’t spot one of the most famous footballers of all time or he got to the ground at another time to avoid the crowds. I have no idea which it was, but I do like to think that hundreds of football fans would notice CR7 getting off a football coach.

At this point I still had more than an hour till kick-off so I decided to use some of the time to head to the club shop and buy a keyring for the team I have supported for years. I have had a keyring for Griffin Park, but never just for Brentford and now was definitely the time to change that. I also bought a programme for the game and on there was quite a surprise, the away team had a man just listed as Hannibal on the programme. He was not in the matchday squad for them, but still it’s a strange choice of name for anyone who has seen silence of the lambs or knows their punic wars and I’m really looking forward to hearing commentators talking about him on Sky, BT, Amazon and Match of the Day. Also not in the squad was Paul Pogba, who missed out with injury.

I headed into the stadium with an hour to go before the match and found the stands almost completely deserted. Now a football stadium without fans in it is an extremely creepy place to be and how teams played in them in 2020 when no fans were allowed inside I have no idea. I couldn’t stand 5 minutes in that cavernous bowl with no atmosphere and headed back to the concourse just in time to see the teams announced on the concourse screens. Having not seen CR7 exit the away team busses I was shocked to see him in the starting 11 and even more so to see Bruno Fernandez in there alongside them. They have been the Gerrard and Lampard of the Portuguese national team for years now, so to see how they did in a club game together was going to be interesting.

Theses two talisman’s of Portuguese football could not have been much further apart when the visitors warmed up though. Whenever they were doing any exercises in two lines C. Ronaldo would be at the back of one of the lines and B. Fernandez was at the front of the other one. Even when they came over to right in-front of where I was for the final part of the warm up, before heading inside for a final ream talk, they still went to opposite ends of opposite lines. They did share a fist bump as C. Ronaldo gave one to each of his teammates as they made their way over and he even gave a couple of them pep-talks as the warm up came to an end. None of that seemed to make much difference once the game got underway though.

Brentford were on the attack from the kick-off and the visitors looked shell-shocked. It took all of two minutes for the bees to create their first chance of the match. Mbeumo waltzed past Dalot and attempted to slip a cut back to the penalty spot, but it got deflected back to Jensen on the edge of the box who let rip. His shot rifled just past the left-hand post, but it wouldn’t be the last chance of a first half dominated by the hosts.

The hosts next chance came just two minutes after the first as they floated a freekick to the back post which is headed back across goal and comes inches from connecting with Ivan Toney, but the visitors are able to clear it away just in time to keep the scores equal early on.

It took six minutes for the visitors to get a sustained period of possession and another two minutes before they created a chance of their own in the match. This came from a corner on the right that got headed clear and recycled to halfway. Then a great pass down the left got a visiting player in space for the first time all match and the resulting cross caused all sorts of problems in the hosts defence before a combination of Lossl and Jansson managed to get the ball clear and away. It came right back in the 10th minute though and this time the visitors chance came down the right. This time though the deep cross was just a little too high for the onrushing Bruno Fernandez to connect with at the back post.

Those scares seemed to boost the hosts and hyper-focus them on what they needed to do as they created chance after chance in the 12th minute. The bees first chance of this quick fire trio was created with a cross from the left that found Jensen 6 yards from goal. The ball was nipped off his feet by the visiting defence but fell to Janelt nearby who let rip and guided his shot agonising wide of the right hand post. There must have been a deflection on it though as the ref gave a corner to the hosts, they ended up taking three back to back. From the first of these the home defence had no time smuggling the ball behind for another corner. The second corner caused them more problems as DeGea could only clear it to the feet of Mads Bech 15yards out who saw his shot deflected inches wide of the post. The third corner presented the most clear-cut chance for Brentford to take the lead. It fell to the feet of Jensen who somehow managed to fire the ball over the bar from just 8 yards out. All of those chances were ones that you would expect to be buried at this level and it absolutely should have been 1-0 to Brentford at this stage.

The next chance for 1-0 that the hosts would waste came in the 16th minute as the bees work the ball wonderfully down the right hand side and then feed the ball to Mbuemo with only the keeper to beat. The duel was won by DeGea who got down to save Mbuemo’s shot with his legs. Luckily for Mbuemo his blushes were saved by the linesman who flagged for an offside against Baptise in the build up. At this point I was already getting nervous about all these missed chances as I wrote in my notes that the Bees can’t afford to be letting chances like this go begging and expect not to be punished for it later.

The visitors wasted a chance to punish their hosts for missing so many chances in the 18th minute, when a freekick from the left fell to Mason Greenwood on the edge of the box but his shot lacked power and was easily cleared upfield by the host’s defenders. The promising break that developed was brought to an end though when Mbuemo overhit his through ball to Jensen and the break broke down.

There was a break in the game in the 22nd minute when a collision, near the corner flag at the end of the West Stand that the visitors were attacking, results in Jansonn and Fred ending up on the canvas. They were checked over by the medics and were able to continue playing, but these checks took some time to ensure that both players had not suffered a concussion. In this break the visiting fans piped up to remind the home fans why they had come to see the match or at least the reason the visiting fans thought we had, ‘You’ve only come to see Ronaldo’. I’m sure there was some truth in this for some of the fans in the home stands, but it was interesting that even fans of Man U thought we’d come to see one player rather than their whole team.

Speaking of CR7 he came inches away from connecting with an inswinging corner in the 29th minute. Unfortunately for CR7 the ball was once again played in a little bit too high and flew harmlessly away from danger. The next corner for the visitors resulted in a chance for the hosts. They broke up field and played a lovely set of passes from Mbuemo, Toney and Jensen. The ball eventually fell to Jensen one-on-one with the keeper just 8 yards from goal, but DeGea won this duel too as he once again saved with his feet. The ball ended at the feet of Toney on the left and a deflection from the resulting cross nearly resulted in an own goal, but once again this one went inches wide of the post.

The Bees were creating a lot of chances and would go on to waste even more chances in the 35th minute, but by this point I was so infuriated with the profligacy of the host’s attackers that I didn’t even bother writing down who wasted them this time. It was becoming rather ridiculous how easy Brentford were finding it to create chances and equally ridiculous brilliant they were becoming at wasting them. The last chance that Brentford wasted this half came in the 38th minute as a Toney shot from the edge of the box.

The football on display had certainly not warranted a first half that ended 0-0 but the host’s ability to waste chances meant that the first half did indeed end 0-0. No-one in the stand around me could understand why it was still all-square at the break and how on earth Brentford had failed to score. The guy two seats away from me on my row, who was wearing a bee costume after losing a bet, even called how things would go in the second half. His words to me at half-time were ‘we are going to lose this one, you can’t miss that many chances and win cause there’s no wat they can be that bad second half’ and he couldn’t have been more right.?

Rangnick made no changes at half-time despite the abysmal display from his team in the first half, but what he said to them during the break clearly had an effect as the came out in the visitors came out with a new sense of purpose in their play and were now attacking at speed and actually putting passes together now.

This new lease of life for the visitors almost paid dividends in the first minute of the half as a cross from space on the right reached CR7 at the perfect height at the back post and his header across goal looked like it might be sneaking in under the bar. It did not and instead rebounded away off the bar. This was by far and away the closest the visitors had come to scoring all match so far and the first time they had even really threatened the hosts goal.

From the rebound off the bar the hosts broke upfield and Mbuemo once again fed the ball through to Jensen who found himself one-on-one with DeGea once more. The duel this time was won by the keeper once again though and this time he used his hands. This time the shot was so weak that it just rolled into DeGea’s arms.

Then in the 54th minute a rare mistake from CR7 gifted the ball to Jensen and this time he doesn’t even bother trying to start another Brentford attack and risk another duel with DeGea. This time he decided that since the simple hadn’t worked he would instead go for the spectacular and attempt to score from the halfway line. As had been the theme so far this match it did not work out well for Brentford. The shot was drifting harmlessly wide, but DeGea walked across his box to catch it anyway.

A minute later the host’s punishment finally began as the visitors took a lead that their play had done very little to deserve so far this match. Their opening goal came through Anthony Elanga who had a tap in from 2 yards out after a ball over the top that he beat Lossl too. I was busy writing my note on Jensen’s effort from halfway at the time of the visitors attack and only looked up in time to see Elanga score the goal.

Seeing the visitors take the lead was a punch in the gut after the hosts had dominated the game to that point and come so close to taking the lead so many times in the first half.

Two minutes later the visitors almost had a second as McTominay took a shot from 20 yards out that Lossl contrived to ladle behind for a corner. Lossl had been relatively untested in the first half on his first home league start since signing for the Bees, but here he showed the first sign that it may take him some time to adjust to his new surroundings.

The whole Brentford team seemed to lose all confidence after conceding that first goal and despite Janelt’s attempt at the spectacular to draw them level in the 60th minute their play went to pot from here on out and they went further behind in the 62nd minute.

The visitors second goal came through a ball over the top to Bruno Fernandez that took the whole of the host’s defence out of the game. Fernandez was not alone in getting in behind the Bees backline and he chose not to shoot himself, but to set up his companion instead. He rolled the ball across the box for Mason Greenwood to tap-in from 10 yards out. That was one of the simplest goals I have ever seen scored at a match at any level and it seemed to signal the opening of the floodgates for the visitors.

A third goal for the visitors almost came to pass in the 66th minute when an inviting cross to the back post by Bruno Fernandez was just a little too much for CR7 to get his feet ready for in time and the great man ended up flat on his back in the box.

By this point both managers had decided that changes were needed and it was the host’s Thomas Frank that made the first moves. He made a double substitution in the 63rd minute as he replaced Sergi Canos with Rico Henry and Vitaly Janelt with Shandon Baptiste in an attempt to add some fresh legs to his team and perhaps a new impetus after conceding two goals in quick succession. These substitutions were followed up by the substitution that many Bees fans had been hoping for at half-time as Jensen was replaced by Yoane Wissa. This change was wanted by many around me as Wissa was seen as a more natural finisher than Jensen, but there is no doubting that Jensen had not had a bad game by any stretch. He had got into many great positions and caused the visitors defence many problems in the first half and if he keeps getting in those positions then the goals that hadn’t come today will start to flow soon.

The visitors responded to these substitutions with two of their own. The first of these saw Greenwood replaced with Rashford, but it was the second substitution that got the biggest reaction from players and fans alike; CR7 was taken off to be replaced by Harry Maguire. This was a strange call for many reasons, not least of which was that CR7 had been causing the hosts problems even in the first half but also as it seemed to signify a change of shape for the visitors. They appeared to be shutting up shop and settling for a 2-0 win which seemed a strange call when they had been so clearly on top since they took the lead.

The changes had no effect on the momentum of the game though as Brentford almost gifted their visitors a third in the 74th minute when the messing around at the back, that they had gotten away with against Port Vale nearly cost them here. Luckily for the hosts though Pinnock was able to get back to nip the ball off Fernandez’s feet as he went to shoot and the score remained at 0-2 for now.

I say for now as it only took 3 more minutes for the visitors to actually add their third. A defence splitting ball on the right made it through to Rashford who rifled it past Lossl at his near post. It was a great goal, but as a home fan this was the point the last vestige of hope inside me died and the game became a dead rubber for the last 13 minutes as it was now clear who was getting the three points.

The visitor’s bench was so confident that the game was now won that in the 84th minute they took off their opening scorer Elanga and replaced him with defensive midfielder Nemanja Matic in an attempt to consolidate their clean sheet.

It didn’t work as just a minute after this change the hosts finally got the goal that their first half performance had deserved. This consolation came through Ivan Toney who turned home a long throw from Mads Bech from the right touchline, but at this point I was so sure that there was no comeback in the offing that I was unable to take any joy in seeing Brentford finally take one of the chances they had created.

This was the last chance that Brentford created in the match and also the final threatening chance of the game. In the four minutes added at the end of the 90 Fernandez did find himself free in the box with just Lossl to beat, but his attempted chip was weak and Lossl didn’t even have to move to catch it. This was the last action of the match as the ref then blew his whistle for a match that proves the old proverb that football is a match of two halves and is also notable for having not a single card shown all match.

The game ended a 3-1 to Manchester United and whilst this was a score no-one would’ve predicted after the first half, it does show the truth behind another old proverb ‘you have to take your chances when you have them’. Thomas Frank always says that Brentford either win or learn from each match and I hope today they have learnt that proverb and never forget it.

I will be back with Brentford when they visit Everton in the FA Cup fourth round, but this weekend I’m off to Manchester tomorrow for a day of Women’s football. I will be visiting both United and City and will be looking to blog both of them next week, lets see how I do with that.