Dan Dare (Oldham Away)

Ever since I first watched Mathieu Manset playing as a “guest” in the friendly against Leicester City I have been impressed: by his mobility, by his strength, by his speed and close control ability – especially being such a big man, able to deal with the inevitable physicality of league One challenges.

He played against Rochdale on Tuesday night, scored his first goal indeed. Ben Purkiss back after a long lay-off from injury also played well. But both were absent from the starting line up at Oldham. Mystifying.

Andy Taylor, in my opinions one of our key players, was also missing, possibly injured.

I am left wondering about the team choices made by Dean Smith and Richard O’Kelly.

Back-to-fitness Jordan Cook took on the lone striker role and, in one of our few attacks of the whole game ran onto a well-judged through ball and netted. Fifteen minutes gone –and in the crowded corner of the ground where the Walsall faithful were sitting, or standing cheering, we could see a marvellous game unfolding.

 

 

This was almost a last-minute trip, but on the journey we were talking about weddings, UKIP getting their first member of parliament in the Clacton on Sea by-election (and any effect it might have on the policies and sound-bites of Conservative and Labour politicians), who might play Dan Dare in a hoped-for film and why we came off the M6 a junction early to get to Oldham. The sun was shining on the second-highest English League ground (West Brom’s is apparently the highest) and the pint and the meat and potato pie served up were fine (although eating and drinking in the rough area allocated was poor; no seats, no tables) and a poster in the entry to the gents toilets reading:

Pyro Facts 05

WE CAN’T SEE YOU SNEAKING OUT

Smoke billowing across the pitch can affect the play – or even cause the game to be delayed

had us puzzled. What?

Back to the game then. After the goal we were, simply poor: poor passing, poor defending, unable to stop the ball coming back and back and back and back into our penalty area.

It could only be a matter of time – it was. Thirty one minutes and our hard-ridden luck ran out. The equaliser going to Connor Wilkinson. Baxendale was ineffective, trying challenges that a player his size is always going to lose. Clifford? Was he playing? Grimes, already clocking up yellow cards again at fault. Chasing back is one thing, but battering somebody because they got to the ball first is unacceptable. Get there first next time1!Let the ball do the talking!

 

A poor pass from Mal Benning, no longer a natural left back, had Andy Butler down, injured and staying down, The Oldham number nine making a nuisance of himself, perhaps by leaving a boot in. Almost immediately Poleon (the number 9, doing the kind of work we need someone to do for us) was in a follow up with Butler. Other players got involved – so unnecessary. Butler booked – apparently for allowing himself to get fouled – and Poleon? Well after a little play the referee – poor game from him – had a word. Should have been booked along with Butler. And, er what exactly was the ref saying to him – and, er why ?

 

Manset on after the start of the second half, Butler put up forwards. Hmm, so a little bit of target man stuff then?

Not a bit of it!

That same old pass across the pitch, short, back, back to the ‘keeper business. Passes going hopelessly wrong and Oldham pouring forwards. Eventually going 2 – 1 up (a Jones goal).

We had a couple of chances but fluffed ‘em.

Crewe at home next week. They are in dire straits, but we ain’t so pretty either.

England beat san Marino 5 – 0 at Wembley and the Under21s playing at Molineux, won 2-1 against Croatia.

Jules Bianchi was involved in a terrible crash at the Japanese Grand Prix last week. A car had crashed out and was being removed by a heavy tractor-crane. The pace car was on, with heavy rain falling. Bianchi’s car left the track and – what are the odds? – crashed into the tractor lifting the first crashed car. He is still in a “stable but critical condition” reports say.

A seventeen year old student, Malala Yousafzai, from a school in Birmingham is joint winner of this year’s Nobel Peace prize. Until shot in the head by the Taliban (in 2012) she lived in Pakistan, but came to Queen Elizabeth’s Hospital in Brum for surgery. Now she attends a local school. The Taliban do not want girls to receive an education and Malala stood up against this inequality despite threats and intimidation.

The other winner, Indian campaigner Mr Satyarthi has maintained the tradition of Mahatma Gandhi and headed various forms of peaceful protests, “focusing on the grave exploitation of children for financial gain,” the committee said at the Nobel Institute in Oslo.

The Shirt and The Iron (Scunthorpe Away)

Last Wednesday of the month: poetry group at Great Wyrley Library. Last month we chose “sport” as the topic for this meeting. Do you know how difficult it is to find a reasonable poem about sport? (Seriously folks any suggestions welcome in the response box below. Would love to you’re your ideas.)

Someone else came up with “the Shirt” by Carole Ann Duffy  (current English poet laureate). I have heard this independent lady reading her poetry and, while it was being shared in the rather small confines of our library I could imagine bot her voice and face as she read it out. Bit of a cliché, but went to this Walsall supporter’s heart right away; the themes of high salary and some self-pitying celebrity player trying to make excuses for poor performances. The “anybody but me” syndrome” again.

We are playing Scunthorpe United today. Away. I’m going. Bright sunshine, high skies after some rainclouds earlier.

Cully’s driving. Navigating part-by-sat-nav part by experience. The sat nav (Tom-Tom I believe) sits in pride of place in the centre of the dashboard. The arrow stays still, the graphics move underneath it. “A bit like flying, instead of driving; don’t like it, “ he says.

Satisfyingly the machine gets it wrong from the off and I take out an unnecessary dog leg, smiling smugly (well inside anyway).

The journey is comfortable, enjoyable and full of conversation on initially  familiar roads and then motorways (with some almost inevitable summer roadworks limiting us to 50 m.p.h..

We see the high single legged floodlight pylons of Glanford Park while we are still on the approach. The ground is now at the back of an out-of-town shopping park with all the usual suspects including a McDonalds, a Ben and Jerry’s (playing music from the 1950s) and a franchise gastro-pub. It’s friendly in there. We order a meal and drinks, sit and continue the conversations. Then well fed, stroll to the ground.

Going through the turnstiles we are not given a ticket which I find interesting. It takes out the costs of printing and is eminently sensible in that respect of course … but is it legal?

 

The ground feels homely. It’s compact, built to the same spec all round and looks as if it was built to a plan that was stuck-to. No out-of-character additions. There’s a purpose built gallery in the roof of the left hand stand for cameras and media, there are flags flying from poles at the opposite end of the ground. That stand (we are behind a goal line) is standing-only. That’s also interesting, given the discussions going on to return parts of grounds to standing areas again (they were changed to all seater stadia by law following recommendations in the Taylor report after the Hillsborough disaster) .

We look dazed from the kick-off. The Iron playing fast, zippy football, passes accurate, either in front of the runner or into space which is soon taken up by an attacking player. We are not able to keep up, it seems. Our new look team. Without Kinsella who has been impressive, but fair enough, may need a break; without Grimes and Sawyers and James Chambers back into the middle of defence. Forde is on and Manset gets a debut. (seems he was playing the “long game” after his trial game against Leicester, going to some Turkish club and after a better deal (no blame attached there: football is a cruel kind of life and players need to make money as and when …). No deal was offered, so he came back to Walsall. James Chambers lasts all of ten minutes and Dean Holden comes on to replace him. It doesn’t get better. Scunthorpe (why are they nicknamed The Iron?) are like a tide washing towards our goal, wave after wave. Fortunately they don’t look like scoring. They too are on a winless run and may just be a little over anxious.

The half time entertainment is amusing: fans spin around to make themselves dizzy and are then to take a penalty against the home mascot (“Scunny Bunny”). Except they all fall over before they have finished spinning. The announcer on the pitch is enjoying himself anyway.

Of course I recognise some of the travelling fans now; we are some kind of pilgrims after all, trying to keep a kind of faith. Against all odds sometimes!

Second half is little different, except Scunthorpe are better motivated, more switched on. they haven’t won yet and sense things might be about to change. A first half dribble raid by Adelakum which ended in a scuffed shot is repeated. But this time the ball is in the net. A few moments later we concede a free kick. MacSheffrey’s long distance shot beats O’Donnell and they are two nil up.

Cue the charge. We establish some kind of order. Press forwards, more in hope at this stage but things begin to come together. Then, Tom Bradshaw, who must be difficult to play against, is through after willing running. It seems to be in stop-motion. I see him check the position of the keeper (Olejnic) and the ball dinks off his head and curls – towards – the net – over – the – line.

Goal! Well-deserved because the man has been chasing everything since kick off, big hearted and energetic. Good eye for the goal. Manset has shown touches of skill, but been a little off the pace. But he is big. He is strong and the defenders knew he was there. I would like to see him in the team again on Saturday (home against Colchester), just a little more bedded in.

It’s not enough. Baxendale making a big, bold challenge to keep the ball in provokes a bit of passion from Scunthorpe’s Bishop, who has niggled all game (but at least has some fire and passion about the game). The referee who has been poor all game, not stamping his authority, gives a goal kick when, in fact, the ball didn’t go out at all.

So, Scunthorpe’s winless run ends. Does ours continue or did it just get worse than that?