Sat. 24th Oct., 15:00 - The Emirates FA Cup 15-16
Long time, no blog entry; not since the fag-end days of late October, in fact. Fear not though, hardened sports fans. It’s not a sign that I have abandoned The Beautiful Game. Merely that I had temporarily lost the will to bore you with all the gory details of my spectating exploits. Now, though, I will pity you no more; and shall inflict upon you a stream of consciousness that you may never forget, will surely regret and from which you may never recover. It features: the FA Cup; the Championship; League Two AND the Ryman Premier League. Wow – what a roster! The featured games date back as far as the 24th of October; AND come from as recently as March; but perhaps I am getting ahead of myself there, as they sometimes say. Let me unfold the story more organically ... bringing you up to speed in short bursts.
After recently taking a Wolves-supporting former work colleague along to see a disappointing midweek game at Craven Cottage (see below, on this blog) on a Wednesday in October, I took a different (this time Leeds-supporting) former work colleague along to see another disappointing midweek game at Craven Cottage. You can probably see a pattern emerging, already. Fulham capitulated to a Leeds side under new manager Steve Evans, who were five places below them, having previously been on a run of three straight defeats. We were lucky to escape with a home point, which left us at the top of the bottom half of the table (i.e. 13th). I will not dwell on the details; although you can: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/34524613
A long time ago, in a footballing galaxy that now seems so very, very, far, far away, a one-time international footballer called Barrington was a regular player in a Fulham side that was fast making a name for itself as a small, family club that was punching above its weight in the top flight. Perhaps that’s quite a topical recollection, given Leicester City’s current exploits at the top of the Premier League. Lambeth-born "Barry" was selected to represent three different nations; although he has only played for two of these in competitive fixtures: England C, The Cayman Islands and Jamaica. Among the many highlights of his time as a regular at Craven Cottage, over six seasons, was scoring an August brace at White Hart Lane, in the Premier League; as Fulham memorably beat Tottenham Hotspur 0-3 … and yes, I was there! This result, on top of an already poor start to the season (and followed by a 3–1 loss to his former charges, Southampton) effectively ended Glen Hoddle’s tenure as Spurs manager. Perhaps he was being punished for his sins in a former life? Fulham, incidentally, went on to “do the double” over Spurs, that season; but that is a whole other story - in a whole other life-time.
Enfield fans in party mood: they even had balloons!
Anyway, having not seen Bazzer play for nearly a dozen years, and just three days after that latest Fulham fiasco (briefly referenced above) I was keen to watch him turn out for high-flying Spartan South Midlands “Evo-Stick” Football League Division One outfit Chesham United - where he now holds down a role as player-coach, at the ripe old age of 43. The Buckinghamshire side were lined up to play Enfield Town in the FA CUP’s 4th (and final) Qualifying Round, at “The Meadow”. It seemed there was a near 50-50 chance he would play, given that he’d made nine appearances in Chesham’s previous twenty games. So off I set, in torrential, October rains, to pay homage to a former Fulham hero. My attentions were soon drawn elsewhere, though.
Enfield are in yellow; Ottaway, briefly, was wearing 'skins'.
As is traditional “at this level of football”, the referee appointed for the match (a Mr. C. O’Donnell – and I think we can all guess what the “C” stands for) was a … trocious; and he set his stall out early on. Within the first ten minutes of the game, amidst some rumbustiously physical defending, Enfield’s Centre-Forward, Harry Ottaway, had his number 10 shirt “literally” torn from his back. The referee saw no infringement (the shirt having, apparently, wantonly shredded itself) and, unsurprisingly, Enfield were 2-0 down by half-time. The Towners have been very slow starters this season; but, once they get going, they are tough to stop – as the crowd of 759 were to find out. The second half saw Enfield going all-out to repair the first-half damage: dominating possession The late action was nearly all in the Chesham half and Ottaway justly scored a 90th minute goal from close in, to set up a hectic chunk of added time. The lively Ottaway (yes, him again) was floored in the six-yard box, in one of the last plays of the game. Almost inevitably (the ETFC match report said “remarkably”) the Enfield C-F was penalised controversially … presumably for breathing in the opponents’ penalty area. It was always a tough ask to come back from a two-goal deficit against 12-man Chesham; and, in the increasingly heavy downpour, Town’s luck was up. It was to be Enfield’s only defeat in a run of 13 games. A shame not to have at least earned a replay “at our place”(and more much-needed revenue for the fan-owned club). Perhaps predictably, Barry Hayles, alas, never did leave the Chesham bench. My pilgrimage had been in vain. Maybe, after all, I should have taken a leaf out of Chaucer's book, instead (*see footnote) and waited until "Aprille ... The droghte of Marche hath perced to the roote".
Hayles DID go on to appear in the next round (the “first round proper”). His wily guile and experience set up the only goal of that game to put (another of his former sides) Bristol Rovers out of the cup. I suspect Chesham by then may even have earned enough FA Cup revenue to repair the roof of their Ryan Moran Stand.
By the time we heard the final, disappointing blast of the disappointing referee's whistle, however, with the score still at 2-1, I couldn’t have given a t*ss. You, by contrast, can give one, here - should you choose to do so: http://www.enfieldtownfootballclub.co.uk/teams/65370/match-centre/2-29783
Time then, in age old tradition, to "concentrate on the league", instead, I guess.
Late action in the enfolding rain and (Enfield's) gloom.
Full-time: Chesham United 2 Enfield Town 1
Chesham United: Shane Gore, George Casey (Ashley Smith 72), Toby Little, Laurie Stewart, Curtis Ujah, Matt Taylor, Dave Pearce (Sam Youngs 77), Nick Beasant, Ryan Blake (Callum Woodcock 86), Brad Wadkins, Bruce Wilson. Unused subs: Stephan Hamilton-Forbes, Matt Nolan, George Fenton, Tommy Fletcher. Booked: Casey, Blake, Taylor, Beasant.
Enfield Town: Nathan McDonald, Mickey Parcell (Bobby Devyne 64), Ricky Gabriel, Claudiu Vilcu, Harold Joseph, Stanley Muguo (Dernell Wynter 77), Ryan Doyle, Nathan Livings (Samir Bihmoutine 45), Corey Whitely, Harry Ottaway, Tyler Campbell. Unused subs: Joe Stevens, Olumide Durojaiye, Tayshan Hayden-Smith, David Hughes. Booked: Whitely, Vilcu, Ottaway, Campbell.
Attendance: 759
*Culture Vulture Footnote: (lines 1 & 2) taken from
"The Prologue to the Canterbury Tales" by Geoffrey Chaucer (c.1340–1400)
Full-time: Chesham United 2 Enfield Town 1
Chesham United: Shane Gore, George Casey (Ashley Smith 72), Toby Little, Laurie Stewart, Curtis Ujah, Matt Taylor, Dave Pearce (Sam Youngs 77), Nick Beasant, Ryan Blake (Callum Woodcock 86), Brad Wadkins, Bruce Wilson. Unused subs: Stephan Hamilton-Forbes, Matt Nolan, George Fenton, Tommy Fletcher. Booked: Casey, Blake, Taylor, Beasant.
Enfield Town: Nathan McDonald, Mickey Parcell (Bobby Devyne 64), Ricky Gabriel, Claudiu Vilcu, Harold Joseph, Stanley Muguo (Dernell Wynter 77), Ryan Doyle, Nathan Livings (Samir Bihmoutine 45), Corey Whitely, Harry Ottaway, Tyler Campbell. Unused subs: Joe Stevens, Olumide Durojaiye, Tayshan Hayden-Smith, David Hughes. Booked: Whitely, Vilcu, Ottaway, Campbell.
Attendance: 759
*Culture Vulture Footnote: (lines 1 & 2) taken from
"The Prologue to the Canterbury Tales" by Geoffrey Chaucer (c.1340–1400)
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