The Silkmen – Oldham & Cheltenham (Both away)

By Jen Kelly on October 23, 2019

Jen Kelly – a.k.a. Cheshire’s Revenge / The Word Nerd – brings ilovemacc her own take on the highs and lows of The Silkmen

I’ve had a few days off from all things bloggy. Partly to catch up on some actual paid work (cos I do this for nowt you know!) and partly to have a break from the world of online. Sometimes you need to remind yourself what the real world looks like, right?

Since my last blog we’ve had a trip to Oldham and an FA Cup 1st round draw again Kingstonian. There’s been flares, asthma attacks, doom mongering and more. It’s just been announced today that Sol has found himself a new management job down in Southend. The team are currently down in Gloucestershire battling it out at the fantastically named Jonny-Rocks Stadium and the sweet sounds of iFollow are keeping me company while I write.

Oh, and we’re back in court tomorrow. Again. Surely this one is free as we’ve been so many times this year. Or is that not how it works?

Because of all the goings on, and my lax approach to blogging this week, you’re going to get even more of a brain spurt than normal…sorry!

OLDHAM (A)

I made the trip up to Oldham on Saturday. I decided to train and tram it, meeting my dad at Westwood tram stop. Partly because he was already in Manchester; partly because my Friday night ended with skittle bombs at 2am so I thought it was best not to get behind the wheel.

As I necked my 3rd strong coffee of the day at Macc station, I was strangely optimistic. Yeah, me! Can you believe it? After the cracking result against Vale and, perhaps more crucially, the performance that went with it I’ve been feeling much better about our prospects on the pitch.

Cheltenham Update: Just as I wrote that last sentence, Luke Varny has just scored out of the blue for Cheltenham. Ballsacks.

Walking at top speed from the tram stop to Boundary Park cleared any last remnants of hangover out of my head. When I say top speed, it was MY top speed. My dad is a seasoned runner and all-round healthy chap whereas I am, well, not. So a leisurely stroll for him is an all-out speed walk for me. I was therefore glad to get to the ground and find a seat to have a rest!

I think it’s fair to say that the game itself certainly wasn’t a classic. However, it’s definitely fair to say that we were the better team for most of the 90. And just thinking back to the corresponding fixture last year makes you really appreciate how far we’ve come. And how far Oldham haven’t.

The Latics looked shapeless and far too tired for this early in the season. We managed to play the ball around a fair bit and craft some half-decent chances. There is still a hesitation in front of goal from more than one player but at least we’re getting it up there in the first place. I personally thought Paddy had one of his weaker games and it showed what a difference he can make when he’s on full form.

But look, winning a poor game by a slim margin is crucial if you have even a tiny hope of a top spot. And if we do it like that every week, I’ll be a happy Silk. What a stonking free kick!

FA CUP 1ST ROUND DRAW – KINGSTONIAN

After the excitement of the win on Saturday, yesterday brought about another taste of things to come. The FA Cup is probably one of my favourite football-y things and every year I convince myself that we’re gonna win it before we’ve even kicked a ball. Seriously I do.

Kingstonian, from Kingston-upon-Thames in the big smoke, will be our first opponents at the Moss. Not a bad draw, all things considered. A lower club suggests we SHOULD have a decent shot at progressing. I say SHOULD, as we all know how these things can pan out. But for now I’m feeling positive.

Of course, perhaps the best draw would’ve been the Bury Bye. Direct progression through to round 2 and money in the bank sounds massively appealing. That luxury went to Chichester of the Isthmian League South East Division, the lowest ranked side in the competition. And they immediately showed some pure class by donating their prize money to Bury FC (or rather, whoever is in charge of trying to get the club back to playing ways).

Reckon we would’ve done the same? Nah, me neither.

PYRO-GATE

So another game and another cloud of smoke. Well, two actually. Unlike at Vale, where I was in another stand, the flares at Oldham went off right above my head. The smell is still lingering on my coat 3 days later. Yummy.

When did flares suddenly become a thing again? I remember them being pretty common in the mid 90s at Macc. But then, so were streakers. (edit: I am NOT encouraging the return of the streaker!) Maybe someone has got a bulk deal on a mixed bag of flares from some bloke down the pub. I say mixed bag as so far we’ve had a red one, a blue one (hurray!) and one that looked like a cloud of Dementors had materialised over the Chaddy Road end at Oldham.

The flares on Saturday didn’t particularly piss me off. What did though was the nonsense that came after. 1-0 up, 5 minutes to go and Oldham were on the attack up the other end of the pitch. So it completely made sense that a gang of our ‘fans’ choose that moment to try and kick off on a load of stewards, completely blocking our view (and many others). It would have been laughable if it hadn’t have been so annoying and pathetic. Trying to deck a steward (or anyone for that matter) isn’t ‘banter’ or ‘creating an atmosphere’. It’s violence at its most tribal and it has no place in football, whatever reason you think you might have.

Oh, and a special message to the kid who spat the words “fuck off” right in my face when I asked him and his pals to shift so we could see the game. You might think you’re a football fan mate. But from where I’m sitting, nothing could be further from the truth.

I hope someone pisses on your shoes.

Update: Cheltenham have just scored a second. Double ballsacks. Massive, big hairy ones.

SOL-THEND

The news broke an hour or so ago that Sol has found himself his second bite of the managerial cherry. He’ll be taking the helm down at Southend, a club currently struggling at the bottom end of League One. Unsurprisingly he’s also taking his number 2 Hermann Hreidarsson and striker coach Andy Cole with him as part of the 3 year deal.

In all honesty, good luck to him. Seriously. He did well for us and, although he perhaps a lot to learn about the PR challenges of the lower leagues, he got the results when they mattered for us. Southend will present their own set of challenges and, if he manages to turn things around down there, he might start to earn the credibility to match his ego.

CHELTENHAM (A)

And so to tonight’s game. As it stands, with 30 minutes to go, Macc are 2-0 down at Cheltenham. Other than the excellent McCourt coming in for the injured Harris, the team looks much the same as Saturday. However, it sounds like things aren’t quite going to plan.

Arthur Gnahoua has just gone off for Gomis after not really getting a sniff of anything significant. Arthur is starting to become a point of frustration for me. He’s like the little girl with the little curl. You know, when he is good he is very very good, and when he is bad he is horrid! Okay, perhaps horrid is a bit harsh but you get my point.

Update: Macc have just had the ball in the net but it was offside. *Sigh*

Looking at Cheltenham’s recent form, perhaps this current scoreline is to be expected. Having not been beaten in the league since late August, maybe a tough midweek trip was just one step too much for our young side?

Update: And that’s Cheltenham 3 to the good. Kick those ballsacks and have done with it.

It’s just damage limitation now. With 10 minutes left it sounds like every Macc attack is being cut off at the jugular before it gets anywhere useful. Cheltenham have been organised and have stuck to the plan perfectly.

Update: Evans has just made a point blank save, with the rebound cancelled by the offside flag. BALLS EVERYWHERE!

It’s definitely not been Macc’s day today. But look, it’s not a complete disaster. Let’s not forget the 6-0 drubbing we suffered over on the Fylde coast 2 years ago. And look what that did for our momentum! Perhaps this is this season’s Fylde, who knows?

Final Update: Final whistle. 3-0. Humph.

Anyway, I’ll see you all at the Moss on Saturday for the Bradford game for the next chapter of the Silkmen Saga. Here’s to 3 points, a decent game and no-one shouting swear words in my face!

#againstallodds https://thewordnerd.home.blog/