A PECULIAR SORT OF MONTH
A Review By John Taylor
November began in unusual fashion with a trip to east London for the FA cup tie with Leyton Orient-not a place we visit very often, though our last cup game there saw a fine away victory against an O's side a division above us. History did not repeat itself, but we put in a good, professional display against the league 2 leaders and came away with a relatively comfortable draw. The home side did have the ball in the net, but the linesman had already flagged. Roche pulled off a couple of decent saves, but we were otherwise untroubled. Martin Ling's post match comments about our being an "ugly side" were completely uncalled for and unjust. As it turned out, however, it did nothing to motivate us for the replay.
The Chief went close at Brisbane Road
The next day, the cup draw had us away at either Halifax or Rushden- a fairly appealing prospect with a real possibility of progression to round 3. Surely after all those failures, we could win a Saltergate replay.
A week later we were in more familiar territory with Port Vale at the Rec', though the kick-off time was a little early owing to England's away game in Geneva against Argentina. Billed as a friendly, this turned out to be as competitive a game as you'll ever see-slightly better than the Vale game. Even so, the 3 points gained against the Potteries outfit were well earned with a solid performance capped by 2 scruffy, though well-engineered goals by the Chief, one in each half. Only a fine save by Goodlad late on denied the veteran a much-deserved hat trick. Probably the most pleasing aspect of the match, however, was the clean sheet-we get all too few and a solid 2-0 win is always very satisfying.
Colin Larkin hit the woodwork the chief off shot made it 2-0 Spireites
Midweek saw the FA Cup replay, by which time we knew the prize for progression was a trip to Irthlingborough against a side struggling in League 2. All we had to do to get to round 3 was beat Orient-unbeaten away but facing a team who had to win a cup replay eventually. It was not to be, of course, as we lost out 12th replay on the trot. The Londoners beat us deservedly and as usual we totally under-performed in the cup. Hurst, who missed selection at Brisbane Road played pretty well whilst the rest were below par. Roche gifted Mackie a goal on 17 minutes when he punched a low cross that he should have caught and the Orient man rolled in a soft opener. Hurst's fine equaliser should then have been a springboard for a real go, but soon afterwards, Nicholson got caught out on our left and Tudor's cross-shot eluded Roche to leave us with a blank Saturday in December, again, and the possibility of a lucrative cup run once more avoided. The club's constant failure in this tournament makes the 96-97 run even more mysterious. It almost seems like each crop of players delights in a day off in December, but that cannot possibly be the explanation for our woefully inadequate FA Cup performances year after year.
Hursty pulled us back level against the O's
Saturday brought the trip to Ashton Gate, scene of our remarkable win last season and home of a side unexpectedly struggling this season. The unexpected occurred again this time as we murdered them to complete the double. Our rearranged side with Nicholson and Allison replaced by Picken and Clingan ran the Robins ragged after Wilkshire (begloved in typical Aussie footballer style) had netted with a delightful free kick. Hall's hat trick and Hurst's gem of a goal had the travelling faithful in raptures and even City's late consolation did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm. This marked the third time this season that we've played a Gary Johnson side and beaten them-he'll just love us. The Hall triple was the first on the road since 80-81 (Moss at Walsall) and the first in a win away since Birch at Carlisle in the 6-2 win earlier the same season (my first match wearing spectacles). This was also the same season we last won an FA Cup replay!
Hally on his way to a hat trick at Ashton Gate of all places
The month's final fixture saw us entertain Blackpool and gave us the possibility of ending the day in 3rd place in the table. The Tangerines were in the odd position of having Simon Grayson in charge after the suspension of boss Colin Hendrie. After our win over the Seasiders on the opening day and our recent league run, we were confident of a victory.
We began brightly and Hurst should have done better than bring a save from Jones in the second minute at the expense of a corner. We were soon ahead, however, as Larkin forced a foul on the edge of the Blackpool box and Sammy Clingan whacked the free kick under the wall into the corner of the net for his first goal of the season.
The joy was short-lived, however, as 4 minutes later, we had a bit of a kerfuffle on the edge of our box. Nicholson clumsily fouled Donnelly who retaliated with a vicious stamp. Our skipper then appeared to head butt the Blackpool man and the referee duly produced the red card for both players-a correct decision. This did nothing for our pattern with Bailey drafted into left back and Allott withdrawn to the right. Our moves lacked fluency thereafter and the visitors looked reasonably assured.
Shinner losing it against the Seasiders
Mr Mac was enduring the third and final game of his touchline ban and his frustration with his captain's immaturity must have been considerable. Still, the team was not subject to substitutions till late in the game-well after Harkin's 57th minute equaliser (his first ever goal) and the tinkering was not effective and we all trooped away disappointed with the rare draw, though pleased to be in 5th spot in the table. It was interesting to see, when we got home, that Mark DeBolla, on loan to Notts County, had scored for them on his debut-hopefully he will do well for them and restart his career.
In summary, we could feel pleased with a month undefeated in league football but maddened at our traditional cup failure. We are well placed in the league and look to have a better balance of team and squad than last season. This time last year, though, we were similarly placed and look what happened then. December will be a big test and, if we come through that with some good results, it could be make-or-break for the whole season. The Forest away game is eagerly anticipated, despite the police insisting on a 1 o'clock start, so let us hope that we end 2005 on a real high with a win by the Trent.
Hursty John's man of the month
So who's my man-of-the-month for November? It's not obvious as no-one has been massively ahead of the rest and performances have been mixed. Larkin has contributed well, Hall scored a hat trick, Blatherwick and Hazell have formed a decent central defensive partnership, but for his decent overall form and topped-off by his special goal at Ashton Gate, my pick is Kevan Hurst-the first Sheffield United player to gain this dubious accolade.
