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Blue Square South Guide

Bin Man 87

23-08-2009

Tales of the Unexpected

Braintree Town 0 Havant & Waterlooville 2

Ordinarily, Braintree is one of those away games one doesn’t feel too unhappy to miss. Horrible ground (albeit improved since the dwarf shed behind the clubhouse end goal was removed – supporters over 5ft 10in no longer have to pick the splinters out of their scalps on the way home); a mental, fluffy bearded steward who appears keener to get a fight started than a late-on-the-card boxing ref with a looming dinner reservation; and an on the hour train service to London which requires a breathless sprint after the final whistle or sixty minutes of demoralising wandering well outside the centre of town. There is also the lingering, but nowhere near as strong as it was, resentment at some of the antics of their top brass three seasons ago.

On top of all these, and possibly most importantly, was our record of two defeats and two draws (one of which was followed by our downfall in a penalty shoot-out which, I grant you, was terrifically exciting, but still). So, with a long and expensive train trip to Weymouth to pay for next Monday, Braintree was the obvious corner to cut.

However, it turns out the leopard that represents our performances as Cressing Road was in the mood to display his brand new set of spots and so, and I never thought I’d say these words, I really wish I’d made it to Braintree. Finally a win there courtesy of yet another Manny Williams brace, taking his total this season to seven in five games.

Two home draws and three away wins thus far then; currently in second or, if you ignore goal difference (as I like to when it suits me in this way), joint-top. Furthermore, it’s not like we’ve played any no-hopers yet, all five of our opponents having won at least two games themselves. Indeed, Braintree and Staines’ only defeats have come at our hands.

Still, it is still only five games in and the next couple of weeks will bring further tough challenges. Basingstoke and Dover are our home games, the former having an unexpectedly good start, and Dover (much more expectedly) currently leading the table.

In addition is that away game at Weymouth, which is difficult to call. After taking a couple of humiliating barrellings against Bishop’s Stortford and Eastleigh, they’ve taken four points from Maidenhead and Worcester.

We’ve had good results against Weymouth by and large over the years but, as this weekend’s Braintree result shows, history is bunk; all that matters is the here-and-now.

Still, I’m pleased I’ve been keeping a lid on the over-confidence, as each result reveals a new delight, an extra little fizz of excitement, rather than a blasé shrug.

Posted by skif at 11:06:18 0 comments Leave a comment

18-08-2009

He hit it, and it felt like a kiss

If nothing else, one thing we’ve learnt thus far this season is that Manny Williams does not deal in sh*t goals. Not for him the claim of a soft shin deflection, no getting a drab miscued daisy-flattener through the hapless legs of a nervous youth-team keeper drafted in through an injury crisis. Offer him a two-yarder off his arse and he would look at you askance and with not a little contempt.

So, needless to say we’ve been wowed. Manny has been playing with such regal élan, you half expect him to jog out wearing robes and a crown.

Another thing we know is that if you need a trigonometric problem solved, Manny is your man to help, as his awareness of angles during this game was both bang on and BANG! IN!

First, in the seventh minute, he picked his spot perfectly, with only really one to choose from, to fire through Will Puddy’s flailing legs. A finish of pure class, perhaps not as good as Saturday’s effort, but not much will be. The bar has been pushed up virtually out of reach.

Well, almost, as the sheer fearlessness and impudence of his 90th minute equaliser will also live long in the memory. Put through one-one-one with Puddy racing out to him, and a defender chasing him down, he waited til virtually the last moment then curved the ball softly so it hung in the air like a new moon, seemingly for hours. Hearts thumped, pulses made like Usain Bolt, bottoms clenched like Venus fly-traps, and eventually the ball pinged off the post and in.

It was a ‘cometh-the-hour…’ moment, met with scenes of bouncy delirium on the West Leigh Park terraces the like of which we’ve not really seen since we hosted Swansea City, aided and abetted by a pretty astonishing midweek crowd of 1100 plus. Actually we’d be pretty delighted with that on Saturday, let alone a Monday night.

However, the fact that we needed that equaliser and the fact that we should have buried them during our long periods of domination in the first half mean that there are still things to be worked on, even though the tea spirit, the performance of some of the younger players and some incredible saves from our new keeper Aaron Howe are very encouraging. Yet, after nine undefeated days of the season, with two wins and two draws, this second one of which felt like a win, there is much to fuel our grins.

Onwards now then to an away game at Braintree where, omens be damned, we never win. However, confidence should be rippling through the squad like a stormy tide, and this Saturday might be the time to obliterate that stat. I’ll be crossing my fingers in hope, I’m not that confident yet that I believe anything is a definite.

Posted by skif at 09:15:30 0 comments Leave a comment

16-08-2009

...comb your hair...wave wave your hands...SUPERMANNY...

"Some goals make you jump up that little bit higher, some goals make you scream just that little bit louder, but then there are other goals, special goals, beautiful goals. A goal such as this is quite rare of course, particularly at this level. It is the kind of goal that makes you want to leave your job immediately and dedicate your remaining days to writing epic poetry about it and sculpting marble effigies of the scorer."

Tardy holiday timing meant I missed our first two games, and it's good to be back. I'd have hated to have missed this away win at Staines Town, if only for one moment of sheer class from Manny Williams. More words and pictures can be at the dubSteps site.

Posted by skif at 10:43:52 0 comments Leave a comment

Archive
Tales of the Unexpected
He hit it, and it felt like a kiss
...comb your hair...wave wave your hands...SUPERMANNY...