Arrived in Belper at 1300 - i.e. a good 60 minutes behind schedule. Fortunately daughter was still in Derby (touting for a lift to Belper), so I got to drive straight to Derby before abandoning car and wife at the roadside and dashing for the "Ilkeston Flyer", arriving in the "Observatory" just before 1400 to be greeted by Ian (Nosmo), Sean and Chris (Mi Owd). Got to the bar and sampled Titanic "Lifeboat" and Salopian "Hop Twister" (which was very good) before a taxi was ordered for 1450. It arrived at 1504 (!) and by the time we got to the ground I'd missed the best part of the "Mossley day" (i.e. Peter Wright's 5th minute goal and Mossley battering the Ilkeston defence). Never mind, the worst was yet to come - Mossley allowing Ilkeston to take over the midfield, and inevitably everything going pear-shaped down the left side of the Mossley defence. A cross from the Ilkeston right fell invitingly for Chris Adam (mainly because no white shirt seemed to want to take responsibility !) 1-1. After about 30 minutes another cross from the Ilkeston right fell invitingly for new boy (?) Paul Robinson who cocked up his goal-bound header big style - never mind plenty of time for another go - yep 2-1...
Mossley's "ace snapper" SJNR prepares for the Peter Wright free-kick - see the results on http://mossley80.blogspot.com
My version of same free-kick.
Give Mossley their dues - they did get back into the game with chances for Wright and Cooke but it remained 2-1 at half-time. However something must have been slipped into the Mossley tea (temazepan ?) and once again "hoof ball" reared its ugly head. Ok we had a few chances - but nothing clear-cut at all. In short it was a fairly depressing 45 minutes, made all the worse by stories of Anthony Bingham (transferred) and Terry Bowker (released) that were now circulating around the Mossley faithful.
Ilkeston's "Man of the Match" McSweeney spots a pool of his own blood behind the goal - and smiles at it ??
There was however still time for Ilkeston to miss a penalty as well, before the ultimate substitution was made - take off a striker and bring on a left-back ! The taxi back into town was booked for 1650 - the game was still playing - and naturally the taxi turned up on time. Back in the "Observatory" for the England game - fortunately the beer was good, because there was pretty much bugger-all worth talking about on the fancy plasma screens that are now the norm in Wetherspoons pubs (for those old enough to remember - I went in my first Wetherspoons pub (JJMoons) very close to Wembley Stadium just before the 1992 FA Trophy Final between Witton Albion and Colchester United - in those days it was no juke box, no TV, no fruit machines - that's how they sold themselves - amazing what the "quest for money" can do to a person's philosophy - yes that's you Tim Martin - anti-Euro yet happy to accept them in your London pubs !)
Sean's latest "head design" - for an earlier version go back to August in this very blog for the day Ilkeston came to Mossley !
Enough politics - I was fortunate enough to miss the end of the England game as the 1845 "Flyer" to derby was calling. I then had a problem - where do you catch the bus to Belper ? The Bus Station has been demolished - and it was dark. A couple of phone calls to a local inhabitant (yes "daughter to the rescue") helped me find bus stop, time of next bus and also a pub to use while waiting (a pint of Timmy Taylors "Landlord" in the "Blue Dog").
By the time I arrived in Belper I realised that the "alcohol effect" was kicking in, so the trip to the "George" was kicked into touch and a return to mother-in-laws was the safest option (they have solid food there...) A good night's sleep was then followed by a good brisk walk in the Monsal Head area (as in Monsal Dale, Millers Dale, Tideswell Dale, Litton Dale, Cressbrook Dale and back to Monsal Head). Back to Mossley, cook a chicken (+ quorn for "veggie boy") and then on to check out the messages of "gloom and doom" on the Mossley Message Board (actually a lot more restrained than I expected, given the events of Saturday afternoon).
Where do we go from here ? Might attempt last half-hour of Curzon v Poulton Vics tomorrow night (FA Vase replay) after ju-jitsu taxi service and then another trip on the roller-coaster that is Mossley on Tuesday night (at home to Witton Albion).
Busy week at work too - several important meetings, a demo of my new super-duper database to some management dudes - and more importantly my "grievance meeting" with the head of HR and the Director of Finance (see Sep 06 blog entry for background !) - it's not just football ....
1 comment:
If I'd known you were going to take my photo I'd have dressed a damn sight smarter! :-)
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