skip to main |
skip to sidebar
.... on the Ilkeston Advertiser website
I await a (promised) "hard copy" - one more for the CV ...
(Shame the papers around here aren't as "nice" !)
.
Today's walk around a couple of local reservoirs - done them so many times, it's sometimes hard to find something "different" to snap. Fortunately I hit upon tyre tracks alongside one of them - and some of the ice patterns in them were reminiscent of prehistoric cave paintings - so the theme was found - and here goes:
Ice - and more Ice
Pretty in a way - but it doesn't half bugger up football !!
.
OK - it had been a cold night (OK cold two nights), But I never expected as many call-offs as there eventually were ! I certainly felt for the Matlock fans - with a second inspection at Ashton United called for 1300 (and I know for a fact the ref didn't get there much before 1325 - cus I rang to check !), they HAD to travel anyway - at least some of the got to Woodley - as did Chris and Roy from Clitheroe (who had been on a fruitless journey to FC Halifax Town ... another "late call-off" (oh and many thanks for the kind donation for the Mossley Floodlight Fund - it WILL be passed on !).
I ended up arriving at about 1505 - I gave Ashton United every chance but once the "off" was announced I hopped on a 330 bus from Ashton to Woodley - a nightmare journey on a Saturday (should take 30 minutes - was nearer 50 in the end). Still I didn't miss any first-half goals (!) as Woodley turned the form book on its head by taking a 3-0 first half lead through two crackers from the edge of the box and a "bit of a scramble".
A half-time natter (with Reco from Matlock Town) overran slightly and I emerged from the club in time to hear "Goal number 4 from Dennis Sherriff" - bugger ! Second half did see Lancaster start to get to grips with the pitch (apparently they don't like 'em and - I think - have never won on one) but they had to wait until near the end for a consolation goal (which I missed - talking to some of the Clitheroe contingent). The 4-1 enabled Woodley to leapfrog Mossley in the table (again - bugger !!) - their "on a roll" roll continues ... a good crowd of 207 as well. Pictures from the game at
Woodley Sports 4 Lancaster City 1
Evening in Longsight - slow-roasted lamb, Greek style - a few beers - and home this morning - a "brief walk" around Dove Stone and Yeoman Hey reservoirs (some interesting pictures to come from that later) before home to this.
Wonder how this little "cold snap" is going to affect mid-week football - Mossley at home to FC Halifax Town (being played at Ashton United) and Stalybridge Celtic against Blyth Spartans are the two games for Tuesday night ... we wait and see ...
... went straight to friends house in Longsight after the game - got home about 1115 this morning - off for a head-clearing walk in a bit - promise pix and more late afternoon/early evening.
(PS missed both second half goals through gossiping with some of the many clubs' fans represented at Woodley yesterday !!) - you can't get 'em all - especially if you're a amateur like me ...
.
... already several games have bit the dust today (including Curzon Ashton v Ossett Albion and Salford City v Leigh Genesis locally) ... and there's a pitch inspection about NOW (1200) at Radcliffe Borough where Mossley should be visiting ...
Maybe a last minute change of plan ... bloody hell !!
UPDATE (1255) - Mossley game OFF - Ashton United second inspection about NOW - looking like Woodley v Lancaster City ...
.
A few "bullet points" ...
3 quotes for lights - between £30k and £40k - options on four/six/eight pylons (four would require planning permission as they would be 3 metres higher than originals)
Tameside Council offer of 50% of the money still stands - SportEngland and Football Foundation have been approached for other grants.
£1800 raised in less than a week.
Home games - 1400hrs kick-off - could be earlier if away team & officials agreeable - midweek games @ Ashton United (starting next Tuesday v FC Halifax Town) - we only pay for floodlights/pitch marking - we get turnstile money and AUFC get the rest (fair enough !).
Requests to Man United & Man City to hold bucket collections outside ground - United refused - awaiting City answer.
"Prize Draw" set up (TV 1st Prize) - Sponsored Walk arranged - Car Boot Sale arranged - Coffee Morning being arranged - various events in Social Club (music, pool tournament) - new "BuyAt" link (http://www.buy.at/mossleyafc) gets club up to 12% commission on purchases.
Collecting old clothes, bric-a-brac, old mobile phones for recycling/cash.
That's all folks ...
.
... goes to
Elaine Carmody
Best get changed out of my "baby doll" before heading up to Mossley Social Club tonight ...
.
Yep - didn't bother with the "big one" tonight (Curzon Ashton won that 4-2 at Leek Town !) - went for a "2 for 1" at Ashton Cineworld to see "Avatar 3D" - interesting that they put a £1-90 "supplement" on all 3D movies - and charge 80p for the spex on top of that ! What an incredible film - the graphics and the colours are simply stunning - OK a fairly simplistic story (Good v Evil - people seeing the error of their ways - hints of "Star Wars" and "Apocalypse Now" in some of the characterisation, nice big battle at the end ... and so on ...) but a great night out - 3D has come a long long way thanks to CGI - even the Cadbury's advert pre-film had Mrs Smiffy flinching !!
Something different for a Wednesday night ... might use that "2 for 1" again - maybe the Tim Burton "Alice in Wonderland" thingy.
(Oh ... United beat City I believe).
.
... after a morning's job hunt (one application - noted down in the "job diary" wot you are supposed to keep whilst attempting to claim dole money !) a trip out was called for ... so up to the football club to see the "damage" that was caused over the weekend while I was away !! Some pictures of same at:
MossleyFloodlights - 27Jan10
Tonight - big game on I believe - after listening/reading the media over the last couple of days I reckon Manchester is probably a "no go" area from about now (and keep away from Gary Neville too - "Mr Dangerous" to his chums !) ... me and Mrs Smiffy are going to take advantage of (hopefully) a quiet night at the cinema (although with it being Orange "2 for 1 Night" you never know !) - "Avatar 3D" is the film of choice - we'll see if it's all it's been cracked up to be ... and then home to check out the football results - yes there's more than just United/City going on tonight - Curzon Ashton are away at Leek in the Unibond Cup ... and FC United of Manchester are at home to Frickley in the league (it WILL be interesting to see the attendance here - already clocked posts on their message board regarding fans who will be at Old Trafford rather than Gigg Lane ... hmmm ...).
Tomorrow sees karaoke night at Mossley Football Club - preceded by a fans forum which was arranged ostensibly to do with the "floodlight crisis" - but I reckon the departure of Manager Chris Willcock will also "get an airing" ...
.
... the new Managerial set-up at Mossley managed a 5-2 win in their friendly at Chadderton with Michael Fish grabbing a hat-trick ...
... the new Managerial set-up at Stalybridge suffered a 4-1 reverse up at Blyth Spartans - after getting back to 1-1 through Michael Carr it seems that the "second half malaise" kicked in ...
... Ashton United lost 2-0 up at Lancaster City in the Unibond League Cup - apparently Lancaster the better team in the second half (that "malaise" is infectious !)
... and Belper Town went to top-of-the-table Chasetown - and won 1-0 thanks to "goal machine" Lee Stevenson - combined with other results in the Unibond 1 South, this puts the Nailers up into third place.
One "alleged attendance" noticed tonight - Woodley Sports won 4-2 at Cammell Laird in the Cheshire Senior Cup in front of a crowd of ............ 24 ............ (and the geeks may have noticed that the number is surrounded by 24 full stops - just to put it into perspective !!!).
And finally ... three contacts today:
- Hyde United - "Can we use some of your pix on our website ?".
- 'Ilkeston Advertiser' - "Can we use some of your pix for our paper ?"
- 'NonLeague24' magazine - "Can we use some of your pix for our magazine ?"
Cool eh ?? Now if there was money involved, this whole "unemployment thing" might not seem too bad - but ... naturally there isn't !!
.
A 1-1 draw, and a game of two halves really - Ilkeston looked fairly comfortable in the first half without threatening too much - deserved the lead mind. There must have been something in the "half time cuppa" for both teams (albeit something different) as Hyde started to press and Ilkeston looked decidedly edgy all round - the equaliser was well deserved and a draw in the end was probably a fair result. Some pictures at
Hyde United 1 Ilkeston Town 1
Had my grilling at the Jobcentre - already they are trying to take money off me - when my P45 arrived (showing a leaving date of 18th Jan) on the 22nd Jan, I phoned up the Jobcentre for the initial registration. I was told today that my "dole" would be paid from "initial contact" - i.e. the 22nd NOT the 18th ... but I could fill in another form to try to backdate it - not an auspicious start ...
Having used up my "one midweek match" quota, I now find that Mossley have hastily arranged a friendly at Chadderton tonight - bugger !
Hey ho - back to the job hunt ...
.
... it's off to the dole we go - interview @ JobCentre - 0920 - then home to finish last night's piccies ... it will be interesting to see how much has changed "dole wise" since I was last using their facilities back in 1985 ...
.
... I go away at the weekend - to come home to find that the remaining six floodlights have been "downed" - I go out to football tonight - to come home to find that our Manager has resigned to take up a "second in command" post at Stalybridge - to, as I understand it, a "temporary manager" - the phrase was "an opportunity he cannot turn down" - don't know about you, but there's something not quite right here ... obviously when Steve Burr left Celtic to go to Kidderminster, there was a "banged up" contract ready and waiting (and a nice shiny car accoring to the "Non League Paper" on Sunday) - so what kind of a deal has our erstwhile Manager got at Stalybridge ? Don't get me wrong - I'm all for Managers improving themselves - but a temp job ???
Or is it ??
Or is it just short term money ??
Or does Chris know something about Mossley that we don't ??
There is a Supporters Forum @ Mossley on Thursday night - originally set up due to the "floodlight crisis" - I think they may be other questions asked that night - unless other stuff "comes out in the wash" before then.
Naturally, whilst catching up on this "shenanigans", the Hyde/Ilson stuff from tonight has gone on hold (it was 1-1 by the way) - I'll catch up ASAP ... but for now ... I'm seriously confused, and seriously not happy ...
.
... the choice is Hyde United v Ilkeston Town (Conference North) or Curzon Ashton v Droylsden (Manchester Premier Cup) ... going for the Hyde option as I've not been there since last October - plus the chance of a small "imbibement" at the "Sportsman" - the real ale mecca in Hyde (promise Curzon will be first choice next time around - I'm sure Maxine (Curzon) and Carl (Droylsden) will have the game fully covered pictorially !!)
... until later ...
.
Here's the pix for starters (complete with no captions !!) :
Belper Town 2 Quorn 1
... and it's "Get Well Soon" to Andy Rushbury who broke both bones in his forearm with less than five minutes on the clock - a calming influence to the Belper midfield who will be missed for several weeks.
Can't stop - stuff to do - the pork was nice by the way !
.
... with a cheque from Ken & Sheila for the "floodlight fund" and the promise of a signed shirt which we can use in a raffle/auction (none planned but it's an idea that I will put forward). 2-1 to Belper - not pretty but three points in the bag.
Pictures (and more words) to follow later - obviously a lot of catching up to do (and I've got to cook the tea - Chinese 5-Spice Pork with Stir-Fried Vegetables - pork marinading as we type !!). Looks like the Street Collection was a success as well - over £500 raised ... and the rest of the floodlights have now been dismantled - can't see (it's gone dark !!) - so Saturday games appear to be back on the menu.
Anyway - while you're waiting - I took this one on our walk today - be thankful it's "out of season" - I offer the cricket pitch at Ambergate (near Belper) - brings a whole new meaning to the phrase "Rain Stopped Play" !!
.. arriving from just up the road at Ashton United - a post from the Chairman Dave Aspinall:
"Just to let people know, I have spoken to Mossley and offered them the use of our ground until further notice ,obviously when our matches dont clash.At the moment it looks like they may be playing Halifax at HC on the 2nd Feb.This will be confirmed as soon as we can.
Like most Ashton fans I too have a soft spot from our good neighbours and we will do all we can to help them at their hour of need, as I am sure that they would do the same for us."
... which is a great step forward - although naturally what we really want is for the old lights to be dismantled tomorrow (so we can at least get day games on) and the new lights to go up next week - but we all know that ain't gonna happen.
Many many thanks to "Rasper" for the offer - it's good to see one of the local teams rallying round sharpish like - I'm certain that all the others have been contacted .. but the team that's "just a walk away" (well we've done it before - not too far - with pubs in between !) got back first ... for which we will certainly be grateful. Hopefully some "positive vibes" from the rest will follow ...
.
I could say "blessing in disguise" ... but that would be selfish - the Mossley v Woodley Sports game is OFF - for reasons set out below ... but I was not going to be there anyway. A trip to the Mother-in-Laws in Belper means I get the "meaty prospect" (ho ho ho !) of Belper Town v Quorn.
Off out soon to our Michelle's "pad" - she's cooking us some tea tonight (being a veggie, it may include Quorn - we'll see !) - Belper tomorrow and probably a "bit of a walk" on Sunday - looking at Matlock Dale. Fingers crossed for Benny Phillips' first game in charge for Stalybridge Celtic against Hinckley tomorrow; Droylsden @ home to Gainsborough; Hyde v Ilkeston now appears to be on Monday; Ashton United away @ Ossett Town; Curzon Ashton @ home to Skem; and Glossop @ home to AFC Liverpool (wonder if Jay Chandler still turns out for the Reds ... it's a long story !!!) - apparently the Glossop game is subject to a pitch inspection ... it's holding water apparently (something to do with the Mossley second half performance on Wednesday no doubt !!). Hopefully the Mossley faithful will find something tomorrow (even if it IS dodgy satellite) - there is a street collection in the town if anyone is floating about shopping etc - shove your change in because every little helps !!
.
.. as in "Smiffy's on the telly" !! Check out
Mossley Floodlight Crisis
about 20 mins 50 secs in
(Probably only available for the next 24 hours though)
.
