And It's Farewell ...

As from tonight the "Six Tame Sides" blog will cease to be ...  regular viewers will no doubt have noticed that I'm finding it harder and harder to do both pictures - and words.  OK the pictures are always there, up and running - but trying to put 500/1000 words with them has been proving a touch too much - especially when I know there are others out there in blog/website world who are doing much the same (albeit without the pictures !!!)

So - for 2014 - it's going to be "concentrate more on the pictures" - so a new blog has been set up - viz.

http://stsphotographic.blogspot.co.uk/

That's where the football stuff will be going - together with a more photographic-based blurb (or in most cases- not too much blurb) - and for those who play catch-up, there's a link on the side of this 'ere blog (plus anyone who uses the sixtamesides.co.uk link will be re-directed to the new blog.  I've been playing around on the new'un for a week or so - so there's already a "bit of a start" ...

Happy New Year to you all ...
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Sunday Wander ...

... taking a new "walking lens" out for a walk - now in a position to just take one lens (18-200mm) out for walks rather than two (28-105mm and 70-300mm) - and pleased with performance of it as well ... pics at

Greenfield/Uppermill Wander 29Dec13

Nice day for it as well - back in work tomorrow ... just in time for the return of the wind and rain - aargh ..
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Ashton United v Stafford Rangers ...

The other chance of the season to see the old "home-town team" - but oh dear oh dear - saw them scrape past Droylsden a month or so ago - but today ... absolutely no chance - in the end a 4-0 defeat could have been a lot worse had it not been for some heroics from Stafford 'keeper Jon Brain.  Pictures from the game at

Ashton United 4 Stafford Rangers 0

Relegation looms for the Boro - reading between the lines (as I've only seen them twice) and looking at the league table - they're now 16 points from safety ... a miracle is required in 2014.  As for Ashton - now up to 7th with games in hand - play-offs maybe ??
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Mossley v Bamber Bridge

Mossley 2 Bamber Bridge 3

Mossley once again gave one of the top teams a run for their money ... but another tale of errors - and a red card ..
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Now that's what I call photography ...

45 years ago today ... from Apollo 8 ...

Wow ...
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Stalybridge Celtic v Boston United

Adam Pepper on the ball for Celtic ...


The "Christmas Rush" relented just a touch - and I got to Bower Fold in time for kick-off (if not for the customary bottle of Peroni !!).  Thoroughly entertaining game from a neutral standpoint I suppose - but Celtic must be ruing two dropped points when they were 2-0 and 3-1 up - but fair play to a very good Boston United side who got themselves back into the game in the second half ... and to be honest could have gone on to win it.  Pictures at

Stalybridge Celtic 3 Boston United 3

Two more working days ... and then straight into the kitchen ...
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Hallelujah ???

For the first time ...

Vince Cable makes a sensible comment

Can't last ...
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Mossley v Padiham

20 minutes late ... sorry folks ... but you WILL shop on t'internet ...  pics from game at 

Mossley 0 Padiham 1

I could say more ... but with Mrs S away I get to watch MOTD ... but with Mrs S being away - you may well get LOADS of words tomorrow ... QED
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Ashton United v Nantwich Town

Again .. just the pics ... I'm tired and word is that tomorrow will be "the big one" at work - as if the last two weeks haven't ...

Ashton United 1 Nantwich 0
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Some Silly Stuff ...

Found today hanging out of the letterbox of one of my customers ...

As a Royal Mail employee, I faithfully swear never to stick any parcel in this particular location (unless it's a poster in a tube) ...

Have just emptied some pics of my phone; might find time to upload a couple more silly buggers 

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Crazy Week - Busy Weekend ..

... and so it continues - a man of few words following a hellish week at the mail-face - football yesterday (missed kick-off due to above) - pictures at

Curzon Ashton 2 Ramsbottom United 2

... followed by trip to friends in Rochdale - and today - ironically a trip to Ramsbottom (a Farmer's Market wander).  Managed to clock a couple of "Santa Special" Steam/Diesel trains as well; pics to follow ..

East Lancs Railway 08Dec13
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Mossley v Stockport County ...

A friendly up at Seel Park tonight - yes 'twas cold !!!   Just a few pics at

Mossley 1 Stockport County 1 (Friendly)

Promise I will try to get more than just pics up here - but ... time ...work ... need to sleep now and again (and eat !) ... bear with me during this "Christmas Pressure" ...
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Mossley v Darlington 1883 ...

... or "time to play catch up over the last seven days" ... for starters - some pics from yesterday ..

Mossley 1 Darlington 1883 2

...as you can tell - I was "working" !!!

More later - as today is my birthday (Heinz) - I've got dispensation for extra football ...
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Stalybridge Celtic v Worcester City

"Have I left the gas on ??"

 As Christmas looms ... it's starting to get tricky on Saturdays with regard to finishing work at a reasonable time in order to dash home etc etc and then dash out to football.  No car either yesterday to whizz me home at speed - fortunately just managed to catch the 1350 train from Greenfield (next one would have been one hour later !), dash home etc etc and dash out again (having first checked on tellyweb ref postponements) - was hoping to go to Ashton United v Stocksbridge Park Steels but a frozen pitch put paid to that option.

So - to Bower Fold so see if Celtic could get a fourth successive home victory under their belt against lowly Worcester City.  However ... the visitors belied their lowly status and caught Celtic cold in the first minute - ouch !!  The visitors looked far more dangerous in the first 45 with the Celtic defence creaking alarmingly at times, although Celtic did hit the post right on half-time.

Things improved after the break - a couple of subs on just after the hour made a difference up front - but for all the possession Celtic were unable to find that elusive equaliser ... until 10 minutes from time when Obi Anoruo was felled in the box and Kristian Platt converted the penalty.  With time ticking away, it looked like a point rescued - until a comic-cuts winner came for the visitors with Celtic 'keeper Urwin colliding with his own player and the ball dropping to Daniel Nti two yards out - who couldn't miss !  A defeat snatched from the jaw of a draw ...  some pictures at

Stalybridge Celtic 1 Worcester City 2

Unlucky in the end ?? Possibly - although Worcester could have been out of sight at half-time but for some good work by Urwin and some profligacy (lovely word !) by the Worcester attack.  Rather than saying Celtic were poor (which the inevitable pessimists are doing), I'd rather say that Worcester City look to be in a very false position.  We shall see ...

Elsewhere - Hyde took the lead at home to Alfreton - and lost 1-2 (getting a bit habit-forming this !!);  Droylsden went down 0-3 at Worksop; Curzon Ashton continued their impressive unbeaten run with a 3-1 win over Kendal Town; and Mossley matched league leaders Warrington Town for much of the game before going down 2-3 ...

Checking out the "Non League Paper", midweek is looking a touch spartan for football round here ... Droylsden host FC United on Tuesday night - but I don't fancy getting shown up by the pro-snappers that the visitors bring along (!!!). Maybe a short trip out of the area on Tuesday night (Manchester Premier Cup Quarter-Final twixt Glossop NE and Trafford - haven't been to Surrey Street for ages !).  We shall see ...

Droylsden v Stafford Rangers

Cold ... at work all day (fortunately a Manager appeared in our office in the morning - and handed out some RM-issue gloves - huzzah !!).  Christmas has deffo kicked in this week - Tuesday is normally one of the quiet days - not this week ... one way of looking at it is "Thank God mail is down (QED) - otherwise I'd never get all the bloody parcels in the bag".  However we're getting everything (not forgetting of course the four pieces of **** - sorry Door2Doors) at once - and it ain't pretty.

Finished work (late of course .. O/T suitably booked) - home to warm up before heading back out to Droylsden to see the night's "six pointer" - bottom versus bottom-but-one ... and it showed.  The visitors did look the more threatening - but just couldn't finish - until Kinsella put them ahead.  Droylsden found an equaliser at the end of the first half, but the second 45 minutes was pretty similar - loads of action in and around the Droylsden penalty box - but not much in it.  Then a "Did it Cross the Line" controversy seemed to be the turning point.  Goal not given - but the pressure finally brought results with goals from Woolery and Burke.  However - true to league table position - a late goal from Droylsden made the last 10 minutes a bit hairy for the travelling fans (attendance was officially 115 - and there must have been 40-ish from Stafford ?  And they made ALL the noise !) - but Stafford held out for their first away win of the season - and Droylsden's winless streak continued.

By God it was cold - and late on the pitch was starting to crisp up nicely - again great credit to the groundstaff - one of my reasons for missing Stafford's third goal was potential frostbite (this despite wearing TWO pairs of gloves !).  Hey ho - my best efforts from the evening at

Droylsden 2 Stafford Rangers 3

So - midweek allowance used up last night, so giving Mossley v Abbey Hey a miss tonight (latest score 1-0 to Abbey Hey).  Also appears to be some controversy vis-a-vis Mossley Social Club - so probably nowhere to get a half-time shandy at Seel Park tonight either.

To be honest though - on last night's showing - we could be welcoming both teams to Seel Park next season - although I hope that the win for Stafford might kick-start their season (just a point behind Stocksbridge PS now) - and get them out of the mire they currently find themselves in.
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FA Trophy Draw ...

... made today - to be played on November 30th

Chorley v CURZON ASHTON
HYDE FC v North Ferriby United/Stourbridge
Lincoln City v STALYBRIDGE CELTIC

Reckon Hyde will be happiest ...

QUICK EDIT THREE MINUTES LATER - apparently not - pessimism is alive and well and living at Ewen Fields ...
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Curzon Ashton v AFC Fylde ...

Why is it every time I get a jobbie for the "Non League Paper" ... I end up at the wrong end ??  Always expect the unexpected I guess !!  I guess it goes down as a shock result (a 2-1 win for the home side against the team from the division above), but on the balance of play it was a well-deserved victory for the team that "seemed to want it more" ... although had the penalty shout for Fylde been upheld - or the Harry Winter "goal" allowed - it would have made for an even more interesting last 15 minutes - although what we were served was good enough !!  Some pictures from the game - i.e. the pics I sent up to the paper but were not used (!) - at

Curzon Ashton 2 AFC Fylde 1

So ... well done to John Flanagan and his team - which was incidentally decimated by injury/suspension/cup-tied type stuff - when I saw the team sheet I thought ... incorrectly as it ended up !!

Still - onwards and upwards - will certainly be checking out the draw for the next round of the FA Trophy on Monday (how about Curzon Ashton v Stalybridge Celtic ??).  'Bridge eased past Vauxhall Motors 3-0 in their home tie yesterday - league-wise, Hyde FC let a 2-0 lead slip away losing 3-2 at Woking, Ashton United let a 1-0 lead slip away losing 2-3 at home to Worksop (note ex-Mossley Tom Denton scoring for the Tigers against the Robins), Padiham let a 1-0 and 2-1 lead slip away, losing 2-3 to Mossley - and finally Droylsden's season of woe continued with a 3-7 reverse at Skelmersdale United.

Still ... maybe a chance for Droylsden on Tuesday night when they take on the team just above them viz. Stafford Rangers ... guess where I'll be that night (and it won't be watching England/Germany !) - this of course assumes that all the tales of "-9 degrees" and "25 feet of snow" are just southern-based sensationalism.

So - week's holiday over, and back in tomorrow ... but first the Sunday Quiz at the "Britannia" this evening - 'tis another one of mine !!
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Komdu á Íslandi ..

Fingur minn er krossleggja Íslands í kvöld í leit þeirra að ná World Cup Finals. Ég hef verið stuðningsmaður Króatíu í fortíðinni, en í kvöld er ég að styðja við litla liðið.

Aaah ... takes me back !! 

... and as regards England v Chile ... going out for a meal ...

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RANT ! The Economy ...

Bank of England Governer Mark Carney "The economic recovery has taken hold" ...

Bank of England Director of Markets Paul Fisher "The economy is a long way from normality"

UK unemployment  down from 7.8% to 7.6%

"Millions more working but they're earning less" - because we're all working on part-time hours.

I'll say no more ... surely you can work it out for yourselves ...
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Mossley v AFC Fylde ...

Lewis Nightingale tries to find a way through ..


... in the Doodson Cup ...

Well - after the weather on Saturday I had serious doubts about this one being on ... but one wet day and two dry ones (plus the usual heroics from the groundstaff !!) saw 102 hardy souls up at a chilly Seel Park to see if AFC Fylde could emulate their last trip to the Tameside area.

They didn't ... although it was a very professional performance by the higher-ranked visitors, who pretty much snuffed out any threats from Mossley quickly and efficiently - reckon you could count the Mossley chances on one hand - although they did include one golden chance for Dougie Carroll while it was still 0-1 - unfortunately he dragged it wide.  Good effort from the home team though, especially at the back with "rookie keeper" Christian Thewlis having a very promising start.  Fylde finished off the job with a rather soft (in my humble opinion !) penalty - and that was that for Mossley in this season's NPL Cup.  A few pictures at

 Mossley 0 AFC Fylde 2

The lazy week continues ... plugging away at some of the jobs ... today I will be "playing" with UPVC skirting board in our recently renovated bathroom - and maybe a hair cut too !!

Mentioned previously - with a Saturday off I might travel somewhere exotic ... 'fraid not folks - I've "had the call", and I'll be travelling all of 4 miles or so down to the Tameside Stadium to cover the FA Trophy game between Curzon Ashton and ................ AFC Fylde !!!
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Sunday Walk ...

What a difference a day makes !!!  Awoke to blue skies ... and frost !!!  We'd had friends over on Saturday evening - a bit of a bonfire, food and silly games, and today all off out for a bit of a local walk ... and again, it wasn't as cold as 'Mr BBC Weather' was saying !!  A touch muddy underfoot - but an enjoyable jaunt nonetheless ...

Roman Road to Dove Stone - and Back - 10Nov13

Home - to Coq au Vin ... and a snooze in front of the telly - one week's holiday starts NOW - I await the "job list" !!!
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Mossley v Cammell Laird ...

Just pics for now ...

Mossley 2 Cammell Laird 0

One WET day ... from start to finish !!  Struggled through rain, wind, hailstorms etc during the morning thinking "I wonder what - if anything - is going to be on this afternoon (apart from TV football) ??".  Home - and check out stuff ... saw a photo of Droylsden's pitch on Twitter - my mind went back to almost exactly four years ago - true to form it was called off.  Twitter was also telling us that Curzon's game against Farsley was ON - by 1430 this had been revised to OFF.  No mention of the Mossley game online anywhere - so it was down to the old-fashioned way viz. a phone call ... "Definitely ON" was the reply so up the road I went (with suitable wet weather protection) - and once again the Mossley ground staff had performed miracles to get the game on - and an excellent game it was too - given the conditions.  Mossley were comfortable throughout and should have had more than two goals to be honest. The weather worsened in the last 25 minutes or so - but Mossley continued to press as the pitch got wetter and wetter (as did the cameraman !!).  Another three points in the bag - and mid-table respectability returns, with the confidence running through the team to push on upwards.  There's supposedly a game on Tuesday night (versus AFC Fylde in the Doodson Cup) - I have my doubts on that one, but you never know !
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I Beg to Differ ...

Probably because I don't have an LWT (the golf trolley look-a-like) or an HCT ( the ice-cream trolley look-a-like) or a bloody great big wagon (the bloody great big wagon look-a-like).

When it's a bag on your shoulder - and no bugger is at home - I HATE parcels ...

(But don't tell my boss !)

Work tomorrow ... Football tomorrow ...  and then A WEEK OFF WORK !! Time to re-charge batteries, do all those things you can't do while you're at work - and steel my self for the Christmas pressure (which has to be honest already started vis-a-vis those bloody parcels !!!) .  A week off also means a Saturday off (16th) - I'll be looking for an exotic away-day football-wise - that's for sure (unless I get the "Non-League Paper" call - and then money talks ...)
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Thunderbird is GO !!

What with all the aggro that is WIndows 8 (and now they want me to upgrade to 8.1 ... should I ?) and Windows Mail ...I ducked out of Mail and downloaded Mozilla Thunderbird for my Googlemail e-mail account.  Now I discover that Thunderbird can handle both IMAP and POP3 protocols - so I set up an extra e-mail account using my old e-mail details/settings and BINGO ... 100+ old e-mails came shooting down the line !! 

A good job really - because I now can't log in to my old laptop as some of the keyboard keys have just packed up - including two numbers that are part of my log-in password - aargh.  Just another "interesting exercise" to get my rusty computer head around ...
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Mossley v Prescot Cables ...

Tonight Mossley managed to halt their run of defeats with a hard-fought 4-2 victory over Prescot Cables - thanks largely to a hat-trick from Dougie Carroll (get him on contract !!! I spotted his potential in the friendlies - and he's certainly been doing the business since then).  'Twas one of those games when you think "OK we've conceded ... but we're always going to score more than them" - and so it was - a couple of sloppy goals were more than matched by Carroll's efforts - and a late late goal from Mark Haslam after Prescot 'keeper Adam Reid had gone up for a Prescot corner in an effort to get an equaliser .... FAIL !!

Nice to see a healthy bunch of away fans as well tonight - given the weather and TV football (OK Liverpool not involved so maybe ... I'd like to think not !!).  Pics from the game at

Mossley 4 Prescot Cables 2

Also good to see the pitch holding up well after all the bloody rain we've had - credit to groundstaff indeed ...

... and that'll do for now ...
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"Plebgate"

Does anyone really give a t*ss ??  Would just love to know how many ££££s this whole sad saga is costing US TAXPAYERS ...

We don't trust MPs ... and we struggle to trust our Police Force - especially when I heard what I consider the ultimate quote that was made today by Detective Sergeant Hinton ... and I quote:

"I inadvertantly gave an inaccurate answer to the committee".

Just about sums it up ...

Meanwhile - in the real world - it's raining ... Ashton United's friendly at home to Chadderton has been called off - we still await the news vis-a-vis Mossley v Prescot Cables ...

1850 UPDATE ... Mossley game is ON !!!
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Off The Menu ...

 


... salmon that is !!!

Headed off up towards Settle yesterday - and then on to Stainforth to check out "Stainforth Force" - where the salmon should have been leaping.  However, because of the sh*tty wet weather over the last few days, Stainforth Force was in FULL force - and if I'd have been a salmon, I'd have took one look at the water and thought "sod this - we'll have a couple of days off" ... and so it was !

Hey ho - got a bit of a walk in anyway - cripes it was a touch breezy !!! A few pics at

Settle/Stainforth Walk 03Nov13

... and that was Sunday day.  Evening - round at daughter's for a "birthday meal" for Mrs S (cooked by large boy).  There was a slight problem though ... never got round to buying a card for the good lady - and I've been getting hell ever since.  I dunno - Lucy Spraggan on Monday - pictures on Wednesday (to see "One Chance" - very good by the way) - Lake District Thursday/Friday ... what more can a man do ?? OK buy a card ... I'll get round to it - honest !!!

Football this mid-week ???  Fingers crossed for Mossley tomorrow (weather-wise) for their home game against Prescot Cables ...

FA Trophy Third Qualifying Draw today ...  Curzon Ashton are at home to AFC Fylde (beware of Bradley Barnes !); Stalybridge Celtic at home to Vauxhall Motors ...
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Stalybridge Celtic v Histon ...

After that brief respite from walking with a heavy bag on back (well you know what I mean !), 'twas back to the mail-face today ... we can certainly see that Christmas is coming when Saturdays get heavy - aargh !! Fortunately managed to snatch a lift off Mrs S into Stalybridge after a late finish and got up to Bower Fold just before kick-off.

Callum Warburton tries his luck ...


Celtic - with new Manager Keith Briggs in tow - are on a roll at the moment - and you could see the new-found confidence in the team from the start, despite being up against a determined Histon side - and a fearsome wind !!  2-0 up at half-time ... with the wind and the slope to follow.  However that was it ... a few substitutions saw Celtic lose their shape a bit and a late penalty for Histon frazzled a few nerves.  Celtic held on though, to make it three wins out of three for the new management team.  Some pics from the game at

Stalybridge Celtic 2 Histon 1

Off to see some leaping salmon tomorrow ... honest !!
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24 Hours Away ...

After a particularly gruesome Thursday at work, me and Mrs S leapt into the car and buggered off up to Windermere ... an excellent meal at Francine's and a night's B&B (including a stonking breakfast !), a quick drive up to Ambleside and a 10 miler up high !!  A few pictures at

Scandale Walk 01Nov13

Yes ... I didn't work my "day off" for a change ... !

Now praying for a positive result with the 0900hrs pitch inspection at Stalybridge tomorrow morning ...
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Droylsden v AFC Fylde

Five goals for Bradley Barnes ...


Let's just say ... you don't see many games like that ...  and if you're looking for pics of the goal-fest you'll be disappointed - admitted, I missed a couple - but I'm not going to add insult to injury by detailing a 10-0 defeat - maybe Droylsden Manager/Chairman/Ultimate Supremo Dave Pace IS running the club into the ground - I don't know - but it would just be unfair - especially on some of the Droylsden players who kept going 'til the bitter end, despite playing with only ten men for over an hour, and in the full knowledge they were (at least) a class below. To be honest - as half-time approached with Droylsden just 1-0 down (and one man down), I reckoned they'd done really well.  But a goal on the stroke of half-time ... and a goal within seconds of the restart ... the beginning of the end ... pictures from tonight at

Droylsden 0 AFC Fylde 10

(excuse the lack of decent captions ... train from Mossley 10 mins late, so I never really got round to asking for a teamsheet !)

You start to wonder whether they will see out the season ...
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Long to Rain Over Us ...

... yep ... wet workie day !!!  However just rang Droylsden FC and got the usual message "Yes it's on ... at the moment".

We'll give it a go - plus I get to try out the new MetroLink tram-type stuff from Ashton ... watch this (wet) space ...
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Apologies to Shannon Saunders and Andreas Moe ...

Went out tonight with Mrs Smiffy to the Manchester Ritz, to see Lucy Spraggan in concert. There were a couple of support acts too - as per the title above.  I'm afraid Ms Saunders was not my cup of tedium (a bit of a Lucy Rose clone if you ask me), whereas Mr Moe was very good indeed (acoustic guitar and bass drum worked with his foot - as an old git I HAD to struggle to get images of Don Partridge out of my mind !!).

Point being  ... the incessant talking/shouting of a very large proportion of the audience throughout both sets.  OK, you've come to see the main attraction, but have some bloody respect for the other artistes - otherwise bugger off to the pub and come back at 2130 hrs.  Seen this so often - it must be soul-destroying for some performers - and to me it shows the true ignorance of so many self-proclaimed music lovers.  As I said before, Shannon Saunders will not be going on my CD "wants list" - but at least I gave her a chance - unlike so many others ... but I'll certainly be checking out more of Andreas Moe.

P.S. Lucy Spraggan - and her band - were excellent ... and the place was a virtual sell-out unlike a couple of months ago when I went there to see Todd Rundgren ... what is the world coming to ?!?
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Ashton United v Marine ...

... was today's game ...

After a thoroughly awful week at work (weather; ridiculous D2Ds .. a very thick Red Cross envelope  - how much money do charities waste ??) - and no transport to get home early today (Mrs Smiffy off and away to Belpershire), it ended up as a trip to Hurst Cross.  Admitted it was a toss-up between the Ashton game and Stalybridge/Leamington - but I'm afraid finishing late at work (shape of things to come ?? Christmas etc) - and the fact that Ashton United have kindly supplied me with a season ticket for "services rendered" pre-season ... and Ashton snapper Jez had told me of his absence - so ..

The game ... I was astonished at how poor Marine were ... the bench was SOOO quiet throughout the first half - and what summed it up for me 40 minutes in was the lone shout from the Marine bench "Let's keep it at 1-0 till half-time" ... suffice to say they didn't !!

 




Joe O'Neil has a crack ...

Ashton looked slick up front ... and very tidy at the back - and thoroughly deserved their 2-0 lead at half-time (tbh it should have been more - if only they'd stopped hitting the woodwork !!).  Second half - 3-0 up and coasting - which maybe the management team WILL pick up on (as in coasting = slacking) - Marine got one back, but never really looked like turning it round - and Ashton's fourth goal was the icing on the cake.

A bumper bundle of pics from the game as well (covering for the above mentioned absence) can be found at

Ashton United 4 Marine 1

Other stuff from today - yes I got p*ss wet through this morning at work ... in the Final Qualifying Round of the FA Cup Hyde FC went down 0-2 away at Wrexham ... in Conf North Stalybridge got their revenge over Leamington from last week winning 2-1 .. in Evo Prem Droylsden  succumbed 0-2 at Frickley ... and in Evo 1North CurzonAshton won 1-0 at Cammell Laird ... Mossley slipped up 0-2 at Northwich Vics ... and while Mrs Smiffy is down at her homeland, I might as well mention Belper Town's 4-1 win against Romulus ... and I'd rather not let on about events from my homeland (but I will ... Witton Albion 5 Stafford Rangers 0 - aargh !)

And that was Saturday ...
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A VERY Dangerous Precedent ...

Grangemouth Terminal Stays Open

In short ... 

Either:

Take a 3 year pay freeze, agree to a 3 year no-strike deal, and allow your pension arrangements to be "messed with" (naturally to the detriment of the workers) ...

Or:

We close the whole thing down ...

... and for all the bluster etc of the Unite union (yes that same union that turned several blind eyes when Simon Carves was falling apart - the ones who made me lose ALL faith in ALL Unions three and a bit years ago), they caved in.  If you read the above article there are some absolutely astonishing quotes - the word un-effing-believable springs to mind ...

There must be companies all over the UK rubbing their hands with glee after this.  Welcome to 2013 - unlucky for some - with more to come ...

Look on the bright side Grangemouth ... Scottish Power have joined the energy price cartel bandwagon with an 8.6% price rise ... never mind, David Cameron is urging us all to turn up our heating - wonder why ??
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Mossley v AFC Lancaster City

Honest guv - the pics would have been up at 0830hrs this morning - but I got this ...

... but all appears well now - so here's a few pics from last night ...

Mossley 2 Lancaster City 1

Promise more words later ... but it's been a bad day @ work ... and tea is on the go (otherwise you might have seen these pics an hour or so ago)...
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Energy Windfall Tax ...

... is needed according to "Sir" John Major ..

energy windfall tax story

Hang on a minute ... is that the same John Major who back in 1993 (The Railways Act) paved the way for the privatisation of the railways ???  Probably explains why all those TOCs (Train Operating Companies) are allowed to raise their fares OVER AND ABOVE INFLATION ...

Funny old world innit ?? 

Off to Mossley in an hour or so ... football returns ...
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Altrincham v Brackley Town ...

... on Saturday.  3rd were playing 4th in the Skrill North - but what a cr*p game it turned out to be (especially for the neutrals - oh and possibly the faithful few who came up from Northamptonshire).  Brackley have conceded very few goals - and were unbeaten coming into this game ... but I don't know what their game plan was (apart from lump it up front to Mulligan).  Alty created more chances ... but there were still so many "unforced errors" if you like.  A couple of penalty appeals from the Alty side of things - one cleared off the Alty line by Luca Havern ... but all in all it wasn't the "top game in the Skrill North" that it had been hyped up to be.  Here's some piccies from the game (note I've had to copyright a few as well - having checked with my 'employers', it's fine for me to show - but ...)

Altrincham 1 Brackley Town 0

After the game (when I was ensconsed in the Press Box sorting out "stuff") was the manic rainstorm with thunder, lightning etc etc.  Alty wi-fi was described by their guy as "iffy" (!!!) so it was a good test for the new dingle-dongle - which worked perfectly - shame about the pictures really - also the new laptop behaved impeccably - the speed of download from camera CF card to computer was excellent - maybe now I feel I can take a few more pics when "on the paid job" - rather than being careful (thinking of the time, deadlines etc after the game).  Still, we got there in the end !

So - while I was at Moss Lane Altrincham, Mossley were beating Lancaster City 3-2 in the FA Trophy ... their reward is an away tie at Northwich Victoria (Flixton Vics ?? well that's where they're playing !!)  Curzon Ashton won 1-0 away at Cammell Laird, and now face a journey to Kidsgrove Athletic in the next round (incidentally Dave Stringer - who wrote the Alty/Brackley match report in the "NLP" - is involved at Kidsgrove, and after the Alty game - up in the press pen - he was over the moon when he found out that they'd beaten Stamford in the Trophy !).

Around the rest of Tameside it was defeats all round ... Hyde FC (3-4 at Dartford); Stalybridge (0-1 at Leamington - 90th minute winer !) and Ashton United (0-3 at home to Sheffield in the Trophy).  Tonight sees Curzon at home to Salford in the Evo 1 North - apologies for absence as I'm going to the Mossley/Lancaster game tomorrow night (which of course means I'll miss the Stalybridge/Vauxhall game - which I guess is the first "proper game in charge" for their new Manager Keith Briggs - hopefully I'll be down at Bower Fold on Saturday to see Celtic play Leamington - a chance for early revenge !!).

It rained a bit today ... on fact it rained a LOT today - and the forecast is no better for Tuesday - whether this has any effect on tomorrow's games ... we'll see - at least I've got the choice of two !
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I Told You So - Part 2

... and now it's NPower ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24607242

... which leaves EDF and E-On I believe (from that 'secret meeting' of the cartel) ??  Qualityquotes as follows :

"I know that any increases to household bills are always unwelcome, and this is not a decision that we have taken lightly. We will continue to take steps where we can to reduce the impact of the external influences on energy bills," said Paul Massara, chief executive of Npower.

"I know these are difficult times for many customers and totally understand the frustration that so many household costs keep on rising when incomes are not keeping pace," said Ian Peters, managing director of British Gas Residential Energy.
"We haven't taken this decision lightly, but what is pushing up energy prices at the moment are costs that are not all directly under our control."

"We're sorry we have to do this," said SSE's Will Morris.
"We've done as much as we could to keep prices down, but the reality is that buying wholesale energy in global markets, delivering it to customers' homes, and government-imposed levies collected through bills - endorsed by all the major parties - all cost more than they did last year."

Face facts ... they DON'T GIVE A SH*T !!!
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Football in a minute - honest guv ... but I had to get that off my (very wet) chest !
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I Told You So ...

Was it last Thursday I had a bit of a rant  ... that included energy prices ??? Case proved m'lud

 The Energy Cartel Continues ...

B*st*rds ..
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First Test ... UPDATED

... scary .... not that fast ... yet ... probably because I've had to plug stuff in and mess about registering online (Christ they've had my money - they've got my details - and I've got to go through it all again !!!).  It's all good practise I suppose ... so here's a quick pic (I hope) from tonight's game at Hurst Cross ...

Lee Rick on the ball

I'm  assuming now it's all plugged in, registered etc etc etc ... the next time I  use it - it might be a touch quicker - bloody hope so !!

More later when I get home - maybe ..

VERY Early Friday Morning (!!) Rest of the pics now up and running at

Ashton United 3 Whitby Town 4

(.. and up pops another problem ... looks like my favoured JAlbum "skin" has disappeared - hey ho ...)
 
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Testing Testing 1-2-3

Off to Ashton United v Whitby Town ... taking new laptop and also the newly arrived (i.e. today !) internet dongle  - a fall-back in case of iffy (or non-existent) wi-fi options.  

Best give everything a thorough test before Saturday ...

... apparently a day off on November 4th ...
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Windows 8 - AAARGH !!!!!

Let me tell you about it ...

... after tea !!!

(OK after breakfast !!)   Got a new laptop at the weekend - the old faithful Dell was showing it's age (must be at least six years old - which is probably well into it's 80s in "laptop years" ...) - problems with a few of the keys not working, odd glitches with wi-fi connections - time to upgrade .  So - a new laptop (Dell again - better the devil you know) with Windows 8 on it - no touch screen (which of course Windows 8 was designed for - saves money though).  Naturally first job is get the essential stuff on - Photoshop, FTP, JAlbum etc.  No probs here.  Then ... shift e-mail account over ... first problem ... couldn't do it !  Windows 8 does not support POP3 e-mail accounts - and my internet provider does not support the newer IMAP protocol.  So (at the moment I'm reduced to a Googlemail account - which means the "change of (e-mail) address" nightmare began (as in informing all and sundry) - and I reckon it's going to take weeks !!!

To be honest, once you get past the silly "tile" main screen and hit "Desktop", normality is resumed somewhat - but lots more to do.  Even had a quick "malware" attack as well.  'Twas only a case of 10/15 minutes or so whilst we got the anti-virus stuff loaded and running - but it took a good hour to get rid of the cr*p that managed to infiltrate in that short time ...

Still - we've now got a new working machine (whatever happened to "straight out of the box" ??), so hopefully I should be a bit more comfy when "out on the road" - which I will be on Saturday (Altrincham v Brackley Town for the "Non League Paper").

P.S. Well done to Curzon Ashton last night - 1-0 winners over Darlington 1883 - my midweek match of choice is tomorrow (Ashton United v Whitby Town - well they did give me a season ticket for "services rendered" - so I ought to get some use out of it !!).
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Mossley v New Mills

Pictures for starters ... and no it's NOT "noise" on the pics - it's the incessant bloody rain ...

Mossley 3 New Mills 3

More tomorrow/today ... 'tis a touch late !

(OK MONDAY - excuses coming later) ... What is it with Mossley giving everyone a goal (or two) start - and then playing like world-beaters later ???  Maybe a bit of an excuse on Saturday ... wind and rain.  New Mills had the advantage in the first half - and certainly took it !! 3-1 at half-time - it could have been more had it not been for the woodwork/metalwork.  Maybe another hairdryer half-time "chat" - we'll never know - but it was one-way traffic pretty much in the second 45 minutes (with wind and rain at their backs).  When it got to 3-3 we were all thinking "phew !" - but the game was still not over.  Mossley pushed and pushed - created chances - missed out through some stoic defending from the Millers (and the crossbar being six inches too low !).

Given the conditions, it was an absolutely belting game - the phrase "a game of two halves" has been used elsewhere - and it certainly was !  At the end of the day was it two points dropped ??  Probably - but it's great to see the team hanging in there and putting in 110% effort right up to the end.  However - if they'd just stop giving everyone a bit of a start, it might be a touch easier on the pitch (and a touch less heart-stopping OFF the pitch as well !!)
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It's Gonna Be a "Thursday Rant" ...

Royal Mail shares ... ha bloody ha !! Valued at £3-30p ...  which makes Royal Mail massively undervalued does it not ???  Definitely a quick Government "fire sale" to get some quick money to cover their cock-ups - Ok the private investors who went for big money (i.e. over £10,000) will get nowt ... but the big institutions - who are naturally in league with the money-grabbing Government - will get their share - keep it in the (Tory) family eh ??  And don't get me going on our employee shares - I 've been there before on here - just to re-iterate - more strings than a Thunderbirds puppet ...

Meanwhile SSE announce an 8.2% increase in energy prices (coming in on 15th November i.e. just before it REALLY gets cold) - no doubt the other energy companies have seen this as a pointer - and eventually will declare similar sized increases ... because as we all know since privatisation, the energy business has become a cartel.  

Did I say cartel ??? Wait one moment ... privatisation ... so we lose a "nationalised" industry (a monopoly if you like) - and all of a sudden we have several groups of b*st*rds offering the same product - I'm sure these same groups of b*st*rds all meet in a room and decide how to screw the general public (whilst keeping their Tory big City investors happy) ... 

Did I say cartel ??? Wait one moment - the railways ... 25 different Train Operating Companies who are allowed to raise their fares over and above inflation ... oh I forgot  - John Major privatised the railways ... wonder if they all meet in a room and decide how to screw the general public (whilst keeping their Tory big City investors happy) ...


Wait one moment - TNT Mail are now setting up their own "end-to-end" mail system ... once Royal Mail becomes "privatised" maybe we'll see them in league with the others (maybe DHL, Hermes UKMail might get involved) ... setting up a mail cartel price-wise.  If so ... they'll probably all meet in a room and decide how to screw the general public (whilst keeping their Tory big City investors happy) ...

You see it happening now - wait for it happening in the future.

The rich get richer .. and the poor - inevitably - get poorer ...

Rant over ...
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And so it begins ...

Always thought that October was a bad month for Football Managers ...

Statement on Stalybridge Message Board from supremo Rob Gorski ...

Stalybridge Celtic today announces that Jim Harvey has left his position as First Team Manager by mutual consent.
Jim joined us in February 2010 and has had two promotion-challenging teams in that period. He has been a major driver in the youth policy that we have developed and he was instrumental in our change to a full time structure.
I would like to put on record our sincere appreciation for all the hard work that Jim has put in over the past 3 1/2 years and we wish him every success in his future career.
Colin Chambers, our excellent Academy Coach, will take control of training from tomorrow morning until a new appointment is made.

With two other clubs in the area "struggling" - and actually in far worse shape  'on the pitch' than Stalybridge Celtic (viz. Hyde FC and Droylsden) - who's to say that we won't see more changes ...

Meanwhile ... Hinckley United have been wound up with debts of £200,000 ... a great shame (remember going there not long after they'd moved to the new stadium for the Matt Gadsby Memorial game back in 2007 - and their first couple of home games at the then Marstons Stadium were against Ashton United and Stalybridge Celtic).  There's more to this winding up than meets the eye as well (Police probe into Hinckley United "business irregularities") ... we shall see ...
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