It feels like a long time since we last played. Last week’s break for the FA Cup, which we bravely got ourselves knocked out of in order to make a dignified and righteous stand against something or another, left us all twiddling our thumbs for an all too long period of time. It left this blog woefully underused, weeds growing from the cracks in the pavements, dust covering every post. Like a cyber-Beamish it became a time-capsule, perfectly recording what life was like for us a couple of weeks ago.
Not that there hasn’t been anything worth commenting or reporting on. In possibly the biggest bit of news since the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop act, Eric Cantona came out and publicly stated his love for FC United. Sort of. What he actually said was that when Ferguson retires, he’ll support us, and hopes for us to win the European Cup in fifty years time. I’d probably make do with the FA Trophy in five years time, but then Eric was always one for the sweeping gesture.
Elsewhere, Sir Alex Ferguson himself came out and spoke of the need for principles. “The first thing is to make sure you keep your principles, no matter what. No job is worth it if your pride and your principles are stretched to the limit.” he said without a hint of irony, as most of the watching world guffawed loudly in to their hats.
But all this tittle-tattle and second hand gossip doesn’t make up for the lack of actual football, and so the return to action of the shirts was a welcome one. Witton’s manager had been giving it the big’un in the local paper in teh run up to the game, commenting on how the fans, the atmosphere, and the big occasion would bring the best out of his team. A team, incidentally, that contained chunky former Manchester United winger Ben Thornley, and his brother, Rod. Rod was at one stage official masseur to Manchester United and the England national team, though I’m not sure if he still is, and I can’t be arsed to check.
And to be fair to Witton Albion, maybe if they hadn’t been three goals down by the time most of the Main Stand had puled their blankets to their chin, they may have given us a better game. We’ll never know. For as it was, the boys produced the sort of display full of attacking flair and verve that characterised our days in the NWCL. Kyle Wilson scored twice and charitably missed a penalty, Chris Baguley’s break in Ibiza obviously did him some good as he also scored a brace, and Jerome Wright added the fifth with an outrageous chip in the second half. Witton scored three themselves to add a slight gloss to the score, but no one was fooled. FC United dominated the match from start to finish, and probably should have won by more.
So all is well again, until the next match. As things stand, we sit tenth, eight points off the top. The play-offs look a real possibility this season, with every team, bar possibly Guiseley and Ilkeston, dropping points. We’re the league’s top scorers, which seems strange considering how we were whinging about lack of firepower a few weeks back, but it seems the addition of Garner and Warrender have given the whole team a lift.
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