Cod Almighty | Diary

If you can meet with triumph and disaster...

11 April 2022

Miss Guest Diary writes: The cottage was booked months ago, the Weymouth tickets purchased and the itinerary drawn up, but then on Tuesday his lordship began to sneeze and wheeze. Like the good citizens we are, we did the test. When that second little red line appeared I didn't know whether to scream or cry. Was that my punishment for counting my own chickens by breezily suggesting last week that I'd see you in the Bob Lucas Stadium?

This was to have been our first proper getaway for over two years. Not just a football trip like those overnighters in Altrincham, Bromley and Aldershot earlier in the season but a proper holiday with visits to places other than a football stadium. Alternating all week between feeling fed up and furious, I even indulged in a bit of sour grapes speculation to soften the blow: maybe the weather would be awful, maybe Town would lose. Pictures posted by travelling fans on Saturday morning of sunshine and beaches did nothing to soothe. Then Town put in a performance which looked pretty action-packed on the highlights, but which failed to produce a goal and was described by the chaps at the DN35 podcast as "average". That sugared the pill a little.

But I'm not taking the blame for the result, it was simply typical Town: beat our promotions rivals one week and fail to even score against a team in the relegation zone the next week. They did exactly the same thing in February, managing only a 0-0 against King's Lynn the week after beating Notts County. Will it happen again in our next two games – beating Stockport at Blundell Park on Good Friday and drawing away at King's Lynn on Easter Monday?

Since we were last in the same division as Stockport in 2013, I have become good friends with a County supporter and at the start of the season we indulged in a little friendly rivalry about who would finish highest this year. Well, he is obviously going to win that one but, to be honest, I don't begrudge it. In recent years their fans have had it a lot worse than ours, with County spending six years in the Conference North before making it back to the Conference Premier three years ago. They too have a local businessman as their new owner, who has been prepared to splash the cash on players to secure promotion rather than pursue the incremental improvement model adopted by Town's new owners. And good luck to them – especially if they pip Ryan Reynolds' Wrexham to the post.

The fly in the ointment is their manager, Dave Challinor. Many Town fans still bear a grudge against Challinor for his career-ending tackle which broke Martin Pringle's leg in two places back in 2002, and I suspect will be reminding him of it come Friday. Lest you have forgotten, it was described thus by Mr Butcher:

"A pass was played up to Pringle, to the right of the centre circle. Challinor slid through from behind, literally kicking Pringle up in the air. Pringle crumpled and never got up. The Town players ran up and frantically waved the physio on. A minute or so later they gesticulated towards the bench and asked for the stretcher and a leg brace. Allen went bananas and had to be restrained by Coyne, McDermott and Burnett. The crowd bayed for Challinor to be sent off. The referee only waved his yellow card. Now that was pusillanimous in the extreme, as Challinor had no chance of getting the ball, the only outcome of his tackle would have been a kick on Pringle."

Lay out those complimentary tubes of Pringles in the away dressing room, and don those golfing jumpers in the Dentists Stand! And remember, success is the best form of revenge.

UTM