Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Monday 8 December 2003

8 December 2003

Viewers of BBC1 yesterday afternoon, of which the Diary was one, saw former Mariner Steve Chettle playing his part as non-league Burton Albion managed what Town could not in conceding fewer than eight goals against Hartlepool. The injury-prone central defender appeared to have given away a penalty midway through the first half of the FA Cup second round tie as Pools striker Eifion Williams plunged to the ground under Chetts' challenge, but the referee joined the unusual alliance of the Diary and temporary BBC pundit Neil Warnock in believing that Williams had 'made the most of it', as they say. The Conference side lost out 1-0 through a Joel Porter strike on 70 minutes - and that rubbish Paul Robinson spurned a chance to double the lead by firing straight at the Albion keeper. Pah. He's rubbish, he is.

GTFC have announced a date for the club's 112th annual general meeting, or should I say, given that the club is 125 years old, 'annual' general meeting. Cod Almighty is hoping to send a delegate to the Park on 22 December and report back on proceedings, assuming of course that kindly old Mr Furneaux won't be deploying large bald men with convictions for assault to refuse admission to shareholders wearing torn jeans, tatty trainers and a baggy Ramones t-shirt. And speaking of the chairman, which we were, crinkly Pete is to participate in one of those Q+A things like wot Paul did the other week. Email webmaster@gtfc.co.uk with your questions, or if you can be arsed and you want the club to get an extra 0.0001p from advertisers, then hit the OS and use their email link instead.

Now we have only this chilly Monday afternoon to report Paul Groves' all too familiar taking of stock from his side's FA Cup defeat to Peterborough on Saturday. "We probably had as many chances as them," the Town boss says on the club's official site, "but you've got to finish them and that's what cost us." Close your eyes and it could almost be Alan Buckley ten years ago. Mmmm - soup.

I'm trying to find out whether the hip injury that kept Michael Boulding away from London Road looks serious enough to spare the Bournemouth defence this Saturday as well, but there's nothing on it anywhere yet. The news of the swift one's exclusion from the Mariners' FA Cup squad, incidentally, emerged six minutes and 23 seconds after Friday's Diary went live, by which time I was mentally down the pub; so if you recklessly but admirably rely only on me for all your GTFC news and were then hospitalised with extreme shock when Phil 'The Deflector' Jevons scored Town's first on Saturday, then my apologies are due (subject to availability). Please allow 28 days for delivery.

"I didn't agree with Mat Hare's anti-FA cup article," writes Justin Skinner in an email to the Diary. "However, I see the winners of the Peterborough-Grimsby fixture... er, well, Peterborough... have been drawn away at Coventry in the next round. I'd have been a bit miffed if it would have been Man Utd away, Liverpool at home. Even a fixture against Scarborough or Telford would have been interesting. But Coventry away? That's a rubbish draw. They can keep it." John Arrand is still more forthright: "I have no contrary evidence so I think I'll just have to accept you're right," he says. "Bollocks." If only things were so simple with Mrs Diary.