Cod Almighty | Diary
Diary - Wednesday 6 December 2006
6 December 2006
"Woohoo!" declared the Diary after the win at Barnet last night lifted Town to the vertiginous heights of 18th place in the fourth division. "We're only 12 points off the play-offs now!" And then this morning, when I had recovered my composure a little, I realised that my sights had been set on sixth-placed Peterborough, with 35 points, rather than seventh-placed Notts County, who have 31. With 78 points left to play for and only, in fact, eight separating Alan Buckley's resurgent side from the play-off zone, the temptation for GTFC folk is to start dreaming of another wonderful day out in Cardiff next May rather than crossing their fingers for Boston to incur a ten-point administration penalty and Macclesfield players to carry on breaking their legs. And Mariners centre-half Nick Fenton, who wasn't around last season when Mr Russell Slade started recklessly setting targets, is doing just that. A play-off position should be "more than achievable with the players we have got here", Fenton told the Grimsby Telegraph after last night's win, shortly before reaching for the North East Lincs edition of Thomson Local, scanning the Capricious Goddesses section for the name Fortune, then making a call to offer the expert hostage services of several close relatives.
As far as the game goes, you're basically looking at your classic away win, right, complete with minority of possession, only goal of match scored on counterattack, and match reports likely to feature all the requisite smutty phrases like 'backs to the wall' and 'rearguard action'. That the deceptively lowly home side performed strongly should not have come as a surprise to readers of yesterday's Diary; what will have raised eyebrows, rather, is the defiance of Buckley's side under the relentless pressure exerted by the Bees, and who knows - if Town can continue to combine the clinical resilience of their away performances under Russell Slade for the first half of last season with home form featuring the flair, fluency and goals seen against Accrington the other week then maybe Fenton's form as a soothsayer could match his current fortitude in the back four.
From one golden vision of the future, now, to a grey metal one sponsored by a fossil fuel corporation, sited bleakly in the draught of chemical and fish processing works, and without an even vaguely nice pub within at least a three-mile radius. Yep - it's Fentydome time again, and the council planning committee meeting that will give the thumbs-up to Town's soulless and sterile new home will take place on 25 January 2007 - "the most important date in the club's history", gushes the official website, carelessly overlooking 9 November 2006.