Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Wednesday 14 November 2007

14 November 2007

If you were planning to watch Town's reserves play away against Hull today, don't cross the bridge. Don't even go to Winterton, where the match was actually due to take place either. Because Town have rung the Tigers and cancelled. The official site was terse on the matter: "Today's Pontins Hoildays [sic] League game against Hull City has been called off at the Mariners' request. It has now been rescheduled for 13th February at 7pm."

Town won on penalties last night then, after a game that seemed full of incident. A match where one hopes Ryan Bennett learned the merits of playing to the whistle; when the Humber breeze helped Town score a second; when we gave away yet another fairly unnecessary penalty; and when, in the immortal pithy words of Lord Buckley, Nathan Jarman's attempt in a one-on-one with the Donny keeper was "fairly pathetic". The word everyone seems to be using to describe this last-gasp win is 'dogged'. Sadly, Jones the Lump went off injured after looking bright and effective in his partnership with young North. Your Guest Diarist can't find out yet whether his injury is serious or not.

So Town find themselves in the last four of the northern section and with teams that you would think we had a chance of beating. No doubt we will go out at home to Bury then. But that's not 'til after Christmas, so thoughts turn to Saturday's home game with Morecambe. This is an important match to win. No doubt AB will tell us on Thursday that all games are important, and that no game is that important. That it is ours to lose, and so on. But we have to start winning home games, and anything less than three points will ratchet up the nervous state of the average Town fan, and send the hysterical ones into messageboard-screaming abdabs.

The job on Saturday may be a tad easier if the opposition star player is crocked. Carl Baker, whom we should categorise under 'free-scoring midfielder', is a definite doubt with an ankle injury. This may be a cruel hoax. Or maybe he isn't even that good. More on this story later in the week.

The Grimsby Telegraph is running a voucher offer - if you get two tokens from this week's papers you can get in on Saturday for a fiver. Which is a bloody good deal, as it applies to any stand. Mr Bolland has been talking to the Telewag after last night's game, praising the team's improved workrate and character. He also strongly hinted that the Donny goalkeeper had been close to getting pulled up for coming off his line a time or two earlier in the penalty shootout. Bolland did well to despatch his second penalty, and had bottle enough to put it the same side.

As for Ciaran Toner, he was nowhere to be seen. Some say he was sick. Some said nowt. See yer.