Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Tuesday 22 July 2008

22 July 2008

For all that they signify, which isn't much, the results of Town's pre-season fixtures remain poor - but, unusually, a goal has been scored by one of the club's strikers. In a remarkable departure from the typical pattern of the Mariners' friendly games - whereby the string of draws and defeats throughout July see the team's goals scored only by defenders and midfielders, and none of the strikers can manage one until about the middle of November - the equaliser in last night's 1-1 draw at Winterton Rangers was scored by young centre-forward Danny North. An account from Cod Almighty's match reporter Tony Butcher reveals that the only other incident of note was that Straight Peter Bore's shorts kept falling down, but it is the freakish strike by North - from a cross by Peter Till, who seems to have been the pick of the squad in the pre-season games played so far - that will linger longest in the memory.

In fairness to Town, it was an inexperienced XI that took to the pitch last night, with Myspace Mariners Grant Normington and Drew Rhoades playing the full 90 minutes, Andy Taylor up front and Matthew Bird partnered in central defence by a trialist, Michael Jacklin, from Grimsby Institute. The Telewag's report on the game concludes by pointing out that a stronger team will take on Gainsborough tonight, though the slightly injured trio of Ryan Bennett, Matt Heywood and Paul Bolland may not be risked, and there's always the danger when Town go to Gainsborough that the team coach ends up in Southport.

Time for a quick check of the Diary's inbox now. "Dear Webmaster," begins an email from Eric Gordon, "I am writing to inform you of an exciting business opportunity for your website: My company, Promotion on Web, would like to pay you for helping to promote one of our client's websites. Our mission is to be the leading provider for web promotion solutions online and we are seeking reputable websites. Please contact us for further details on how you can profit from our offer. Best, Eric Gordon, Advertising Consultant, Business Development Department." Dear Eric Gordon, I am not a Webmaster, and Cod Almighty has been called many unpleasant things in our time but never before has anyone dared describe us as "reputable". If we were in it for the money, we'd have long ago taken one of the many much better offers we've had than yours. But thanks anyway. You could always try Black and White Corner if it's still going.