Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Monday 3 January 2011

3 January 2011

Hi folks, and welcome to your exceptionally late Mardy Diary. As I decided to go for a pub lunch instead of doing my diary duty at the last moment, I've decided to experiment with today's diary. For the first time ever, Cod Almighty will be running live match updates - so check here for all the news about five minutes after you've heard it on the radio, read it on the fishy, checked it on the BBC text commentary and Sky vidiprinter and received a text from your mate at the game. Always at the cutting edge, us...

If you want to drop us a line during the match, you can get us on that Twitter thing or drop us an email.

The teams are in and it's as you were for Town: Arthur; Wood, Kempson, Atkinson, Ridley; Bore, Cummins, Sinclair, Coulson; Connell, Ademeno. Subs: Peacock, Leary, Eagle, Hudson, Croudson

3:04 Town start lively, but a bit scrappy. No early goals today.

3:06 More Town fans in attendance than Histon fans - fairly quiet at the moment though. Town struggling to get hold of the ball.

3:07 Free-kick for Histon, Town clear under pressure.

3:10 Half chance for Ademeno after good work by Connell. Then another snatched chance from Ademeno which deflects harmlessly to the keeper.

Ref today is Michael Bull, who took charge of the Cambridge away match. Wasn't too bad on the day, but let down by rubbish assistants.

3:13 Apparently the pitch is a bit rubbish - I assume it's digging up a bit and not letting the ball run.

3:15 Histon coping well with the high balls, and Town struggling with it on the floor. Corner to Town: Coulson plays it straight to the keeper.

3:17 Town are going to have to battle for a scrappy win here - ooh, but good play from Coulson. He's started lively again, creating a few half chances.

3:18 More good play by Coulson leads to a snatched chance by Connell which he puts over.

3:19 "Under no real threat," says George. Histon to score on the break then?

3:21 Bore struggling to get in the game. Sinclair fouled - again. Him and Connell clearly seen as the biggest threat from opposing teams. Connell forces a save.

YAAAAAYYYY! Charles gets his first after the ball comes back out from Connell's shot. He mis-hits it and it goes in anyway - sign of a good striker, obviously.

3:22 Town perking up a bit now, but taking an early lead here was vital. They could do with killing the game off as soon as possible.

3:25 I think George Kerr has just countered his own argument. Nice to hear balanced commentary.

3:27 Town still creating chances, and so far the defence have coped with Histon attacks. I'm not counting chickens here though, let me make that clear.

And as I say that, Kempson and Arthur get in a bit of a pickle from nothing.

3:29 Good insight from George Kerr: apparently Connell is "a goalscorer". He's not wrong.

3:31 Connell having 'nearly' moments - always a good sign that he's warming up for a goal.

3:32 Welch having a good game in goal for Histon.

3:33 About a third of the match gone: Town 6 shots, Histon 1.

3:34 Corner for Histon, to the far post. Cleared and Town break but fail to take advantage. Ball still with Town.

3:36 Free kick to Town to the far post, Atkinson heads it back across. Oooh, Ademeno misses a good chance, just putting it over. Come on Charles - you've scored already, no pressure.

3:38 Our man on the spot Tony Butcher reports that the match is "stodgy. Ademeno miss hit. They haven't had a shot yet. We lead". About as much as we knew already then...

3:40 Good pressure from Town with Ridley playing the ball in to Connell. Cross from Bore leads to a corner.

Corner comes to nothing, straight to the keeper.

3:41 Names mentioned a lot so far: Connell, Ademeno, Coulson, Sinclair, Bore. Promising.

3:43 Town not making the best of set pieces. Ball too close to the keeper or not reaching Town players.

3:44 "I love bounce-ups," says George Kerr. Who doesn't George?

3:45 Little bit of pressure from Histon - Town not clearing their lines properly. Comfortable save for Arthur, but Town need to stay alert.

3:45 Town push forward again. Coulson smacks the ball slightly wide after good pressure from Town. A minute of injury time to play.

3:47 Some pushey-shovey by Murray and Wood just leads to a little chat with the ref. Town under pressure.

3:48 HALF TIME. A scrappy game so far, possibly due to the pitch, but it's been Town all game and they should really be at least a couple of goals up already. Just need to steady themselves in front of goal a bit.

So Town lead 1-0 with a first goal for Ademeno.

Half-time stats show Town have 11 shots to Histon's two, with 61 per cent possession. Yes, that does make me nervous.

Tony Butcher's half-time report: "1-0 Supercharles slice. Messy game, messy pitch. They had a single effort, we missed two close in. Hot chocolate with cream!" I assume that last comment refers to the Histon catering, but who knows with Tony. It's probably a reference to a 1973 Mud b-side.

4:03 Town kick off for the second half.

4:03 Early chance for Ademeno then a Kempson slip leads to a chance on the break for Histon. Corner to Histon: half-cleared and Town get the blocks in.

Town need to watch themselves early on this half.

4:05 Yellow card for Oyebanjo after a foul halfway in the Histon half. Ridley puts the free kick in but fails to reach a Town player. Town retain the ball and win a corner.

4:06 Ridley plays the corner in to Coulson who appears to be fouled in the box.

Yaaaaay! Another goal for Ademeno. See Charles, I said you could do it. Whacks the ball in to the back of the net. Now for a third...

4:08 Second goal seems to have relaxed the Town fans, who are starting to make a bit more noise after a largely silent first half.

4:09 Niggly fouls going in on Coulson. Result: Coulson booked. Referee FAIL, again.

4:12 Butcher reports that the linesman is flagging for Town but the ref is ignoring him.

4:12 Riza booked for a lunge.

4:13 Ridley continues to pass the ball to the keeper from set-pieces. Then Ademeno is booked for having the ball kicked at him by the Histon keeper. That's the second time that has happened this season, isn't it? (Not for Ademeno, but for a Town player.)

4:15 Key match update from Butcher: "Advert for undertaker called Nutters". It's gone a bit quiet again then.

4:16 Town fans pretend to be Wednesday/Wolves fans circa 1999 ("What's it like to see a crowd?").

4:18 Short spell of pressure for Histon. Very short and leads to exactly no chances.

4:20 George Kerr: "I don't see any reason why Grimsby should concede against these."

4:21 Half-chance for Town following good work from Coulson, Ademeno and Sinclair. Hudson warming up.

Connell effort cleared off the line following a corner.

4:22 Yaaay! Sinclair scores after the keeper punches away from a Ridley corner. Hudson comes on to replace Sinclair.

4:24 "Suits you Sinclair," says Tony Butcher.

4:26 Histon seem to have given up. Town starting to play with freedom. More goals in this game if Town are interested. Eagle warming up.

4:27 Corner for Town. Point blank save after Ademeno gets a touch on a Kempson flick.

4:28 Sub: Eagle replaces Coulson as Saturday. Coulson has had a great game again, but Eagle looked lively on Saturday too.

4:30 Stats so far: Town 16 shots, Histon 4.

4:31 Sub: Connell comes off (assume he's being rested, due to number of games). Peacock takes his place.

4:33 Town cruising a bit now and match has gone a bit flat. Understandable given the number of games to play this month.

4:34 Kerr on Peacock: "Is his wife a hairdresser or something?"

4:35 Half-chance for Histon after Town get a bit too casual. Game hasn't finished yet, Town...

4:36 Town's creativity seems to have disappeared since Sinclair went off.

4:38 Saying that - a break from Town sees Eagle and Ridley create an easy chance for Hudson to knock home. 4-0. Lovely stuff Town.

4:39 Seven different scorers for the last two games. Seven! Fuck me.

4:40 This is a hard-working display for Town, but they've managed plenty of chances still.

But then Town asleep and Histon pull a goal back.

4:41 Butcher says: "The moustachioed chilli is dancing! 4-1 just been sloppy." Answers on a postcard...

4:42 It's five - and from an EIGHTH different player. Peacock back-heels home. Shit the bed!

4:43 Oooh - Bore nearly makes it six, but the keeper holds his ground.

4:46 655 Town fans there today. Well worth the trip. Another corner for Town. Cummins goes close on the volley.

4:48 Four minutes of stoppage time. Go on Town!

4:50 Oh yes! Eagle scores a long-range beauty. NINE different scorers. Bloody Nora Town, keep it up!

4:52 That's it. Outstanding Town. Absolutely outstanding. On a difficult surface, they worked hard and created plenty of chances.

Butcher says: "Eagle from the halfway line!" I can't wait to see that.

Final stats: Town 22 shots, Histon 7. Seeya!