Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Tuesday 29 November 2011

29 November 2011

"With the winds facing the fishermans town can County can only hope for a better performce that that seen at Edgerly Park on Saturday." That's the verdict on tonight's game expressed by the Stockport County section on the McVitalFootball network. And who could argue with that? Certainly not your original/regular Diary, for the very good reason that I haven't got the vaguest notion what the flying chuff it's dribbling on about.

Were you as surprised as I was, after Town's narrow win at Kettering on Saturday, to discover that Shorty and Shouty's battlers are now on a six-match unbeaten run? Statisticians apparently include in unbeaten runs those draws that feel like defeats, such as those recently 'achieved' by the Mariners against Bath City and Newport County. So that'd explain it. But either way, tonight's visit of Stockport represents a series threat to Town's remarkable run of not losing despite really not playing that well.

Stockport, like Darlington, are one of those clubs that seem forever in turmoil and on the brink of bankruptcy, but remain able to beat the Mariners with wearying consistency. Whatever rubbish form the Hatters bring with them to Blundell Park tonight, it's sure to be left at the gates before the match (and more than likely collected again afterwards on the way out). In a curious mirror image of Town's own form, this evening's visitors have gone six games without a victory, though for the inversion to be truly spooky, Stockport would have to have recorded this winless streak despite having actually played quite decently.

If you want to go through the motions of Town's team news, there are injury doubts over first-choice midfield duo Craig Disley and Manny Panther. The management are making noises about an unchanged line-up, though, so expect them to play 90 minutes if they're capable of standing up without crutches.

Just before we go, the youth team formerly known as Myspace Mariners have been in action in one of those cup competitions where they always play against Walsall. This year's tie against Walsall had what cliché-prone football writers call "added spice", because the Black Country outfit, of course, now employs Neil Woodseses as a youth coach. Town's superb new official website is all but pleading for a replay due to the club's injury woes, so the Saddlers' victory by the scant margin of just two goals to nil, fully vindicates Deadly John (Topcon)'s excellent and successful decision to sack Woodseses for the heinous crime of taking a newly relegated side to the shameful depths of eighth place in the Conference.