Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Monday 12 March 2012

12 March 2012

Miss Guest Diary writes: During the first half, Saturday's game was shaping up to be another big disappointment, very similar to Tuesday's against Fleetwood: an early Town goal, followed by a penalty for the opposition, with Town not playing that well. The substitutions at half time, which saw the introduction of Andi Thanoj and Peter Winn, improved Town's performance considerably but it still looked like we'd only manage a draw. Elding's missed opportunities of an open goal and a penalty and Duffy hitting the post only seemed to confirm this.

And then... it turned into my very favourite sort of victory: one snatched from the jaws of mediocrity in stoppage time. From behind the goal in the Pontoon, Conor Townsend's free kick looked like a winner from the second it left his boot. The resultant rush of pure joy was exhilarating. If it feels like that for a fan, I cannot imagine what it must feel like for the player who scores. It's a shame you can't bottle it.

The Telegraph believes Town are "back on track for play-offs" after Saturday's victory. Shouty didn't endorse this view, confining himself to praising the players for keeping "at it" and Townsend for putting in extra free kick practice. There was, apparently, another fracas on the touchline, this time between Shouty and Forest Green's assistant manager, which Shouty dismissed as "handbags".

Talking of assistant managers, everyone seems very careful always to refer to Shorty and Shouty as "joint managers" but I have my doubts as to the equality of their roles. And these doubts were reinforced when I read The Secret Footballer's description in Saturday's Guardian of the manager and assistant roles. Thinking of a very famous management partnership from the past, I know which of Town's 'joint' managers seems to fill the Clough role and which one is Peter Taylor.

And what of the performance of yet another 'new boy' in Town's side? When I heard of Peter Winn's loan signing last week, I confess to being among the people who wondered why we needed yet another winger. Comparing his performance on Saturday with that of last week's new boy, Louie Soares, gave me my answer. There simply was no comparison. Winn was everything we had hoped Soares would be: energetic, skilful and a real attacking threat. Shouty believes that Louie "will come good" and described him as "out of sorts", so I'm still giving him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he's one for next season.

Another sport I follow quite keenly, though only from a distance through the media, is cycling. I began many years ago to watch the coverage of the Tour de France on TV for the great scenery and entertaining between-cycling features. But I gradually became interested in the racing itself and can now talk pelotons, domestiques and jersey competitions with some authority. With the growing number of good British riders and the creation of the Sky Procycling team, my interest has increased. So I was delighted yesterday to see that Bradley Wiggins had won the Paris-Nice race, only the second Briton ever to do so. I'm really looking forward to this year's Tour de France. A bientot.