Cod Almighty | Diary
Diary - Wednesday 7 March 2012
7 March 2012
It is my sad duty as today's diarist to report on the end of Town's longest unbeaten league run since, well, God knows. They put in a valiant effort last night against league leaders Fleetwood, losing the game in injury time to a deflected goal. But you already knew that. In fact, you also knew that the equaliser came from a spot kick that was described as "never a penalty in a million years" by John Tondeur. Tondeur's honesty and integrity while covering Town for the best part of three decades for BBC Radio Humberside have made his opinion so trustworthy that, even though your West Yorkshire Diary wasn't there to see it, I felt as though I had the right to be as vitriolic about it as Shouty was at full time.
So, a sense of injustice has been punctured deep into the gut of many a Mariner, and it still hurt as we awoke this morning. We've been here before, of course - many times, during our years of a relegation-haunted side, bemoaning the bad luck and poor officialdom that go the way of the top teams. But let's reflect on what has been a fairly remarkable run. In fact, to save me repeating something else, just take a look at Paul Thundercliffe's excellent sectional review of the season (which was published just before the draw to Braintree at the weekend).
Opinions on where last night went wrong seem to be divided - between the penalty-that-never-was-a-penalty given by referee Richard J West and the substitution of Louis Soares for Andi Thanoj, which preceded it. Fans will find it difficult to criticise the managers' tactics given the run we've just been on. But there can be no doubt that the change in midfield afforded danger man Jamie Vardy more room and Peter Snow's swingometer most definitely swung in favour of the Cod Army before the equaliser. However, I think it's also fair to question: had the penalty not been given, who knows what would have happened? Town may have kept a clean sheet with a superb backs-to-the-wall performance that would've left local newspaper journalists with that unavoidable urge to reference the Alamo. The truth is, we will never know.
Looking at the match statistics doesn't really give weight to the idea that Town deserved something from the game when you consider our two goal-bound efforts to Fleetwood's 13. However, the match stats don't reflect the excellent first-half performance and the fact that Town frustrated their opponents to such a degree that the home fans got a bit fidgety and Richard Brodie resorted to diving. At least the referee wasn't fooled there (but it only delayed the inevitable).
It's probably not right to point fingers at the managers - who, after all, brought Anthony Church back into midfield to great effect. Their substitutions made the difference in the home win over Telford and, well, they've been responsible for this great run. Back in October they were, by their own admission, at their "wits' end" and questioned whether they were good enough to manage Town. While the play-offs may yet prove too much for us to chase, there's certainly been a lot of progress during these last four months.
Perhaps it's rational to stick with criticising a referee who managed to book Conor Townsend for not retrieving a ball from empty seating quick enough. Sensibly, then, it was Shorty who gave thepost-match interview - three days on from another game in which the officials' performance was also questioned by the bosses.
Town's discipline this season (Shouty aside) has been exemplary, when you consider how easily referees now flash their red cards. Only Darran Kempson and Manny Panther have been sent off. Kempson's was later overturned on appeal and Manny's still trying to work out what he was supposed to have done to the Lincoln lad. It got me thinking... how many penalties have Town conceded this season? It won't be many. Off the top of my head I can recall Newport away and Alfreton at home, other than the one last night. That one at Newport was also Kempson's dismissal, so it wasn't a penalty, basically. It's also worth noting that we haven't been given many, either.
Sadly, the five points dropped so far this month leave us six points adrift of the play-offs with one game in hand. Mansfield have hit some form - as had Barrow, until they inexplicably lost at home to Bath City last night - and York, Kidderminster, Gateshead and Southport will also feel they have a great chance of making the top five.
Last night's defeat will rankle for some time, but it's one game, one result and time to move on. Keep things in perspective. The best indication of a team's mentality and true skill is how it responds to adversity. On Saturday there's a home game against Forest Green, and if they put in the same amount of effort as they did last night then we can be confident that the Mariners will get a positive result.
Let's just hope we don't have another shit ref then, eh?