Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Monday 24 September 2012

24 September 2012

Miss Guest Diary writes: Regular readers of the Diary will know the 'official' line at Cod Almighty towers is that Friday football is bad and should be banned. But, at the risk of being benched for dissent, I'm going to admit that I appreciate the occasional Friday fixture at Blundell Park. And I can't be alone in that - the attendance on Friday was 4,074, the highest of the season so far.

Once upon a time I simply welcomed the luxury of an extra free Saturday. This is not so much the case now, as a combination of apathy and the preponderance of teams based in the west of the country - always difficult to reach from Lincolnshire - means I get quite a few free Saturdays during the season. But those Saturdays are always tainted by the need to keep checking for Town's score, the slightly guilty feeling of not bothering to support in person, and occasionally the regret at having missed a good win, or the first goal from a new player. When Town have played on the Friday night, then the feeling I get on Saturday is akin to sinking back on the sofa with a coffee and a good book after finishing all my household chores.

It's even better when Town have won. So, on Saturday my enjoyment of lunch out and a film was greatly enhanced.

With that confession out of the way, what of Town's performance? It was so different from the rather lacklustre victory against Forest Green as to seem like watching a different team. And I suspect that's what Luton were thinking too on Friday. If they had sent scouts to watch a team with Elding and Cook up front, then it would have seemed like a good idea to play two big, slow men in central defence. Unluckily for Luton, the new loanees, Scott Neilson and Ross Hannah, buzzed around the big men like angry wasps. But it wasn't just them: Cook was inspired to play like he did in pre-season, Bradley Wood has been reinvented as a free kick specialist and the defence (apart from the momentary lapse for Luton's goal) was simply awesome.

On Friday, Town played like a team with self-belief, which is acknowledged to be an important factor for success in all walks of life. I recall seeing an amateur production of Oklahoma many years ago in which the young suitor chasing after the heroine was played by a chap in his 40s who was bald as a coot. He delivered the line "Ain't I handsome, ain't I got curly hair" with all the aplomb of a young Brad Pitt, and got away with it. Town also showed great self-belief in the middle part of last season, but it seemed to dribble away when they got within striking distance of the play-offs. I am hoping they can keep it up now and beat Gateshead tomorrow. Then it should definitely be worth the trek westwards to Newport on Saturday.

Someone who has never seemed lacking in self-belief is Welsh footballer John Hartson, who was in town on Friday talking at a sports dinner. He reminisced about his last trip to Grimsby when playing for Luton in 1993. I thought I remembered seeing him play against Town for Wimbledon in the early 2000s so checked on Soccerbase to see whether it was my memory at fault or his. It turns out I must have only seen him at their ground because he'd left to join Coventry before the return fixture. The point of this paragraph is not to dwell on Hartson's career but to record for posterity my utter shock and disgust at seeing that Soccerbase has reattributed the entire history of Wimbledon FC to MK Dons. How dare they!

To end on a more pleasant note, the Mariners Trust has announced another of evening of fun and footballing memories, this time with Lawrie McMenemy. Tickets go on sale to trust members this Thursday: what better reason to join the trust today.