Cod Almighty | Diary

Diary - Thursday 11 October 2012

11 October 2012

Tuesday night's win at Alfreton, which was a performance described as 'professional' by the Telewag (and 'lucky' if you read between the lines of the Ripley and Heanor News account) means that the Mariners go into the game at Telford on Saturday with the chance to extend their incredible away form. The last-minute defeat at Fleetwood in March remains the only away game Town have lost in any competition since losing 3-1 to Ebbsfleet on Tuesday 18 October 2011.

Telford, typically, went and beat Dartford 4-1 in Kent while Town were scraping their 2-0 win in Derbyshire. It seems to your West Yorkshire Diary that the Mariners only tend to play teams when they're in form. Alfreton were six unbeaten before Tuesday night, and despite Telford's lowly league position they'll be no pushovers given their excellent result in midweek.

Telford was a place I visited as a child many years ago during a caravan holiday in Shropshire with my parents. Mention Telford to my dad and he'll tell you the time when he asked a lady in the local tourist information centre for directions to the town centre. "Telford is not a town - it is an area," she said, angrily (apparently - I'm too young to remember specifics like that).

"Oh, right," said my dad. "So, erm, how do I get to the area centre then?"

The lady replied: "You follow the signs for the town centre."

You have to admit, as Telford anecdotes go, that one is quality.

Anyone thinking about going to Telford on Saturday should check out the NSNOS for ticket prices and directions to the ground. I've just had a look on Google Maps and that tourist information lady was right - Telford is all over the place. The ground appears to sit between places called Wellington, Haybridge and Arleston, but the fact that the words 'Town' and 'Centre' exist directly below the name of Telford on the map is a fact not lost on me, I can assure you.

Today's Town news tackles the Andy Cook situation. He scored 17 goals last season for a pretty average team and yet hasn't been firing on his full complement of cylinders for Grimsby. So, how do you solve a problem like Cook? Well, you could drop him, like Shorty and Shouty did on Tuesday, and replace him with a striker who wants to play for another team in another division. This, apparently, takes Cook out of the limelight and will both relieve him of any pressure he's feeling and boost his confidence. I'm not pretending that the answer is easy or obvious, but Shorty seems confident that he'll come good with a bit of guidance.

Just as I prepare to send this diary off to the CA whizzkids who know how to publish stuff on the site, I've received a notification from the Telewag that says a Town defender is due to go out on loan. No details AS YET. Call me Mystic Meg, but I reckon it could be one of Simon Ford or Ian Miller. And knowing that Ford's name has been circulated to clubs because Shouty told us so on one of those subscription-based video thingummyjigs - and that he's not even making the bench - I'm putting my money on Ford.

I would like to end today's diary by thanking the kind Town fans who spotted that I had dropped my house keys onto the concrete terracing at the end of the Alfreton game. They must have popped out of my pocket during the celebrations of the second goal. I'm not exactly sure when I would have noticed they were missing, but it made me think about my A-level geography teacher and realise that if I lose my keys (or get kicked out by my other half) then at least I have a car to sleep in.