Cod Almighty | Match Stats

Saturday 6 December 2008

Division 4

Port Vale 2 Richards (28), Richman (88)

Grimsby Town 1 Proudlock (85)

Attendance: 5058

The usual suspects, I'm afraid, for Bennett seemed rock-star solid and there was one man who dwarfed the little kittens around him. Jean Paul Kamudimba Kalala: he stopped them and started us. He ran the game from first to last and was let down by the narcolepsy of others.

"Anyone who saw the game would have to say we had the majority of possession and of course there were a lot of pleasing aspects with the performance. We were patient, played some good football and when we equalised I thought we had got a point, which was the least we deserved. But we've switched off again at the back and that lack of concentration has cost us right at the death. It's incredibly frustrating and we need a result. I would much rather play poorly and win rather than play as well as this and lose."

"It wasn't a brilliant performance by us and there is still a lot to work on. We got pushed back and when Grimsby scored there was a sense of inevitability about it. I'm not going to say it was an inspired substitution because these things can work both ways but Simon [Richman] did what he is good at. He does have the energy to get into the box and he can take a chance. He finished it with aplomb."

They have no art, not much strength, just a bit of pace here and there with a strong urge for their forwards to fly into the back of centre halves. They really weren't much at all, barely getting the ball off Town for much of the second half. That they won is all about our mental fragility, rather than anything they did. They should be struggling just above relegation, for they resembled a difficult team from the Conference that you might get in the second round of the FA Cup. We can just about remember those halcyon days of reaching the second round of the FA Cup, can't we? They should be a little embarrassed that they won.

Mr K Evans (Greater Manchester)
A pompous prig who was afraid to displease the majority. Mmm, now let's see, Newell was sent off for throwing a bottle on the floor, yet Richards was not booked for kicking Barnes after he'd caught the ball. He was one-eyed in seeing handballs, or rather not seeing them. The "back-pass" was just plain silly and he generally, and literally, got in the way. Probably a homer by nature and completely average for this division: 4.321.

If you don't look too closely, the team in the Town kit won. Supporters supporting. Yes, honestly.