Cod Almighty | Match Preview

25 October 2013

FA Cup

In a nutshell

The Northern Premier League Premier Division, in which Rushall Olympic compete, is two steps below the Conference Premier. Two steps. The same distance below the Mariners as, say, Bath City in 2009. Just saying.

The Pics (that's their nickname) were founded in 1951. In an administrative flourish that should warm the hearts of all Grimbarians, they used a room above a chippy as their office. It's been steady progress up through the regional leagues ever since, although the fourth qualifying round is as far as they've ever been in the FA Cup.

What else do we have in common? They were also knocked out of last season's FA Trophy by Wrexham, except not in the final, obviously. Also Wrexham asked them if they'd mind the ticket prices being lowered, and they said, no, fine, go ahead.

No familiar faces, right? Wrong! Former Birmingham, Coventry and Forest forward Dele Adebola (right) has chosen to end his career back in the midlands. He probably scored several times against us for Crewe, back when dinosaurs and Steve Livingstone walked the Earth.

On t'internet

Just the official site, which is on the Pitchero network – a sort of MySpace (ask your dad) for part-time football clubs. It's a pretty comprehensive affair, as it goes, offering everything from a giant glue advert to a downloadable flyer for a Robbie Williams covers act. Let them entertain you.

Grimsby Town and Rushall Olympic have never met before, so that's quite exciting, isn't it.

How you doin'?

14th in the Northern Premier League Prem: P13 W6 D3 L4 F21 A25 (GD-4) 21pts

Recent form
4 points from 9
W Barwell 0-4 Rushall (FA Trophy, 19/10/2013)
D Rushall 1-1 Marine (NPLP, 15/10/2013)
W Stockport 0-1 Rushall (FA Cup, 12/10/2013)
W Rushall 2-1 Ashton (NPLP, 05/10/2013)
L Gainsborough 2-0 Rushall (FA Cup, 28/09/2013) *Gainsborough disq.
L Barwell 3-1 Rushall (NPLP, 24/09/2013)

Stat!
The performances of Rushall's defence this season are, statistically at least, more than usually different at home and away. On their travels in the league they've shipped an eye-watering 3.17 goals per game on average. Back at Dales Lane, by contrast, they become tighter than a shark's arse, conceding an average of just 0.86.

How we doin'?

5th in the Conference National: P16 W8 D3 L5 F23 A16 (GD7) 27pts
...tidy

Recent form
12 points from 18
W Grimsby 3-1 Forest Green (Conf Prem, 19/10/2013)
L Salisbury 1-0 Grimsby (Conf Prem, 12/10/2013)
L Grimsby 0-1 Cambridge (Conf Prem, 08/10/2013)
W Aldershot 0-3 Grimsby (Conf Prem, 05/10/2013)
W Grimsby 3-1 Tamworth (Conf Prem, 28/09/2013)
W Grimsby 5-2 Dartford (Conf Prem, 24/09/2013)

Goalscoring superstar heroes
Hannah (5 goals)
Hearn (4 goals)

Dirty, dirty boys
Pearson (5 yellows; 5 points)
Colbeck (2 yellows, 1 red; 4 points)
Thomas (2 yellows, 1 red; 4 points)

Stat!
In the 15 seasons since their epic 1997-98 campaign, the Mariners have won just five games in the FA Cup.

(Our thanks to Mighty Mariner for that stat. Thanks!)

Referee for this weekend's match is Mr John Brooks of Melton Mowbray. Mmmm, pork pies.

Mr Brooks hasn't taken charge of any matches at Conference Premier and above from what we can see. He's better known as the assistant referee who told Joleon Lescott that he should go and thank fans who'd paid £62 to watch Man City at Arsenal in January this year.

In his spare time John helps out at the Leicestershire Home for Retired Circus Cats, a charitable organisation that houses not only tabbies no longer good enough for the trapeze, but also aged and injured lions and tigers. His attic room is currently home to 20 such animals.

Your guess is as good as ours here – we expect they don't bother. So let's be generous and make one up for them: Pic the Dragon. They're the Pics and they have a flame on their badge, see? No? Well it's still better than that bloody Gateshead one.

The odds
Town 9/20 (Betway)
draw 15/4 (Bwin)
Rushall 8/1 (Bet Victor)

We say: Usually we'd be quite cautious about this sort of match, but Town will be a bit buoyant after the win against Forest Green. So despite a possibly subdued game in front of a low crowd, we think Town will still win this one comfortably.

Our record this season
Wins: 6/11
Previously: £1 staked at 12/5 returns £0 (lost)
Pot: £7.94

The ground: Football Ground Guide
Getting there: Google Maps
Gaining entrance: The usual. No discounts because we've guessed that Rushall probably don't want us to reduce the price. Maybe... oh
Nearest station: Cleethorpes
The weather: Current forecast

The barcode was used for the first time in the UK at Key Markets in Spalding, Lincs, on 7 October 1979.

Mark and Pete
pea soup
rain