Cod Almighty | Diary

Caveat emptor

2 December 2013

Miss Guest Diary writes: An odd combination of circumstances prevented me at the last minute from going to Coalville on Saturday and I was left home alone feeling a little fed up. Then I began receiving texts about the mud and the portaloos and saw posts on Twitter about the cold and the mediocre performance. Suddenly an afternoon in the warm catching up on chores and watching old movies seemed a lot more attractive. Supporting Town in non-League over the last few years has been a bit like my Saturday afternoon: some real disappointment mixed with quite a few consoling silver linings.

Unfortunately, the FA Trophy is not one of those consolations. The failure of Town to beat Coalville has led to more than a little upset in my household. Tomorrow's game against Welling has now been postponed to 10 December, which clashes with an event which we simply must attend and means my partner will miss a league game at Blundell Park for the first time this century.

And then there is the peculiar decision by the club not to open the Pontoon for the Coalville replay. I appreciate that there is unlikely to be a big crowd for the game, but what sort of message does failing to open the stand behind the goal send to the players and the opposition? Maybe that the club also thinks the Trophy is a 'tinpot' competition and share the view I have seen expressed by quite a few tweeters that it would be better for Town to lose and wash their hands of the whole competition. Though I would dearly like to support the team in person, I am not prepared to attend the game if I can't sit where I always do in the Pontoon. Wherever possible I watch games from behind the goal, and tomorrow the club is not giving me, the customer, any choice in consuming its product.

Badly done, Town.

Today sees another game taking place at Blundell Park: a charity match to raise money for the youth team. Why the club has decided to hold this match on a Monday evening in December rather than, say, a Sunday afternoon in June – which would probably have ensured quite a few spectators – is anybody's guess. But if you feel like braving the cold to watch the likes of Gary Lund, Paul Wilkinson and Kevin Donovan take on a sponsor's XI, it's £3 for admission to the Upper Findus and the game kicks off at 7pm.

The news that Liam Hearn's injured knee is likely to keep him from playing for quite some while is sad, but Paul Hurst is confident that he will play again. Whether that will be for Town or not, given that Hearn's contract expires next summer, is another matter. Town just can't seem to catch a break when it comes to strikers – either they turn out to be lazy time-wasters or, if they are any good, they are lured away to greener pastures or succumb to injury. Who is your favourite striker who got away? Mine is Chima Okorie.