Cod Almighty | Diary

He blew his mind out in a car (with a corned beef sandwich)

15 March 2021

Miss Guest Diary writes: My footballing mind was well and truly blown at the weekend. Obviously not by Town's game against Colchester; that outcome was easily predictable. A point and a clean sheet is just enough to keep the optimists clinging to the ledge of "we can still do this" and the failure to win a relegation six-pointer has the pessimists planning next season's trips to Woking and Wealdstone.

Paul Hurst seems to have a foot in both camps, with his answer to the question of whether it was a point gained or an opportunity missed being "I can see why people think both". At least there was no Parslow Point in Saturday's game. Perhaps Hurst has finally learned the lesson from Tuesday's late equaliser at Carlisle that bringing on defensive players in the last quarter of the game just invites the opposition to attack.

Somewhat ironic on the weekend which marks the sixth anniversary of the formal identification of the Parslow Point. You know, that game at Chester where Town's hopes of automatic promotion were dashed after Danny Parslow came on for Ollie Palmer in the 72nd minute and a 2-0 victory was reduced to a 2-2 draw. I can still conjure up that feeling of helpless frustration that filled the air as we sat in the car eating some sandwiches and waiting for the traffic to clear after the game. Especially as the Chester player who scored the equaliser was sat in his car alongside us.

If only Tuesday's frustration had related to a promotion opportunity missed, eh. Maybe next year?

Getting back to the mind-blowing event of the weekend, it related to the Football League Trophy. Or as I like to call it these days: the Boycott Cup. There was a slight disagreement between my partner and me about who was playing at Wembley. He said Portsmouth were definitely playing, while I was sure it was Tranmere against someone completely different. When I saw on Saturday evening that Portsmouth has lost on penalties to Salford I acknowledged that he was right, as usual, and I had been mistaken.

But when I was checking out the day's fixtures on Sunday morning I saw there was a Trophy final at Wembley featuring Sunderland v Tranmere. Wait, what! Two finals in two days: how could that be? It turns out that the game on Saturday was the final of the 2019/20 competition. That this came as news to us indicates the level of indifference which this competition elicits at Cod Almighty Towers these days. I had simply assumed the final was played when football resumed last summer.

How crazy is it to finish a competition a year late? Boycott issues notwithstanding, I feel sorry for any Portsmouth and Salford players who played in the qualifying rounds and have since left those clubs and missed out on a chance to play at Wembley. But no sympathy whatsoever for referee Carl Boyeson. He might well be devastated that the moment he has been dreaming of since he was a child was spoiled by the lack of family and friends at Wembley. The North Bank Nit, as he has been referred to by Cod Almighty's match reporter, has been spoiling Town games for nigh on 20 years so probably deserves a bit of personal disappointment.

UTM.