Cod Almighty | Diary

Brrrr. Cold Almighty

24 November 2022

Glass Half-Full Diary here. This time last year, I'd seen the Mariners win on eight (8) occasions out of nine games I'd attended. Seven home wins from eight, and one sodden trip to the Altrincham roofless terrace. The Alty goalkeeper that day has been in the news recently; update - the urinating fan has been banned. Water bottle half-full. Yuk.

This time around, I've seen our beloved Mariners in 11 full league and cup games, plus the 30 minutes of the Carlisle abandoned effort, and I've since a solitary lonely single win (vs Crawley). Also the one away defeat I went to (at Hartlepool) breaks my season-long away unbeaten streak last year. It is quite a contrast in form.

Yet some things don't change. A year ago we stopped scoring goals after a great start to the season. This season, we've stopped winning away, which had masked that we’re not winning games at home.

GTFC are finding the fourth division more difficult than the National League. Naturally. Our form over the last five games is really poor - 23rd our of 24 in our division - but overall we have accrued 24 points. If our away form had been as uninspiring as our home form, we'd obviously be a fair bit lower. So, the glass half-full view is to be thankful for those away wins, and to hope that a weekend FA Cup win at Cambridge will inspire the team onto a decisive December, full of home and away victories.

Now loanee watch, the bit where your CA diarist does the work of the local rag and reminds you that GTFC have loaned out:

Ollie Battersby GK Ilkeston
Jamie Bramwell CB/DM Whitby
Jaz Goundry CB (was at Grimsby Borough recently) now loaned to Matlock, under former Boston boss Craig Elliott
Stephen Wearne M/W Torquay
Edwin Essel CF Grimsby Borough

Those five seem to be playing reguarly and performing well as far as I can tell. (Thanks Twitter) I’m guessing that Harvey Tomlinson’s Whitby spell is either set to be renewed or he's about to return to the youth/reserves, on the basis that Bramwell has extended his loan and Tomlinson went to Whitby later, but didn't feature in their last game. He could be injured? The lower down the leagues our players go the harder it is to keep track.

By my reckoning, that just leaves midfielder Aaron Braithwaite of the first-year pros who has yet to have a loan this season. Admittedly we're not likely to loan out a defender while Glennon and Cropper are injured, nor a striker as they are almost all injured or just returning.

A final thought: Niall Maher's long throw against Stevenage seemed pretty decent. Not on a Cropper level, but nevertheless a new weapon while Jordan is absent injured?

So enjoy a positive FA Cup distraction at Cambridge, those of you going, and UTM to all.