Cod Almighty | Diary

It's a deep funk

5 December 2024

Bloody rubbish, Town! Another ponderous second half performance, another two goals conceded… if it weren’t for those four first half goals, we’d have been in real trouble!

Your West Yorkshire Diary jests, of course, because on Tuesday night the Mariners bumped their win rate in the league back up to the magical 50 percent mark by dispatching the opposition in convincing fashion. The victory over an uncharacteristically sloppy Accy was our ninth of the season, but our first by more than a one-goal margin.

Tuesday was a good time to play Stanley, given their FA Cup extra time exertions at the weekend. Their reward — a trip to Liverpool in the third round — will be just ten days away when we travel across to Lancashire to play the reverse fixture. So, New Year’s Day will be another good time to play Stanley, and tickets for that match are now on sale.

Newport’s 97th-minute equaliser from the penalty spot at Wimbledon on Tuesday night allowed the Mariners to sneak back into the play-off picture, so we’re all happy campers again. When you consider our defensive record at Blundell Park during the reign of King Dave, it really is a miracle we’re flying so high. We’ve been leaking, on average, a smidge over two goals per home game for an entire year now. That’s 46 goals in 22 games in the league, and 56 in 27 across all competitions. In our 146-year history, have we ever had a leakier record in Cleethorpes?

But hey, don’t knock it; a win is a win. Whinging is for the likes of Swindon. Their 4-0 hammering at the hands of the Cowleys leaves them at the foot of the fourth division for the first time since… well, ever. It’s going to be a long hollow winter for the Robins. It’d be cruel to smirk at their demise, but when you’ve been there, done that, got the t-shirt — and employed the manager that set us on the path back there — it’s hard not to breathe a sigh of relief.

Players from both the men and women’s teams will be signing 2025 calendars in the club shop this afternoon. The challenge, as always with football at this level, is to retain as many of the players featured in the calendar as possible. This time last season, Rekeil Pyke was our top scorer with eight. I imagine he didn’t make the final cut for 2025’s edition.

If you’re an old romantic and want eight inches of wood, then you’re on the wrong site. You need to try this site instead.

I’ll leave it to Friday’s diary to get you all lathered up for Saturday’s trip to Morecambe. But let me leave you with the key facts: it’s no wins in eight at home in the league for Morecambe, while Town are six unbeaten on the road. I wonder how our next endeavour will end? UTM!