In a change of fixture, because of Littleport’s cup commitment and an attempt to lessen the fixture congestion Whittlesford travelled to Newmarket. The pack was shuffled, particularly at the back, resulting from the unavailability of Bruges, Flack, Tavare and Gallagher through holiday/ illness/ suspension/ injury / work (delete as applicable). Hesser and veteran stopper Marco Turnero stepped into the breach at the back, Martin returned to the starting line up and Leeinho swapped his place on the bench with Shouey. Tobinho also returned after an absence of about 5 weeks having now served his one match ban! The home side appeared to have opted for more experience, and size, than in the side that were well beaten at the Lawn earlier on in the season.

In support of the Board’s cost cutting exercise, necessary following the Premier Leagues’ decision to withhold the balance of the Club’s TV revenues after deducting the £3.29 owed to Comberton following the transfers of Nasa and Shouey, YTS travelled with the PO to the match. There was two early bonuses for the PO on arrival at the Stadium, firstly no admission charge and secondly YTS got the pre-match teas in including one for Dawson Snr. in his generous round. Enricho again showed the value of a late well timed run to the back stick (well the back of the queue) as he dipped in to complete YTS’ round. YTS having seen a large proportion of his pocket money disappear was relieved when the lady behind the counter announced ‘there was no other catering today’. We all adjourned with full mugs to the main stand, where the Pages (fortified by something stronger) had in 70’s football factory speak had already ‘taken’ the home stand.

The visitors started brightly, in their first game in three weeks, with Dazzler, Leeinho and Shane combining well down the right. Shane easily outpaced the defence to put in an excellent cross from the by-line.  The visitors then went in front when Skipper Martin Turner nipped in front of the defender following a ball into the box and was clumsily fouled. Shane confidently stepped up to send the keeper the wrong way and fire into the bottom left. The visitors almost immediately threw away their lead when some hesitation in the back four, following a largely aimless ball into the left channel, led to an incident that probably had a disproportionate impact on the result. Sam came charging from his area and attempted to hack the ball clear, however the forward toe poked the ball away from the keeper and passed the ball into the empty net. Sam went down in a heap, on first glance there appeared to be minimal contact, however the unfortunate keeper needed to stretchered off. Weeman was nominated to go in goal and Barks came on.  The visitors regained composure and controlled the remainder of the half with Leeinho’s teckers (that’s technical skills to anyone over 30 years of age) and good passing to the fore. They perhaps could and should have gone back in front when Conan met a corner and the back stick but headed narrowly wide as he went to head the ball back across the goal. Turner then almost did the impossible when he skinned the last defender. He lifted his powerful shot over the bar, and over the thirty foot fence behind the goal before the ball game to rest in the kitchen of the Wimpy in the High Street! (A watching NFL coach asked me for his name and contact details). Dazzler was also impressive going forward but his eagerness to get forward gave the home side an opportunity to threaten the visitors’ goal on a number of occasions. On one occasion the ball was switched infield and a dipping shot from distance fizzed just over as the ball dipped onto the top of the net, to be fair Weeman seemed unconcerned! The emergency stopper looked competent, with good distribution and vocals. The homeside’s clever number seven continually exploited the space on the left. In a good move down the left, just before half time, he played a one two on the left edge of the box before cutting in towards goal and passing the ball towards the far post past a flatfooted keeper. Fortunately, the shot failed to curl and finished a yard wide of the right hand post.

Half – time – 1 v 1 – Dawson Snr. did the decent thing and bought the teas, with again the Pages adjourning to the Clubroom for something err stronger or medicinal. The assembled were optimistic that the visitors would push on in the second half, and perhaps take advantage of some tiring limbs of the more experienced in the Newmarket side.

However, the second half was a bit patchy and neither side really gained any fluency. Although, the home side used their experience in midfield to stifle the visitors and used the ball well they carried little threat up front. The visitors play was continually stopped by the front two either straying or staying offside (why two players that were two yards quicker than the defence need to steal half a yard is beyond me!). Despite their lack of punch up front, and despite a strong suspicion of hand ball, the home side took the lead with a neat turn and finish, following a long throw into the box. The visitors struggled for a way back and were at times ‘flat’. The visiting support attempted to lift their side and the home side’s captain got some ‘treatment’ when he attempted to referee the match. However, the team finally awoke from their slumber as Conan, almost singled-handed, attempted to get the visitors back into the match. He had two excellent chip shots and a header superbly pushed away / over by the excellent home keeper. Sandwiched in between Conan’s efforts was a powerful drive by Leeinho which was beaten away at the near post by the keeper and an equaliser from Shane. Tobinho played a lovely ball down the inside left channel and Shane raced away from the last defender. He showed his class, and finishing talent, by coolly passing the ball into the left corner as the keeper advanced from his goal.  The home side looked there for the taking in the final fifteen minutes, as finally someone, Tunero, urged the away side on. Leeinho, however, then had to take one for the side when his ‘intelligent’ foul ended a dangerous looking break through the heart of the visitors defence. Both sides tired and perhaps Newmarket held on to a result that their endeavours deserved.

Supporters MoM –  Leeinho was a clear winner this week thanks to his excellent passing and endeavours going forward. On reflection, despite Lee’s best performance for weeks I think Conan was unlucky not to pick up more than Enricho’s vote.

However, for me, on the basis that he was the only person to receive a standing ovation (ok, we were standing already) from the assembled faithful for his excellent communication (to talk to the players and allow them to talk to him), his willingness to let the play flow, and his relaxed and smiling manner (meeting even the most outrageous claim with a smile rather than a scowl) then my MoM was the referee. He may not have got every decision right but for his lack of officiousness, his approachability and commonsense  he was a clear winner in my eyes.

The news of Sam wasn’t good as it appeared he may have dislocated his ankle and damaged his ligaments, so we wish him well for a fast recovery. He may have to content himself by joining the critics on the sidelines for the remainder of the season. Despite, your injury my advice is bring plenty of tea money!

Sam’s injury probably had a big impact on the result, as Weeman’s additional energy in midfield was a big loss and the lack of a third sub, with some tiring players, impacted on Van Cart’s decision not to use Shouey. In my opinion, Van Cart was influenced by watching too many Liverpool games and by a cautious Rafa, as I feel a gamble on the river was worthwhile especially given the pot odds of 3-1 (3 points for a win). A point will make little difference to our season but three may. So I feel it would have been better to chase the flush (the win) even if in the end it was a busted one!

On that note please do not forget the Poker night next Friday. 

Following Tobinho’s critique at the reserves match last week where he criticised the home players for ‘too often attempting the killer ball rather than the simpler alternative’. This quote and the resulting response from both the PO and YTS (a well known phrase incorporating the words pot, kettle and black) led to YTS assuming the new responsibility of Club Statto to analyse Tobinho’s performance.

The resultant statistics were as follows:-

Tackles -                      3 won               2 lost

Headers                       6 won

Freekicks                     5 good             3 bad

Short passes                 5 good             2 bad

Intermediate passes      11 good           1 bad (including one ‘killer’ for the goal)

Long passes                 2 good             7 bad (70% of his bad or incomplete passes)

Total passes                 18 good           10 bad

Total yards run – ‘about half of them’!

The stats are quite revealing, better than I thought they would be but not as good as Tobinho forecasted, and perhaps there is a message in there for all players.