Match reports
Problems getting onto the blogger website but here it is, my report of the weekend’s football.
It’s been a busy weekend for football in the Billy household with 3 games attended. Here’s what happened at each one.
The first game was Man Utd vs Blackburn. Alex and I set off at 10:45 and after a good journey across the M62 were parked in the Lowry Centre car park just after 1 o’clock. It was a beautiful sunny day and we walked to the ground in anticipation of a good game. We had something to eat at one of the many takeaway stalls surrounding Old Trafford then visited the club shop (full of Chinese!) before going into the ground. We had seats in the end behind the goal, opposite the Stretford End in row 39, one row off the very back. The view was excellent for seeing the play develop and I much prefer being at a height than at pitch level so we were quite pleased. The game started with Mickey Gray playing at left back for Blackburn starting line up - more about him later! Anyway, Man Utd were soon on the attack and had some half chances but it was Blackburn who came closest to scoring and were denied several times by good goalkeeping from van der Sar but eventually did score from a speculative free kick from the right which evaded the Man Utd defence and went in. The crowd were not pleased with Man Utd who had Rooney on the bench and before half time they were chanting for 4-4-2! The second half started with the same line-up but soon Rooney was brought on and Man Utd went ahead. At that stage you’d have thought they would go on to win the game but it was not to be as Scholes made an uncharacteristic mistake and gave the ball away to Michael Gray who slipped the ball to Pedersen, who fired his and Blackburn's second past van der Sar into the top left corner. Man Utd pushed forward but couldn’t score and the game ended in defeat. Man Utd left the field to a chorus of boo’s from their fickle fans. It was disappointing for Alex to go all that way to see a rare home defeat but he took it well and on the way home we discussed the game and what might happen in the big game the next day - Ferryhill U12’s vs Darlington TSC.
KO was at Dean Bank at 11:00 so I was able to go to this game before going to Smogland. Darlington TSC where an unknown quantity as Ferryhill had never played them before but they turned out to be an excellent side. They were well organised and gave us a very good game. They held their shape very well, unlike Ferryhill who have won recent games by landslides and were sloppy. Ferryhill took the lead in the first half through a free kick but Darlington pulled one back just after half time. It was nip and tuck all through the second half with Darlington playing the better football but in the very last minute Ferryhill scored to win the game. An undeserved victory, a draw would have been a fairer result, but a very welcome 3 points and hopefully a lesson learnt by Ferryhill. They need to remember that football is a team game and get back to basics and play the passing and positional game rather than running round like headless chickens on solo runs all trying to score individual goals.
A quick dash home to get changed into suit and tie then I was picked up at 1:30 and off to the Boro. We got there and as we approached the main entrance there were loads of people, mainly women, stood outside smoking. The Riverside is now a non-smoking stadium and all the people were having a last drag before going inside. We entered the ground and passed Jimmy Monty, Bobby Kerr and Mick Horswill in the foyer and were shown to the box where we met up with the host and the other guests. There were 12 of us in the box, 5 Sunderland and 7 Boro. I knew a few of them and all of us were very polite but obviously wanting our team to win. We had a nice meal and a few drinks then awaited for the game to start. Our position was just outside the 18 yard line, near to the Sunderland end, and as I looked across I spotted the Sedgefield contingent in the front row. I couldn’t see Clive but I couldn’t miss David Dent who was gesticulating in a very rude manner to the Boro supporters and giving them plenty ‘jip’!
I won’t give a full match report but this is the email I sent to the smoggies this morning.
Hurricane report
There were floods of tears from the Boro faithful on Sunday as Hurricane Hoolio and the Black Cats battered the woeful Smoggies to a historic defeat. The Boro team battled valiantly but the defences could not with withstand the storm as the Black Cats strikers spread havoc with every attack. A number of the Smogs were seen to evacuate the vicinity with great haste in an attempt to seek shelter in local pubs from the natural disaster which was happening in their own backyard. All predictions of an easy ride were quickly confounded as the game progressed and the Black Cats pummelled and overwhelmed the Boro defences with wave upon wave of attacks. By the end of the game some of them looked like they would be faced with devastation when they went to work on Monday where they were certain to be ridiculed by the Mackems for such an inept rescue performance.
Strangely they’ve all been very quiet at work today with no email replies and no one passing my office door for a chat!
Overall a great performance by Sunderland and we looked a lot better than in recent games. In many ways I wish I'd been in with our supporters as it was great to see the fabulous support given to the lads - it really was tremendous and made me proud. The noise totally swamped that made by Boro and must have given the lads on the pitch a big lift. Oh yes, and hearing all the Smogs around us whingeing on was good too. There were 5 Sunderland supporters in the box and out of deference to our hosts (and not wanting to get filled in by all the smoggies around us) we kept our celebrations muted during the game but had a right good celebration afterwards whilst the not-so-smug smoggies looked on. It was great to see a chirpy Mick McCarthy in the post match interviews compared with a sour faced McLaren - Mick deserves his moment of glory following some tough times. All in all it was a special day (after a few recently that have not been so good).
A funny touch was our supporters sing “Fresh air, we only want fresh air” to the tune of “2-1”, although the smoggies weren’t laughing much and started their own chant of “McLaren for England”!
Now we need to repeat the performance and result against West Ham on Saturday and we’ll be ‘on our way’.
Back across to Manchester tomorrow night to see Man Utd vs Benfica, let’s hope we see a Man Utd victory for Alex’s (Mitton not Ferguson) sake.
It’s been a busy weekend for football in the Billy household with 3 games attended. Here’s what happened at each one.
The first game was Man Utd vs Blackburn. Alex and I set off at 10:45 and after a good journey across the M62 were parked in the Lowry Centre car park just after 1 o’clock. It was a beautiful sunny day and we walked to the ground in anticipation of a good game. We had something to eat at one of the many takeaway stalls surrounding Old Trafford then visited the club shop (full of Chinese!) before going into the ground. We had seats in the end behind the goal, opposite the Stretford End in row 39, one row off the very back. The view was excellent for seeing the play develop and I much prefer being at a height than at pitch level so we were quite pleased. The game started with Mickey Gray playing at left back for Blackburn starting line up - more about him later! Anyway, Man Utd were soon on the attack and had some half chances but it was Blackburn who came closest to scoring and were denied several times by good goalkeeping from van der Sar but eventually did score from a speculative free kick from the right which evaded the Man Utd defence and went in. The crowd were not pleased with Man Utd who had Rooney on the bench and before half time they were chanting for 4-4-2! The second half started with the same line-up but soon Rooney was brought on and Man Utd went ahead. At that stage you’d have thought they would go on to win the game but it was not to be as Scholes made an uncharacteristic mistake and gave the ball away to Michael Gray who slipped the ball to Pedersen, who fired his and Blackburn's second past van der Sar into the top left corner. Man Utd pushed forward but couldn’t score and the game ended in defeat. Man Utd left the field to a chorus of boo’s from their fickle fans. It was disappointing for Alex to go all that way to see a rare home defeat but he took it well and on the way home we discussed the game and what might happen in the big game the next day - Ferryhill U12’s vs Darlington TSC.
KO was at Dean Bank at 11:00 so I was able to go to this game before going to Smogland. Darlington TSC where an unknown quantity as Ferryhill had never played them before but they turned out to be an excellent side. They were well organised and gave us a very good game. They held their shape very well, unlike Ferryhill who have won recent games by landslides and were sloppy. Ferryhill took the lead in the first half through a free kick but Darlington pulled one back just after half time. It was nip and tuck all through the second half with Darlington playing the better football but in the very last minute Ferryhill scored to win the game. An undeserved victory, a draw would have been a fairer result, but a very welcome 3 points and hopefully a lesson learnt by Ferryhill. They need to remember that football is a team game and get back to basics and play the passing and positional game rather than running round like headless chickens on solo runs all trying to score individual goals.
A quick dash home to get changed into suit and tie then I was picked up at 1:30 and off to the Boro. We got there and as we approached the main entrance there were loads of people, mainly women, stood outside smoking. The Riverside is now a non-smoking stadium and all the people were having a last drag before going inside. We entered the ground and passed Jimmy Monty, Bobby Kerr and Mick Horswill in the foyer and were shown to the box where we met up with the host and the other guests. There were 12 of us in the box, 5 Sunderland and 7 Boro. I knew a few of them and all of us were very polite but obviously wanting our team to win. We had a nice meal and a few drinks then awaited for the game to start. Our position was just outside the 18 yard line, near to the Sunderland end, and as I looked across I spotted the Sedgefield contingent in the front row. I couldn’t see Clive but I couldn’t miss David Dent who was gesticulating in a very rude manner to the Boro supporters and giving them plenty ‘jip’!
I won’t give a full match report but this is the email I sent to the smoggies this morning.
Hurricane report
There were floods of tears from the Boro faithful on Sunday as Hurricane Hoolio and the Black Cats battered the woeful Smoggies to a historic defeat. The Boro team battled valiantly but the defences could not with withstand the storm as the Black Cats strikers spread havoc with every attack. A number of the Smogs were seen to evacuate the vicinity with great haste in an attempt to seek shelter in local pubs from the natural disaster which was happening in their own backyard. All predictions of an easy ride were quickly confounded as the game progressed and the Black Cats pummelled and overwhelmed the Boro defences with wave upon wave of attacks. By the end of the game some of them looked like they would be faced with devastation when they went to work on Monday where they were certain to be ridiculed by the Mackems for such an inept rescue performance.
Strangely they’ve all been very quiet at work today with no email replies and no one passing my office door for a chat!
Overall a great performance by Sunderland and we looked a lot better than in recent games. In many ways I wish I'd been in with our supporters as it was great to see the fabulous support given to the lads - it really was tremendous and made me proud. The noise totally swamped that made by Boro and must have given the lads on the pitch a big lift. Oh yes, and hearing all the Smogs around us whingeing on was good too. There were 5 Sunderland supporters in the box and out of deference to our hosts (and not wanting to get filled in by all the smoggies around us) we kept our celebrations muted during the game but had a right good celebration afterwards whilst the not-so-smug smoggies looked on. It was great to see a chirpy Mick McCarthy in the post match interviews compared with a sour faced McLaren - Mick deserves his moment of glory following some tough times. All in all it was a special day (after a few recently that have not been so good).
A funny touch was our supporters sing “Fresh air, we only want fresh air” to the tune of “2-1”, although the smoggies weren’t laughing much and started their own chant of “McLaren for England”!
Now we need to repeat the performance and result against West Ham on Saturday and we’ll be ‘on our way’.
Back across to Manchester tomorrow night to see Man Utd vs Benfica, let’s hope we see a Man Utd victory for Alex’s (Mitton not Ferguson) sake.
posted by Billy @ 9:22 PM
5 comments
5 Comments:
Excellent reports Billy and the 2 results that really mattered are more important than the one that didn't.
Tried to get on the site from work earlier to hurry you along a little but couldn't acess it to make comment either.
All this due deference and I doff my cap to my host stuff should naot have held you back. You should have been giving it large, as I will surely do when I see my Smog supporting boss tomorrow and one or two other two headed monsters. They would not have held back on our behlaf.
No sign of Mr P i take it. Sent him an email or two. I guess he's thinking up a diplomatic answer before replying.
Any crowd trouble Billy after the match?
We were still in the hospitality till gone 7 o'clock so by the time we came out all the crowds had cleared.
As Jack rightly points out, the 2 results that mattered went the right way.
I meant after the Ferryhill match!
Anyway a good set of match reports Billy pity you did not have your camera for blog pictures. Enjoy your game today at Man. United. Can you get me a program so I can sell on ebay later?
Cheeky bugger!
As it happens I did have my camera with me and took some good shots. I'll see if I can post them from my pc at work, if not it'll have to wait till tomorrow as I'm off to Old Trafford straight from work tonight.
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