Wolverhampton 0-5 Gloucester by Boys in the Black Country
You know it’s got the makings of a good day when Last Man Liggett arrives first. Blacker’s having a morning off to get his hair re-styled and Ronseal carries on the Heronian tradition of not arriving on time. Mr Brentley has a lot to answer for.
Greggs is fast becoming a favourite pre-match breakfast venue, though The Chairman and Photographer ignore the motorway services and get stuck into a Johnny Vaughan at Wolverhampton Wetherspoons instead.
With technical route-finding entrusted to the intuitive navigator, the wrong post code’s keyed in and we finish up at number 42, Wednesfield housing estate, which thankfully is only a short hop away from the ground. Short hop that is if the intuition had sent us right instead of left, but technology resolves the issue and we arrive bang on ten.
Playing up the slope with tufts underfoot and squalls in the air, the home keeper tries to ‘do a Moroney’ by booting the ball fifty feet up and four feet forwards, but no-one is close enough to capitalise. Moroney himself, benefitting hugely from three weeks devoid of specialist coaching, handles everything impeccably, while B & E Blackburn, who would be temporarily sporting the captain’s armband if we had one, is impressive on the right.
Twenty minutes in, Gloucester take the lead, Chamberlain’s fine pass and Wilkes’ well struck drive beating the keeper at his near post. Wilkes almost immediately returns the favour, but despite his corner being well-delivered, Chamberlain discovers that looking the other way doesn’t help when trying to convert a far post header.
With the elements in their favour after the break, Gloucester dominate, and five minutes in Boris reacts first to nod home from close range after the keeper has fumbled Traditional’s free kick. The same player soon makes it three, First Man Liggett supplying the pass and Dennis, displaying the sort of dexterity normally reserved for handling a bag of Galaxy counters, lifts the ball over the advancing keeper.
Pain au Chocolat makes a number of fruity challenges followed by some fine distribution, while wide boys Wilkes and Shut-Eye look threatening down the wings. An interesting occurrence takes place on Sunday morning; close inspection of The Photographer’s evidence of Saturday’s encounter appears to show Shut-Eye unleashing a powerful volley at some point after half time, but no-one can remember this.
Last Man Lawson, Ronseal, Desmond and Bacon & Egg all look solid at the back, while at the other end, Bread & Water’s cross and Wilkes’ neat flick nearly set up Chamberlain who’s made a good run into the box. The midfielder isn’t happy at missing the opportunity, particularly as he’s facing forwards at the time, and spends the next five minutes mumbling sweet nothings to himself.
The gloss is put on a solid team performance in the last few minutes when Desmond’s fine right wing cross is converted by First Man and the two combine once more as FM volleys powerfully home from six point five centimetres.
With the West Midlands famine having reached Wednesfield recently, there are no edible post-match offerings, so it’s off to Strensham McDonald’s for some much needed sustenance. Pain au Chocolat ignores the fruit option and gets stuck into nuggets instead, while Boris follows suit having opted to leave the bread & water for someone else. Desmond meanwhile passes on the nuggets and impressively gets stuck into a Caesar Salad without the Caesar, but with an abundance of lettuce and other assorted greenery instead.
The Editor is beckoned to a table where two very nice people who have queued with and sat in close proximity to the city badge-wearers eulogise about the behaviour, manners and respect shown by the aforementioned throng.
Everyone’s hugely pleased with the recent performances, fine run of results and the improvement of the players both personally and collectively. But in the grand scheme of things, the football pales into insignificance when considered alongside BM & R. Because while people may make passing reference to your ability as a player, a goal you scored or a tackle you made, the type of person you are will not only be etched on their memory – it is a view that will last forever.
Gloucester: Moroney; Blackburn, Mclean, Lawson; Wilkes, Jones, Chamberlain, Clifford; Smith; Lynam, Liggett.
Greggs is fast becoming a favourite pre-match breakfast venue, though The Chairman and Photographer ignore the motorway services and get stuck into a Johnny Vaughan at Wolverhampton Wetherspoons instead.
With technical route-finding entrusted to the intuitive navigator, the wrong post code’s keyed in and we finish up at number 42, Wednesfield housing estate, which thankfully is only a short hop away from the ground. Short hop that is if the intuition had sent us right instead of left, but technology resolves the issue and we arrive bang on ten.
Playing up the slope with tufts underfoot and squalls in the air, the home keeper tries to ‘do a Moroney’ by booting the ball fifty feet up and four feet forwards, but no-one is close enough to capitalise. Moroney himself, benefitting hugely from three weeks devoid of specialist coaching, handles everything impeccably, while B & E Blackburn, who would be temporarily sporting the captain’s armband if we had one, is impressive on the right.
Twenty minutes in, Gloucester take the lead, Chamberlain’s fine pass and Wilkes’ well struck drive beating the keeper at his near post. Wilkes almost immediately returns the favour, but despite his corner being well-delivered, Chamberlain discovers that looking the other way doesn’t help when trying to convert a far post header.
With the elements in their favour after the break, Gloucester dominate, and five minutes in Boris reacts first to nod home from close range after the keeper has fumbled Traditional’s free kick. The same player soon makes it three, First Man Liggett supplying the pass and Dennis, displaying the sort of dexterity normally reserved for handling a bag of Galaxy counters, lifts the ball over the advancing keeper.
Pain au Chocolat makes a number of fruity challenges followed by some fine distribution, while wide boys Wilkes and Shut-Eye look threatening down the wings. An interesting occurrence takes place on Sunday morning; close inspection of The Photographer’s evidence of Saturday’s encounter appears to show Shut-Eye unleashing a powerful volley at some point after half time, but no-one can remember this.
Last Man Lawson, Ronseal, Desmond and Bacon & Egg all look solid at the back, while at the other end, Bread & Water’s cross and Wilkes’ neat flick nearly set up Chamberlain who’s made a good run into the box. The midfielder isn’t happy at missing the opportunity, particularly as he’s facing forwards at the time, and spends the next five minutes mumbling sweet nothings to himself.
The gloss is put on a solid team performance in the last few minutes when Desmond’s fine right wing cross is converted by First Man and the two combine once more as FM volleys powerfully home from six point five centimetres.
With the West Midlands famine having reached Wednesfield recently, there are no edible post-match offerings, so it’s off to Strensham McDonald’s for some much needed sustenance. Pain au Chocolat ignores the fruit option and gets stuck into nuggets instead, while Boris follows suit having opted to leave the bread & water for someone else. Desmond meanwhile passes on the nuggets and impressively gets stuck into a Caesar Salad without the Caesar, but with an abundance of lettuce and other assorted greenery instead.
The Editor is beckoned to a table where two very nice people who have queued with and sat in close proximity to the city badge-wearers eulogise about the behaviour, manners and respect shown by the aforementioned throng.
Everyone’s hugely pleased with the recent performances, fine run of results and the improvement of the players both personally and collectively. But in the grand scheme of things, the football pales into insignificance when considered alongside BM & R. Because while people may make passing reference to your ability as a player, a goal you scored or a tackle you made, the type of person you are will not only be etched on their memory – it is a view that will last forever.
Gloucester: Moroney; Blackburn, Mclean, Lawson; Wilkes, Jones, Chamberlain, Clifford; Smith; Lynam, Liggett.
