FAO the Sultan - Droylsden v Stafford

[amberaleman]

Hey Sultan, are you going next Saturday by any chance?

I am! A visit to the Butchers Arms ground will give me the complete set of BS Premier grounds. (This will mean missing Sutton's trip to Hayes & Yeading - but given our current dire form I'm in need of temporary relief from the pain.)

I've never seen Droylsden play before. And this will be the first time I've seen Stafford Rangers since the 1990/91 season.

I shall be checking out one or two pubs in Openshaw before the match.

[Sultan of Cannock- SRFC]

Hi Mr Aleman, thanks for the "call"!

Much to my great shame i shall not be in attendance on Saturday.

It should be interesting for you onr way or another. With both teams being in single-figure league points, this represents the last chance saloon for both clubs to register the win that might j-u-s-t start to claw them up to that 5th from bottom.

To add spice, several ex-SRFC players headed off to Droylesden including a Stafford legend, Robin Gibson. There could be fireworks if this feisty little bugger plays. Throw into the mix the fact that the last game between the 2 was the play-off final when we did them on pens after extra time and that there was some pre-match fisticuffs between the fans that day things might be a little bit tasty on Saturday!

[amberaleman]

I shall aim to post a wholly objective account of the relegation scrap on this site.

I might even mention some pubs as well.

[amberaleman]

OK, here's my wholly impartial and unbiased report on this match.

First of all, I think the two teams should take credit for playing some football. Despite being deeply entrenched in the Blue Square Premier relegation pit, both sides played the ball to feet. It was a shame that neither showed much punch in front of goal. Stafford looked slightly the slicker, but were also a bit more wobbly at the back.

Rangers relied heavily on experience, with the pudgy veteran Kevin Street, formerly of Crewe and Shrewsbury, pulling a few strings in midfield, while up front the old warhorse Neil Grayson had the guile if not the pace to trouble the Droyslden rearguard. And David Oldfield, once of Luton and Leicester, came on as a first half substitute for the visitors. But arguably the most talented attacking player on the pitch was the home midfielder Jody Banim.

Stafford took the lead in added time at the end of the first half, when a corner was cleared but returned by Oldfield into the box where Djoumin Sangare (who numbers Lewes and St Albans among his former clubs ;D) struck home with a low first-time shot.

Early in the second half a couple of exhiliaring runs by Stafford's winger Chris Humphrey deserved more of an end product, but it was the home side's right-winger Chris Denham who scored next with a run and curling shot into the top corner. Grayson then tried his luck with an audacious lob that curled wide. As the game wore on, Humphrey set up Street for a fierce shot that the home keeper Paul Phillips did well to beat away for a corner. At the other end, Scott Loach made a good save with his feet from Banim. And that was about it.

Final score: Droylsden 1 Stafford Rangers 1. Probably a fair result overall, but a point apiece is s*d all use to either side.

[ambersalamander]

I met some strange people on my way home last night.

My original plan was to get a train, but I got distracted by something shiny and next time I looked at the clock it was gone 2am

I ended up getting a night bus to Wimbledon and then looking for a cab. Two guys came up to me and asked whether I knew where there was a taxi rank; turns out their destination was very near mine so we decided to share a cab. I asked them where they were from and they looked at each other and said "No, you wouldn't have heard of it. Let's just say the Midlands"
I said, "Oh, I just thought you sounded like you came from Staffordshire"
Astounded, they said "Yes! Yes we do!"
It turned out they were from Cannock and I thought of you, Sultan ;D

One of them said he'd played for Hednesford and was gobsmacked when instead of being Totally Awestruck, I replied, "Ah yes, I've been to Keys Park"

He had to phone his mate and say "Oi Bazzer, I've just met a random bird who knows Keys Park"

Fabulous.

[amberaleman]

According to the NLP's report of the match I watched yesterday, the Banim shot that I thought was stopped by the keeper's lower limbs actually rebounded off a post. (Although it's possible that it was the NLP reporter, not me, who got it wrong. :

I failed to mention pubs in my earlier post. I managed to get to seven, two in Openshaw (en route to Droylsden) and five in Manchester city centre. Honourable first mention must go to the Legh Arms in Openshaw, whose licensee is such a die-hard Man City fan that he actually serves a blue-coloured beer. Further down the Ashton Road was the Railway, one of the many beautiful pubs that Holts brewery built in the city during the late Victorian and Edwardian era. Most tinpot pub was the Dutton Hotel (not a hotel at all) with its cramped, wedge-shaped bar, chunky beams and dangling blowlamps - but also serving a nice pint of Hydes Original. Then there was the Smithfield Hotel, which could only be entered by a fire door opening onto a side street, but which boasted obscure ales from breweries I'd never heard of. I sampled Shawhallion from Shaws brewery of Dukinfield (where my mum was evacuated to in the war). Best pint of the day was the Hornbeam Black Coral Stout, from deepest Denton, drunk in the resplendent Crown & Kettle on the Oldham Road. Marvellous!

[peekay]

Good player, Jody Banim. He's scored several times against us in the past.

[ifrigginrule]

ambersalamander said:

One of them said he'd played for Hednesford and was gobsmacked when instead of being Totally Awestruck, I replied, "Ah yes, I've been to Keys Park"

what was his name?

[ifrigginrule]

sultan said:

To add spice, several ex-SRFC players headed off to Droylesden including a Stafford legend, Robin Gibson.

gibsons at nantwich or kidsgrove or one of them stokeside teams nowadays.

[ambersalamander]

ifrigginrule said:

ambersalamander said:

One of them said he'd played for Hednesford and was gobsmacked when instead of being Totally Awestruck, I replied, "Ah yes, I've been to Keys Park"

what was his name?

Oh, I asked him (and mentioned you), and he blushed and said "Oh he won't have heard of me; I was never that good"

His first name was Brett and he is 28, but that's all I know.

[ifrigginrule]

never heard of anyone called brett. seems a bit of a girly name. sure he didnt play for stafford?

[ambersalamander]

no, he was adamant it was your lot but that he wasn't very good!

[ifuckinrule]

ambersalamander said:

no, he was adamant it was your lot but that he wasn't very good!

;D that could beone of many many players over the last 10 years then....

[Sultan of Cannock- SRFC]

Thanks for the report Mr Aleman. I think that we are well and truley done for this season. No need to wax eloquent on this

I think that the description of our Amber as "some random bird" goes to show how dim Hednescum fans really are.... ;D

[ambersalamander]

to be fair, Sultan, I WAS some random bird who just happened to be sharing a taxi with him!