Friday 15 December 2023
NEXT HOME GAME: Sutton – Saturday 16 December, 3pm
NEXT AWAY GAME: Barrow – Tuesday 26 December, 3pm
Dear County fans, Stopfordians, and any Aldershot supporters joining us today, a very warm welcome to your Friday edition of The Scarf My Father Wore.
Right, match report time. With Sandy McGregor and Oliver Brookland. Then as soon as that’s finished, we forget about it and move on to Saturday’s must-win game. (And we’re not even contemplating losing that one...)
Today’s edition is sponsored by Bridge Computer Services. A big thank you to Mark.
Finally, I’m currently walking every street in Stockport to raise money for mental health charity Mentell. If you’d like to make a donation to help me reach my target, please click here.
Total distance so far: 46.68 miles
Total steps so far: 83,302
Total raised so far: £1,027
Total completed streets so far: 24 (Click here for the full list, which includes reports and photos from every day of the walk.)
Further information on the walk can be found by clicking here.
Des Junior
✍️ Wednesday’s match in one word
Sandy: Gutless.
Oliver: Tense.
🤔 Pre-match thoughts
Sandy: I was a bit edgy. We’ve gone off the boil recently. We’re missing some big players. Nobody seems to be in good form. A month ago we stuck with the same team as we were playing well. Now we stick with the same team as these are the only fit players.
Oliver: I honestly thought this one might have been a step too far, but with this side we have at the moment, anything was possible. I knew we would perform on the night and was confident we’d get a goal somewhere, but I certainly didn’t expect a win in 90 minutes.
🧐 Post-match thoughts
Sandy: Got what we deserved. Now getting nervous about the league.
Oliver: I’m still trying to process it, really. Every time it’s appeared that we’ve excelled ourselves, we seem to go one better the following week. Wednesday night’s game was no exception, but probably ranks as the highlight of the season for us so far. For a side that hadn’t won an FA Cup fixture in five years prior to this season, this cup run has already gone beyond the wildest dreams of a lot of our fans, and the visit to The Hawthorns next month will certainly be one to look forward to.
🔵 Verdict on County
Sandy: We look poor. Short on confidence. Slow of thought and action. Bereft of ideas. Rusk-esque.
Oliver: Despite fielding a weakened side as a result of an injury crisis, I thought they were disappointing on the night. I expected them to put us under a lot more pressure than they did during the 90 minutes, yet can’t recall any point where we seemed to be genuinely at risk. That, though, should not take away from our performance on the night, which was exceptional.
⚪️ Verdict on Aldershot
Sandy: Thought they battled well. I thought they caused us more problems than we caused them. Think most people saw their winner coming.
Oliver: To a man, every single player was outstanding, and well worthy of the result. There was no point where the match seemed out of our control, and to win it in the way we did was an added bonus. It’s nothing we haven’t come to expect from this side, but that result will go down as one of our greatest in a long, long time. It’s not one anyone who was there to witness will move on from any time soon.
🎩 Top Hatter
Sandy: Pye stuck to his task. There were mediocre performances all over the pitch.
Oliver: Will give this one to Ben Hinchliffe. He seemed to have a decent match between the sticks and made some crucial interventions to stop us going ahead earlier. Not sure he can be held at fault too much for our goal.
🔫 Top Shot
Sandy: Stokes again.
Oliver: Lorent Tolaj was outstanding, but special mention has to go to Cian Harries. He was first to everything all night, and did everything that could’ve been asked of him. His last ditch, injury time challenge on Olaofe summed his evening up. Any slight misjudgement would’ve resulted in a penalty and brought County back into the game, but he timed it so perfectly. In all honesty, Shots fans would be happy to name any player out there on Wednesday. A phenomenal team effort.
👂 Atmosphere
Sandy: Once again Yellow Block decamped from Pop Side to Main Stand so not the best. Fortunately I wasn't near the Shots fans who made the most of their day out. Cheadle End seemed extremely quiet but I was further away than usual.
Oliver: Our fans made a great effort on Wednesday. 274 fans away for a midweek trip, live on BBC and this close to Christmas is really quite superb. The atmosphere and noise in our end got better as the match went on. The goal celebrations were fuelled more by disbelief than anything else, and I think that could be seen in the post-match celebrations too. It’s been a long time since we had a squad who connected to the fanbase as much as this current lot do, and I hope we continue to appreciate it while it lasts.
🙏 Hopes for the rest of the season
Sandy: Less than a fortnight ago our priorities were League Two, FA Cup, EFL Trophy in that order. We have meekly surrendered the knockout competitions. The league is everything now. We need to see a response immediately. There are some big games coming up in the next three weeks. Winning games. Not just drawing them. If we do that then we’ll be fine. If we don't then things are going to get very very tough.
Oliver: I just hope this run of form carries on. I don’t expect anything from West Brom, but it’s a big day to look forward to nonetheless. After that, the target has to be consolidating a play-off place, which we are more than capable of. A run in the FA Trophy would be nice too, seeing as we’re one of the few professional clubs never to have played at Wembley (including both the original Aldershot FC and Aldershot Town). The priority, though, needs to be as high a finish as possible in the National League.
😀 Best part of the day
Sandy: Only started listening to Nadine Shah recently. A CD I ordered arrived in the post. Excellent stuff.
Oliver: Those post-match celebrations with the players and coaching staff. They seemed to go on forever, but it was a special thing to be a part of.
😡 Worst part of the day
Sandy: Watching County stumble their way out of the FA Cup in a funeral atmosphere.
Oliver: Not sure I have anything to add for this one. It was a rather good day!
The British Library receives a copy of every single book published in the UK. In the same fashion, Des Junior believes a detailed record of every County game should be preserved for the history books. So here’s the full story of our 1-0 defeat at home to Aldershot Town on Wednesday 13 December 2023, as told from his County-related WhatsApp groups…
9.29pm: 1-0 down. Shit defending. Can’t complain about that as it’s exactly what we’ve deserved from this game.
9.31pm: Utter shambles. About four players had a go at that ball and none of them got enough on it. We deserve to lose just for that.
9.36pm: That XI tonight was comfortably good enough to win a match against a League Two side, never mind an National League side. The way these players have applied themselves tonight is really not good enough. At all.
9.41pm: Considering where we are now and the fragility of our squad, on reflection, I’m not arsed that we don’t have an away trip to West Brom.
9.42pm: Nobody ever really wants to go to the West Midlands.
10.17pm:
12.03am: Based on tonight's fuck-up, Morecambe and Newport, DC is right about needing more players. But, after the number of players we've brought in, we really shouldn't need lots more. Assuming we sign Bailey, another one or two should be plenty. And, the January transfer window shouldn't be based on a single game, a couple of games, etc. This is hopefully just part of DC giving the players a deserved bollocking for tonight's utterly inept excuse of a performance. Whatever it is, we need three points on Saturday. Simple as.
Sutton at home on Saturday. Anyone fancy answering a few questions for the match report? If so, please email thescarfmyfatherwore@substack.com.
Give Mark a call with any computer problems
If you were watching the Aldershot game on your laptop the other night, there’s a very good chance you chucked it out the window. If you did (or for any other computer problems you’re experiencing) give Mark a call at Bridge Computer Services.
Based in Romiley, the business provides computer workshop and callout services to residential and business customers across Stockport. Their callout and workshop engineers are trained to fix computers, laptops and servers on site (where possible) as well as setting up new computers and wireless networks, plus maintaining existing networks and removing viruses.
Visit bridgecomputerservices.co.uk for further details.
The first non-league team to beat County in the FA Cup (as a Football League club) since Staines in 2007
Photo of the day
Sod off, John Bishop!
Today in SK
🎶 DJs
Bask (SK1) have recently been granted an extended license, which means you can now party until 3am on a Friday night! Last entry 1.30am.
The Nelson Tavern (SK1) have their resident DJ playing on a Friday night, with Dicko (Ian Dickinson) on from 8pm till 1am.
Dan Power at The Red Bull (SK1). 8.30pm - late.
🍟 Food and drink
Lunch deal at The Dog & Partridge (SK2). One course for £7 or two courses for £11. 12pm - 2pm.
Lite bite meal deal at The Friary (SK3). Cod or haddock, served with chips, and a side of peas, curry or gravy. Plus tea or coffee. £9.95. 11.30am - 8pm.
Fish Friday at Platform 5 (SK8). Joseph Holt’s beer battered fish with chips, salt and vinegar scraps, tartare sauce and your choice of Manchester caviar and peas. Served with a drink. 12pm - 8pm. £14.95 per person.
🎤 Karaoke
Alexandra (SK3) with DJ Big Ace. 8pm.
🎸 Live music
Live acoustic sessions at The Jolly Sailor (SK3). Featuring a variety of local musicians, from solo artists to duos and bands.
The Imposters at The Crown Inn (SK6). 9pm.
Friday Fiesta at TRUNK (SK7). Great company, tasty tapas and flowing drinks – what more could you want? Call 0161 222 9260 to book a table, and mention “The Scarf My Father Wore” to receive a 15% discount off the normal tapas menu.
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It would appear the young emerging talent pool has not stepped up to convince the coaching team they are worth a run out. Had high expectations that Cody Johnson would push on and secure more pitch time .
What a horrible performance.