County 0 Gillingham 1
The three most fancied teams for promotion all lose on the opening day (at least we didn’t concede five like the other two) but the fourth grab all three points with a late winner at Edgeley Park
Monday 7 August 2023
NEXT HOME GAME: Bradford – Tuesday 15 August, 7.45pm
NEXT AWAY GAME: Sheffield Wednesday – Tuesday 8 August, 7.45pm
Dear County fans, Stopfordians, and any Gillingham supporters joining us today, a very warm welcome to your Monday edition of The Scarf My Father Wore.
Looking at County’s recent record on the opening day, I vote we play our Under-9s on day one next season, and rest the players for the other 45 games instead. That’s six defeats on day one in seven years now. Isaac Stronge from The Stopfordian Sport and Matt Boosey from Gills in the Blood reflect on the first 90 104 minutes of the campaign.
I’d like to say a big thank you to Paul and all the team at Colourtone for sponsoring today’s edition. See below for further details on what they have to offer.
Enjoy today’s issue.
Des Junior
Saturday’s match in one word:
Isaac – Improvement.
Matt – Watchable.
Pre-match thoughts:
Isaac – A tough first opponent due to their strong finish last season and decent investment, especially considering we rarely win our first game of the season and we don’t have a particularly shining record against Gillingham. They’ve made some strong defensive signings but I heard their management say they’re a couple light up front so I was expecting a strong defensive display from the Gills without too many chances.
Matt – Wanted to gauge how far we’d come since our last visit back in March.
Post-match thoughts:
Isaac – I think it was a well-fought battle between two sides that should be in amongst the battle at the top of the table come the end of the season. It would have been nice to hit the ground running with a win but it could have gone either way on the day and we were just unfortunate, hitting the bar and falling the wrong side of a tight offside call. I think plenty of teams will struggle against the Gills this season.
Matt – That we aren’t far away from being a side that can challenge at the very top, and also that you’ll do the same.
Verdict on County:
Isaac – Contrary to some opinion I’ve seen online, I thought we looked a lot more promising than at some points last season. The first half I think we let them have far too much of the ball and invited too much pressure. But overall we showed a lot more creativity and build-up play, especially in the second half.
I think there’s a few players that might take a few games to adjust to the types of passes that Powell has in his locker; his range, quick-thinking and always looking for a forward ball is something we probably aren’t quite accustomed to.
Louie Barry didn’t get a great deal of the ball but when he did he looked like making things happen, looking very comfortable running past multiple defenders and I think we’ll see a lot of that this season. Hopefully the slip that took him off doesn’t keep him sidelined.
Sarcevic looks like a completely different player, perhaps on account of him being in the last year of his deal, but he was everywhere on the day and caused Gillingham some real problems in the middle of the park.
Matt – In and out and lacking a focal point. Had a small spell in the first half and a larger one at the start of the second, but overall I thought we took the game to you very well.
Verdict on Gillingham:
Isaac – They look a very decent side and I’d expect they’ll be right up in the mix this season. They brought a lot more firepower than I expected and produced a couple of decent saves from Hinchliffe, but all in all I think they were a good match for us. I don’t think we saw the best of Jonny Williams by any stretch but he always looked like making things happen – he could be one to watch this season.
Matt – Showed both sides of what we can do. First half hour or so I thought we bossed things with and without the ball, but we had to really sit in and be resolute for 25 minutes in the second half.
Top Hatter:
Isaac – Tough call between Sarce and Powell but I think I’ve got to go with Powell, just for those final line-breaking through balls that we were missing so much last season.
Matt – Knoyle. A slightly different role but I felt all your best moments came directly or indirectly through him, either by stepping out to create overloads or when he simply had the ball in dangerous areas.
Top Gill:
Isaac – Jonny Williams before he went off. Always looked like making something happen and was a nuisance for our defenders.
Matt – Ogie. As close to flawless as you could possibly ask for; one of the best competitive debuts I can recall.
Atmosphere:
Isaac – My season ticket is in UT2 so it never feels too quiet, but it was a good showing and the Cheadle End sounded in good voice. Despite that, the deflating end – with the Gills goal, Madden offside, and Richardson looking like he’d scored but hitting the side netting – took its toll and there were a lot of groans as we left the stadium.
Matt – Our end was lovely throughout, especially in the final period of the match. I felt your fans were a bit up and down in terms of volume, which almost mirrored the performance on the pitch.
Hopes for the season ahead:
Isaac – I don’t think there’s too much to be worried about there. We played a very even game against a team that are expected to be up at the top of the table come the end of the season. They got the better of us first half and we were the better side in the second half, so a draw probably would have been fair but we were just unfortunate on the day. Just need to get more clinical in front of goal, which I think will come. Nothing to worry about just yet, but we need to bounce back quickly to stop any rot setting in like it did at the start of last season.
Matt – It’s still only one game; still only a start. It won’t define our season or yours, and that would still be the case had the score been the other way round. Promising of course, but we can still improve in certain areas.
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 Gillingham on Saturday 5 August 2023, as told from his County-related WhatsApp groups…
4.48pm: Most predictable fucking thing in the world. Stupid foul, easy goal. Textbook.
5.04pm: Going off the radio that didn’t sound very good. Sounded like too many long balls to players not suited to that style.
5.22pm: Match summary?
5.23pm: Bossed it. No end product whatsoever, though. Middle of the park very good, and defensively, but up top no good.
5.24pm: We lost 1-0.
5.25pm: Thanks both. It's like Saint & Greavsie are back with us.
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Today in SK
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The George & Dragon (SK7). 7.30pm.
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