Thursday 30 November 2023
NEXT HOME GAME: Sutton – Saturday 16 December, 3pm
NEXT AWAY GAME: Aldershot – Sunday 3 December, 2pm
Dear County fans, Stopfordians, and any Salford supporters joining us today, a very warm welcome to your Thursday edition of The Scarf My Father Wore.
Hannah Brown (The Lower League Look) and Danny Shepherd (One Up Front) take a look back at Tuesday night’s goalless draw for us today – County’s first 0-0 since the home game with Gillingham back in March.
Today’s edition is sponsored by GroutGleam. A big thank you to Dave, who offers services such as grout refreshing and recolouring, shower glass restoration and protective coating. Give him a call on 07903 313005 or email davew@groutgleam.co.uk for further details.
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: £1,017
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
Tuesday’s match in one word:
Hannah – Frustrating.
Danny – Surprising.
Pre-match thoughts:
Hannah – Despite every Salford fan I know telling me it was going to be a cricket score I was genuinely worried. I think after Saturday and an increasing injury list we’re getting dangerously light in midfield, and despite Salford’s similarly depleted squad they are very tenacious.
Danny – I had two thoughts about this match prior to kick-off. One was that with us having so many injuries against a good team we were likely to get beaten heavily, but I also felt we may defy the odds as we did by beating Preston and Leeds in the Carabao Cup.
Post-match thoughts:
Hannah – Some absolute sitters missed, but Salford were much better in the second half, and in the last 5-10 minutes seemed to have more of the chances.
Danny – I was shocked how well we defended as we’ve been awful in that area for most of this season. I was also surprised how three of our young squad players performed on the night, especially Kelly N’mai who played out of position at left wing-back. I felt that we started the game with one clear intention, which was to hold out for a draw, or to at least stop you running up a cricket score against us. When the game was still goalless at the start of the second half I saw us gain belief that we could actually get something out of the game. The shame of it is that we have seen previously this team can have great one off performances but then aren’t able to transfer that into a good run of form over the longer term.
Verdict on County:
Hannah – Unusually, we were much stronger in the first half than the second, and Neil Wood’s half-time team talk must have outdone Chally’s.
Danny – I thought County’s performance was less impressive than I expected, which I expect is linked to the absence of Louie Barry and Odin Bailey on the night. Despite our hard work and discipline, defensively I think it was only the exceptional performance from our goalkeeper Alex Cairns that kept us from being beaten on the night.
Verdict on Salford:
Hannah – Salford definitely made the best of what they had, and seemed to go out playing for a draw from the outset with some tactical time management from Cairns in particular. Kelly N’Mai has been brilliant for Salford recently but was regularly outpaced by Macca, and Matt Smith should have scored in the second half.
Danny – In terms of how Salford played then I think they deserve tremendous credit for earning a point considering the 12 injured players they have at the moment. In my view, we made a conscious decision to play long to Matt Smith, which felt like a direct reaction to preventing the kind of errors we made in our own half against MK Dons last Saturday.
Top Hatter:
Hannah – Nick Powell was really impressive, whether in response to criticism from Saturday or the formation suiting him better, and we missed him when he was subbed off – really hoping that was a precautionary measure. Over the 90, Macca was excellent.
Danny – I thought County’s best player was Southam-Hales as he had the beating of our left wing-back for most of the night and held his own in his defensive role too.
Top Ammie:
Hannah – Matt Smith was a handful as per normal, and should have scored, but otherwise it was a team effort and hard to single anyone out. That headed clearance from Theo Vassell was incredible!
Danny – I think Ryan Watson in central midfield was Salford’s most influential player as he looked to take a bigger leadership role than normal due to the amount of young players drafted into the starting line-up.
Atmosphere:
Hannah – Well given my absence from Edgeley Park due to feeling horrific and not wanting to take down Yellow Block, the atmosphere on the sofa was electric. Me and Paddy McPugface Madden made the most of it until he got bored of all the time-wasting.
Danny – As my seat was in the home end for the game I did sense that many County fans were frustrated with their team, in particular the performance of Nick Powell. I must say I did really enjoy the chicken and ham pie with mash I had before the game. Perfect fayre for a freezing cold night.
Hopes for the rest of the season:
Hannah – It feels like we might need to limp into the Christmas break and the transfer window and then reassess. We were lucky on Saturday and on Tuesday that other teams have dropped points around us – I particularly enjoyed Harrogate’s draw with Wrexham after they were 2-0 up, and Mansfield drew as well.
Danny – I find it very hard to predict where Salford might finish this season as their performance levels vary so wildly from week to week. The fanbase assumes there will be very little investment during the January transfer window as we look very unlikely to make a push for the play-offs this time around. My overall feeling is that we will end the campaign somewhere towards lower mid-table which can only be seen as a huge backward step from our play-off berth last year. County’s progress in 2023 only reinforces the view that with proper recruitment and investment this season could have looked a lot brighter for Salford than it does currently.
Are you making the long trip to Aldershot on Sunday? Fancy doing the match report for us? Email thescarfmyfatherwore@substack.com.
Restore the colour in your tiles at home
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Photo of the day
Headingley Stadium, Leeds
A huge congratulations to Liam Cash and the rest of the team after seeing off Derby and Wigan to be crowned Professional Football Grounds Team of the Year at last night’s Grounds Management Association awards in Leeds. Fully deserved, I’m sure you’ll all agree.
Today in SK
🥘 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 - 7.30pm.
Taster Thursday at TRUNK (SK7). Three tapas dishes and a glass of sangria for £20 from 5pm. 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.
Enjoy a taste of India with Curry Thursday at Platform 5 (SK8). £14.45 for a curry, which includes rice, naan bread, poppadoms, mango chutney and a drink. 12pm - 8pm.
🎶 Free jukebox
Nelson Tavern (SK1). From 6.30pm.
🎱 Free pool
George & Dragon (SK7). 6pm - 9pm.
❓ Quiz night
Cheshire Line Tavern (SK8). 8pm. £3 per person. Cash prizes and vouchers for the winners, runners-up and team finishing second to last. Food available before the quiz, including two meals for £20.
DJ Des
The Edgeley Park pitch has been a nasty shade of black and brown on numerous occasions over the years. But our home pitch is a lush green carpet these days, so here’s a little bit of Tom Jones to serenade Cashy and the rest of the team following their trophy success in Leeds last night.
Would you like DJ Des to play a song for your favourite County player, or a friend or family member? Email thescarfmyfatherwore@substack.com with your requests/shoutouts!
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