County 2 Forest Green 0
Tom White’s 85th minute goal for Crewe denies us a place in the top three, but if we continue this current form, there won’t be much anyone can do to stop County’s promotion charge
Wednesday 4 October 2023
NEXT HOME GAME: Donny Rovers – Saturday 7 October, 3pm
NEXT AWAY GAME: Salford – Tuesday 10 October, 7.45pm
Dear County fans, Stopfordians, and any Forest Green supporters joining us today (well, those with enough strength to lift up their mobile pho… actually, I did that joke yesterday didn’t I), a very warm welcome to your Wednesday edition of The Scarf My Father Wore.
Bloody Crewe, eh? We were in the League Two automatic promotion places until they added a late second goal at home to Gillingham last night. That is very much tongue-in-cheek, I hasten to say. County were 20th after September’s opening game, three points off the bottom. You won’t find any Hatters complaining to now be in 4th after October’s opening game, just three points off the top.
Reflecting on a fifth straight win for Dave Challinor’s men, we have Graham Allsopp – who travelled over from his home in France on a 36 euro flight to catch last night’s game – and a bloke called Phil from the FGR Supporters Club.
Speaking of France, Graham runs a two-person gîte at his home in Charente and he’s kindly offered to provide County fans with a discounted rate if they contact him directly rather than booking through Airbnb.
Visit lasabliere.net for further details, and email lasabliere.17@gmail.com if you’re planning a trip to France and you’d like to take up Graham’s offer.
Today’s edition is sponsored by Eleven Accounts Services. A big thank you to Louise, who works with lots of different clients, from freelancers who don't need the complete package, to limited companies who want to hand everything across. Feel free to give Louise a call on 0161 501 0011 or email office@elevenaccounts.com to see how she can help your business.
Finally, I’m starting my charity walk in the next few days, walking every street in Stockport to raise money for men’s mental health charity Mentell. If you’d like to make a donation to help me reach my target, please click here.
Further information on the walk can be found by clicking here.
Des Junior
Yesterday’s match in one word:
Graham – Workmanlike.
Phil – Dispiriting.
Pre-match thoughts:
Graham – Let’s just keep this run going for as long as possible. It’s game by game.
Phil – We didn't have high hopes ahead of the game. Confidence is low.
Post-match thoughts:
Graham – We did what we had to. Three more points and hopefully no injuries. I do get worried that we aren’t ruthless enough in games; we need to score more goals. Another two goals and we’d be second in the league today. I’m hoping goal difference will be immaterial come April, but keeping a good goal difference is a good habit to get into.
Phil – Good to see some spirit after going down to 10 men. Perhaps we should have fielded 10 from the start.
Verdict on County:
Graham – We looked a little tighter at the back, and we’ve finally come together as a team. There was some brilliant instinctive interplay. We looked confident. Did as much as we had to.
Phil – County looked very well organised and used the width of the pitch well when attacking. Solid enough in defence.
Verdict on Forest Green:
Graham – Considering they were in the league above us last season they looked very average. I don’t recall Ben having to work hard at all. They came with a high-press gameplan that we dealt with effectively.
Phil – Lacking organisation and pace at the back to cope with your wing-backs, especially Bailey in the first half.
Top Hatter:
Graham – Tanto obviously had another great match – scored one and made one – but it really was very much a team performance. Macca, Sarce, Pye, Collar – all could have been man of the match. In fact, that went to Louis Barry, who I felt had a comparatively subdued game.
Phil – With a goal and a great assist, Oloafe shaded it for me.
Top Rover:
Graham – Dabo came on after the red card and made some Macca-esque runs down the right wing, but no one stood out as impressive. In fact, way too much standing around in general by FGR.
Phil – Harvey Bunker.
Atmosphere:
Graham – I was on the Pop Side, and as always, Yellow Block made themselves heard and gave valuable insights to players and officials. The Cheadle End kept things going. Like the match, the atmosphere was good, but not a classic evening game under the lights.
Phil – Great atmosphere! Unnecessarily awkward exit from the ground for away fans, though. In the rain, I might add!
Hopes for the rest of the season:
Graham – We’ve played consecutive matches against teams in League One last season. We’ve looked better than them, and there’s no doubt this squad is strong enough to get promoted. I’m hoping we can keep this run going until the New Year, and like Orient last season, put ourselves so far ahead that other teams accept our position. I certainly want to see us promoted before we set foot inside The Racecourse next April.
Phil – League Two survival.
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 2-0 victory at home to Forest Green Rovers on Tuesday 3 October 2023, as told from his County-related WhatsApp groups…
5.20pm: Two reprobates in The Friary have just ordered fish, chips, and gravy.
5.21pm: Perverts!
5.22pm: That’s making me hungry, that.
7.52pm: I've made friends with a steward on the Pop Side. Explained to him which teams are playing, which league this is, where the home fans are, and where the away fans are. Nice to see they do thorough induction.
8.00pm: Tantooooo! 1-0. Brilliant from Collar.
8.01pm: Will Collar is starting to look like Will Collar again.
8.04pm: Too many vegan pies for Deeney.
8.06pm: I told you this Tanto kid was good.
8.21pm: Sarce makes it 2-0. Bosh!
9.18pm: Barry hasn’t scored tonight. Send him back.
9.38pm: We’ve been a bit sloppy since the subs, but it’s fine really. We’ve got nothing on the bench. Cody Johnson looks like he’s got loads of potential, but he’s nowhere near first team football. Overall we’ve been really good tonight though. All round solid, professional performance.
9.39pm: Cody was outstanding against Sheffield Wednesday but hasn’t really repeated it in a league game yet.
9.41pm: Five wins from five! Donny a more difficult prospect at weekend. Not in terrible form and they’ll come for a point.
9.56pm: Cheltenham have now got ELEVEN games without a goal. To be in the first week of October without scoring is absolutely bonkers.
9.59pm: And they played Fleetwood who were second bottom today. That is a truly miserable experience.
Switch your business finance records over to the cloud
County fans use cloud computing on a daily basis. They post photos of pies and selfies with Paddy Madden to Facebook. They pay for coach travel via online banking. They stream TV and film from apps like iPlayer and Netflix on long journeys home from Crawley and Colchester. If you’re a County fan who runs a business, why aren’t you using the cloud for your accounts as well?
Louise from Eleven Accounts Services always advises her clients to switch their business finance records over to the cloud, as it allows for flexibility, it provides you with financial information in real time, and it also tightens security.
Visit elevenaccounts.com for further details.
Photo of the day
Edgeley Park, Stockport
Here’s County’s popular groundsman Liam Cash, stood on his pitch with the National League trophy on that unforgettable Halifax day.
Cashy could be getting his hands on more silverware shortly as the club have been nominated in the category for Professional Football Grounds Team of the Year at the Grounds Management Association awards. Derby and Wigan are the other contenders.
The GMA Industry Awards celebrate excellence within the grounds industry. Highlighting talent within the sector, the prestigious awards ceremony recognises the contribution made by grounds staff across the country.
The event, which will be held at Headingley Stadium on Wednesday 29 November, will be hosted by award-winning sports broadcaster, Hayley McQueen, and will give grounds teams the opportunity to celebrate their vital role in making sport possible.
Congratulations to Cashy and the rest of the team at EP for making the shortlist, and the very best of luck in Leeds next month!
Today in SK
🍷 Food and drink
Fancy a few midweek drinks tonight? The Nelson Tavern (SK1) have a great range of offers throughout the week, including a Doubles Bar for just £4.50, a comprehensive range of shots for £2, and 3 for £6 on Jägerbombs.
For those on a gluten-free diet, finding a nice portion of fish and chips to tuck into can be quite difficult. But on a Wednesday at Fishers of Cheshire (SK2), gluten-free meals are available. Open till 9.30pm.
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.
Wine Wednesday at TRUNK (SK7) from 5pm. 50% off all bottles of wine from 7pm. 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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