County 2 Stevenage 0
After a fourth consecutive victory this month, those “E I E I E I O” chants are starting to get louder and louder in SK3…
Monday 20 February 2023
Three promotions in five years. Three. Promotions. In. Five. Years. I feel like somebody should be forcing me to write down “surely not” somewhere. Hell, after thinking back to some of those crappy old away ends like FC United and Fylde we were marooned on until fairly recently, I feel this “SURELY NOT” should be getting the caps lock treatment. Before my 34th birthday, I’d only ever seen County win promotion three times. To double that number to six before I’ve even turned 39 - especially when you consider some of the shit this club has been through over the last decade or so - would be unbelievable. It could even be seven before I’m 40! Ah, sod it, why not? Luton are in the Championship now.
Could we really be going to Huddersfield, Blackpool and Wigan (as things stand) next season? Even as I write this now, I feel like I should curb my enthusiasm. But it’s on, isn’t it? It’s bloody, bloody on. Until fairly recently, you had a sense there was only one automatic promotion place to play for. But if you look at the league table this morning, as well as the manner in which County dealt with Stevenage on Saturday, there’s a very coherent argument that there are now two automatic spots to play for. Leyton Orient are out of reach (although… win our two games in hand, and win at Brisbane Road in April, and maybe… no, stop that right now Des Junior) but there’s no reason why, if we maintain our current form, County can’t be looking at third, or even second, by May.
Today’s main feature is a look back at a wonderful afternoon on Saturday, as County beat Stevenage for the first ever time, moving up to 6th in League Two in the process. Thanks to Jamie Summers and Mike Harniman for sharing their thoughts.
There’s only three days to go until ‘The County Comedy Quiz’ at Bask. A huge thank you to everyone who’s bought tickets so far. If anyone else is free on Thursday night, come and join me and Benji for a top night out. We’ve got a cracking quiz. We’ve got great prizes. We’ve got Paul Jones joining us for the evening. We’ve even got a little bit of stand-up comedy as well. All that for a fiver. Click here to join us.
Finally, a big thank you to Marc, Lynn and all the team at HB Printing for sponsoring today’s edition.
Des Junior
Saturday’s match in one word:
Jamie - Superb.
Mike - Outclassed.
Pre-match thoughts:
Jamie - A weird mix of optimism and wariness. I had a feeling that we’d begun to motor on another one of our tremendous runs, but equally I was aware that Stevenage are a good side who can dominate teams and make the most of set pieces. It definitely had a sense of occasion about it though!
Mike - Would have taken a point considering our blip and your good form.
Post-match thoughts:
Jamie - It was great, wasn’t it? The match called for a big performance and we got one, completely deserving of the win. The way we controlled the game in the first half, and then dealt with Stevenage’s threat in the second was textbook County at our best. You know sometimes when you get a win and it feels just that bit more significant than usual… well, definitely that.
Mike - No complaints about the result. Thought you were better than us and deserved the win. We were poor in the first half, but improved in the second, although your defence stood up to us well.
Verdict on County:
Jamie - Really impressive. It wasn’t ever going to be a game where we’d brush Stevenage aside. They’re a good team who look likely to go up because they merit it. We were always going to need to play the percentages a bit, win lots of individual battles and put a lot of effort in. Solid performances all round and we showed a lot of bottle. It’s the sort of performance that makes me proudest to be a County fan.
Mike - You looked like a side who could sneak into the automatic places. I was impressed by your performance.
Verdict on Stevenage:
Jamie - I was really surprised by them actually. Whatever you think of him, Steve Evans knows how to organise a team and make things difficult. I expected loads of scrappy 50-50s and disruptive tactics, but I was surprised by how much they sat off and didn’t bother to press us in the first half. We still had to do our bit though! The second half was a bit more like what I’d expected, but even then I thought we made a good team look ordinary. That’s probably as much because we were good as they were bad though.
Mike - Woeful from us, allowing you too much time down the left for the opening, and not closing you down which I found frustrating when we were just letting you knock it around. Second goal was also poor from our point of view, although 2-0 was a fair scoreline.
Top Hatter:
Jamie - I struggle to pick one because everyone was solid. Akil Wright got man of the match and I think that’s fair enough, but I also thought Hippolyte and Collar were unplayable. Special mention for Ryan Croasdale - you just knew he’d put in a proper shift after an unusual off day against Crawley. Proper County, he is.
Mike - Thought Hippolyte played well for you.
Top Boro:
Jamie - Probably their lad Jordan Roberts, who tried to get forward for them down the right. Always interesting to see where Carl Piergianni crops up isn’t it!
Mike - Weird to say but probably Jake Taylor, one of the three half-time subs. Got himself about and had a few chances.
Atmosphere:
Jamie - It was decent enough. I was in the Cheadle End and it was packed at the top. Nice to see the same old faces among the new crowd who’ve joined us recently. All those people are what County is about for me. It was a little bit flat at times, but I thought the County fans did their bit when we were under a bit of pressure in the second half. That celebration when the second went in was a really special moment.
Mike - Pretty decent really. We tried to get behind our team but the support is suffering given our current form. As for your fans, not bad at all. Thought they were really behind the team and you can see why you’re a force at home.
Hopes for the rest of the season:
Jamie - I’m fully signed up to the Des Junior school of thought now: it’s on! I think if we can keep this run going for a little bit longer, we’ve got every chance of challenging for the top three. We probably need to win 10 or 11 of the last 15 to do that, so it’s a challenge, but you never know. Even if we don’t, we’re a good bet to make the play-offs. More than anything, I’m just really enjoying it.
Mike - Still think this is just a blip and we’ll get automatic promotion. I think we’ll bounce back with a win against Tranmere next week and that’ll spur us on. I’ve been impressed with your performances in both fixtures against us and I think you could definitely be the team to capitalise on any dropped points from Northampton and Carlisle over the next few weeks. Good luck for the rest of the season; it was my first time at Edgeley Park and it’s one of the better grounds. Look forward to visiting again in the future.
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 Stevenage on Saturday 18 February 2023, as told from his three County-related WhatsApp groups…
12.18pm: You’re in for a shock in the Armoury today!
12.24pm: Why?
12.31pm: The price of the beer! 30p more for a pint of Dizzy - now £4!
1.17pm: Gents. Due to poorlysickness I have two tickets spare for today's game. Does anyone know of anyone who would like them. PS) Don't say they are from me. PPS) Don't go on any forums touting them. PPPS) Don't lumber me with dickheads. PPPPS) I won't charge for the tickets, but do not let the person/people know that in advance.
3.28pm: How’s the game shaping up?
3.29pm: We are really good on the ball so far. Not created any meaningful chances but largely dictating things.
3.31pm: They're sitting off us and letting us play. Risky for them but also risky for us as we could get complacent and they hit us on the counter.
3.35pm: 1-0 Collar! Hippo assist.
3.48pm: Half-time. Deserve that lead. Mainly because we're here to play football.
3.49pm: And we’ve largely played it well. They’ve allowed us to but we’ve been 100 times better in possession in the first half today than the first half against Crawley.
3.50pm: Crucial going one up, it deflates their shithouse game plan somewhat.
4.46pm: Wootton misses a one-on-one. Hope it’s not costly.
4.49pm: Nine minutes added.
4.53pm: 2-0. Huge goal! And breathe…
4.54pm: Fuck off Evans.
4.58pm: Full-time. Nailed on play-offs. Automatic really is now on the cards!
5.12pm: Very professional performance that. Their game plan was bizarre - paid us too much respect in the first half - but we handled it well and took the initiative. And dealt with them properly in the second half. We made them look very average. Very pleased with that.
2.32am: After a lot of drink and sleep deprivation, I have come to an informed decision.
2.33am: It is this, we are going up again.
2.42am: Des, one for the blog, 2.41am, fuck you Chorley!
Make sure your print job is done properly
Have you got any printing that needs doing at the moment? Don’t be like these County fans. They thought they could print their flag themselves and look at the mess they’ve made of it. They should have taken it to HB Printing in Marple. HB Printing wouldn’t have made so many spelling mistakes. Established for over 50 years, they know exactly what they’re doing, so if you’ve got any printing requirements whatsoever, give them a call.
Click here for contact details.
County v Stevenage - an afternoon in photos
Here’s something you should definitely do in February
Buy tickets for The County Comedy Quiz at Bask!
The Scarf My Father Wore editor, Des Junior, absolutely loves a County quiz. He’s alright at compiling County quizzes as well. Rightly or wrongly, he also fancies himself as a bit of a comedian. On that note, The Scarf My Father Wore are delighted to team up with Bask to bring you The Comedy County Quiz. It’s a proper County quiz, with some fantastic prizes on offer, but our aim is to crack you up with some of the questions along the way.
We’ve also got special guest Paul Jones joining us. The former County defender, and Bolton Wanderers legend, will be speaking on the night, as well as handing out the prizes to the winners!
Click here for our full list of things you should definitely do in February!
Never mind Google or Yell.com, we’ve got you covered
STOP! That got your attention, didn’t it? Just a quick one… I’d hazard a guess that at some point in February, all of our readers will use Google or Yell.com at some point looking for a particular product or service. But before you do, please have a quick look at our own directory to see if we have what you’re looking for. A number of great businesses support The Scarf My Father Wore, allowing us to publish fresh content every day, so let’s send a few enquiries their way in return.
Click here to have a look at all the businesses in our directory.
On this day in 2007
I love watching County on a Tuesday night. I mean, I love watching them any day of the week. But watching County under the floodlights, whether home or away, still gives me a special buzz. I can’t wait for Rochdale tomorrow, so for today’s flashback, I thought we’d have a look at another memorable Tuesday night game. This one’s not a bad choice, is it? On this day back in 2007, Anthony Elding’s 52nd minute strike in front of the Cheadle End clinched a 1-0 victory over Walsall - the eighth game in our incredible run of nine straight wins without conceding a goal.