The Champions 0 County 3
The automatic promotion race goes down to the final day, but even if we do get pipped by Northampton, a result like this should give us huge confidence going into the play-offs
Monday 1 May 2023
Pinch, punch, it’s the first day of the month! I hope you’re all enjoying your Bank Holiday Monday. Although I’m sure it’s NEXT Monday that’s occupying the minds of County fans across the country today. Here’s hoping Tranmere can deliver a knockout punch to Northampton a week today, allowing us to pinch third place.
The reason the League Two promotion race is going to the final day is because of County’s stunning 3-0 victory in the capital on Saturday, and that’s our main feature for today’s edition. (Yes, Bradford, we owe you a drink as well. Just don’t even bloody think about winning 7-0 at Crewe on Wednesday night to add to the final day nerves.)
Having found a County fan called Dave (Thompson) to review Saturday’s game in London, I’ve been desperately looking for an Orient fan called Chas to join us as well, but to no avail. We’ll have to make do with a Mat (Roper) instead.
Finally, a big thank you to Paul at Colourtone for sponsoring today’s edition. See below for further details on what they have to offer.
Des Junior
Saturday’s match in one word:
Chas Mat - Strange.
Dave - Unforgettable.
Pre-match thoughts:
Chas Mat - Spoke with several friends and we all wondered how you would play it. Come out and go for broke or sit tight? We knew no matter what our team selection would be, we wouldn’t deviate from our methods so it was all down to the way County would approach the game.
Dave - That we’d get battered! I thought maybe 1-1 but that was me being optimistic.
Post-match thoughts:
Chas Mat - County were clearly the better side. Yes, we had a bad day and I think it was clear we weren’t at it, but take nothing away from County, they seized the opportunity, were excellent going forward and deserved the win.
Dave - Automatic promotion is still on. Let’s hope that, whatever happens, if next season is a sticky start, we don’t get the ridiculous “Challinor out” minority piping up again.
Verdict on Orient:
Chas Mat - Lacklustre. A real “on the beach” performance but then again we can all forgive the players looking at the position we’re in.
Dave - Hungover.
Verdict on County:
Chas Mat - In the reverse fixture I thought County looked very good in the final third and it was proven again on Saturday. Defensively we gave you no headaches which might have made a real game of it. Definitely one of the hardest teams to contend with when your front three/five are on it.
Dave - Class. My son Will describes it as “Grade A”.
Top O:
Chas Mat - Paul Smyth. You guys doubled up on him but still had trouble containing him for half an hour.
Dave - Their lad on the right, Smyth. Looked a real tricky player. Throwback winger.
Top Hatter:
Chas Mat - Any one of the front three, cannot split them.
Dave - Joe Lewis silenced some critics. Camps controlled the midfield well. Croasdale was his usual brilliant unsung hero. And the fans. Shutting the bar meant we were there for 90 minutes and don’t believe what you read from the Orient fans. We were singing relentlessly.
Atmosphere:
Chas Mat - Great carnival atmosphere in both ends for obvious reasons. County helped make it a noisy affair, just disappointing at the end getting far too boisterous.
Dave - As mentioned, the County fans were superb. It felt like we were singing non-stop. The home fans were very poor, until they came up with one song that they sang for the last 15 minutes. It was countered by County fans on the day which was amusing, but, I hope it doesn’t stick as it will become the new “Bolton get battered” and become tiresome very quickly. But I am old.
Hopes for the final day of the season:
Chas Mat - Don’t lose and enjoy the day! It’s going to be really strange. Bradford might still be pushing for the top three, and I don’t know which Orient will turn up - the champions or Saturday’s team?
Dave - We win. Nothing we can do other than that. I hope that the stars align and the players and staff get promoted, one way or another. They deserve everything. AEF. 💙
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 3-0 victory at Leyton Orient on Saturday 29 April 2023, as told from his three County-related WhatsApp groups…
12.12am: I’ve arrived “darn sarf” in preparation for tomorrow. Anyone want a cock shot?
9.13am: No. Please don’t ruin my breakfast.
2.57pm: A guard of honour? What the fuck! Piss off you southern Tory bastards!
3.05pm: Akil Wright! Great header.
3.10pm: 2-0! Camps. Great finish that.
3.17pm: And this lot won the league?
3.18pm: Give it time…
3.34pm: Bradford winning at Northampton.
3.37pm: Orient look like a team that wants the game over so they can get in the pub.
4.16pm: Stevenage take the lead. Bollocks.
4.25pm: Northampton equalise. Bollocks.
4.27pm: Stevenage score again, that’s them promoted now. Come on Bradford!
4.41pm: 3-0 County. Well at least we’re doing our bit.
4.55pm: Bradford winner in injury time. FUCKING GET IN!
4.58pm: Next Monday is going to be agony.
5.02pm: Just noticed that Bradford still have an outside chance of third too...
5.03pm: They do, but only if we don’t win. If we beat Hartlepool they’re not going to better our goal difference.
5.04pm: That’s what Northampton thought last season until Bristol Rovers won 7-0…
5.27pm: Not at all worried about the final day. We're in control of our own destiny for the play-offs and could even secure a second leg at home with a defeat. If results go our way we've still got a chance of automatic promotion as well. Roll on, a week on Monday. Let's send the fancy dress fuckwits down with a defeat.
Today in SK
⚽️ If you fancy a football fix over your Bank Holiday Monday pint, there’s a couple of huge games today. At 5.30pm, Blackburn take on Luton at Ewood Park knowing they have to pick up all three points to keep alive their chances of joining the (fake) Hatters in the play-offs. Then at 8pm it’s Leicester v Everton in the Premier League relegation dogfight. The winners climb out of the bottom three; the losers, you’d have to say, will be in the Championship next season. If Everton lose, we could still potentially be the first ever visitors to their new stadium on the River Mersey! Bask (SK1) will have all the action on their big screens, as well as some great beers on offer.
🎶 There’s free jukebox at the Nelson Tavern (SK1) from 6.30pm.
Give your car a lick of paint
Granted, Stockport used to be a little rough around the edges. But the town’s getting a good old lick of paint these days, with fancy new offices, apartments, bars and restaurants springing up. You can’t be driving up and down the A6 in a tatty car with chipped paintwork, so give your car a nice lick of paint too. Colourtone is your go-to company for that. They’ve been servicing the automotive and industrial markets in Cheshire and Greater Manchester for decades, and carry an extensive range of car paint and industrial paints.
Visit colourtone.com for further details.
Photo of the day
The Red Lion, High Lane
Spotted by one of our subscribers, Hannah Brown. You can now take your dog out for a pint and a roast dinner. Our town gets cooler and cooler, doesn’t it? Maybe Stockport is the new Berlin.
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 May, 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.