HENDON 1-1 WINGATE & FINCHLEY Since I met my current girlfriend in April she has tolerated my disappearances every Saturday as I schlep southwards to watch the Blue Gods in action. She would marvel in wonderment as Sharky and I would return to Northampton full of stories of Tom’s perennial battle against his nemesis the Peas or the exploits of Old Father S*x Crime and eventually curiosity got the better of her. “Take me up The Wingate” she demanded forcefully one day and what better way to introduce her to life seven leagues below the top flight than with a lovely trip to Harrow on a bank holiday Monday. Despite enduring the journey from hell on the M1 two day previously I was forced to raise the Wingate carbon footprint further and use my car once again due to large portions of the rail network being closed between Northampton and North West London. Clearly the powers that be at Network Rail had not anticipated the mass influx of people from the Northamptonshire area to Harrow in a bid to once again bathe in the awesomeness of The Blue Gods in Orange. We arrived and parked up around half one, when Freyda sent me a text on the wind up asking where I was because the game had already kicked off, I’d like to say I’d done my research and knew that this wasn’t the case. However I fell for her little jape hook, line sinker and copy of Angling Times and I was to found dragged Emma along at breakneck speed in a bid to get into the ground as soon as possible to avoid missing out on any significant pieces of action. Last January when The Blue Gods last played at Earlsmead Sharky and I made the wrong turn at a cross roads near the entrance to ground and ended up doing a lap of the gaff before eventually finding our way in. The expression “Learning from your mistakes” clearly means nothing to me so once again I took the exact same wrong turning this time dragging poor Emma along with me. When we were about halfway round our extended walk, Freyda texted back and confirmed that the kick off time was actually scheduled for its usual three o’clock slot. Following our impromptu lap of the ground we finally arrived to find the usual suspects loitering in the bar area like a gang of unwanted rejects. Upon closer inspection it became apparent that the artist formerly known as Carshalton B*stard has sensibly decided to stay south of the river rather than try and tackle the four hour engineering work induced journey up to Earlsmead, leaving Martin and Freyda as the only ones with a 100% attendance record for the season. All manner of changes had been made to the starting eleven from the poor showing at home to Kingstonian two days previously. Winger Marcus Milner had been drafted into the starting line up at right full back to replace the injured Ola Williams, Spencer McCall was in to replace JC and The Sunshine Band, Ahmet was dropped back to a much more familiar defensive position to replace Jessie Parsnips and much to the delight of the fans Daniel McGonigle was back in the starting line up for the first time this season, handing travelling army their first opportunity to belt out the McGonigle song. Additionally for the first time this season Danny Nielsen opted to use dual strikers as apposed to operating with a single front man as a consequence the dream duo of Leon and Lairdy were back terrorising Step 7 back lines. One of my fondest memories of last season was when we played Hendon at Wembley FC’s ground and the crazy musical choices that were played when the players entered the pitch, if memory serves me correctly last year the choices included Ring Of Fire and Dueling Banjos. This year it was Daydream Believer by The Monkees. Whatever happens this year I do hope we end up in the same division as Hendon next season just so I can see what they can concoct for next year. The game wasn’t of the greatest quality and to be honest the entire encounter looked like two bad sides pummeling each other, I would personally describe it has watching two bald men (Martin & Rob) fighting over a comb. The first of what seemed like a million chances for Leon Smith came when he was released by a decent ball from Tommy Tejan-Sie, Leon unleashed a howitzer of a shot which unluckily cannoned off the cross bar. Both sides exchanged guilt edged chances, Hendon missed an absolute sitter when it looked easier to score, at the other end Leon was once against sent clear but the young Hendon keeper made a decent block. It transpired that I wasn’t the only person who had taken his girlfriend to the football this fine Bank Holiday Monday when halfway through the first half The Podfather’s own particular treacle turned up. I personally think Tom and Gap Tooth Non League Mary make a lovely couple. The highlights of the second half included Leon squandering another couple of one on ones with the keeper, Hendon missing chance after chance when it looked like my Nan would have bagged a few and finally the game being suspended for lengthy periods of time while the only remaining ball in the ground was retrieved from where ever the players had kicked it. I can understand the plight Hendon are experiencing with their rapidly diminishing quota of balls, we experienced a similar problem when Anthony Thomas was on our books. Hector Mackie following his assault on Matt at Imber Court a few weeks ago seemingly was still out to get The Mouth of The South. The soon to depart Scottish winger firstly attempted to knock Martin over the railings when he targeted him with a free kick and latterly with a cross. The Blue Gods finally took the lead when substitute Scott Shulton scuffed his shot into the path of Leon Smith who cut inside his man and finished with authority past the Hendon keeper. The goal celebrations were bizarre with Daniel McGonigle seemingly making a beeline for Martin! The joy of seeing The Blue Gods win away for the first time this season was short lived though as Hendon equalised in the injury time that had been accumulated trying to retrieve the plethora of stray balls. Final word should go to Emma who when trying to put faces to the various names she had heard Sharky and I conversing about thought Carshalton B*stard and Fat Bonnie Tyler were two different people. The Blue Gods (in Orange) 1- Bobby Smith 2- Marcus “Right Back (behind the goal)” Milner 3- Paul Wright 4- Tommy “Does a Job” Tejan-Sie 5- Marc Weatherstone 6- Ahmet Rifat 7- Daniel “Daniel The Spaniel” McGonigle 8- Spencer McCall 9- Leon “Double Hat Trick” Smith 10- David Laird 11- Hector “I’ll Get That Loud Mouthed Git Before I Go” Mackie 12-John Christian 14-Dean Mason 15-Farai Hallam 16-Gavin Suddell 17-Scott Shulton Gap Toothed Non League Mary MOTM – Tommy Tejan-Sie Attendance – 184 (21 Wingate, 1 Spaniel, 0 Astronauts)
Posted on: Thu, 29 Aug 2013 16:11:22 +0000
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