This was the definition of a no-score draw on a cold day. Perhaps the only excitement for Brentford fans was the appearance of Simon moore in goal who made a great save and looked a n accomplished keeper. Otherwise awful. Team selection looked like it was done with a roulette wheel but the consistent result was that all the players signed by Uwe Rosler are worse than those departing. A very boring afternoon indeed.
At last something to make the football part of the brain feel better. Last week Brentford against Wrexham were shameful frankly. Hence I refused to go to Barnet making my personal and quiet protest. Today was different. For 80 minutes this was a real 0-0 game and then suddently the last 10 minutes exploded making one wonder why this might not have happened in the first 10 minutes. Brentford got a lucky goal in that a decent lob should have been caught by the keeper but it seemed to drift over his head and into the net. 30 seconds later Hartlepool equlaised with a low shot from outside the box that maybe the keeper was slow going down to, but i would like to see that again. then another 30 seconds later a penalty for Brentford which Gary Alexander took, not a great penalty, was saved but the rebound came back to him and he pushed it into the net for 2-1. but this 10 minutes was frantic end to end stuff and more than made up the preceeding 80 minutes.
The Bill Axbey stand at Brentford where I am proud to have 4 season tickets
Just when i was getting excited about watching Walton again, as Rochdale seemed a little too far to travel today to watch Brentford, they go and lose two games in a week without scoring a goal. In mitigation on tuesday night Whitehawk were a good team, maybe one of the most accomplished teams at this level I had seen for some while, and Dulwich also sit near the top of the table. The game started brightly and for the first half for 43 minutes Walton were on top but without looking like scoring and the game changed with Dulwich scoring a penalty just before half-time. The second half was dull and Dulwich always looked like scoring more goals, whereas Walton looked like their players had never met before. the Walton players who caught the eye were Rodney Chiweshe, the keeper, and Adriano Moraes playing in midfield, who I learned by eavesdropping, he is Romanian and 33 yrs old and played profesionally there.
The main talk however at the club is about the council forcing them to move grounds. Put simply it seems the club thought they had a deal whereby a few houses were built on some of the land, the athletics club moved out to a new stadium ( funded by said houses ) and the ground was essentially rebuilt and modernised. Not much has happened to modernise the ground in the last 50 years – no exagerration there either. The council want Walton to move in with their Ryman League neighbours Walton Casuals , and that ground will be improved. In the clubhouse for the next month there is a model of the proposed amends to to the existing site and petitions to be signed and forms to be filled in. On balance I dont want the club to move and the online petition can be found at http://www.waltonandhershamfc.org.uk/thefuture. The club can be emailed at waltonandhershamfc@yourshout.org with any comments or questions. There however is another side of the coin. Crowds at Walton have been poor for years reflecting a number of poor seasons with sides that change almost weekly giving no real consistency for fans. There also seems to have been little attempt by the club to make links with other local sides in the league to get players on loan. Finally I have not seen any efforts to really try and increase crowd size, like free entry for children or any other campaigns to get Walton noticed. So, we have a club that gets crowds of around 100, with playing staffs changing monthly, towards the lower end of the league in a ground with poor facilities ( like an almost total absence of toilets). Despite these foibles I am very fond of Walton having seen them since 5 years old and recall well David Bassett and others playing for them.
Anyway, make your own mind up , but I would like them to stay. But the deal is this for my support. Please dont just recycle the same 3 songs before the game and at half time! If you want some music just ask me and I can put some on a disc or whatever suits! I think we had Sweet Child of Mine twice or three times today. Lastly, they do have the best burger van i know of. It is well worth eating your tea there, burger and chips at very reasonable prices!
Rodney Chiweshe beaten by penaltyStompond Lane home of Walton and HershamTerraceMain stand at Stompond LaneCurious clearance from dulwich defenderMichael Gordon, interesting winger and great hairstyleWhat happened next when rodney missed the punch?
A very close game and considering Charlton are a decent side 5 points clear at the top of the league a decent enough performance. However this almost half way through the season and being honest we all know Brentford are not a promotion team. A decent mid-table team who on their day can beat anyone and indeed be beaten by anyone. somewhat unlucky with injuries though and one hopes that we can continue to build a side good enough to challenge next year.
I remain unconvinced that our strikers are playing 100%. I am totally convinced that a few are not good enough. but this was a good game, 8000 there and I am not complaining.
THE FA CUP
SECOND ROUND PROPER DRAW NUMBERS
1 HEREFORD UNITED OR YEOVIL TOWN
2 BURY OR CRAWLEY TOWN
3 LUTON TOWN OR NORTHAMPTON TOWN
4 CAMBRIDGE UNITED OR WREXHAM
5 MORECAMBE OR SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY
6 SWINDON TOWN OR HUDDERSFIELD TOWN
7 REDBRIDGE OR OXFORD CITY
8 BRISTOL ROVERS OR CORBY TOWN
9 OLDHAM ATHLETIC OR BURTON ALBION
10 PRESTON NORTH END OR SOUTHEND UNITED
11 DAGENHAM & REDBRIDGE OR BATH CITY
12 HARTLEPOOL UNITED OR STEVENAGE
13 BLYTH SPARTANS OR GATESHEAD
14 ALFRETON TOWN OR CARLISLE UNITED
15 CHESTERFIELD OR TORQUAY UNITED
16 CREWE ALEXANDRA OR COLCHESTER UNITED
17 TRANMERE ROVERS OR CHELTENHAM TOWN
18 CHELMSFORD CITY OR AFC TELFORD UNITED
19 HINCKLEY UNITED OR TAMWORTH
20 EXETER CITY OR WALSALL
21 BRADFORD CITY OR ROCHDALE
22 NOTTS COUNTY OR ACCRINGTON STANLEY
23 PORT VALE OR GRIMSBY TOWN
24 SHEFFIELD UNITED OR OXFORD UNITED
25 FC HALIFAX TOWN OR CHARLTON ATHLETIC
26 SUTTON UNITED OR KETTERING TOWN
27 AFC BOURNEMOUTH OR GILLINGHAM
28 MILTON KEYNES OR NANTWICH TOWN
29 AFC TOTTON OR BRADFORD (PARK AVENUE)
30 NEWPORT COUNTY OR SHREWSBURY TOWN
31 LEYTON ORIENT OR BROMLEY
32 EAST THURROCK UNITED OR MACCLESFIELD TOWN
33 AFC WIMBLEDON OR SCUNTHORPE UNITED
34 SALISBURY CITY OR ARLESEY TOWN
35 BRENTFORD OR BASINGSTOKE TOWN
36 MAIDENHEAD UNITED OR ALDERSHOT TOWN
37 FLEETWOOD TOWN OR WYCOMBE WANDERERS
38 BARROW OR ROTHERHAM UNITED
39 SOUTHPORT OR BARNET
40 PLYMOUTH ARGYLE OR STOURBRIDGE
TIES TO BE PLAYED ON 2nd 3rd and 4th December
There was little real evidence of the maigic of the FA cup today at Griffin Park. a slightly better crowd than expected due to the 1pm kick off and the mild reduction in admission prices to £15 of 3553. Brentford started well and fully deserved their opening goal from sam saunders, a free kick from 5 yards outside the box. but that then led to a decline in both effort and quality, and being honest Bees looked like they were shepherding a 1-0 victory for 80 minutes. good game? not really. Did basingstoke deserve a draw? yes. Only Diardouraga and saunders can really claim any credit. Grella failed to give a clue as to how he scored 4 goals midweek and was woeful at times. Still, Bees are in the second round of the FA cup and thats only a game away from Chelsea, Man utd etc……
finally, a third win on the trot for Walton and Hersham, away at Croydon Athletic 3-2. A great run.
Seems like quite a feisty game. Rosler was sent to the stands. notts got an unjust penlaty and Donaldson scored one of the great Bees goals of all time it seems! anyway just got the great news that kimberley is now a fully fledged scuba diving instructoress!!! Wonderful news
a busy week. Got back from slovenia saturday afternoon and was straight off to take Elena to her birthday party. A trip to see Johnny English at the cinema with 3 friends, a curry afterwards and then the dreaded sleepover! they went to sleep 1.30 am and was up 7 am………needless to say they are tired today. Photographs will follow in due course. Hedgepig decided to be extra social today and came out happily in the daytime sitting on folks laps. The film was actually very funny. Rowan Atkinson doing a sort of tuned down Mr Bean character. Greyhounds all walked today with Elena accompanied by her current best friend Caitlin, who could not be more different to Elena if she tried.
Happily, I missed a 0-0 Brentford v Scunthorpe game which sounds as exciting as the scorelines suggests.
slovenia though was amazing. A special place. Green country with snowy mountains, happy smiling people and lovely city centre with river walks, cafes, bars, music everywhere. I was however the oldest person there! My talks went well so a good choice that I will be invited back to slovenia and Croatia!
Weather here is starting to turn autumnal, leaves are all off the trees, cold in the evening and heating has been turned on for the first time. Not bad I suppose, the middle of October!
As Brentford were playing in carlisle, which is essentially an hour from Glasgow, it was a simple decision to miss this game and go to a local non-league game. I have taken to watching Met Police who play in the Ryman’s Premier league, which is actually only 3 leagues below the football league. One of the reasons i watch them is that parking is so easy, a great big car park at their Molesesy HQ. However I always check that my tax disc is showing and in date and the tyres on the car are not too offensive. a decent game. Met Police play passing football and most teams they play seem to rely more on the physical aspects. Met Police had a player sent off after about 10 minutes for being ” the last man” and the game seemed destined to finish 0-0, although in fairness Billericay should have had a number of goals. In injury time a truly shocking backpass gave billericay a goal. this also is the first game where the secretary came around in the 75th minute to hand out programmes to all spectators because the programmes had been printed ” been sent somewhere, and arrived in the 75th minute……”. Free of charge i must add.
Meanwhile Brentford drew 2-2 with Carlisle and it seems from the report a lively enough game with Brentford taking the lead and then equalising in the 88th minute. Uwe Rosler on the radio afterwards sounded a happy enough soul.
As a long time Bees fan I do know realistically what to expect, usually nothing. But this season is something different. Brentford were beaten today comprehensively by a much better, motivated,stronger,agile and seemingly fitter side. If the result had been 7-0 one could not have complained. This is going to be a long season if everytime a side who wants to tackle and push and generally play physical football ( and do it well and mostly in the bounds of the laws) cones to Brentford, they will win. We have lost 3 games at home to similar sides, Tranmere, Preston and Huddersfield. In this league having players who cannot/will not tackle is a luxury. sad day . Streams of Bees fans were leaving at 70 minutes and maybe one might wonder why they did not go before. no-one today came out with any credit. No-one played well, it was only differing degress of badness. To compound matters I arrived back at Heathrow at 2.30 on a much delayed plane from Berlin, got picked up and kindly deposited at the ground, so to go to all this effort seems pointless. A very bad Brentford day.
We also seem to be doing our usual trick of accumulating average players who mainly have failed elsewhere and thats why they are out on loan. Take David Clarkson. Simply woeful. Please send him back to Bristol City tomorrow. Why sign Harry Forrester and not play him? We dont know how good he is because he has been on the bench all season. Who was the captain today? As in where was the captain? Oh and usual again ex-Bees players always score against us. Jordan Rhodes, whom I rate very highly and without doubt is at least a championship player scored 1-2 goals today.
chris1957
Arcticterntalk.org 