I joked a couple of games ago that our lads could play these last few games in flip flops and while smoking cigars. At least, I thought I was joking. During the second half on Saturday it looked like our brave boys had taken me very much at my word. Seven goals, six of them at the wrong end in forty five minutes? Give me strength. Mind, our sole second half effort was the pick of the bunch, a two touch spectacular from the kick off, canny from the Bogie man. Never mind, on we go, because tonight should be easy...
But on to tonight. I will grant you that nowhere outside of the odd quiet spot in Argentina would Adolf Hitler be regarded as a good guy, but it seems to me that the football loving folk of Shildon have more cause than most to have a downer on the old führer. There they were in the thirties, knocking off the Northern League on a regular basis, four times champions in the decade, right up to the time when Adi launched the panzers on Poland. And then what? 75 years with hardly a sniff, that's what. Grounds for some disgruntlement I reckon. Still makes for quite a spectacular end to this season. Will the champions be Shildon after 75 years, or Marske for the first time ever? Or even possibly North Shields in their wonder season. Who knows, but we will soon...
And finally my twopennorth on another subject. I notice on the various media outlets that the title race in the Northern League has been used to revive the old promotion or not promotion debate. They won't let it lie will they? And the League Chairman no less has raised the possibility of the FA launching compulsory promotion. That might work. Work to see a few clubs shut up shop at least. A classic example of people avoiding a big problem by concentrating on the consequences not the cause, in my humble. Until and unless the Pyramid in the North is reorganised on sensible lines the current situation will continue, or so I reckon anyway. Little or no point in taking promotion to the Northern Premier unless you think you can bounce through to the Conference in two or three seasons. The NPL is no kind of target in itself for North East clubs in my view. But what would I know?