So the romance of the Cup is over, at least until November when the Vase kicks in for us, and it was down to earth with a bang at Shildon on Wednesday night; always a tough trip, made harder by our injury and other problems I understand, and lo and behold we play them again today. I know the fixture secretary’s job is hard, but this is frankly ridiculous and worse, makes the league look ridiculous, in your humble correspondent's opinion. There is a very long way to go with this season, surely this return fixture could have waited, even if it meant a blank Saturday for us? This kind of thing much strengthens the move to reduce the size of leagues to 20 or even 18. Never mind we must crack on. I hear Mr Larkin put in his normal cracking effort at centre back on Wednesday, while more surprising was the performance of Luke Richardson up front for more than 80 minutes. Very good stuff, and a sign that the attitude around the squad remains top class. Versatility, a great quality in a player.
Anyway, how was the trip to Scarborough? Unwanted diversion to Robin Hood's Bay I hear, with it looking like a permanent stay at one point as the bus struggled to get back up the hill. The transport is often the joy of away trips. How old and knackered does a trip bus have to be before it gets retired? Very old. The giveaway is the number of random “personal” number plates sported by antique coaches. Still it got there in the end. And a super set up I hear, lovely new ground and great facilities. The blokes trying to avoid the stewards on the hill at the other side and watch for nowt was entertaining, supposedly. Well, it is in Yorkshire. My reporter tells me it was a very close thing and at half time he was confident we would win, even if it took a replay, how wrong can you be? Been a great little run of games though, and hopefully made the club a few sorely needed quid. Got to go back into the dim and distant past for our last venture this far, the last few years have been dire. The hoodoo is cracked now though, as long as it doesn’t return in the Vase.
In the wider world the rumbles get louder over at the SoL, though the manager largely escapes blame so far. Bound to be a long hard journey back, too many bad mistakes in the past, often involving sacking managers. Continuity is the thing, take it from me. And the crowds have disappeared, you would think a couple of dozen would have migrated over to Meadow Park. Maybe this week.