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NORTHERN
NIGHTS 5
Or : Billy fails to save the day.
by Paul Davidson
People
that know me will not be surprised that I took the opportunity of
our game at Canvey Island to make my first northern trek of the
season and combine some business with a visit to my other non-league
love Accrington Stanley for their first home league game of the
season against Trafford.
Trafford
are one of the successes of the non-league game in general and the
pyramid system in particular. Formed as recently as 1990, they moved
through two leagues and four divisions in their first seven years
of existence to take their place in the first division of the Northern
Premier League (NPL) or Unibond League to give it its proper title.
The fact that they were making a first ever league visit to Accrington
was due to Stanley having probably its worst ever season in its
relatively short non-league history in finishing bottom of last
seasons Unibond League Premier division.
In
the bar before the game two things are on everybody's lips. Firstly
Lancashire Lightning are beating up on the Yorkshire Phoenix on
the large screen tv in a day/night cricket match at Old Trafford.
The folk around here are not too keen on the use of these absurd
nicknames or the fact that everyone appears to be playing in bright
red pyjamas, but as long as Lancy are thumping the Tykes then everything
is relatively ok.
By
far the biggest talking point however is the front cover of this
season's Accrington programme, Stanley Scene. It depicts a cartoon
of a small child with a football rattle and scarf and dressed in
a Manchester United shirt, underneath a headline of "Accrington
Stanley founded 1876, 27 years before Manchester United".
The
general consensus of opinion is that it is very funny. Someone mentions
that the Man Utd fans will be upset when they see it, but someone
else points out that as it is the programme of a Lancashire club
it is very unlikely that any Man Utd fans will see it! This is greeted
by riotous laughter and the fall of two more Yorkshire wickets leads
to the imbibing of more Thwaites Smooth by all concerned. 7.25 and
the teams for tonight's game are read out by an announcer that resembles
Keith Loddy on speed.
It
is apparently obvious that 9 of the 10 Accrington outfield players
are making their home debuts for the club. New Stanley manager,
northern non-league goal scoring legend John Coleman, has certainly
rung the changes. To the chagrin of the locals, Accrington's favourite
son Billy O'Callaghan is only on the subs bench after missing the
clubs first game of the season, a 1-0 defeat at Lincoln United the
previous Saturday due to suspension.
Billy
O'Callaghan's name is becoming legendary in these parts after he
won the "golden boot" for the NPL last season, in his first season
for the club, after becoming the leagues top scorer despite playing
for its bottom club. Billy scored nearly half of the goals that
the club scored in 98/99, but apparently is "not match fit" and
so will not be starting the game this evening.
Interested
Stanley fans are at this stage swapping glances between the notes
in the programme and the unfamiliar faces on the pitch and saying
things like "that new number seven, didn't he play for Matlock Town
against us last year?" and "that number six, he's been at Lancaster
for the last three seasons" in the way that non-league fans do all
over the country at the start of a new season. Tradition plays a
big part in football in these parts and Stanley's new kit is about
as traditional as the legendary square wooden goalposts at the Crown
ground.
The
shirt is plain red only broken up by a white collar and the ubiquitous
sponsors patch on the front. The shorts are plain white and the
all red socks make up the ensemble. If you took away the sponsors
patch you could be back in the 1950's!
The
game itself is a big disappointment. It kicks off in bright sunshine
on an undulating pitch that mirrors perfectly the surrounding countryside,
but that is as good as it gets for the home fans. The new legion
of players does not shine and are soon a goal down to the visitors
from Manchester. Despite having a goal disallowed and hitting the
bar, Stanley fall two goals behind when a Trafford forward squeezes
the ball in at the near post four minutes before the interval.
It
looks like it is going to be all doom and gloom in the bar at half
time, but a note of optimism returns when, a minute into stoppage
time, the rather inelegantly named debutante Stuart Diggle taps
the ball into the Trafford net from two feet out to halve the deficit.
This mood of optimism is reduced on entering the bar to find that
Lancashire are 37-3 chasing a rather modest Yorkshire total of 154,
but the mood rises again when news filters in that "Billy" is coming
on for the second half. "Surely Billy will save the day" is the
cry. Billy announces his arrival with two rasping drives just over
the bar in the first few minutes of the half, but the ball just
will not go into the Trafford net.
The
momentum of Stanley's attacks is seemingly stalled when the manager
introduces himself onto the pitch with 35 minutes still to play
in place of goalscorer Diggle, in an obvious attempt to recapture
past glories. The locals are less than impressed with this decision
and one faction of the considerable crowd immediately christen him
"five-bellies" in a reference to his seemingly well expanded girth
and apparent lack of fitness.
Much
huffing and puffing is put in by the Stanley forwards, but a combination
of good goalkeeping, poor passing and even worse finishing condemns
Stanley to a second consecutive league defeat. With storm clouds
gathering literally over the surrounding hills, the cognoscente
of Accrington wander off into the night to find that although they
were not best pleased with what went on on the pitch, that at least
Lancy had rallied to win the cricket.
Will
Accy survive the season without another relegation battle? Will
the manager lose some weight? Will Billy score another hatfull of
goals this season? Watch this space for the next thrilling instalment.
You're roving northern correspondent and part time whippet trainer.
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