We name
and shame the travel shirkers
Huddersfield 0 Burnley 1
Report by Hego
The day started off with a momentous event in
that our beloved Treasurer slept in and missed the train to Summer Wine country, thereby
qualifying for a mandatory fine, which of course he had been instrumental in campaigning
for successfully at this year’s London Clarets AGM. Ho hum! An immediate two week
suspension from all London Claret activities was mooted, but considered unreasonable
(debatable) and unconstitutional (true). A deserved written warning was however issued in
Mr. Wood’s fair hand.
More positive omens emerged after an uneventful
and on time East Coast main line train journey. Richard Branson please note. During the
beer surge round Fartown (real name, I jest you not) before the match, spotted the very
lucky Deltic Surprise beer badge positioned above the even luckier Moorhouse's (brewers to
the cognoscenti) badge in the Liberal Club. Add to this the photographs of London Clarets
from the past, and the prompt although lunatic taxis, and there was very positive chi in
evidence. The peculiar twang of those from the other side of the Pennines was of course
the real downside.
Anyway, a nice summer’s day, and an unusual
new stadium with a forest backdrop sited not far from the old Leeds Road ground on the
edge of town. A yorkie, ex Premier League, fussy, yellow card waving referee, led
indirectly to a game of chance involving a choice as to whom might be the first booking of
the match. Note the who, not if. 4000+ Clarets made the subdued home fans feel a little
embarrassed. The Clarets much as expected except for the new Greek keeper drafted in as
Crichton hadn’t turned up. Lost in a traffic jam apparently. Struggled to read the
boy’s name on the back of his shirt without my specs, so decided to call him Nik the
Greek along with the rest of the Claret faithful. NTG for short. Payton of course was
playing against the team who got rid of him in exchange for Paul Barnes. Knowing the
Padiham Predator, first league goal here for sure!
Started off OK with a Payton header going close
following a cross from a roving Glen Little, before Huddersfield got into their stride
with some neat passing movement. They have some good players in a side not dissimilar to
the one that was in the playoff position for virtually the whole of last season. On 12
minutes Gorre broke through on goal past Davis only for NTG to dive to his right and parry
the low shot. After a further Payton effort from a Briscoe cross, NTG steps in again to
tip a Thornley drive over the bar. Further crosses/shots from Gorre again and Irons were
confidently dealt with. At this point NTG was just a bit popular with the away end. I
almost began to lean with the adjectives being used by the Claret faithful sat around me.
Catching with confidence, except for one clanger in the second half, smiling and kicking
accurately like a dream, NTG rapidly approached Super Hero status. Wonder if the form
might waver in the cold and wet of the Turf. We shall see.
The goal when it came in the 17th
minute was an excellent flowing move starting on the right, moving across and down the
left hand side involving Little and Cooke, before Mellon fed Payton for a tap in my
Grandmother would have finished. Payton looked over his shoulder for the Lino’s
affirmation, but this was proved unnecessary as his first league goal of the season
nestled in the onion bag.
Gorre and Gallen went close with spectacular
efforts, as the Terriers worked hard on exploiting our right flank, which was usually
unoccupied when Glen wandered off on one of his runs. Where was the cover from the other
four midfielders Mr. Ball? Indicative of the glacial movement one is beginning to expect
from the Mackem. Micky Mellon then missed a fine chance from six yards before the man in
black brought the first half’s entertainment to an end, but not the comment. The
amount of racist abuse prevalent in the away end from some members of the politically
incorrect brigade is really becoming very tiresome. Not sure that a man’s ability to
referee a soccer match depends all that much on the colour of his skin. Holland’s
pies on sale apparently for a brief spell in the first half!
The second half began fairly quietly except for
a yellow card for Payton, and Branch replacing Cooke, before the most controversial point
of the match. From a corner at around the hour mark, Mitchell Thomas got in front of the
defence at the near post, and nodded home only for the lino to immediately raise his flag,
presumably for offside. I have seen this a few times on the moving television now, and can
confirm an error on the lino’s part of Blairesque proportions. Mellon then missed
another good chance to make things more comfortable.
Huddersfield then mounted a series of attacks,
notably in the 76th minute when Burnley loan reject Craig Armstrong’s
cross fell to Kyle, whose shot struck the post from a narrow angle. A booking for Thomas
followed swiftly, before a clever chip from B*****d reject Sellars was acrobatically
pushed round the post by NTG. The Clarets brought on Mullin and Jeppo to close out the
usual 1-0 to Stan routine. Further minor efforts from Martin Smith and Gallen were well
wide of the target, before it was good night Irene.
All in all a very pleasing performance in that
we worked hard, without playing that well. In the land of the one eyed supporter however,
victory is all. Huddersfield not unsurprisingly played with a lack of confidence, as
befits a team that had lost its last eight home games. They have some good players, and
will no doubt stop up, but will probably be Bruceless fairly soon. A continental keeper
who can kick and catch to keep Admirable on his toes has got to be good news, as was the
freedom to roam given to Glen. Twelve points now accumulated, the same as the B*****ds
after their draw with Notlob. Well,well,well.
Team (3-5-2 -
initially): Michopoulos, The Legend, Thomas, Cox, Little (Mullin 70), Mellon, Ball,
Cook, Briscoe, Cooke (Branch 50), Payton (Jepson 75). Subs not used: Armstrong
and Maylett.
Scorer: Payton
(17).
Attendance:
14,016.
Referee: Uriah
Heap.
London Clarets Man
of the Match: Nikolaos Michopoulos.
The home game
