..

..

..

No doubt elsewhere on this site I have pondered about how the allocation of clubs into regional leagues can come up with some incredulous decisions. And without doubt our spell in NLN saw this exemplified, (and to some tune as well), when in seasons 2014/15 and 2015/16 Lowestoft Town found themselves making a ludicrous trip every fortnight. Fortunately our trip to East Anglia came but once a season, albeit that the game in November 2015 came just 8 months after the first. It meant nearly 900 miles of driving; the best part of 20 hours on the road and all for 180 minutes of football … and two draws to boot.

And bizarrely the games followed the same pattern as County pulled a draw from the jaws of victory conceding deep into injury time in both matches. The second of these drove me to the edge of incandescence, and impacted adversely on my humour as later events testify…

But taking us back to kick-off. It was Neil Young’s 18th League game as manager. After a good start to the campaign with 9 points from the first three games it had been a downward spiral. There had been 4 more wins in the next 14 games, and the high hopes which had been engendered on Young’s arrival, (but not by me I hasten to add), were dissipating quickly. The dressing room door resembled a turnstile – we had already seen 28 players, and the season was only three months old. We literally never knew who we would see when turning up for a game. Young managed to uncover a further 8 players in the 7 weeks before he recognised the inevitable, and (I must say), walked away honourably.

A couple of minutes into the game Kayode Odejayi picked up the ball on the left, headed to the penalty area, and then cleverly played in Jake Kirby who pushed up past the home keeper. County missed a glorious chance to double the lead 5 minutes before the break as sub Lamin Colley, (who replaced Joe Garvin on the half hour), inexplicably failed to turn in a cross from Micah Evans as he stood no more than a yard out. It was totally symptomatic of Colley, Young’s first signing. The general concensus amongst County fans was that he would struggle to hit a barn door. . It was to prove costly in the fulness of time.

Eight minutes after the break good work from Micah Evans on the right led to the ball falling to Wade Joyce, just inside the area, and he slotted home. A win looked on the cards. What followed was almost beyond comprehension. On 74 minutes there was to be a defining moment, not only in the game but also for keeper Danny Hurst. A freekick from the Lowestoft left was floated in. It looed an easy catch for Hurst who was unchallenged, but he went up, lost control, fell heavily and Mason prodded it home. Hurst lay stricken and was substituted. It had looked innocuous but he never played again, retiring though the injury sustained at Crown Meadow.

With the lead halved, Young then went into panic mode. Nine men behind the ball, County defended deeper and deeper. Colley was the sole outlet and his inability to hold the ball up meant that it was the siege of the Alamo. With 2 minutes plus injury time left Colley suffered the ignominy of ‘a sub being subbed’ as Young went for 10 behind the ball, bringing on Ross Killock. He had made his debut against Chorley the week before, and to this day his display against the Magpies is the single worst individual performance I have ever seen from a County player. And with 1,957 games under my belt I have seen getting on for 22k individual performances!! Ten behind the ball made it a frenetic end especially as the clock ticked into 6 minutes plus of injury time. It was a ‘pin ball machine’ and sure enough with the last touch of the game the ball was flicked in to the area and Bammant headed home. The fact that he was at least a yard offside incensed the County fans, but to my mind Young’s tactics had simply invited the pressure for the last 20 minutes of the game. I said as I left the ground that it was madness, and repeated the same the following Tuesday night. As a guest of a business colleague in the corporate hospitality in the Cheadle End at the Solihull game, (lost 4-2!!), Young was asked to do a “Q and A”. I asked him in what world was defending so deep for so long with no outlet the way to ensure the game was won. All it did was give Lowestoft hope. There was no defence from Young ……

Setting the Sat Nav for home Jeff and I had 220+ miles ahead of us, and I was in a state of ill-humour with what had unfolded. Snow fell as we drove towards Norwich; it was a lousy night and a hard drive, and frankly by the time I left the M1 at junction 35a to go back over Woodhead I had just about had enough. Sufficiently knackered by this time to pay no attention to the speed cameras which duly picked me up, costing me £80 and 4 hours I will never have back doing a speed awareness course!!!

..

Memories of trips to Crown Meadow

..

THE GAMES

..

Where the date is in bold click for highlights of the game

..

	Date	Venue	Ground	Competition		F	A	Att:
Sat	30/08/14	h	Edgeley Park	Vanarama Conference North (Tier 6)	W	3	0	2,169
Sat	14/03/15	a	Crown Meadow	Vanarama Conference North (Tier 6)	D	2	2	769
Sat	21/11/15	a	Crown Meadow	Vanarama National League North (Tier 6)	D	2	2	629
Sat	02/04/16	h	Edgeley Park	Vanarama Conference North (Tier 6)	L	0	2	2,396

..

Back to Opposition Team Index