Fishermen's blues

It's coming. That first Football League win is coming. Maybe it'll come today. It should have come last Saturday, though.

I think everyone’s hearts sank when we saw Fleetwood’s starting line-up. Of course Norwood started. And of course the other fella started too. Nailed on that one of them was gonna score.

And score they did. We started poorly, again, and didn’t defend a set piece properly, again. I thought the ball had gone in directly from the corner at first, but no, of course, HE tapped it in from close range. No, not Norwood, the other one.

Obviously, there are certain things you can’t call Fleetwood’s goal scorer anymore, but I’ve sought legal advice and it’s OK to call him a fucking degenerate who gets off on eating his mate’s jizm out of an intoxicated woman he’s never met before.

Once again, we played well once we woke up. Conlon put a decent ball into the box from a free kick to the left of the area, but Fondop headed it over. It looked like Mikey had equalised 27 minutes in - after good work by Robson to win the ball in the middle of the pitch and drive forward, Hawkes’ shot from the edge of the box was tipped onto the bar by the keeper, and Fondop bundled the rebound in, but it was ruled out for handball. I couldn’t see whether he had from the camera angle; I can only assume that the lino and/or ref had a better view.

5 minutes later, Fondop had the ball in the back of the net again (ole ole), but this time it was ruled out for offside. Quigley chased down a long ball played down the middle and headed it on for Mikey, it was a decent finish, and, given how well the two forwards linked up (with question marks over whether they suit each other), it’s a crying shame it didn’t stand.

We were well on top by now, and the equaliser finally came just before half time. Hawkes’ shot from Woods’ corner was blocked, and it was a poacher’s finish from Ogle. Who is now our leading scorer. Yes, I know it’s August, but still.

We continued to dominate in the second half, and God’s number 9 looked more fired up than he has in earlier games. It just wasn’t his, or our, day, though.

Hannant came on for Hawkes and looked dangerous going forward again. I still think Drummond will come good, but it was absolutely the right decision to bring Harratt on for him with just under half an hour to go (and a relief that we didn’t wait until the 88th minute).

Poor Mikey got an unwanted hat-trick with 20 minutes left, and there was absolutely nothing wrong with the third. It was a great shot from the edge of the box, and it was never a foul on the amusingly-named Mullarkey. At the other end of the pitch, it was also never a foul by Ogle in the box, but thankfully the referee got that one right, despite the howls from the Cod Army.

Harratt was unlucky to not win it in the last minutes, when his curling shot hit the post. It would have been a lovely goal. Alas, we couldn’t do anything with the subsequent free kick or corner.

We were under a bit of pressure in the last 10 minutes or so, and Fleetwood nearly robbed it in injury time, with Hudson making a great save at full stretch when Grayson was clear through, and Davies thankfully hit the rebound wide. As Mellon said after the game, “that would have been a massive kick in the proverbials”. Nice use of the gender neutral ‘proverbials’, Micky, I like it.

A frustrating day in the Fylde coast sun, but plenty of positives to take. Not least that Norwood was forced into playing a good chunk of the game in defence. We can only hope that God stops sending his toughest tests for his strongest soldier and his number 9, and that Fondop’s luck turns soon.

Mellon was understandably pissed off with what he saw a poor game management late on, and with yet another crap start: “it’s a rubbish goal to gie away…just nonsense, just poor”. He praised the brilliant support, as always, and assured us that “we’ll keep goan”.

Woods was also frustrated, saying we created enough chances to win “2, 3, 4 games”, but stressed that “a point away from home is always a good point”. Someone wasn’t there for our 0-0 draw at already-relegated Oxford City, and it shows. Ugh. Remember where we’ve come from, kids.

Apparently on Tuesday we lost to Man City’s kids in a competition that’s barely less silly that the National League Cup, and I have absolutely nothing to say about that. I left work just in time to hear the City fans cheering their 5th goal as I walked past the ground, and got home in time to watch Celtic get knocked out of the Champions League on penalties by the Kazakh champions. Life can’t all be sunshine and rainbows and play-off wins.

Wednesday was much more enjoyable. Always did like Club Brugge and Grimsby. When one is tired of watching teams they hate get humiliated, one is tired of life.

The positive of the friendly on Tuesday night was the return of Harry Charsley and Jake Caprice after long layoffs. Caprice confirmed that the plan was always for them to only play the first half an hour, which shows how seriously we’re treating the competition (and you know what, fair enough). If you watched his interview, you had to feel for him. Having your leg in a brace and mostly at a 60-degree angle for 6 weeks does NOT sound like fun. It’s testament to his attitude and character that he said that April was probably the best time to get injured, focussing on the fact that it meant he had the summer to recover and didn’t miss as much football as he might have, and not on the fact that he missed out on playing in the play-offs. What a great bloke.

Gillingham are unbeaten in the league so far, but I’m feeling weirdly confident about today, new signings or no new signings. I highly recommend baseless optimism, it makes supporting Latics both much better and much worse. KTMFF.

Written by Arlene Finnigan. Photos © Oldham Athletic/Focus Images/Sean Walsh.