Found the love that we shared in September

It wasn't quite a 100% record for the month. But we're unbeaten in September and we didn't concede a goal in open play. That's no so bad, is it?

Lunchtime kick offs are a pain in the arse. I'm quite often still getting dressed at ten to one on a Saturday afternoon when we're playing at home. By that point last Saturday, Mark Shelton had scored a penalty, been booked for acting the cunt, and been substituted. It was quite the cameo.

The referee, who was fucking awful, set his stall out by booking Robson 90 seconds into the game. There was some confusion when he awarded a penalty in the 5th minute. Initially a lot of us thought he'd awarded a free kick for a foul on Fondop, but how often does that happen? I guess we'll have to take his word for it that the ball hit Fondop's hand after he'd been pushed in the back. Of course Shelton took it, of course he scored, of course he celebrated like he'd just won the World Cup.

Don't get me wrong, I don't begrudge the lad. There was no lack of effort from him when he played for us, him and Sheron just didn't work together, and the stick he got was unfair. But if you get a 2 match ban for making a wanker sign, I'll be interested to see what the FA have to say about him and Kanu's antics.

Shelton was subbed 10 minutes later, due to injury/being a walking red card/having shat himself.

We did have some chances first half. Conlon put a decent delivery in from a corner, Fondop headed it across the box and Robson headed over. Let's be honest, though, for the first 45 minutes we were crap, and we were lucky to only be 1-0 down. Fondop saved a certain goal by heading Ndlovu's header off the line, and Ndlovu hit the bar shortly after.

Barnet, and Kanu especially, were flinging themselves to the ground constantly, and the referee fell for it every time. Woods got booked for flattening Kanu just before half time. I'd have given him the MOTM award for that.

It was the proverbial game of two halves. Caprice came on for Sutton at half time, and I was a bit gutted for Sutton - he's done really well the last few games, and I hope it's not a case of him being the first to get the blame when things aren't going well - but we were noticeably better second half.

Robson headed just over from Mellon's cross early on, and Drummond came on for Hannant 52 minutes in, which pleased me because I'd inexplicably put a fiver on him to score. My grandad was known by his workmates for being the world's worst tipster. Maybe these things are genetic.

Kanu got booked for a foul on Pett, which got a massive cheer. He had an annoyingly good game to be fair, but that made his constant diving all the more infuriating. I can understand cheating if you're not good enough to do anything else, but don't keep throwing yourself to the ground if you're actually capable of beating your marker.

We made a double sub an hour, with Payne coming on for Woods (sensible, with him already having been booked), and Quigley coming on for Fondop, who is much less of a walking red card than he was two years ago, but it was the kind of game that would test the patience of angels.

Quigley had a great chance shortly after coming on, with his low shot being deflected for a corner. Drummond chased a long ball down from a throw in, the keeper came racing out to clear, and Pett's long range shot wasn't a million miles over.

The equaliser had been a long time coming. There was a goal mouth scramble from Conlon's corner, and at the time I thought the penalty might have been for a handball, but it was, for the second week running, for a foul on Daniels. I was naturally screaming for Drummond to take it, but common sense prevailed, and young Michael hit a very confident pen down the middle. Get the fuck in.

Oh, how we all thought we'd go on to win it from there, and how close we were taking the lead, oh so fucking many times.

Mellon jnr had the first of a series of one-on-ones with the keeper after heading the ball down shortly after drawing us level, but his shot was straight at the keeper, and Quigley's shot from the rebound was blocked.

And then, much to my despair, it was Time For Drummond. He made a trademark sprint on the break down the left, and unfortunately, in yet another one-on-one, he hit it straight at the keeper. Maybe he should have hit it sooner; he probably should have squared it to Pett. But you know what? He's playing well, and he's not missing these on purpose. And as for the 'Norwood would have buried that!' argument: Norwood would have been 20 yards further back. Move on. It was wrong to slate Fondop for the chance at Altrincham, and it's wrong to get on Drummond's back now.

Mellon jnr got a nasty-looking head injury from an accidental collision, and Mellon snr was scathing of the officials for not stopping the game immediately: 'I can't believe the ref doesn't stop the game, he plays on for another 10 seconds. One of my players is lying there. You could clearly see he's got a head injury. He was stopping the game for them for non-head injuries right away. Where's the balance?"

Given how mindful he'll be of his son getting knocked out cold while on loan at Dundee, and how badly the referee handled that, you can understand his anger.

Young Michael probably should have been subbed straight away, so I'll let him off for the third one-on-one of the afternoon being shot straight at the keeper. Credit to their keeper, by the way. He's apparently a Latics fan, and responded to some toilet roll being thrown on the pitch by pretending to wipe his arse on it.

It would have been a sickener if Barnet had retaken the lead after we'd dominated the second half, and it would have been rage-inducing if they'd done so from the free kick they were awarded late on for one of their players running into Daniels, who presumably should have waved him through saying "no no, sir, after YOU!". Thankfully it was cleared off the line, with Barnet squealing for an imaginary handball.

A draw was probably a fair reflection of the game. God, it was frustrating to not win after that second half, though.

The highlight of the weekend for me was Prescot Cables' hard fought 1-0 win over FC United of Manchester. Hilariously, some mini United fans have accused the Cables keeper of moving the goalposts. They're demanding an FA investigation and everything. Fantastic stuff. If you're at a loose end today, you could do worse than travel over to Cables v Lancaster City in the FA Trophy, where Peter Clarke is set to play his 1000th game.

📸 Prescot Cables

UPDATE: THIS MATCH HAS BEEN CALLED OFF DUE TO THE WEATHER. IT'S BEEN RESCHEDULED FOR 7.45PM TUESDAY OCTOBER 7TH.

Have a brilliant day out if you were lucky enough to get tickets for Notts County today. Nottingham is one of the best places in England for pubs (but not Hooters, Hooters can fuck off), and I'm gutted we're missing it. On the plus side, we're going to the Prague derby tomorrow, which is a reasonable consolation prize. Remember, the last time we played Notts County, Joe Nuttall scored, so anything is possible. KTMFF.

Written by Arlene Finnigan. Photos © Oldham Athletic.