Only blue talk and love, remember

I told you, dude. I fucking told you, bro. Write August off, September is our time.

Firstly, I’m sorry to be mean, but it needs saying: Bromley’s away kit is horrible. What even is that colour? It looks like the coating on McVitie’s Gold bars, which are lush to be fair, but it looks a lot better on a biscuit than on a football kit.

Fondop and Hudson were both presented with trophies to mark their 100th appearance before the game. They both had a good afternoon.

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We created chances right from kick off. Fondop made a good lay off to Pett, but shooting isn’t his main strength, and he skied it. Mikey had a decent effort himself early on after making a good run down the middle, but it was a relatively easy save for the keeper. He then made a good run down the right, and his shot from the corner of the box was just wide.

We were all expecting Cheek to be a threat for them, having scored 25 goals last season, but it’s a credit to our defence that I don’t think we saw the best of him. He had a very good chance to give Bromley the lead after they intercepted a loose pass, but his shot from the edge of the area was wide, and it looked like Hudson had it covered anyway.

The weather last Saturday was mental. Halfway through the first half the skies darkened, the heavens opened, and as the floodlights came on, I was forced to concede defeat and take my sunglasses off.

It looked like the pouring rain could make the game interesting for the keepers. Not long before half-time, Sutton made a great run into the box onto Daniels’ pass, he cut it back to Mellon jnr, and his shot was initially fumbled by Smith, but he managed to save it at the second attempt before Hannant could tap in the rebound.

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We continued to pile the pressure on in the second half, but Bromley had a great chance to take the lead through Pinnock, with Hudson making a superb save from his shot at the near post.

It looked like young Michael had made it two goals in two games, but the referee had already blown for a foul on the keeper before he put the ball in the back of the net. It did look like Fondop caught him, but I’m not sure he needed to go – and stay – down like he’d been knocked out cold, and I certainly didn’t think it was a booking.

Mellon jnr came off for Drummond 78 minutes in and was visibly frustrated to come off. He didn’t throw a tantrum or anything, but he clearly wanted to play the full 90 minutes, which is no bad thing. Fondop, ever the pastoral leader and team player, put an arm round him and had a word in his ear, which was nice.

We were unlucky to not take the lead with 10 minutes to go, when Fondop’s header from Hannant’s cross hit the bar. God’s number 9 was VERY up for it, and thankfully he soon got his reward. Sutton – who also had another brilliant game – played the ball to Conlon (and credit to Drummond for his dummy, leaving him the ball), who played an excellent cross into the box from the by line, and Fondop buried the ball into the net with a trademark towering header at the far post. How he – and the entire team – needed and deserved that goal. God bless Cameroon. Migration is beautiful.

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Still a bit puzzled how Gaz ended up celebrating with Mikey at the front of the Joe Royle stand, when he’d been in front of us in the Rocky a minute earlier. Did he pop into the prayer room? If so, fair play, Gaz, it worked.

We absolutely must talk about Sutton’s Cruyff turn. Woods played it to him down the right on the touchline, Sutton left their number 11 for dead, and Woods’ reaction – throwing his hands to his head in disbelief, was utterly hilarious.

As was their keeper snatching the ball off the ball boy behind the goal, much to the mirth of the entire Rocky. Well played, Odie, we haven’t forgotten your heroics v Forest Green last season. His mum Andrea writes an excellent blog, which you should definitely check out.

Bromley nearly nicked a point at the end, and Hudson did so well to tip Thompson’s shot onto the bar. He pulled off another great save from Dinanga’s flicked-on shot from a long throw.

I didn’t actually see Conlon getting a cut over his eye. I only realised when I noticed that he has his head bandaged and was wearing a new shirt. No lying down getting treatment on the pitch for 5 minutes for him. What a warrior.

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Deep into injury time, Bromley’s keeper came up for a corner, and how hilarious would it have been if Drummond’s first goal had come from him shooting from inside his own half after the corner was cleared? Given that it was the last move of the game, I guess that it was better game management to run with the ball until the whistle went.

The sun shines on the righteous, and the weather improved so much that by the end of the game, not only did I need my sunglasses, but I had to take my coat off. The sunshine resulted in this beautiful rainbow over Boundary Park, captured brilliantly by one of our Her Game Too ambassadors, Andrea Wilkes.

📸 Andrea Wilkes

It was a well-earned, hard-fought for three points, and an incredibly enjoyable 1-0 win. And it’s just so lovely to see Mikey and Manny looking so happy, isn’t it?

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It was noticeable that Mellon snr gave Fondop a particularly heartfelt hug at full time, and he spoke quite emotionally about how delighted he was for him in his post-match interview: “he’s got a few bits going on, Mike, that I don’t want you to go fishing for, I really don’t, he’s got some stuff, some private stuff, going on, but what I want to be able to say is, the character of the man, you probably wouldn’t have seen today, it was a great credit to him.”

We love you, Mikey, and whatever you and your family are dealing with, we wish you love and strength. May your God be with you.

Mellon snr also very rightly praised Suttondinho – “brilliant…. he’s solid, he’s reliable, he’s got great character” – and Hudson, saying his match winning save was “as good as a goal”. And as always, he had a word for the ‘brilliant’ fans: “Oldham’s a very powerful football club, a very, very powerful football club, and long may it continue.” Amen, brother.

It turned out that we’d missed who was really responsible for our first Football League win at Boundary Park since 29th March 2022. Daniels revealed that it was his wife’s first visit: “she’s not been to any of the home games so far, she came today, and she was the positive spark that we needed, we got the three points!” Get her a season ticket sat next to Mike Fondop’s dad.

Daniels was keen to stress that “It takes the whole team”, and it really was a team effort last Saturday. From every one of the players, to the ball boys and girls, to the medical team getting Conlon bandaged up and back on the pitch in less than a minute, to Chaddy the Owl getting in the Bromley player’s head at a corner and intimidating him into playing it short, everyone played their part to perfection, and it was glorious.

It was a whole weekend of win, with the women also getting their first home win of the season, beating West Didsbury and Chorlton 2-0 last Sunday. Shannon Heffron won and converted a penalty 25 minutes in, and Caitlin Knowles brilliantly chipped the keeper from 30 yards in the second half to seal the victory. Onwards and upwards, queens. And how good is that purple shirt? Get down the club shop and buy yourself one. They face Mancunian Unity this Sunday at 2pm at Hopwood Hall in Middleton.

📸 Steve Peacock

Have a great day out if you’re off to Cheltenham. If you’re lucky, you might bump into me and get a free Beyond the Boundary Park Alert System fanzine. If you’re really lucky, you might see us win three games in a row for the first time since…. well, you know. KTMFF.

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Written by Arlene Finnigan