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Here we are then, with The U’sual Ramblings #23 finding the U’s on a rare Saturday afternoon trip to Cleethorpes. This follows a(nother) ‘never say die’ fightback against promotion hopefuls Barrow after substitute Kwesi Appiah slotted home the equaliser in the 96th minute. Yes we could dwell on the what might have beens — if Noah had caught the ball sweeter early on, if Tom’s header had been a fraction more to the right and bounced in off the post, if Big John had just gone for raw power from the spot, if Tom had been more clinical with his one-on-one — but that’s football I suppose. What I am certain of, not that long ago we would have lost that game, and it’s testament to the self-belief that Matt Bloomfield has instilled in the squad that this time we didn’t.
The world outside U’s World Obviously all of the news feeds this week have been dominated by the terrible earthquake in Turkey, near its southern border with Syria. More than 22,000 are already known to have perished, including over 3,000 in neighbouring Syria, but officials anticipate the death toll to rise as rescuers (many of them international teams from around the world) continue to clear the devastation. The EU satellite Sentinel-1A captured detailed topographic data from the region as it passed overhead yesterday morning, clearly showing the two major fault lines responsible, and the impact on ground surface either side of those fault lines. The quake is described as ‘left-lateral’, in that whatever side of the fault line you are, the ground on the opposite side has moved to the left.
Out of the tragedy, rare accounts of almost unbelievable survival have come to light. A baby named Aya (meaning miracle in Arabic) was born beneath the rubble that used to be the town of Jindayris. Sadly, her mother, father and four siblings all perished, but amazingly she has survived. When the news broke, thousands immediately reached out offering to adopt the child, with one report suggesting that her great uncle would be taking on that responsibility. Needless to say, multiple agencies are coordinating appeals in support of emergency relief, and I have provided links below to some of these — please give generously.
In the context of what’s happened in Turkey and Syria, anything else just seems trite, but here’s a whistlestop run through a few headlines.
US fighters have apparently shot down another ‘high-altitude object’ off the coast of Alaska, as the world learned that the US was overflown by Chinese spy balloons three times during the Trump presidency, and he chose to do nothing about them.
An anti-migrant demonstration outside a Liverpool hotel used to house asylum seekers descended into violence as pro-migrant groups rallied in support of the besieged asylum seekers.
Paul Ansell, partner of missing Nicola Bulley, is “100% convinced” that she is not in the River Wyre, whilst divers broaden their search to where the river discharges into the sea. Nicola, originally from Chelmsford, went missing last Friday morning after dropping her children at school.
A WW2 bomb found in Great Yarmouth underwent what was termed “an unplanned detonation” as attempts were being made to defuse it. Fortunately, there are no reports of any injuries, and I have yet to ascertain whether it was one of ours or one of theirs — presumably the latter.
…and finally, the Avon Vale Hunt, which dates to 1888, is to be shut down after a video surfaced showing members of the hunt pulling foxes from a den and throwing them to the pack, all the while laughing and cheering. Good riddance scumbags.
U’s World Well, what more can I say. After positing in the previous blog that surely Matt Bloomfield would at least be nominated for the Sky Bet League 2 Manager of the Month award for January, but that on balance I suspected that Carlisle’s Paul Simpson would probably get the vote, Matty boy only went and bloody did it! In this regard, I will also say hats off to the adjudication panel, who clearly took context into account when deciding that our slightly inferior points tally compared to Carlisle was more than offset by where we were in the league at the time.
Obviously, this is fantastic news, curse or no curse, for not only Matt Bloomfield, but everyone at the club supporting him, from Robbie down, and a true reflection of the impact that Matt continues to have at our club. The parallels with Phil Parkinson, who also received the award, one of only four others to do so, are striking, and particularly given that for Parky it took a while for his influence to finally ‘bed in’ in his first full season in charge.
As if one award wasn’t enough, Junior Tchamadeu has also been nominated for the PFA Vertu Motors Fans’ League 2 Player of the Month for January. Junior has played every minute of every game in January for the U’s, and scoring two in the process. Rumours circulated shortly after the transfer window closed that we (as in both Junior and the club) had rejected a sizeable bid for Junior from a Championship club (believed to be Luton Town). If you haven’t voted already, the link is below (and just to note, you have to vote for all the other leagues before you get to League 2).
Stat attack I have already featured a brief history of Grimsby in LfW#20, including our record against them over the years, so there’s not really much more to say on that account.
As for records, today represents an opportunity to equal our most consecutive away victories of five on the bounce, should Matt’s U’s prevail this afternoon at Blundell Park. Previous managers who have achieved the feat comprise:
Ted Davis (1938/39) — Aldershot Town Reserves (2-1), Norwich Reserves (5-1), Tunbridge Wells Reserves (2-0), Millwall Reserves (2-1) and Gillingham (3-1);
Jimmy Allen (1948/49) — Chingford Town (5-1), Torquay United Reserves (3-1), Yeovil Town (1-0), Chelmsford City (3-2 in the Southern League Cup) and Hereford United (3-2); and
Shared by Mike Walker (first three) and Roger Brown (last two) (1987/88) — Newport County (2-1), Wrexham (1-0), Cambridge United (1-0), Rochdale (4-1) and Halifax Town (2-1).
To his credit, the oft-maligned Roger Brown continued his sequence drawing the next two and winning two more away, to give a sequence of nine games unbeaten on the road. However, even that was a bit off our record sequence of away games unbeaten, held by none other than Steve Wignall, who took the U’s on an 11-match unbeaten run between 9th November 1996 and 8th February 1997, winning seven and drawing four (and part of an unbeaten sequence of 19 games home and away).
Phil Parkinson is a close second, with a ten-match unbeaten run away from home, between 3rd September 2005 and 20th December 2005, winning six and drawing four). I’m sure most will recall that sequence was ended away at Swindon Town on Boxing Day, with Cureton forced back to Wiltshire from his hugely successful loan at Layer Road. After that, Parky went on to rack up another four away wins on the bounce.
Match of the Day Colchester United v Barnet 26th December 1990 GM Vauxhall Conference (Tier 5) Attendance 3,946
Match of the Day for this blog, and the random memorabilia match selector has gone right back to Match #1 in my collection, with our Conference Boxing Day clash against Barnet in 1990. Of course, this isn’t my first match following the U’s, that happened 20 years earlier, but with various house moves up to and including my move from Bradford down to Wiltshire in the summer of 1990 (on the day of the World Cup final as it happens), anything pre-1990 is now sadly long gone.
It being Christmas and all that, me and my partner at the time Julie (Lauren and Sam’s mum) had travelled over to see her family in Cambridgeshire on Christmas Eve, and travelling over to Mum’s on Boxing Day morning, in time to join brother-in-law Steve for a freaking early 11am kick-off at Layer Road. Quite what that was about I have no idea, presumably to minimise opportunities for alcohol-fuelled high jinks? Still, nearly 4,000 turned out for the visit of fellow challengers for the title Barnet, managed back then by the irrepressible bouncing Barry Fry (and backed by the chequebook of Stan Flashman).
This would be only our second competitive fixture against Barnet, the first of course the FA Cup 3rd round 1-0 victory at Underhill on the way to the Leeds game.
The U’s, managed during our first season in the Conference by Ian Atkins, lined up that morning:
1. Scott Barrett 2. Tony English 3. Ian Atkins 4. Eamonn Collins 5. Scott Daniels 6. Neale Marmon 7. Warren Donald 8. Mike Masters (13. Roy McDonough) 9. Mark Yates (12. Shaun Elliott) 10. Mario Walsh 11. Nicky Smith
Even without the excuse of pre-match refreshments at the Drury at that ungodly hour, in truth, there’s very little I can really remember from the game itself, other than the conditions, which were horrendous. Gale force winds, and a Layer Road pitch that was frankly in a shocking condition, made neat attractive passing football almost impossible, and the match itself almost a lottery irrespective of current form etc.
That’s not to say we didn’t have a few chances, including a decent effort from free-scoring Mario Walsh in the second half which goalkeeper Gary Phillips did well to keep out. But then again, the Bees had Gary Bull, cousin of legendary goal scorer Steve Bull, in their squad, and on more than a few occasions he went close during the game, which Scott "Mr Mullet" Barrett did well to keep out.
But, as much as the two sides huffed and puffed in the conditions, the game finished honours-even at 0-0. Probably a fair result overall, though we reflected on the walk back to the car probably more on it being two points dropped than one gained.
Colchester United 0 Barnet 0
The result kept the U’s in 3rd place behind Barnet top and (I think?) Atrincham in 2nd place. We would get our revenge on New Years Day at the Underhill return fixture, with the U’s winning 3-1 thanks to goals from Gary Bennett, Mario Walsh and in his last appearance for his first spell with the U’s, Mike Masters.
However, Barnet would have the last laugh, clinching the title after a run of two draws and a defeat in April put paid to the U’s chance to overtake them. We had to be content with second place, and another season to face in the Conference.
Still, it worked out pretty well for the U’s in the end I reckon.
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