Reasonable, do you think, that Maidenhead United has three – count 'em, three – Tuesday night trips to Greater Manchester (plus one to Braintree – 178 miles there and back) this season when other sides in the division have one long-distance midweek away fixture (Wealdstone's furthest, for example, is Tamworth)? Of course not, but the National League gonna National League
Our supporters' coach car, aka the MurdoMobile, picked up TWS, CB, and Chris Rad. from the station at 14:30 and made steady, if at times slow, progress northwards (not helped by heavy rain and traffic on the M5 between Oldbury and West Bromwich); the focus of my attention during much of the journey was the BBC's recent article on match-fixing in the 2013/14 Conference South ("Alexa, play Suspicious Minds")
Conference Premier Forum grandee 'Dave (Barra)' had recommended – on the relevant Match-Fixing thread – rag pudding and chips from the chippy adjacent to the away-end turnstiles, so that's where we headed after arriving more-or-less on schedule and having fortunately found a parking spot opposite the nearby Church of St Clement; once we'd wolfed down our grub ("This'll probably be the highlight of the night"), it was round to the other side of the ground for a pre-match livener in their sizeable bar (one of two), with a £3.40 pint of Manchester Pale Ale serving to highlight Stripes' comparative deficiencies in terms of drink options and prices
Horrific defending had cost us in our last away game at Aldershot, but this was another level as their impressive no. 4 was left unmarked from a corner and then afforded all the time in the world to pick his spot to open the scoring after 18 minutes, then our central defence parted like the Red Sea to allow the prolific Kairo Mitchell clean through on goal ("an insult to Sunday League defenders to describe it as Sunday League defending"; "I watched a video of a match-fixed goal earlier today and that contained better defending"); the Magpies were two-down at the break despite being the better side early on and creating some presentable chances, with Shawn McCoulsky's deflected shot forcing a smart save from their keeper's outstretched leg at 0-0 and a James Golding effort hitting the post moments before the half-time whistle
Dev, when apologetically chatting to the travelling horde at full-time, commented that he'd given his two centre-halves a thorough dressing down at the interval, but whatever he'd said hadn't worked as after 47 minutes, Mitchell was again running unimpeded onto a through ball – 3-0, and it looked like we would be on the end of proper shellacking; rather frustratingly, those wearing purple shirts then decided to wake up and, with the standout Golding to the fore in midfield and after a fine individual goal from Joseph Ajose (a promising display on his full debut), we created several more decent chances (two cleared off the line, Pettit firing just wide, etc.) ... it's just a shame we gifted them a three-goal head start! *rolls eyes*
At least the 23 away fans could hold their heads up high, making decent noise throughout (loud enough for our reigning [joint] Players' Player of the Year Sam Beckwith to hear tongue-in-cheek jibes and prompting a somewhat thin-skinned response on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter); I like going to Rochdale (the town and the ground), while RAFC might be "as nice a club as you could visit in this league," but I think it's fair to say that their vocal support/ match atmosphere isn't the best
Lighter load in the MurdoMobile on the return journey – TWS and CB went back with Josh D. – as we discussed the other National League scores (D&R's Dion Pereira, eye-catching at York Road last Saturday, grabbing a brace against a former side of his; ANG with another goal for York; etc.), how Nathan Ferguson's Guyana has been getting on during this international window (3-1 home defeat to Suriname; 2-2 draw away to Martinique), and Googling 'jobs for people who don't like people'; we made relatively good time, and after Chris Rad.'s drop-off in Twyford and a quick but cold walk from Macleod (M)'s under a starry sky, I was in the kitchen at 01:40 munching on the last slice of my birthday cake
Even though we lost, someone said we moved up in the league table and out of the relegation zone thanks to results elsewhere; however, two of the sides below us each have a game in hand, and we play at one of those – Tamworth – on Saturday, in a match that already feels pivotal ...
— ɢᴏ ᴍᴀᴅ ᴏʀ sᴛᴏᴘ ᴄᴀʀɪɴɢ (@gomadstopcaring) September 11, 2024
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