Sadly, my father-in-law hasn't been in the rudest health of late, so I was sitting in the living room of his house in Monmouthshire as my wife visited him in the nearby hospital when news came through Charlee Adams had missed a 95th-minute penalty that would've earned the Magpies a draw at home to Boreham Wood, and the Shrimpers – their squad already down to the bare bones due to injuries and an ongoing transfer embargo – had two men sent off in a 3-0 defeat at York, setting up an intriguing game at Roots Hall on the following Tuesday night; I initially replied to Macleod (M) that I wouldn't be available to travel to Essex, but that changed when my wife returned home on Monday afternoon after a week away to relieve me from babysitting duty and allowing me to join him and Rainey on the train from Maidenhead, shortly before 5pm
Our thoughts, as we passed Rayleigh on the (initially packed) train from Stratford, turned to Essex nightclubs, with Rayleigh's own Pink Toothbrush, the Pink Cockatoo next door to Barking FC's ground, and TOTS (Talk of the South) in Southend, all getting a mention; time for a quick drink in the Railway close to Prittlewell station, where TWS et al. were playing pool on a table overlooked by some choice replica shirts from yesteryear, before ticket collection and kick-off
Understandable anticipation ahead of the home supporters' planned protest in the 25th minute, which ultimately consisted of some objects (including plastic toy rats) thrown onto the pitch and chants of "We want Martin out"; "I've seen worse protests in the toilets at Stripes," "Those drink breaks at Bromley, the other week, lasted longer," and "Get on the f**kin' pitch, you cowards!" just some of the feedback from the away fans, who collectively seemed the angrier set of supporters!
The referee (Stephen Parkinson) was not – repeat, not – the reason why we lost this game, but I will still mention that he was shite; every 50/50 decision seemingly went against us, and I'd like to have another look at (1) the tackle for which their player only got a yellow card, and (2) a possible foul on ANG, in and around their penalty area in the first half
Huff and puff from the away side – the Magpies worked hard and defended reasonably well, if a little desperately at times – but we lacked quality on the ball, barely managing to string more than three or four passes together and squandering possession with annoying regularity, often with a hurried punt forward to no one in particular; we were well-beaten by the better team, simple as that, with the goalkeeper our best player by some distance and theirs having little or nothing to do
Even though the Shrimpers were only able to name two substitutes – with the aid of two players registered on the day (including a keeper whose most recent start was in the Premier League) – and reportedly had players playing out of position, they're still a full-time, ex-Football League club able to call upon the likes of Jack Bridge (who opened the scoring, effectively ending the contest, with a 72nd-minute penalty), Harry Cardwell, Cav Miley, and Wesley Fonguck – quality players at this level who would walk into the Maidenhead XI; the pervading thought that this was some kinda miracle win is, IMO, as off-target as the first-half protest
Nice to see the eminent Sean Marks stood amongst the 33 (embarrassingly few) away fans – talking with Alan Massey at halftime and, at the final whistle, with Alan Devonshire (who made some interesting, largely unprompted comments) – although, as someone half-joked, it would've been preferable to have seen him on the pitch wearing black and white stripes; we've now managed just seven goals in ten games, a problem – not solely a striker problem, BTW – that will inevitably result in a soul-destroying relegation unless remedied sooner rather than later
Diagnosis of a rare and aggressive form of cancer affecting ex-Magpie captain Darti Brown – not my favourite player, but part of our fondly-remembered 2006/07 promotion-winning side and scorer of a memorable consolation strike during a resounding B&B Cup defeat at MK Dons – puts football, if not everything else, into perspective
Maidenhead United Football Club was saddened to hear that former player Darti Brown has been diagnosed with a rare one-in-one-million aggressive form of terminal cancer, Cardiac Sarcoma.
— Maidenhead United (@MUFCYorkRoad) September 21, 2023
We urge supporters to join us and show their support for Darti.
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