Twitter - @jamesAgrayson
Those close to me know that I haven’t enjoyed the 12-13 football season as much as previous ones, but a dreaded long trip to Cammell Laird provided a shot in my arm and proved to be one of the most entertaining away games for a while.
Cammell play in the far side of Liverpool, a place called Birkenhead. It is certainly interesting there and I managed to rack up a few ‘firsts’ while I was there.
From a game perspective I was not sure what to expect. Farsley have been inconsistent so far this season. Cammell are doing alright in mid-table and picking up points against decent sides. Fortunately Gareth Grant settled nerves with an early goal and kick-started a memorable afternoon for himself and Farsley.
Granty struck again before a ridiculous penalty decision gave Cammell a way back into the game on the stroke of half-time. For those who don’t know me, my current opinion of semi-professional referees is that the standard is poor and the penalty award set the tone for the second half.
Now I didn’t realise that there was a radio broadcast when I took my seat for the second half. I did when I received a tweet from someone saying that they had heard me heckling the referee. I do keep it clean and I don’t swear at refs so all listeners heard was ‘ridiculous referee’ and something about the inconsistency of his decisions. I just remember it was something long-winded that I struggled to get out.
Back to the on-field matters, Ryan Harrison restored our two-goal lead with the goal of the game. Granty got his hat-trick with a simple tap-in late-on before Cammell scored again from poor defending.
However, this was a fantastic display from Farsley and Pars’ men showed qualities that they will need to reach the play-offs. James Riley, a colossal figure at centre-back, made a massive difference on his return from injury and deserves credit. I think he won every header, every tackle and was my man of the match. Rilo is possibly the best player Pars has signed in his five years at the club and we as Farsley supporters should be appreciative of how lucky we are to have such a quality player.
The players deserved their applause at the end. As for the referee, I asked why he booked Granty and not Cammell’s number nine as he walked off and all I got was a bemused look. So I don’t why. However my question obviously upset a local because I was then told I was a something ‘head’. I stepped forward to confront the guy, but fortunately before I got there, someone blocked me and diffused potential trouble. So it was on to celebrate.
An hour was then spent in the social club before the journey home. However, there would be one last twist. As we waited for everyone to board the coach, a bald-headed Liverpudlian man walked randomly onto the bus and asked ‘is there any tablet-heads on here?’ There was stunned silence before the man was told ‘no’.
When people are offered drugs for the first time, it is normally in a nightclub. From now on, if I’m ever asked the question, ‘where were you first offered drugs’, I can say ‘oh the Farsley AFC team coach!’
But while shocked at the question, it only added another memorable story to a memorable day.
*Please note that I have never taken drugs and never will.
No comments:
Post a Comment