View from the Cemetery

Marks so far? Before Saturday I’m guessing about 5/6 out of 10, but after Saturday's game? Got to be 8/9. Great show, completely deserved win which could easily have been even more decisive than it was, which was pretty decisive anyway. Thought we were really good from front to back, solid defending and three excellent goals. And a word for the manager and his assistants: the organisation and commitment was plain for all to see. The lads have set themselves a standard early on, and to be fair, not just with the Hebburn victory. The results of Carlisle City and to a lesser degree West Allotment over the past week have shown our two draws, particularly over in Cumbria, in a brighter light than maybe some of us thought at first glance. (PS Tuesday night saw a last minute winner for West Auckland settle a very tight game, disappointing but no great disaster.)

Very early days of course, no point in getting carried away, but I’m guessing I wasn’t the only one with a spring in my step heading away from Sunderland LGV Park on Saturday afternoon. Good stuff!

In the League I think most of us might well have guessed that Ashington and Newton Aycliffe would be part of the group of clubs with six points from the first two games, but not many would have expected the Bishops, Guisborough and Whickham to be the other three, although Bishops certainly look like they are making an effort this season. No point judging until after maybe ten game in any event, but everybody does ...

The next round of the Cup sees us visiting Whickham after they disposed of Frickley, who we met last season. Always a tricky trip up to the Lang Jacks, a pretty unique pitch, usually blowing a gale, and a right battle. Sounds great.

Well, that didn’t take long. You sit down, have a cup of tea, watch Wimbledon, and the play-off final of course, and here we are back again for the new season.

Good few changes around the place, few decent players been tempted away by hopes of glory, and a couple of others gone to Bishop Auckland. Only joking, looks like they may well be a force this season, they certainly are trying.

The usual mad summer competition for players all over the Ebac Northern League and elsewhere, but it always settles down. We may have lost a few, and we wish them well, but we have signed a good few as well. Including strengthening our international contingent with a Romanian and a Frenchman. I’ll let you guess which is which by the names. You might be wrong.

More importantly the bulk of last year's team have re-signed, and I thought as a rebuilding exercise last season went better than we could have hoped, so I think that is a good thing. A mix of youth and experience, got to be the way to go. Could be an exciting year.

The world turned upside down in the last week. Football, or anything else for that matter, doesn’t seem very important as a war breaks out, for as far as anybody can tell, no great purpose, except death and destruction and an old man’s fevered imagination. Fingers crossed for anyone caught up in it, and for the rest of us watching and hoping from a distance. Good luck Ukraine.

So, the lads have had a week off, is that a good thing or a bad thing after two defeats? Difficult to tell, and anyway up to the league not us. My reliable and impartial observer thought we were pretty unlucky not to pick up something from the Benfield game. Indeed, he thought that, after a long very even battle, we had just got well on top going into the last fifteen minutes or so when Benfield scored, twice. That's OK, these things happen in games, and Benfield are always very difficult opponents, (with a particularly outstanding keeper in Andrew Grainger, who seems to have been around as long as their undoubtedly immortal, if now very grey, centre forward Paul Brayson). He was a bit harsher about the Bishops game, yes we could easily have got something from the game, but did we deserve it, or were Bishops good value for their effort through the game? Maybe. He wasn’t sure. Miserable git..

It has knocked us off the pace a bit and regardless of whether you think its fair or not, there is no question of that. But there is still a lot of games to go, and, after much doubt, a last minute Cup competition to have a bash at, just for First Division sides, and with a interesting first game to come next week at home against Whitley Bay. And that after an unusual Friday night league fixture against West. Evidently the committee enjoyed their night out at West in November so much they immediately agreed to the same idea for the return. But will it be attractive to the Sunderland LGV Park faithful? Creatures of habit around these parts, and Friday is a regular drinking night for many an old boy. Will they give their custom for an hour or two to Defty’s Diner rather than the Guide Post? Be interesting to see, and to be fair a good game to look forward to. So a possibly good March and April to finish the season, got to be good.

Well, hello there.

Been a fair old amount of time but here we are again, ready to crack on with this last stretch of the season. Not really fair to call it the second half as we would usually do, as we have already played twenty four of our thirty eight league games, due to the League’s decision to concentrate on the this and leave our local Cup competitions to the end of the season. Pretty wise move if you ask me.

It means that it feels like we have had something like a proper stretch of football after two badly disrupted years, which has allowed everybody, players, fans and clubs to get right back into the week by week swing of things.