Only a 40 mile round trip today compared to last weeks 10 hour 500 mile epic. At Preston today were last seasons cup finalist Portsmouth. Financial woes have stripped Pompey of a lot of their better players although the side they put out today looked a decent outfit.
North End started well having the visitors on the back foot, have to say the Pompey defence looked very shaky as the home side put the pressure on.
After a couple of near misses the home side scored their first goal of the season, Mayor and Jones combined well down the right hand side with Jones crossing to find the unmarked Hayes in acres of space to score. (Prest 1 Pompey 0)
After the initial onslaught Pompey slowly got back into the game and possibly should have equalised when Sonko headed over when he really should have scored.
Wilson in midfield for the visitor looked a good player and was always a danger to the home side. Ex Preston player David Nugent fired over as did Michael Brown but after an entertaining first half Preston had a slender lead.
Pompey started brightly in the 2nd half with 4 shots on target in the opening 10 minutes but once this initial onslaught faded, Preston started to take control of the game.
On 3 occasions King could have scored but 2 good saves from Ashdown and a great defensive clearance stopped him. Treacy and James also went close as Portsmouth faded badly. A comfortable win for the home side their first points of the season.
As for Portsmouth their fans made a lot of noise Mr Westwood was their with his bell, personally think it's going to be a long winter for the boys from the South Coast.
Preston North End 1 Portsmouth 0 Att 9666
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Swansea v Preston
6/4/1993 will a day that I will always remember, it was a day the Grand National was won by Esha Ness which didn't count due to a false start, it was the day of the all Sheffield cup final and it poured down. How do I know this?
At 2.45pm I was stuck in a traffic jam about 2 miles from the old Swansea ground the Vetch Field, the radio was on and were listening to the above game when the presenter stated that the weather in London was dull and grey but not as bad as Wales and the West Country where the games at Torquay and Swansea have been postponed because of waterlogged pitches.
Fast forward 17 years and it was back to Swansea only this time to the Liberty stadium.
An early start 6.45am picked up my mate at 7.30 and away we go, decided to go the scenic route down the A49 through Cheshire, Shropshire and Herefordshire also it was 60 mile shorter than using the motorway.
An early pit stop at a very cold Church Stretton before lunching at Ross on Wye.
A bit of stale bread and a meat filling passed the good food test only just though.
Arrived at the park and ride outside the city this appeared to be the local gypsy encampment as well, so the question was , "Will there still be wheels on the car when we get back?"
A decent stadium shared with the rugby team, plenty of leg room with the seats.
The game was very entertaining for the first 20 minutes both teams having chances and Preston appeared to be in the ascendency, however young winger Danny Mayor had a nightmare 60 seconds firstly he lost possession outside his own penalty area Cotterill's shot hitting the post, however he then tried to dribble in his own area again lost possession this time though Dobbie made no mistake. (1-0 Swansea)
That was the end of the contest Swansea dominated, North End were chasing shadows. The guy behind me commentated hope we don't go in 2 down at half time, we didn't we went in 3 down.
Shocking defending from a corner led to Pratley scoring from close range, with the defence again missing Dyer scored easily 3 minutes later. (Swansea 3 up game over)
To compound the misery North End's nearest and dearest rivals were 3 up at Wigan.
Swansea should have been 4 up shortly after the break but a great double save by Lonergan saved them. The reprieve only lasted a couple of minute when Dyer was brought down in the box. Cotterill scored easily from the spot. (4-0)
Still 35 minutes to go before the 5 hours journey home. Swansea eased off although still could have scored more however North End kept on trying, King missed a sitter and Treacey hit the bar however the away sides day was summed up by an offside effort from Parkin who almost managed to put the ball out of the ground from 5 yards out.
It was raining as we got on the coach back to the park and ride and yes the wheels were still on.
The journey back wasn't to bad stopped for some Fish and Chips in Ross on Wye, the only downside was listening to gloating Tangerine fans after their 4-0 win at Wigan, felt happier after Chelsea scored 6 to keep them from the top of the league.
Swansea City 4 Preston North End 0 Att14010
Next up Fleetwood/Mansfield on Tuesday night.
At 2.45pm I was stuck in a traffic jam about 2 miles from the old Swansea ground the Vetch Field, the radio was on and were listening to the above game when the presenter stated that the weather in London was dull and grey but not as bad as Wales and the West Country where the games at Torquay and Swansea have been postponed because of waterlogged pitches.
Fast forward 17 years and it was back to Swansea only this time to the Liberty stadium.
An early start 6.45am picked up my mate at 7.30 and away we go, decided to go the scenic route down the A49 through Cheshire, Shropshire and Herefordshire also it was 60 mile shorter than using the motorway.
An early pit stop at a very cold Church Stretton before lunching at Ross on Wye.
A bit of stale bread and a meat filling passed the good food test only just though.
Arrived at the park and ride outside the city this appeared to be the local gypsy encampment as well, so the question was , "Will there still be wheels on the car when we get back?"
A decent stadium shared with the rugby team, plenty of leg room with the seats.
The game was very entertaining for the first 20 minutes both teams having chances and Preston appeared to be in the ascendency, however young winger Danny Mayor had a nightmare 60 seconds firstly he lost possession outside his own penalty area Cotterill's shot hitting the post, however he then tried to dribble in his own area again lost possession this time though Dobbie made no mistake. (1-0 Swansea)
That was the end of the contest Swansea dominated, North End were chasing shadows. The guy behind me commentated hope we don't go in 2 down at half time, we didn't we went in 3 down.
Shocking defending from a corner led to Pratley scoring from close range, with the defence again missing Dyer scored easily 3 minutes later. (Swansea 3 up game over)
To compound the misery North End's nearest and dearest rivals were 3 up at Wigan.
Swansea should have been 4 up shortly after the break but a great double save by Lonergan saved them. The reprieve only lasted a couple of minute when Dyer was brought down in the box. Cotterill scored easily from the spot. (4-0)
Still 35 minutes to go before the 5 hours journey home. Swansea eased off although still could have scored more however North End kept on trying, King missed a sitter and Treacey hit the bar however the away sides day was summed up by an offside effort from Parkin who almost managed to put the ball out of the ground from 5 yards out.
It was raining as we got on the coach back to the park and ride and yes the wheels were still on.
The journey back wasn't to bad stopped for some Fish and Chips in Ross on Wye, the only downside was listening to gloating Tangerine fans after their 4-0 win at Wigan, felt happier after Chelsea scored 6 to keep them from the top of the league.
Swansea City 4 Preston North End 0 Att14010
Next up Fleetwood/Mansfield on Tuesday night.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Game 1 Preston v Doncaster 7/8/2010
As usual expectations for football fans run high at this time of the season. At Preston we've had a summer of turmoil, winding up order, a take over and lots of new faces and departures on the playing front.
Going back about 20 years or so expectations were also high when we opened the season against Peterborough and were a goal down within 30 seconds that year we struggled. So up to the ground I strolled on a humid Preston saturday and got ready for this years promotion push to the Premier league.
After 18 minutes Doncaster were 2 up not exactly the start you want, after an even opening Donnie took the lead with their first attack, the ball ended up with O'Connor on the right hand side of the box, his shot was going wide until a deflection took it into the net. 5 minutes later a cross from the left fell to Sharp whose effort on goal was well saved by Lonergan but the ball fell well for Hayter who didn't miss.
North End who were slightly injury hit for the first game fought back into tthe game and a cross from Tracey should have been buried into the net by Brown who missed contact with the ball.
Doncaster apart from that scare pass the ball about and rarely looked in trouble in the first half much to the delight of their large travelling support.
The second half brought a couple of early chances for the visitors both were narrowly wide.
After 10 minutes of the 2nd half Coutts was brought on for the home side and for a period of 10 minutes up their game and missed another chance which should have been buried.
The game had been slightly tetchy with a bit of handbags between players 5 having been booked in the first half, there was only one booking in the 2nd half that went to Gillett for a horror of a tackle on Jones, it was his second yellow which gave him a red.
So Donnie were now down to 10 and didn't look in any trouble until a bizarre spell of football near the end of the game when North End contrived to miss 4 absolute sitters, Brown twice, King and Treacey should have done better.
Although he missed his chance King came on and showed pace with 1 run Usain Bolt would have been proud off. When King stepped onto the pitch he was the 1000th player to play for Preston.
Left the ground with the thought that buying a ticket for the Swansea away game next Saturday may not have been the brightest of ideas.
Preston North End 0 Doncaster Rovers 2 Att 12190
Going back about 20 years or so expectations were also high when we opened the season against Peterborough and were a goal down within 30 seconds that year we struggled. So up to the ground I strolled on a humid Preston saturday and got ready for this years promotion push to the Premier league.
After 18 minutes Doncaster were 2 up not exactly the start you want, after an even opening Donnie took the lead with their first attack, the ball ended up with O'Connor on the right hand side of the box, his shot was going wide until a deflection took it into the net. 5 minutes later a cross from the left fell to Sharp whose effort on goal was well saved by Lonergan but the ball fell well for Hayter who didn't miss.
North End who were slightly injury hit for the first game fought back into tthe game and a cross from Tracey should have been buried into the net by Brown who missed contact with the ball.
Doncaster apart from that scare pass the ball about and rarely looked in trouble in the first half much to the delight of their large travelling support.
The second half brought a couple of early chances for the visitors both were narrowly wide.
After 10 minutes of the 2nd half Coutts was brought on for the home side and for a period of 10 minutes up their game and missed another chance which should have been buried.
The game had been slightly tetchy with a bit of handbags between players 5 having been booked in the first half, there was only one booking in the 2nd half that went to Gillett for a horror of a tackle on Jones, it was his second yellow which gave him a red.
So Donnie were now down to 10 and didn't look in any trouble until a bizarre spell of football near the end of the game when North End contrived to miss 4 absolute sitters, Brown twice, King and Treacey should have done better.
Although he missed his chance King came on and showed pace with 1 run Usain Bolt would have been proud off. When King stepped onto the pitch he was the 1000th player to play for Preston.
Left the ground with the thought that buying a ticket for the Swansea away game next Saturday may not have been the brightest of ideas.
Preston North End 0 Doncaster Rovers 2 Att 12190
The new season kick off
First home game 6 hours away, will it be a season to remember or will disappointment haunt all my dreams as the Monkees sang all those years ago when one was a callow youth.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Lancashire v The Unicorns
This is my last football free Saturday before next May, so it was to Old Trafford to watch the 40 over match and the ECB side the Unicorns.
Sat under the new Point facility which offered good views although one slight problem was that the main electronic score wasn’t working and the small temporary scoreboard couldn’t be seen from where I sat.
The match promised to be a mis match with crickets equivalent of a non league side taking on a strong County side.
The Unicorns won the toss and batted and Murtagh hit 2 four in the first over however reality then kicked in and the Unicorns were 18-3. Hogg taking 2 wickets and a run out. A partneship between O’Shea and captain Parsons took the score to 63 before another 2 wickets fell in quick succession. Shortly is was 92-8 and it looked like a very early departure home.
A gritty partneship between Saker and Brown got the score to 136 before Brown went, Saker went quickly and that was it 143 all out. Not a total to threaten the home side.
Lancashire had 50 on the board in the first 6 overs before Moore was caught behind, from there Brown and Croft coasted to the victory total with just under 14 overs to spare.
Easy victory but a wins a win as they say
Sat under the new Point facility which offered good views although one slight problem was that the main electronic score wasn’t working and the small temporary scoreboard couldn’t be seen from where I sat.
The match promised to be a mis match with crickets equivalent of a non league side taking on a strong County side.
The Unicorns won the toss and batted and Murtagh hit 2 four in the first over however reality then kicked in and the Unicorns were 18-3. Hogg taking 2 wickets and a run out. A partneship between O’Shea and captain Parsons took the score to 63 before another 2 wickets fell in quick succession. Shortly is was 92-8 and it looked like a very early departure home.
A gritty partneship between Saker and Brown got the score to 136 before Brown went, Saker went quickly and that was it 143 all out. Not a total to threaten the home side.
Lancashire had 50 on the board in the first 6 overs before Moore was caught behind, from there Brown and Croft coasted to the victory total with just under 14 overs to spare.
Easy victory but a wins a win as they say
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Macs football blog 2010/2011
Afternoon all, will be blogging my way through the highs and lows of the forthcoming football season mainly following two football teams, league wise Preston and non league Lancaster, although my first match will take in a Scottish cup tie on 31/7/2010.
There will be some inaction shots of games and grounds. So be warned
There will be some inaction shots of games and grounds. So be warned
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)