Or some like. Well, an update on all things recent. After the disappointment of yet another home defeat against Worthing (see previous post), we ground out an excellent win at Walton Casuals the following Saturday (12th), with a late Cedric Ngakam goal sealing three points for Chatham.
We were due to battle high flying Godalming on Saturday past, but this match, along with all other games in Kent bar those at Gillingham and Dover, fell foul of the weather. The chance to play a top three side was one that we'd have gladly taken - its vital that we get some back to back wins on the board, but that honour now falls to the Boxing Day trip to sunny Bourne Park where we face old adversaries Sittingbourne.
I say adversaries, because there seems to be a somewhat one sided rivalry between us, that is, they hate us and we don't really care about them.
The rivalry between us was stoked in the national imagination over recent seasons with their comical ditty "All Bling and Burberry", which goes like this;
"All bling and Burberry, high teenage pregnancy, no father on the scene, all robbing cash machines!"
Its funny, and certainly witty. The only problem is that they don't seem to have taken a stroll through the delights of Kemsley recently, or in fact Sittingbourne town centre on a Friday night, whereupon they might realise that we're some sort of chav brethren, perhaps an elaborate town twinning operation that no-one ever knew about. Sittingbourne itself is a Lidl centric gem of a duff town. Chatham is frankly somewhere even the most facistic of totalitarian governments would struggle to come up with a solution to rid the streets of its prolific scum value and the ever growing moutain of base, de-intelligised debauchery. As I said, we're some sort of Chav brotherhood. We should embrace each other...
All joking aside, and rivalry put behind us as we join hands accross the Medway / Swale divide, the Bourne are starting to look like a decent side. Former Chat, Hicham Akhazzan, is banging the goals in for Gary Abott's men, and another former Chat, Matt Bourne, is steadying a solid defence. Like us, if they can get a bit of consistency, they're very much play off contenders, which given their off the pitch woes (low crowds, no money from the Maidstone ground share, had to close the reserve team) would be a welcome jab in the arm. They used to be a big side, until it all went wrong in the 90s. They can be again, but they need to capture the public's imagination -and success on the pitch can do that for them. We're on the up, and meeting them somewhere around the middle of the axies on a graph that would show a halting decline and steady upturn for them, and years of steady growth for us - the hidden attribute in Football Manager speak is the ambition - we've both got it but have we both got enough bite?
I'll keep going on about it until I realise I'm wrong, but Chatham this year appear to have ambition to progress. After seasons of satisfaction at mid table mediocrity, this year is going to be our year - or at least the start of something.
Our fans don't sing. We all know that. But some of us tried the other season, with a song, that personally, and biasedly, I believe to have been better than the Sittingbourne Bling song, which was voted 4th best in the country.
It goes like this - to the tune of Design for Life by the Manic Street Preachers.
"Walker gave us power,
Then Binks came and made us free,
What price now, Mid-table mediocrity?
We don't talk about cups...
We only want to stay up...
And we are not allowed to spend,
Because the gate receipts say that would be the end,
Ryman League, For Life,
Ryman League, For Life,
Ryman League, For Life,
Ryman League for Life..."
If we get any good, it won't ever get sung again. Just as well no-one ever does.
I won't be at Bourne Park on Boxing Day. Its just not going to happen. But I will be at the home game against pace setting Folkestone Invicta on tuesday 29th (7.45pm KO), and the Sittingbourne home game on Sat 2nd (3pm) - there will be words or the like here on line at some point after where I'll say what happened and stuff. If you're interested, we've extended the discounts on the door to include as well as NUS, reduced entry for Gillingham ST holders. A great idea. Wonder who came up with it...
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