I said I'd be at the Faversham home game tonight, but I have an unexpected family thing and whilst Kent Derbies looked like they'd be a premium until we were reappointed to the R1S at late notice, they're not as much as a premium as spending time with a grumpy, teething, MMR and meningitis jabbed 14month old, which is what I am instead doing tonight.
At one point, I thought about blogging other things on here, and infact did so with a review of a frankly awful Richard Gere film. I was thinking about taking this too far, and doing a report on my daughter's general temper and justifiable feeling sorry for herself, but this is a Chatham Town FC blog, not the Little Miss Magooo blog. Some people do such things. Not me. I could now start to disappear down a stream of thought about how it would be like inviting strangers into your front room, whilst at the same time taking yourself into their front rooms, which is a media dichotomy not seen since Praia da Luz and which I never want to happen. I've digressed, haven't I? Anyway, here's to a cheery evening of Calprofen and Ashley & Probets teething powders. Did my blog just turn into mumsnet? Right, back to the Chats...
They're at home tonight, and the score will be on the official site before its on here. Official. Other than that, there has today been announced a share scheme of sorts, a two tiered beast with "shares" for club members (players, their family etc) and one for supporters. Supporters pay £50 and it funds the redevelopment of the ground. You get a vote at the AGM and a mention in dispatches. And a discount on hire. I need to give it more thought, but on the face of it, it is good news. I'd like the discount to extend to match entry and bar prices, and a reduction on our ridiculous programme costs (two squids), but as I said, it needs thought.
Prediction for tonight? As I'm not there, we win 4-0. Realistically, we bounce back to old habits after Saturday's victory of Walton and Hersham and lose 1-0 to a late goal despite dominating. Old habits, like my pessimism, die hard...
Tuesday, 28 September 2010
Wednesday, 22 September 2010
Most striking was how it all went wrong...
Once sang London also-ran sub-Libertines indie-popsters Les Incompetents. It wasn't a bad song in fairness, bit too much profanity for some tastes, and a little too much gibberish, but not a bad song all the same. The same indifference could be applied to Chatham's already faltering title tilt. I say that as I genuinely believed after some of our pre-season performances that this year we could have been contenders. But we're not. Yes, yes, its early, early doors (in fact, these doors are so early that if we're to take the publican analogy any further we're talking an airport Wetherspoons), but from 3 wins in 4 to 3 wins in 7, and a cup exit away from home, and its not looking so bright.
We are lacking in goals. That's without doubt. Very few clubs have scored less than us this season in the R1S, and we're now shipping them as fast as anyone else. We need to arrest this. Two things as rare as a sober, coffee quaffing breakfasteer in the aforementioned Wetherspoons coming up for Chatham, and that's consecutive home games, including an almost holy grail like rarity, a Saturday home game! This weekend sees the visit of Walton and Hersham, followed by Tuesday's visit of Faversham Town, whom we have yet to meet in a competetive game in nigh on forever, our Kent League tenure ending before their reformation in the early part of this decade. Justin Luchford's Faversham have a defensive pairing of Matt Bourne and Richard Avery, both ex Chats who'd walk into most R1S first teams but seemingly not our own, and a host of other ex Chats including Dave Botterill, Micky Tricky Dodsworth (after the 90s urban musician to whom he bears no resemblance either physically or aurally) and Justin "My Likkle Rooney" Ascheri.
Both matches should be good. I will be at the Faversham game, and will report in due course. In the meantime, enjoy Les Incompetents and their one "hit".
We are lacking in goals. That's without doubt. Very few clubs have scored less than us this season in the R1S, and we're now shipping them as fast as anyone else. We need to arrest this. Two things as rare as a sober, coffee quaffing breakfasteer in the aforementioned Wetherspoons coming up for Chatham, and that's consecutive home games, including an almost holy grail like rarity, a Saturday home game! This weekend sees the visit of Walton and Hersham, followed by Tuesday's visit of Faversham Town, whom we have yet to meet in a competetive game in nigh on forever, our Kent League tenure ending before their reformation in the early part of this decade. Justin Luchford's Faversham have a defensive pairing of Matt Bourne and Richard Avery, both ex Chats who'd walk into most R1S first teams but seemingly not our own, and a host of other ex Chats including Dave Botterill, Micky Tricky Dodsworth (after the 90s urban musician to whom he bears no resemblance either physically or aurally) and Justin "My Likkle Rooney" Ascheri.
Both matches should be good. I will be at the Faversham game, and will report in due course. In the meantime, enjoy Les Incompetents and their one "hit".
Wednesday, 8 September 2010
Chatham Town 3 - 2 Dulwich Hamlet
Those of you who followed my twitter updates (http://twitter.com/ChathamTownBlog)on last night's game will already have an idea of the course of last night's game. Chatham won 3-2 in a game where both sides were in truth below their best, Dulwich Hamlet understandably so following the tragic death of a former youth team player, Rio McFarlane, who at 18 years of age became the latest victim of London's gun crime plague on Monday.
Hamlet had asked the league for a postponement. Many of their first team are contemporaries of McFarlane, and the first team management had nurtured him through the youth set up for which they are also responsible. News coverage of the murder is still scant, McFarlane's identity only released to the press today, and its thought he had no links to any gangs. Police dealing with a fatal accident involving a motorcyclist heard shots in Pearse Street, and found McFarlane fatally injured. Chatham Town reportedly offered a minutes silence, which was gracefully turned down by Hamlet who it is thought will choose to honour their fallen comrade at their next home game at Champion Hill. The football really fades in comparison to the 15th senseless killing of yet another teenager on the capital's streets, but all credit to Dulwich who put on a decent show and took a deserved lead in the 12th minute, when a great ball from midfield found the pacy Sol Pinnock, who whipped a low cross into the box, which James Tedder failed to get down to, and Carlton Murray-Price fired home.
Hamlet then controlled the game until around the half hour mark, pressuring well in midfield and chasing every ball with gusto. Chatham did settle eventually, and threatened an equaliser as Nick Hegley came into the game more and more. The leveller came with almost the last kick of the half, and many Chats supporters were surprised to see it stand, the first hint that Aaron Firth's tap in had counted being his almost hysterical celebration of his debut goal. But stand the goal did, a real sucker punch for a visibly shaken Hamlet as they came off, their young keeper James Dunn remaining just the right side of calm with the referee.
Into the second half, and Chatham started the brightest, and on 50 mins, Brad Potter did what Brad Potter does best, and that is drift anonymously into the box with a perfectly timed run to connect with a pin point cross, on this occasion making the best of a pin point Nick Hegley free kick to head home from just inside the six yard box and a muddle of players of both sides.
Chatham held their lead, and threatened to add further, but were pegged back by Dulwich in the 68th minute when the Chatham defence fell apart like some sort of Red Sea, for Hamlet's Tom Lancaster to make a surging run before belting the ball from all of 20 yards into Tedder's bottom right. The stalemate wasn't to last for long though. After an immediate Dulwich attack from the restart which saw Tedder save superbly at his post, Hegley won a corner for Chatham on the counter attack which Matt Solly curled for the again unmarked Potter, an identical header only at the other post for 3-2.
Chatham rallied for more goals, a refreshing site, and Jason Barton could have made it four, only to stumble into the ball from Joe Fuller's pull back. Hamlet then pinned Chatham into their own half for much of the remainder, and despite several substitutions, could not muster an equaliser, that to be frank, had it happened, would not have been robbery.
After a few anxious minutes of added time, the whistle blew on a game that saw three rather hollow points for Chatham.
Would like to see: Callum O'Shea return. We only seem to attack on the left wing. He can play the right. But that would mean dropping Brad Potter, and at the moment he scores approximately 33% of our goals.
Man of the Match: Joe Fuller. Combined superbly with both Hegley and new strike partner Aaron Firth all night.
You wouldn't believe it: The geniuses at the Ryman League, who refused to postpone this match as McFarlane wasn't registered as a player at Hamlet. The fact that he was very much a talented player with a big future (he scored in his debut for Cambridge United's reserves the day he died) , and understandably a well liked former player of the club and friend of many players, officials and the club management, seemingly ignored. And this in the same week that the same league allowed Croydon Athletic to postpones its immediate games in the Ryman Premier league because they can't fulfill their fixtures, because the allegedly criminal owner (the international cricket fixer who fell for that fake sheik) funnily enough no longer has any money to, by his own admission, launder through the club. Harlow Town's benefactor disappeared for some reason last season, and they, like many of the financially stricken clubs throughout the non league game, kept the season alive by fielding a mixture of youth and unpaid players for the season. Croydon have a youth set up that predates Mr Cricket -BetUnfair's involvement with the club, and those players should be used. Its almost as if the league are embarrassed by the ease with which Croydon Athletic bought the Ryman 1 South title last season with players of too high a calibre to be funded by average crowds of 200 bored Palace fans. Its almost as if they're embarrassed by the fact that they never questioned the money. Some including myself, did. Here's a post from 2009.
http://chathamtownfc.blogspot.com/2009/08/money-will-out.html
Hamlet had asked the league for a postponement. Many of their first team are contemporaries of McFarlane, and the first team management had nurtured him through the youth set up for which they are also responsible. News coverage of the murder is still scant, McFarlane's identity only released to the press today, and its thought he had no links to any gangs. Police dealing with a fatal accident involving a motorcyclist heard shots in Pearse Street, and found McFarlane fatally injured. Chatham Town reportedly offered a minutes silence, which was gracefully turned down by Hamlet who it is thought will choose to honour their fallen comrade at their next home game at Champion Hill. The football really fades in comparison to the 15th senseless killing of yet another teenager on the capital's streets, but all credit to Dulwich who put on a decent show and took a deserved lead in the 12th minute, when a great ball from midfield found the pacy Sol Pinnock, who whipped a low cross into the box, which James Tedder failed to get down to, and Carlton Murray-Price fired home.
Hamlet then controlled the game until around the half hour mark, pressuring well in midfield and chasing every ball with gusto. Chatham did settle eventually, and threatened an equaliser as Nick Hegley came into the game more and more. The leveller came with almost the last kick of the half, and many Chats supporters were surprised to see it stand, the first hint that Aaron Firth's tap in had counted being his almost hysterical celebration of his debut goal. But stand the goal did, a real sucker punch for a visibly shaken Hamlet as they came off, their young keeper James Dunn remaining just the right side of calm with the referee.
Into the second half, and Chatham started the brightest, and on 50 mins, Brad Potter did what Brad Potter does best, and that is drift anonymously into the box with a perfectly timed run to connect with a pin point cross, on this occasion making the best of a pin point Nick Hegley free kick to head home from just inside the six yard box and a muddle of players of both sides.
Chatham held their lead, and threatened to add further, but were pegged back by Dulwich in the 68th minute when the Chatham defence fell apart like some sort of Red Sea, for Hamlet's Tom Lancaster to make a surging run before belting the ball from all of 20 yards into Tedder's bottom right. The stalemate wasn't to last for long though. After an immediate Dulwich attack from the restart which saw Tedder save superbly at his post, Hegley won a corner for Chatham on the counter attack which Matt Solly curled for the again unmarked Potter, an identical header only at the other post for 3-2.
Chatham rallied for more goals, a refreshing site, and Jason Barton could have made it four, only to stumble into the ball from Joe Fuller's pull back. Hamlet then pinned Chatham into their own half for much of the remainder, and despite several substitutions, could not muster an equaliser, that to be frank, had it happened, would not have been robbery.
After a few anxious minutes of added time, the whistle blew on a game that saw three rather hollow points for Chatham.
Would like to see: Callum O'Shea return. We only seem to attack on the left wing. He can play the right. But that would mean dropping Brad Potter, and at the moment he scores approximately 33% of our goals.
Man of the Match: Joe Fuller. Combined superbly with both Hegley and new strike partner Aaron Firth all night.
You wouldn't believe it: The geniuses at the Ryman League, who refused to postpone this match as McFarlane wasn't registered as a player at Hamlet. The fact that he was very much a talented player with a big future (he scored in his debut for Cambridge United's reserves the day he died) , and understandably a well liked former player of the club and friend of many players, officials and the club management, seemingly ignored. And this in the same week that the same league allowed Croydon Athletic to postpones its immediate games in the Ryman Premier league because they can't fulfill their fixtures, because the allegedly criminal owner (the international cricket fixer who fell for that fake sheik) funnily enough no longer has any money to, by his own admission, launder through the club. Harlow Town's benefactor disappeared for some reason last season, and they, like many of the financially stricken clubs throughout the non league game, kept the season alive by fielding a mixture of youth and unpaid players for the season. Croydon have a youth set up that predates Mr Cricket -BetUnfair's involvement with the club, and those players should be used. Its almost as if the league are embarrassed by the ease with which Croydon Athletic bought the Ryman 1 South title last season with players of too high a calibre to be funded by average crowds of 200 bored Palace fans. Its almost as if they're embarrassed by the fact that they never questioned the money. Some including myself, did. Here's a post from 2009.
http://chathamtownfc.blogspot.com/2009/08/money-will-out.html
Monday, 6 September 2010
An early view of the season so far.
I haven't been to our last couple of games, namely the away cup game at Chertsey Town, and the recent league defeat at Walton Casuals on Saturday.
Information on the official site is scant at present, our regular away match reporter Rochester Valiant currently on cricket duties at his as yet, unnamed, local cricket side. Hopefully, he'll be back soon, his away day reportage having become an essential part of any Chats fans supporting experience over the last few years. The Medway Messenger ran a brief match report in today's edition, that has yet to make it to the online edition. Assistant Manager Mark Newson takes a view that we dropped our heads after Casuals' first goal, scored, along with their second, by Charlie Ide. Ide is a player who must be expected to bag a hatful of goals this season, his pedigree and some might say temperament detailed in the implicit in his wikipedia profile;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Ide
I predict he'll be the Ryman 1 South's top scorer this season. How can he not be?
We shouldn't be too glum about being undone by a team, who to the untrained eye should be as poor as ever, but in reality are now managed by Neil Shipperly, a son of the Medway Towns and highly experienced professional footballer. I imagine Casuals will be up there or thereabouts come the season's end.
Tomorrow sees the visit of one of those teams who conjure up all the glamour of the non-league game, Dulwich Hamlet. They boast former big names and a pink strip. They're usually a decent side, if unpredictable. I'd like to think we can turn them over tomorrow night. Matt Solly starts a ban for his sending off at Chertsey, and this should lead to a first start of the season for Lee Maskell. I'm a big fan of both players, Maskell plays with heart and talent, just like Solly. We need a win to stay in contention at the top, we're at that time of the season where, only three of four games in the wheat and the chaff start to seperate like foul milk... Tomorrow sees a full fixture list for the division, so we will still have a game in hand on most sides come 10pm tomorrow. We really need to start finding the net. Three goals in as many league outings this season is not at this time worrying, but the division looks as if its setting out an early stall for leaky defences. Joe Fuller, suspended for our last match, should return, and partner Callum O'Shea up front. Once we hit full strength, which we are far from at present, we should be unstoppable. And all that optimism...
I'll try to post an update on Wednesday on the outcome of tomorrow's match. Prediction: Chatham 3-1 Dulwich.
As an aside, assistant boss Mark Newson boasts Tottenham Hotspur among his professional clubs. Plenty of non league players and coaches name big sides in their CVs, but few are as interesting as Newson's. He was a regular throughout the 80s and early 90s at Bournemouth, and, in them days, lower league Fulham, before a spell at Barnet as their captain. Aged 35, and having never kicked a ball in anger in the top flight, he was signed by Spurs, to star in their much forgotten attempt at European glory, in the Inter-Toto cup.
And another Chatham Town meets the stars moment. Tricksy winger Nick Hegley boasted a top name Best Man at his recent wedding. Chris Kirkland. Buddies from their days as youth players at Coventry City. You never know. We might one day see Kirkland between the sticks at TOSC. He apparently wants to be a fireman when he quits the professional game. With their generous leave allowance and accomadating attitude to secondary employment, you just never know.
Information on the official site is scant at present, our regular away match reporter Rochester Valiant currently on cricket duties at his as yet, unnamed, local cricket side. Hopefully, he'll be back soon, his away day reportage having become an essential part of any Chats fans supporting experience over the last few years. The Medway Messenger ran a brief match report in today's edition, that has yet to make it to the online edition. Assistant Manager Mark Newson takes a view that we dropped our heads after Casuals' first goal, scored, along with their second, by Charlie Ide. Ide is a player who must be expected to bag a hatful of goals this season, his pedigree and some might say temperament detailed in the implicit in his wikipedia profile;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Ide
I predict he'll be the Ryman 1 South's top scorer this season. How can he not be?
We shouldn't be too glum about being undone by a team, who to the untrained eye should be as poor as ever, but in reality are now managed by Neil Shipperly, a son of the Medway Towns and highly experienced professional footballer. I imagine Casuals will be up there or thereabouts come the season's end.
Tomorrow sees the visit of one of those teams who conjure up all the glamour of the non-league game, Dulwich Hamlet. They boast former big names and a pink strip. They're usually a decent side, if unpredictable. I'd like to think we can turn them over tomorrow night. Matt Solly starts a ban for his sending off at Chertsey, and this should lead to a first start of the season for Lee Maskell. I'm a big fan of both players, Maskell plays with heart and talent, just like Solly. We need a win to stay in contention at the top, we're at that time of the season where, only three of four games in the wheat and the chaff start to seperate like foul milk... Tomorrow sees a full fixture list for the division, so we will still have a game in hand on most sides come 10pm tomorrow. We really need to start finding the net. Three goals in as many league outings this season is not at this time worrying, but the division looks as if its setting out an early stall for leaky defences. Joe Fuller, suspended for our last match, should return, and partner Callum O'Shea up front. Once we hit full strength, which we are far from at present, we should be unstoppable. And all that optimism...
I'll try to post an update on Wednesday on the outcome of tomorrow's match. Prediction: Chatham 3-1 Dulwich.
As an aside, assistant boss Mark Newson boasts Tottenham Hotspur among his professional clubs. Plenty of non league players and coaches name big sides in their CVs, but few are as interesting as Newson's. He was a regular throughout the 80s and early 90s at Bournemouth, and, in them days, lower league Fulham, before a spell at Barnet as their captain. Aged 35, and having never kicked a ball in anger in the top flight, he was signed by Spurs, to star in their much forgotten attempt at European glory, in the Inter-Toto cup.
And another Chatham Town meets the stars moment. Tricksy winger Nick Hegley boasted a top name Best Man at his recent wedding. Chris Kirkland. Buddies from their days as youth players at Coventry City. You never know. We might one day see Kirkland between the sticks at TOSC. He apparently wants to be a fireman when he quits the professional game. With their generous leave allowance and accomadating attitude to secondary employment, you just never know.
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