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halfaperson
Allan Clarke
Joined: 13 Jun 2007
Posts: 689
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 Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2007 5:33 pm Post subject: Oldham (a) 2nd Oct 2007 |
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Is there anything better than a last second winner away from home, in front of a massive following at your local rivals (oh yes they are). To say I’d have settled for a draw during those last minutes is like saying you’d settle for a picture of Jennifer A. to take in the shower just before her and Kylie get in with you.
It was the ridiculous to the sublime as far as journeys go. Saturday was one of the longest trips to make whereas Oldham is literally just over the Hill. In fact it takes less time to get to there for us Pennine Whites than it does to ER. So near in fact that there is a core of Oldham support in the far flung West hillside villages of Huddersfield. It was in a car with three of these stoic souls that me and my mate set off over the big hill skilfully avoiding the roaming sheep as they grazed and plied their trade on the A62.
Boundary park itself has not changed much since those battles of the eighties we used to come out of second best. The area around the ground has changed beyond recognition. All those fields have been covered with BnQs and other examples of new millennium taste and progress, like burger joints. What hasn’t changed is the little estates and cul de sacs that were the scene of other Eighties incidents. Where the Oldham lads duly parked the car  
Gregan got a luke warm reception with thankfully no barracking other than a few half hearted fatty shouts. What is surprising is the total lack of acknowledgement Shez got. Considering the guy is nigh on a legend for people of my age it’s a shame 
It was a cracking atmosphere that got the game going. Very Different to Gillingham on Saturday. It’s very difficult to get a mass chant going in a vast open air end but in the confines of a shed enveloped with the autumnal Lancashire evening air the Leeds fans were as one with a particularly loud gusto.
We had a decent shape to the team. Straight 4-4-2. It didn’t look as good as it has been though obviously. No Clapham at Full back and a Greganesque Thompson in central midfield replacing Hughes who replaced Clapham.
The two loanees were operating as a target man and a runner respectively. They started off fairly brightly actually. The bigger fellow (De Fries or Andrews dunno, ill assume its De Fries) was bringing the ball down well and getting in front of Gregan. He was laying it off but didn’t have the touch of Kandol or Beckford. He was ok though especially considering it was his first game. Him and Andrews were too far apart and not reading each other as you’d expect and too often the attacks broke down because of that. The quicker lad Andrews went past Gregan quite early on from a wide position. Gregan cynically held him back to get a booking and the chance was gone.
You could sense frustration was creeping in and the tussles between the two front men and Gregan became evermore fractious as Gregan tried to assert himself and get on top. The Ref again as you’d expect was penalising our two more than unevenly to this unbiased Leeds Fan. De Fries seemed to have adopted the Kandol arm flapping protest very quickly and Douglas was also doing a lot of Protesting. These little constant protests aren’t going to do us any favours over the season.
Their main attacking ploy was to get it out wide to their Left Side as quick as possible and let the winger run at us which he did. Fraser did well though but he had his work cut out and it impeded his forward runs in the first half.
Neither side managed anything like a clear cut chance. One of the new lads cut in from the right and scuffed a left foot shot that rolled to the keeper when a curling precision top corner excocet was required. is that too much to expect at this level 
We had a scare when Hughes sent a silly cross field ball across the edge of the area leaving Casper High n Dry but their lad wasted the half chance. Later on in the game Andrews had a site on goal with a half volley but he got his shape all wrong, lent back and lofted the chance over the bar into the stands.
Although a hard fought contest, the half petered out as the teams cancelled each other out. Both Keepers seemed content to launch drop kicks into the opposition penalty area. One thing was obvious. The pitch was very very wet. Cant recall any heavy rain in the region although there was strong rumour it stopped drizzling in East Lancs for two days in April  . That is just one of those urban myths I reckon.
An explanation came at Half Time. Two water fountains were placed on the pitch and dragged all over it. They must have sprayed the equivalent of Scammendon Dam onto the pitch , it was a chuffing disgrace and not from an eco point of view. Apparently it was to assist in Oldham’s passing game I later found out. All it did was to slow Gregan and our forwards down to walking pace.
To be fair to Gregan I thought he was outstanding in the second half and had De Vries in his pocket.
As a team we again took the initiative as we do this season in the second half and played by far the more composed football. The only down side was the number of times Thommo lost possession and gave the ball away. A number of fans around me were screaming to take him off and it was fair comment. He wasted a couple of free kicks in good positions and his corners drifted into the Keepers hands (Mark Crossley still plugging on)
Frazer was able to get forward a bit more and there were times when Prutton took up a Harry Kewell position. (Very Wide that is, not lying on his sulky idle arse counting his money ) We got the ball out to him loads of times but their left back did well and as a team Oldham worked very hard in defence. Our Front Two were working hard and tried hard but were showing signs and flagging. Neither of them showed the fitness levels our lads have but they kept plugging away. One of them again had a site on goal just inside the area but didn’t have the composure to hit the target.
Must say a word or two about Rui Marques. He Was absolutely outstanding. It’s got to be Blackwells biggest cock up not to have played him. He is head and shoulders above any other defender in this league. Ably supported by Mat Heath who again looks very good at this level we have a rock solid Pair in the centre of defence. I can think of only one glancing header from Ricketts (I think) they had that looked anything like beating the pair. True Rickets style though he couldn’t get his lazy arse high enough and the ball just skimmed his skull to go harmlessly wide
Prutton had a similar opportunity getting on the end of a LH cross only for the keeper to tip it over the bar. This only raised the decibel levels of the Leeds Fans who were in fantastic voice. Even WACCOE got a fine airing together with a newish chant starting with "15 points who gives a --- etc". Some superb MOT renditions drowned out the Oldham chants and produced a brilliant atmosphere for the final ten minutes and what a final ten minutes they were. The game really opened up with both teams going for the win.
The Game went from end to end with their left winger again causing us trouble. He loved to run at us and cut inside but again and again we broke their attacks down and launched our own. Seb and Prutton got plenty of ball in wide positions. By now our new front two had run out of steam and if we were going to get a goal it was going to come from a set piece or a midfielder breaking forward. That’s what Mr Wise  must have thought with his absolutely inspired substitution. When Westlake came on to replace Thommo there was a fair amount of disgruntlement around us as if it was too late. About Twenty minutes too late was the general consensus but what the frigg do us fans know eh?
The four minutes of injury time ticked away and Seb got the ball in the far corner. He tried to cross failed and got the ball back. "Oh! just keep it there" I thought, "play the time out". Incredibley he twisted towards the dead ball line and launched a cross in. Every one was at the front post and watched the ball sail over their heads towards the far corner of the six yard box. Westlake was in space as he came charging in from midfield and caught it sweetly on the volley for an unstoppable shot in goal
The place went bananas. The Oldham end went Empty  The Next kick of the ball at the re start was the last kick of the game. It was incredible and cue for some fantastic celebrations from players and fans alike. There should be a rake of You Tube clips about judging from the number of phones panning across the bouncing fans. You would have thought we had just won the league. Christ knows what its going to be like when we do 
So it was back to the car to meet our Oldham Friends who had given us a lift. Not before having to walk through a pack of their numpty heads though. A mob of them were trying to get into the hospitality suite where A Leeds Fan was apparently giving them all the 1-0 sign after the game. "How the fuck did that happen" one of them said to me in despondency. In truth he did have a point and I guess karma went our way after Saturday. To be honest though I didn’t think it was the time, place or indeed person to discuss Hindu Philosophy and gave him a shake of the head and a shrug of the shoulders and made our way to the car.
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cardboardbox?Youwerelucky
Niiiiii..!!
Joined: 16 May 2007
Posts: 1839
Location: lincolnshire
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| Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2007 5:55 pm Post subject: |
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Cracking report halfa - many thanks_________________ 
BOXYS BAR - LIQUER UP FRONT AND POKER IN THE REAR |
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Gopher
Boobmeister
Joined: 07 May 2007
Posts: 3163
Location: Riding on the window lickers bus, first class.
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NE1
Neither Shallow Nor Sexist
Joined: 15 May 2007
Posts: 1463
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| Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2007 6:07 pm Post subject: |
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brilliant!
ever thought of contacting the local paper?
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Gopher
Boobmeister
Joined: 07 May 2007
Posts: 3163
Location: Riding on the window lickers bus, first class.
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1985
Allan Clarke
Joined: 03 Jun 2007
Posts: 776
Location: Far East Asia
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| Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2007 12:07 am Post subject: |
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| Nice one, and at one stage going over them there hills towards Oldham i felt cold !!
_________________
Behold the turtle,he only makes progress when he sticks his neck out
.He who asks is a fool for 5 minutes, he who does not ask remains a fool for life.
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Tanhilltimmy
Jack Charlton
Joined: 06 Sep 2007
Posts: 160
Location: miles from nowhere
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| Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2007 6:09 am Post subject: |
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| Milt old son, cracking stuff, got to get you on OMJ! |
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