2012 Prediction League; Game 4 v Cheltenham Town (away)

Div3North · 25-08-2012, 22:33

Cheltenham Town

V

Accrington Stanley

2012/13 Prediction League – Game 4; v Cheltenham Town (away)

OK – so within the first 8 days of the season we lost 3-0 at home to Exeter

, who lost 3-0 at home to Morecambe, who lost 3-1 at home to Port Vale, who we beat 2-0

; I’m still working that one out

……………Who first said, “There are no easy games in League Two”?

If you read some of the posts of the forum, you might well think we’d just been relegated, or closed down by HMRC

; Exeter – despite Morecambe last week – are a class act, with some vastly experienced and cute players playing below their level ………..We’ve started the season against three of the real Contenders (“I could’ve been a contender ……….” ) and are in the playoff places with 6 points out of 9; an average of 2 points a game would’ve put us up in the automatic spots last season – one point behind Swindon (currently 3rd in League One)!

Now the gate, well, that’s something else entirely …………………………..

Cheltenham won promotion from the Conference at the end of 1998/9; their highest placing was 17th in League One, which they achieved in 2006/7; they came down again in 2008/9 in 23rd place, winning just 9 of 46, getting only 39 points. You might remember, as a mark of how hard they fell, that we whopped them 4-0 at Fortress Crown in 2009/10, but they steadily strengthened, to the point that they made the Playoff Final last season, seeing off The Gulls 2-0 and 2-1 before Crewe did them 2-0 …… Their most famous former player might be one Andy Gray – Scottish International, Everton favourite, one-time pundit, and lover of assistant referees

(Sian Massey, you might recall, of whom he seemingly said (to Richard Keys), “Can you believe that? A female linesman? Women don’t know the offside rule” ……… Actually, to be fair, neither does half the Clayton End, Andy ……………..

Anyway, he finished his illustrious career (178 goals in 493 games) with a season (1989/90) in the Conference with Cheltenham ……………….It’s not recorded whether he went for the glory or the money

Some significant changes in the Robins’ squad over the past summer; out went Luke Summerfield (24, MF) to Shrewsbury, having joined Cheltenham a year ago from Plymouth; fellow midfielder Josh Low (33) – ex Welsh u21s, Cardiff, Cobblers, Oldham and the Posh joined Kurtis Guthrie’s Bath City

on a part-time basis, to combine playing with his career in the law; forward Theo Lewis (21), who made 39 appearances between 2009 and 2011 but who fell out of favour last season and was loaned out to Gloucester City (who currently share Whaddon Road – correctly the “Abbey Business Stadium” - with the Robins – so he didn’t have to use his satnav to find the way to his new club!) was released, and joined Salisbury City in the BSP South; and winger Brian Smikle (26), who put in 4 years at Kidderminster before his 2 years at Cheltenham was released, didn’t sign with us after a trial, and is currently – as far as I know – without a club ……………..

In came much-travelled striker/MF Chris Zebroski (25) – Plymouth, Millwall, Oxford, Wycombe, Torquay and Bristol Rovers (59 goals in 281 games before this season); he’s joined up front by Bury loanee striker Shaun Harrad, whose CV lists Notts County, Burton (where he spent 6 years), and Northampton prior to Gigg Lane; in midfield they added ex-Barnet player Sam Deering (21) and Birmingham’s Darren Carter (28) – out for the last year with injury, in defence they acquired Exeter defender Billy Jones (29) – previous clubs Leyton Orient, Kidderminster and Crewe - and as cover for GK Scott Brown (who got his place back after Jack Butland – probably the only keeper in the last many years to play for England (and Team GB) with just a League Two side on his pedigree – went back to Brum) they signed 19 year old Connor Roberts (19), who has u16 and u17 experience with Wales.

They’re out of the CapOne “Killer Cup” on penalties at home to the MK Dons after a 1-1 draw; in the League it’s been a 2-0 home win against the Daggers, 2-2 at Torquay and 1-0 in a weather-affected game today at Aldershot (the players were taken off after 20 mins because of thunder and lightning

– not as bad as the game at Wycombe, which was abandoned after the weather got nasty; didn’t know the Health and Safety man included weather in his responsibilities?

Mind you, who’d believe this was August?

) Their goals, worryingly, are coming from the seasoned pros; Zebrowski, McGlashan, Mohammed and in particular Harrad, who has 3 in 3 ……..

Our record against them since they came down is patchy – never hitting the heights of the 4-0 win again (our goals by Chris “Lifeguard” Turner, Phil Edwards from the spot and 2 from Bobby Grant); away, that year, we got a point in a 1-1 draw (Turner again); 2010/11 we got thumped at home 4-2 (Terry Gornell and Lord Sunbeds of Rochdale from the spot) but took our revenge at their place 2-1 – Gornell again, and a first goal in three years from Leam Richardson ; the less said about last season the better – 0-1 at home, 1-4 away – a consolation goal from Bobby Grant was as good as it got …..P6 W2 D1 L3 F10 A11 Pts 7

The deadline for entries is, as ever, scheduled kick-off time, which is 3pm on Saturday 1st September; another win? (we’re certainly due one!). 0-0? 7-4? 26-0? Anyone can, on their day, beat anyone in our League, so let’s prove the point; if you don’t count the penalty shootout, the Robins haven’t lost yet this season; keep the faith; Team Cookie are the boys to sort that out for us ………

Good luck to everyone ………… and thanks for playing!