2015/16 Prediction League; Game 20 v York City (away)

Div3North · 25-11-2015, 23:37

York City

V

Accrington Stanley

2015/16 Prediction League; Game 20 v York City

This, you might think, is not a good time to be a supporter of a League Two side whose name starts with a letter “Y”

; probably, indeed, much like it wasn’t a good time to be a York (now The Minstermen, previously “The Robins”

) fan back in 1974, when – to mark their promotion to Division 2 but to their supporters’ collective embarrassment

– they added a bold white letter “Y” to the fronts of their (maroon) tops, and became – of course - known as “The Y-Fronts”

.........red replaced maroon in 1978, and, frankly, they’ve changed their kit more often than a eunuch in a harem

.....my favourite (from a “naff” perspective) was 1933, when – to celebrate their connection with the art of the chocolatiers (York being the spiritual and physical home of Rowntrees) – they wore shirts of chocolate and cream stripes .................

Anyroadup

; who’s currently propping up League Two?

Yes, the only two sides that start with a “Y” ................... plum last, and deservedly so

, are Yeovil; P19 W2 D5 L12 F19 A32 Pts 11 – their wins are against Crawley 1-0 away, and Luton 3-2 at home; drawn four and lost six of their last 10

, with Paul Sturrock admitting to having selected the wrong team last time out (0-1 at home to Wycombe) – he having selected the same team that played in the match before, not realising that several of them were “tired”

, and one or two “very tired”

; oddly, they’re doing ok in the Cups, having gone out of the Al Capone Cup 2-0 to QPR, but having beaten Barnet 1-0, Coventry 4-3 on pens after a 0-0, and Gillingham 5-4 on pens after a half-Desmond in the PaintyThingy, and Maidstone 1-0 away in the ”proper” Cup

................immediately on top of them (metaphorically) come York; P19 W2 D6 L11 F21 A37 for 12 points, immediately behind the Daggers on GD after the Daggers won on Tuesday (1-0 over the Wombles) and York didn’t

..............by 6-0 at Pompey, all six coming in the second half

............Manager Jackie McNamara (who’d probably like to be back in Dundee

) said;

• "The first half I thought we were fine. Obviously the sending off kills us a bit but at half time you get in there and obviously want to galvanise and make sure we don't give anything away easily or quickly”

...................in which aim they failed spectacularly

, conceding on 50, 52 and 60, and then again on 71, 80 and 84

. For the record, JackMac’s overall record at Bootham Crescent (home and away) is P5 L5

(including the Cup defeat by us and the League Cup defeat by Barnsley) GF6 GA16 ................ Yeovil, York and Dagenham are the only sides with just 2 League wins

, York now have the worst GD (-16, as against the Daggers’ -14 and Yeovil’s -13), and they haven’t won in the League since 5th September

, and haven’t taken a point since 8 games ago

, when the shared a home Desmond with the Daggers. The sending-off to which JackMac referred, by the way, was ex Man U and Baggies player Jonathan Greening, now at 36 on the coaching staff Back Where It All Began

, who brought all his experience to bear in the 45 mins he played against Plymouth, 57 mins against Leyton Orient, and 44 mins 20 seconds against Pompey; violent conduct, apparently ..........Stick to coaching, Jonathan; less dangerous!

They released winger/striker Lyndon Meikle (27, once of Eastwood Town and Mansfield) who joined Macclesfield, and GK Jason Mooney (who didn’t

); they brought in striker Vadaine Oliver (born in Sheffield, if you’re wondering about the name

) from Crewe, def George Swan (21) from Wolves, Hartlepool GK Scott Flinders (also Barnsley, Palace, and loads of loans including Yeovil), striker James Berrett (Huddersfield, Carlisle and Yeovil), and Scunthorpe’s ex Blackburn, PNE, and Eire def Eddie Nolan; they’ve loan-signed seven so far, the most recent being (today) Spurs’ untried MF Kenny McEvoy.

We tipped them out of the FA Cup (3-2)

; Barnsley put them out of the FLT 2-1 after they’d beaten Donnie 2-0, and Swansea ended their involvement in the PaintyThingy 3-0 after a penalty shoot-out win against Bradford; leading scorer is Vadaine Oliver (not related to Vic Oliver

, for those of you old enough) with 8; MF Michael Coulson has 5; then it’s two threes and four with one each.................to date, they’ve used 30 different players this season!

Tells its own story ...............

They came back into the League in 2011/12, winning the Play-off Final 2-1 against Luton; since then – FA Cup apart – they’ve been a real bogey team for us

.....in six meetings we’ve had four draws (one Desmond, three half-Desmonds), and lost 1-0 twice

, including last Boxing Day ..........the good news is that we haven’t lost either of the last two .............. and that we’ve won 9 and lost 4 this season

, against their two wins and eleven defeats

.............and that only Oxford (2nd) and Pompey (4th) have lost fewer games than we have (4)

So ...............interesting facts about York City; their goalkeeping coach is called “Leaning” – which is ok as long as it’s the right way; their biggest League win was 9–1 against Southport in the Third Division North in 1957, their heaviest loss was 12–0 to Chester City in 1936 in the same division; in the FA Cup they once won 7-1 against Stockton Malleable

(sounds like a setting for Midsomer Murders – or maybe a character in an episode);their record defeat in the FA Cup was 7–0 to Liverpool in 1985; their record goalscorer is Norman Wilkinson, with 127 league goals, and 143 in total, scored between 1954 and 1966; former managers include Charlton legend Sam Bartram (579 appearances in goal, and the Best GK Never to Play for England), two Colliers, a Little, a Bird, a Swallow and Martin Foyle, who left to set up a bookshop, if I recall

..................or was it to start a war? And in their first season in the old Div3North (no relation!) in 1929/30, they came a very creditable 6th, Halifax and Barrow were re-elected, and South Shields renamed themselves Gateshead ......and a fat lot of good it did them!

They’ll be acutely aware that our away League record for the season is 5 wins, 2 draws and two defeats

, no doubt; they’ll know that “Millionaire” Josh Spotkick has 10 goals for the season, Matt Crooks has 7 and Billy Whizz has 6; they’ll be thinking – as we did with Morecambe – that they can’t go on not losing to us in the League for all eternity; and they’ll be expecting Wynonie to predict a thumping Stanley victory (which will certainly distract them!) ......Go for it, Wyn; 8-1? 10-3? If Pompey (sans Naismith) can hit them for 6 in half a game, the sky’s our limit, surely?

Deadline for entries is, as always, scheduled kick-off time, which is 3.00pm this Saturday afternoon, 28th November; seats in all parts, nuts in bags, drinks on sticks, it’s Panto Time ...............Oh no it isn’t! .................. Win this and we’re Serious Contenders

(like in the film; “I coulda been a contender”) .......... “Look at me, Ma – top of the woild!”

.........well, near the top of the League, which is the same thing..............more or less!

Good luck to everyone!

................ Keep the Faith!

.......... And thanks for playing!