2017/18 Prediction League; Game 15 v Crewe Alexandra (away)

Div3North · 18-10-2017, 22:59

Crewe Alexandra

V

Accrington Stanley

2017/18 Prediction League; Game 15 v Crewe (away)

Well, that wasn’t supposed to happen, was it? I logged on about 8.30, and they’d had one shot (off target) and 43% of the play; we’d had eleventy-billion shots, and were winning at a canter; then they equalize, but Billy Whizz penalties them to death, and then we concede twice in the last seven minutes, and we’ve lost, and I’m thinking “Boogar!” Although the damage wasn’t hurricane force, courtesy of some very helpful if fortunate results elsewhere ............. Notts County lost at Crewe, Newport lost to Colchester, Exeter lost to Luton - and after the game the Exeter Manager (“Flatcap Tisdale”) came out with an all-time gem, when he announced

• “It was a fabulous performance which manifested itself in a 4-1 defeat" (So was the General Election, Paul, if you’re a Tory)

................and Swindon lost to Lincoln, and Coventry lost at home to Vegan Greenpeace United .........and until the 94th minute, Wycombe were losing at Carlisle ........... at one point, minutes from the end, it was eight away winners and four at home (unlike League One, which had seven games finish 1-1, plus one Desmond and four home wins, in each of which the away side scored once), but late goals at Brunton Park (see “losing at Carlisle” above) and at Barnet (which gave the Bees a point but extended their run to eight without a win) changed the map slightly .............. and the bottom three all won away from home (Port Vale for the second game in a row) and didn’t concede a goal among them – Coventry 0 FGR 1, Crawley 0 Chesterfield 2, and Morecambe 0 Port Vale 3 ...................so, having been second in the table at one point, we fell to fifth (fourth until Wycombe scored their 94th minute fluke!) .......... but it could have been worse ........... And I still think Guiseley away is potentially Bananaskin United ............ And well done Chorley and AFC Fylde for reaching Round One ....... and all the other Unsung Hero sides!

Crewe finished last season in 17th place with a record that went “P46 W14 D13 L19 GF58 GA67” and 55 points; we beat them away on NYE 1-0 (goal by Billy Whizz Productions on 43 mins), and when they came to ours we did it again, this time 3-2, having been 2-0 down at HT but putting things right with two from Mark Hughes (57 & 79) and one from Shay Bratfud McCartan (61) .......... we’ve put five past them four times over the years, most recently in 2009/10, when we won 5-3 at home) and they’ve done it to us twice, but they’ve also had a 6-1 win (which doesn’t count, cos it was in the FA Cup in 1992/93)

They released six, including Andrew Dawber, MF Billy Bingham (no, not that one!) – who went to Gillingham, CB Ben Nugent (who also went to Gillingham – saves on petrol if two go), CB Harry Davis (now at St Mirren), striker Callum Saunders (Notts County) and defender Marcus Poscha (who doesn’t appear to be “fixed up” at the moment) ........... CB Jon Guthrie went to Walsall on a free, and two players rejected new contracts and left – CMF Danny Hollands to Eastleigh, and RB Oliver Turton to Blackpool ........... They brought in six-thirteenths of a Baker’s Dozen; strikers Jordan Bowery from the Orient and the dangerous Chris Porter from Colchester, defenders Michael Raynes from Carlisle and Eddie Nolan from Blackpool, CMF Brad Walker – for whom they paid £undisclosed - from Hartlepool (currently 13th in the Bananarama, sandwiched between Maidenhead Utd and Ebbsfleet Utd (How Are The Mighty Fallen ......... although, to be fair to them, they are above Tranmere (15th) and Leyton O (17th)) and GK Will Jaaskelainen from the Trotters .............. a couple of loans in, and the same number out ............

They started the season with two draws and two wins, and another win in Game 6 (5-1 over Chesterfield TwistedSpires FC), at which point they were 4th ..............then they lost five in a row (only scoring in one of the five), and suddenly they’re 19th ...........one win, 17th ........ another loss, 19th again ........ and an impressive win over League-leading Notts County on Tuesday – 17th again! .......... they haven’t managed to score in 6 of 14, and they’re already out of the EFL Cup (0-1 against Bolton) and the EFLTroffy (beaten by Oldham and Newcastle U23s, with an away trip to Vale Park still outstanding) ............ and they drew Rotherham at home in the FA Cup!

Speaking of the FA Cup – if you want to upset a Crewe fan, ask them what happened on 3rd February 1960 .......... Anyone? That – for those of enough years to remember – was the night of the 4th Round replay at the Lane between Spurs and Crewe ........... Spurs were 3 up after 11 minutes, 10-1 up at HT, and ran – or strolled, really – out winners by 13-2; Les Allen got 5, Bobby Smith got 4 and Cliff Jones got 3 .............. the Spurs side that night was Brown; Hills, Henry; Blanchflower, Norman, Mackay; White, Harmer, Smith, Allen, Jones – Danny Blanchflower, John White – who died when he was struck by lightning four or five years later, as I remember - Dave Mackay, Maurice Norman, Bill Brown ………….Oh Happy Days ……….. and they lost to Blackburn in Round 5!

Deadline for entries is, as always, scheduled kick-off time, which is 3.00pm on Saturday 21st October …………… They won the League Two playoff in 2012, and the old Division Two play-off in 1997, beating Brentford 1-0 (the referee was Uriah Rennie – remember him?) but apart from winning the Football League Trophy in 2013, that’s about it …………but that’s more League silverware than we’ve got …………..they’ve lost their last five away League games (Grimsby 1-0, Exeter 3-0, Wycombe 3-2, Coventry 1-0 and Yeovil 2-0 ………..GF2 GA10) …………their leading scorer's Chris Porter, with five ………. And the top three scorers in League Two are James Collins and Danny Hylton (both Luton) with 8, and Billy Kee (also 8) …….. Go Billy Whizz!

Good luck to everyone! ………Keep the Faith! ………… And thanks for playing!