[Div3North]

Accrington Stanley

V

Notts County

2017/18 Prediction League; Game 40 v Notts County (home)

Well that all went rather splendidly (again), don’t you think?

Order of Merit (Accrington) With Gold Fig Leaf (just the one!) to Colchester - who MutuallyConsented with Kurtis Guthrie this week, he having only managed 13 games and one goal because of injury - for Doing It Copiously And Often (well, twice) to Luton MadHattersTeaPartyTown ............ from cocky favourites, they’re now sweating, I suspect, having won one, drawn four and lost two of their last seven, and from “streets ahead and out of sight” they’re now at risk of pulling up on the rails (although I suspect they’ll be ok)

Meritorious Conduct badges to Newport (1-1 with Coventry) and Morecambe (for the second time) who did likewise with Swindon, Lincoln (for stuffing Exeter 3-2) and Notts Co and the PocketPickers for cancelling each other out in a (boring) goalless-Desmond ............. Barnet are making a run for safety (now four points out of 15 and only 5 points behind HaplessGrimsby, although the Codheads did get a point (2/15 and no win in 19 (I think it is)) with a goalless-Desmond of their own against Stevenage, which somehow resulted in the Press Association reporting that

“Grimsby were unable to extend their winless run in League Two as they were held to a goalless draw at home to Stevenage”

I’d have thought that drawing a game was “extending their winless run”, but what do I know?

So; in the last 5 games, Stanley have 15 points , Coventry and Lincoln 11 each, Wycombe 9, Exeter 7, Notts Co 6 and Luton 5 ............. at the “Locked in the Cupboard of Incompetence and Stupidity” end of the table come Grimsby (2), Stevenage and Mansfield (3), and Barnet, Yeovil, Vegan Greenpeace and Swindon (4) .......... Morecambe are unbeaten in 5 (drawn 4, won 1) for 7 points, which – see above – is better than NC or Luton!

Little activity in the transfer market (= no money?); CMF Liam Noble arrived on a free from the Vegans, and CB Ben Hall from Brighton on loan ........... Boss Kevin Nolan said, after last Sunday’s loss at Chesterfield, that he “wasn’t worried about his side being caught in the race for promotion”; what his Chairman said to him after reading that isn’t recorded, but it won’t have been nice ................ Kevin also said,

"I’m looking for a response, not just for Friday but I am looking for a response right away. We are delighted to be in position we are, but if we don't get a play-off spot it probably will hurt. But when you look at the bigger picture, where we are and where we have come from so quickly, then we will have something to be immensely proud of no matter what happens at the end of the season."

Tell you what, Sunshine; if “no matter what happens at the end of the season” involves you not going up, then you’re high up the Hit List to be Toast ................

Of their last 13 they’ve won 4, drawn 4 and lost 5, the defeats coming at Barnet (1-0), Cambridge (1-0) and Chesterfield (3-1), and at home to Exeter and Crawley (1-2 on each occasion); on the season to date, they’re on P40 W18 D13 L9 GF60 GA42 for 67 points and 4th place – 4 points behind Wycombe, 7 and a lot of goals behind Luton, and 10 and quite a few goals behind us; after us they’ve got Coventry at home, Colchester (away), Yeovil (h), Grimsby (a), and they finish with a life-threatening visit from Luton on the last day ............... I wouldn’t want to be the team that needs something out of that game! And I don’t see County as nailed-on play-off contenders yet either!

They did ok in the FA Cup, beating BrizzleRov 4-2, Oxford City 3-2, and Brentford 1-0, but they hit the buffers big time in Round 4, losing 8-1 at Swansea after a 1-1 at their place; since that thrashing they’ve only won 3 of 10 (how often does that happen?)............. The EFL Cup was a non-event (5-6 on pens after a 1.5-Desmond at the Iron (3-3)) .........The EFLTroffy saw them fail to get out of the group stage despite beating Everton u12s

They’ve managed 75 goals in all competitions; leading scorers are Jorge Forest-Grant (18), Jon Stead (who’s 67 tomorrow, I believe) with 13, Lewis Alessandra, Jonathan Forte and Ryan Yates, each with 7, and Shola Ameobe (who probably needs a sit-down half way through each game) who has 5......... Noor Husin, for completeness of information, has as many League goals for them this year as he got for us on loan last year (one!)

We met in Game 4 by the side of the Trent, and drew (a ProperDesmond!); Stead and Grant (sounds like a firm of whisky importers!) put them 2-0 up, Mark Hughes got us back in it, Mekhi Leacock-McLeod was sent off on 66, Malik Wilks got a yellow as County’s Matt Tootle saw red for two yellows on 90+1, and then the same Mr Wilks – last heard of in Emmerdale Farm – equalised with a “90+4” ..........., yes, another game where nothing much happened! It wasn’t a bad point, given that in their first ten games – apart from drawing with us – they won all but one of the rest (except 0-3 at Coventry)

Deadline for entries is, as always, scheduled kick-off time, which is 3.00pm on Easter Monday (2nd April) .......... other Fixtures of Note pit Lincoln at Carlisle, Swindon at Crawley, Exeter hosting Cheltenham, Mansfield at Luton and Grimsby – who could yet slide down the Greasy Pole of Oblivion – at Wycombe ........... also on show – AFC Fylde (still 8th in the Bananarama) at Barrow and Hartlepool hosting Guiseley .......... and 7 of County's 9 League defeats have been on the road

Good luck to everyone! ............. Keep pinching yourselves (or each other, if you prefer)! ................... Keep the Faith! .............. And thanks for playing!