Interesting topic, or two topics; 1) The Match. 2) The "Banter?"
1) My view of the match;
Slack pass at the start by Joyce but why did Schofield let the ball go past him and why did Murphy not stay on his feet in his attempted tackle? All in all a GIFT start for The Dale! Second goal for Dale was also a gift from Toto but even more so from the referee. At the time I thought and said that the foul by Toto was just outside the box but people around me in the Clayton end disagreed! On Sunday I watched the goals on the BBC which I had recorded, playing the incident over several times at normal speed and in slow motion and freeze frame. This confirmed my initial view...the tackle/trip was indeed outside the box! In watching the goal over a few times I also concluded that the referee was poorly positioned and no way could he have given the decision so quickly without a second thought! I thought the referee was quite poor in general to say that he regularly officiates in the Premier League. He missed fouls on defenders coming out of defence on three occasions because he felt the need to turn and look upfield himself before advancing upfield. He also failed totally to pick up Ian Craney's backward leaning into our defenders late in the game. Having had two gift goals the Dale should really have run out easy winners but it is to the credit of our players and Cooky and Liam's coaching that we made such a good fist of it. I thought our goals were great and disgree with the report that their keeper was totally at fault for Romy Boco's goal. Romy hit the ball with such ferocity that the keeper was just not quick enough to react to it coming at him. In my view a great goal and lots of credit to Romy for having a go from distance. Lets see more shooting like that. Romy has done so well since his return! The winning goal for Dale was an absolute peach and the lad who scored it, may at the end of his playing days, put it up in his top two or three goals of his whole playing career. Bavs had no chance. In the end we could have easily run out as winners and I am ancouraged that the team/squad are shaping up superbly. Much better than I expected when I think back to pre season when I was very nervous about our prospects for the season ahead. Lots of respect for Coley and Jimmy before the match and at the end too. Onwards and upwards.
2) The "Banter"
The Ultras were great on Saturday, the loudest they have been so far this season. My view on the chanting is simple. Sing your heart out for the lads in a positive way, even when we are not playing so well or are losing. But come on, leave the silly and abusive chants to others so that we can maintain our good reputation. The Ultras are definitely missing Jason who is now coming up to two years through his ban. Lets keep the flags and banners flying for the team as Jason would like us to and try to maintain the singing support in every minute of the match, like we have done in the past. November 2013 will come round soon and I hope that, if you are reading this Jason, that you will come back and join us!
Finally, it has been a great start to the season. Lets all get right behind the team and the management. Try to bring a friend to the next home match and sing your heads off!
