Morecambe Oxford Feb 2011

An enjoyable result from Morecambe yesterday. The Globe arena is a nice new ground, a decent sized main stand, and for us away fans the covered terrace behind the goal was respectable too, steep enough steps that you could see above the person in front, and hefty crush barriers to lean on too. The ground seems to be in acres of space, so I have no idea why they built a wall only 2 yards from the back of the concourse, which made queuing for food and drinks and consuming them as well a bit crowded. Nor do I know why they decided to make the clubhouse bar home fans only, as I'm sure they could do with the extra income from the travelling away fans.

At least at the Globe they have kept the fast food catering to a decent standard, and I was not disappointed by the LHP (Lancashire Hot Pot) with mushy peas. I was dismayed to only find about their award winning match day catering in the programme afterwards, which although expensive at £40 +VAT, I would have loved to have tried (presumably it includes the match ticket and a programme?). They should have followed the Macclesfield example and encouraged away fans to book in advance.

The Us were kitted out in yet another variation which didn't use the Wycombe shirt, this time we had the white shirt, navy shorts, white socks, and was reminiscent of an 80's England home kit. Morecambe went for red shirt and white shorts, like a WC2006 England away kit.

As for the game, I was mystified by the early free-kick given for Clarke handling outside the area. He caught the ball and rolled out of the area, and with the ball just touching the line once play had stopped, looked to the ref, picked the ball up and the free kick was given. If the ball was out then, why not when he rolled out in the earlier movement? This early incident set the Oxford fans against the referee for the rest of the game.

I thought we were lucky not to concede in the first quarter of an hour, as the pressure seemed to be all from Morecambe, and we seemed to give the ball away and get tackled just as easily as against Boro midweek.

This time, the Us did get the result, McLaren's free kick being a nicely worked set piece, and Asa Hall also getting a good goal in front of us away fans. Jack Midson appeared for a ten minute cameo and will be disappointed he did not convert a one-on-one with the goalkeeper, although Constable had similar missed opportunities last week against Rotherham. Simon Hackney came on too, again looking dangerous on the wing, and I think will be a regular substitute on the hour mark to liven things up.

The Morecambe scoreboard was a flashy multicoloured led screen which showed time elapsed by the second, and makes our own two line red scoreboard look decidedly dated. Unfortunately they switched it to adverts as soon as the final whistle had blown, but luckily Darrell had taken a picture with the 3-0 scoreline.

After a quick detour to the bay for pictures by the Eric Morecambe statue and an unsuccessful search for fish and chips, we were filling up at a petrol station on the way out of town, when three Morecambe players jumped out of a Mercedes saloon, to stock up on sweets, crisps and fizzy drinks. This was only about 30 minutes after the final whistle, and they were all in training kit, so it seems that diet, warm downs and showers don't form part of the Morecambe training regime.

On the way back down South, it was easy to see why their crowds are so low, with so many other clubs of a higher standard all within the same north east region.

Gillingham OUFC 05 Jan 2011

This was my first ever trip to Gillingham, and after preparing a coppa and stilton ciabatta for lunch, I left home at half past ten.  I took the 10:48 train from Guildford to Waterloo; Northern Line to Leicester Square; Picadilly line to King's Cross St Pancras, arriving at quarter to midday.  Wandering to St Pancras International, I found I had about 4 minutes to make my way to platform 11 for the 11:55 to Gillingham.   Running up at least three escalators, having my ticket rejected, I finally jumped on HS1 with seconds to spare. 

HS1 has wide and spacious dark blue / light blue seats, which fooled me into thinking I was in first class.  I wondered along a few carriages, before realising they were all the same, and spotting Fantastic Mr Ox at a spare table, joined him for the journey.   I spent the next few minutes wiping sweat from my brow, before settling down for the 100mph journey out East.  The train definitely sounded fast, but as we were in a tunnel until Stratford International, and then again to Ebbsfleet International, there was nothing to see.  HS1 has a ring-tone like jingle after each station to announce the destination and stops, which I first thought was FMO getting multiple text messages.  

Stopping at Ebbsfleet, we looked over to try and spot the Ebbsfleet ground from our Conference days, and spotted the station across from the empty Ebbsfleet car-park.   The High Speed train then trundled on slowly to Gillingham, with Gravesend a good ten miles from Northfleet.  On each side were vast quarries in the chalk, until we finally approached the Medway, and a marooned submarine. 

I had  found out the London yellows meeting point in Gillingham as the Britannia pub, a few yards away from the station.  FMO bought the first round at a bargain £4.90 for a Kronenbourg and a Spitfire (which I haven't seen since University days).  The Britannia was a definite spit and sawdust pub, with tacky carpets, and fake plate-tin advertising signs tacked to the walls.  Apart from the standard signs warning against taking or dealing drugs , there were also notices against bringing your own alcohol into the pub! 

The next round was £5.90, which made us think  either the first one was in happy hour, or more likely an innumerate barman, but still, a good improvement on prices.   The pub soon filled up with more United fans.  

The Priestfield stadium has been improved on three sides for the home fans, with a two tier stand to our left, a one-tier stand opposite us, and a shallow all seater stand to our right, with a bizarre fluorescent blue LED clock.  As for the Brian Moore stand we were put in, it is a temporary standard behind the goal, built on scaffolding.   It towers to around the height of the Oxford Mail stand at home, but is uncovered, and its skeletal nature all too visual.  The United fans were shepherded into into the top tier of the stand, and about 1/3 of the stand to the right was also blocked off. 

Dark clouds loomed, the wind blew, and jobsworth stewards stopped anyone taking camera-phone snaps.   Bouncing at the top of the stand had the metalwork shaking, but nothing too serious.

As for the game itself, the wind took a lot out of both sides, and the two teams ground each other into submission, ending up 0-0 at half time.

At the break, leaving an uncovered stand for a completely open concourse, yet more jobsworth stewards ejected people for lighting up a cigarette even in a far away corner next to the gates.  

Second half saw the clouds darken, and Gillingham looked threatening in the last ten minutes.  Akinfenwa had a wild overhead kick way past the post, and the Gills even had a shot off the bar in the last few minutes. 

Ending the day with a clean sheet was welcome, and we move onto Rotherham at home in a week's time.

Gilly Gilly Hessenthaler Akinfenwa Barcham by the Sea

This is a preview I originally wrote for www.rageonline.co.uk.   Any amendments and corrections will be in italics.

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On Saturday Oxford United pay a visit to Gillingham FC’s Priestfield ground, after the midweek trip to Southend on the opposite side of the river.  Back in the Conference days, the East London pairing used to be Ebbsfleet and Grays, so this makes a welcome change.  This visit is the club’s first since August 2005 when United lost 1-0 in the league cup to then League One Gills, and prior to that was in 2000 in Division Two (current League One), when United also lost 1-0.  In the home fixture in November 2010, the Gills finally broke their string of 35 away games without victory, which had stretched back through the whole of the previous season to May 2009.  Cody McDonald scored the solitary goal in United’s defeat, and with fifteen league goals is now just two behind Rotherham United’s Adam Le Fondre.    

On Tuesday night, the Yellows travelled to Southend, and although the temperature had warmed considerably from the prior Saturday, the Us lost 2-1 for the second consecutive away game on a misty night, despite taking a well worked early lead.  That game saw Damien Batt sent off with a straight red card, and so he will miss three matches, presumably Ben Purkiss will take his place, and that change will perhaps give Potter a start too to provide some danger from the wing.    

After the victory in November, Gillingham strung together another four straight wins, gaining manager Andy Hessenthaler the December manager of the month award.  In their last six games, they have beaten Stockport (currently 24^th), Northampton (13^th) and Aldershot (16^th), drawn with Torquay (14^th) and Stevenage (12^th), and lost to Chesterfield (1^st). 

Gillingham are currently 8^th in the league with 41 points from 28 games, just two places ahead of The Yellows who dropped to tenth place midweek and remain on 39 points, also having played 28. 

Apart from a 5-1 victory over basement club Stockport, most of the Gill’s recent games have been fairly low scoring, with neither them nor their opponents scoring more than two goals.  As has been heavily trailed elsewhere, United have not kept a clean sheet for a record 22 league games, but are not bottom of the clean sheets list in League 2, as Macclesfield have only achieved three this season, United’s start to the season giving them five, last seen at Hereford.  As a score prediction, both sides will score at least one goal, and for the game to finish 2-1, hopefully this time to United. 

There are several ways of getting to Gillingham by train from London, departing variously from London Victoria, Charing Cross, Waterloo East and St Pancras International.  Escalator works at Victoria tube station should be avoided if possible, and so your previewer will take his first football trip on the High Speed train from St Pancras.

On the day match tickets are a staggering £23.00 for adults in the uncovered Brian Moore stand.  Although a £3 advance discount was available, breaking through the £20 barrier seems expensive for uncovered seating and is one of the highest ticket prices we will see this season.