Workington IS A Long Way...

Newport Pagnell Town vs Boston Town

The teams shake hands in Newport's picturesque ground.

... So I went elsewhere.  A 704 mile round trip to Workington for the second year running wasn't very attractive, despite the Pilgrims having beaten Workington eight time in a row.  It just so happened that the other team from Boston were playing 10 miles from my house, at Newport Pagnell Town.  With all the ex-Pilgrims in the line-up it'd be almost like watching United, almost.

Cricket: in case the game is rubbish.

Newport's Willen Road ground is a multi-purpose sports site and the cricket going on adjacent to the pitch would provide some entertainment in the unlikely situation that the football proved to be overly dull.  The club house was pleasant enough, a cosy bar area with Sky alongside a neat function room providing more than enough room to spread out.  The beer was reasonably priced but the food consisted of scant offerings, filled baps and peanuts being the only available sustenance.  Moving into the ground itself I ended up chatting to another "sort-of-Town-fan", he was a Northampton fan but follows the Poachers when Northampton are away, he pointed out the other ten or so Town fans in the "crowd" of around 100.

Newport Pagnell scored over 100 goals last season in the process of finishing third in the league behind big spending St Neots and King's Lynn and they were soon pressuring the Poachers.  For the first 15 minutes of the game Pagnell's physically bigger players, particularly their number eight, were the target as balls were thrown into the box.  The Poachers were lucky to escape as a belting shot came in from a completely unmarked Pagnell player on the edge of the box.  Boston dealt with the threat well though and with Michael Wood playing a key role in defence they slowly began to limit the Pagnell chances.  However, Pagnell were still in control of the game and threatened despite the lack of clear chances.  This all changed 34 minutes in when ex-Pilgrim Danny Matson pounced on a loose ball 20 yards out and scuffed a low shot home against the run of play.  Buoyed by the goal the Poachers started to play some nice stuff and were well on top of the game as the half-time whistle went.

Newport's giants pile on the pressure.

Newport came flying at Town in the second half, literally.  A strong side, Newport weren't afraid of the tackle and the Poachers players started to take a battering as they looked to play it around their bigger opponents.  Hard tackling drew the yellow card out of the ref's pocket on more than one occasion and there were times when the guilty party were lucky that the card wasn't red.  Boston, looking to rise above this, went 2-0 up on 65 minutes.  Another ex-Pilgrim, Shane Clancy, ran at the lumbering Pagnell back-line before letting fly with an effort which deflected and nestled neatly into the bottom corner.

A Boston cross-come-shot from a very narrow angle thudded against the inside of the Pagnell post and flew back out as the Poachers searched to finish the home team off.  Pagnell responded well in the middle of the park but were unable to fashion any clear chances up front.  Frustration got the better of one or two of the Newport players, the right back in particular was lucky to remain on the pitch.  The ball having gone out of play for a throw in was claimed by Matson and the Pagnell right-back, the right-back got there first and threw the ball into Matson's face.  The ref clearly having missed all this dismissed the frantically flagging linesman's protestations before nonchalantly wandering over and proceeding to book both players.  The referee did eventually consult the linesman but "didn't really understand what [he] was saying".  Oh, good.

Matson does the honours from the spot.

Justice was done minutes later when a rash challenge in the Pagnell box drew a farcical dive from one of the Boston players.  It was good enough to fool the referee and a penalty was given.  Matson stepped up and duly converted to cap a good performance from the Lincolnshire team.  Turns out that United had a similarly good day up in "Mordor", a Holsgrove winner coming in the 94th minute to give the Pilgrims three points on the first day.

Next up: Boston United play host to Histon at York St.

Pre-Season Part One - Oh Dear...

So we're back, pre-season has kicked off for another year.  There have been a few changes in the Boston side, a few players have gone and a few have come in.  Grimsby have taken Pearson and Church, while Boyes, Clarke, Cullingworth, Davidson, Dudfield, Murphy, Weir-Daley and Yates have all moved on to pastures new.  The managers have looked to the past to replace these players by bringing in ex-Boston boys Matt Hocking, Julian Joachim, Adam Millson, Liam Parker, Jamie Stevens and Mikel Suarez all getting run outs with varying degrees of success.  Only Joachim, Millson, Parker and Suarez survived the 3-3 draw with Arnold Town in the first week of pre-season.  The managers have managed to bring in the odd new face in the form of Chris Hall, Jordan Fairclough, and Cullingworth's tormentor from last season, Kevin Holsgrove.  A few youth/reserve team players have also made the step up to first team for the friendlies.

Boston Town vs Boston United

Boston Town were United's second pre-season opponents and they also had their fair share of ex-United players with Alex Beck, Shane Clancy, Danny Matson and Chris Wright.  As the swift summer shower abated over Tattershall Road.  United lined up with Bastock in goal; Jelleyman, Austin, Canoville and Fairclough in defence; Semple, Hall, Sleath and Holsgrove in midfield; Joachim and Stones started up front.

The contest was even in the early stages with both teams creating chances but failing to convert them.  Semple lobbed a chance just over Chris Wright's bar and in his scramble to make sure it wasn't dipping in the portly, ex-United shot stopper pulled the net off the crossbar.  Clancy and Matson both failed to trouble the score-sheet at the other end.  Holsgrove had the only other presentable chance of the half but curled the ball well wide.  Bastock provided some head in hands entertainment as he decided to sprint out to the Town winger in possession, throw in a poor tackle before getting up and throwing in another one to give away a free-kick.  0-0 at half time was a reasonable representation of the game.  United hadn't impressed so far, Stones and Joachim both looked ponderous up front and didn't worry the Town back line.  Meanwhile the United back line were really struggling to deal with pace as Austin and Canoville both looked a few yards short.

The second half saw the introduction of Ricky Drury for Bazza, who'd presumably worn himself out by sprinting to left-back.  Semple was also dragged off and replaced by Harry Deane.  Sleath had clearly decided that United were incapable and so that he had to win the game on his own.  Unfortunately he could do nothing but swing a free-kick high over the bar.  Sleath was playing well and was the catalyst in most of United's attacking play, the midfield will struggle without him as he is in the Student World Games, or whatever they are called, for the first four games of the season.  Holsgrove should have scored but he dithered and gave Wright a chance to claim the ball.

Town deservedly took the lead in the 54th minute as Alex Beck cut into the box before firing a shot home to torment his old club.  United responded by changing the back line, all of them.  Millson came on at right back, Field at left with Ward and Parker in the middle.  There were also changes up front with Holsgrove and Joachim replaced by Ogden and Suarez respectively.  These changes resulted in a wave of pressure from United with three Sleath chances going begging.  Suarez also had a headed opportunity but couldn't get the shot anywhere near the target.  United were caught short at the back as Beck out-leapt the considerably taller Parker to put the game out of United's reach with a minute remaining.

It doesn't look good for United, while Town played reasonably well it doesn't mask the obvious deficiencies in the United squad.  The defence looks very short on pace in the middle and a quick opponent will take advantage.  Fairclough looked reasonable in the first half but had a shocker in the second period before being subbed.  There was at least one occasion where he ran forward, lost the ball and then didn't make the effort to get back.  The midfield looked reasonable going forward, Sleath was excellent as usual, but Hall was fairly anonymous for much of the game and isn't the sort of player who is going to put the tackles in when needed.  Holsgrove looks reasonable and commits defenders, encouraging the overlap.  The real worry is the lack of a goal-scorer.  Newsham is proven but fragile, Suarez a supporting player, Stones and Joachim just don't look good enough to put the chances away on a regular basis.

So in short, United can't defend, score or pass it around the middle; a dangerous combination.  There is much improvement needed before the start of the season.

Next up: More pre-season action.