A bit of Boston Sausage

Dartford FC vs Boston United

The second round FA Trophy match came off the back of a poor run with a loss against Bishop's Stortford and a draw against Blyth Spartans in the last few games.  Add to this the injury to Semple who has consistently been the Pilgrims best player, and the only positive for Boston was the re-arrival of Spencer Weir-Daley.  Dartford, conversely, are having a good season in the Blue Square South so there was surely only one result from this game.  Plenty of Pilgrims made the trip and a stop off at Boston Sausage in the market under London Bridge was more than welcome.  The Boston based butchers improving their profile with reduced price hot-dogs and free sausage rolls for the travelling United fans.

Dartford's neat new ground, a bit posh for United fans.

Dartford's ground is a neat new development and provided a pleasant setting for the clash to see who makes it into the final 16 of the Trophy.  United lined up with Weir-Daley up front alongside Jason Lee while Newsham and Ben Fairclough were pushed onto the wings.  The United support were superb from the off, sadly the same couldn't be said of the team.  Four minutes in and, with the vocal Boston support trading songs with the home fans, Dartford went in front.  Canners was well beaten and the resulting cross was put home with a cheeky back-heal by Erskine.  United were undaunted though and began to play themselves back into the game.  It wasn't long before United had their equalizer, Ward heading a corner towards the net only for Weir-Daley to poach it and steal the glory on his second début.

Weir-Daley lurks, moments before scoring his goal.

Boston pressed forward and only alert goalkeeping from the Dartford 'keeper kept the scores level.  The game was pretty even and there weren't many chances in the remainder of the first half.  Dartford saw a free-kick fly wide before half-time.  During the break the Dartford fans decided to change ends, the United fans didn't fancy this much and set the scene for a vocal conflict.  The more numerous Dartford fans had the advantage in numbers but the United fans were determined and sang louder and longer than their southern counterparts.  Sadly this support wasn't enough to push the team on.  Fairclough had a chance and really should've done more with it, the 'keeper gathering before the winger had even got a shot in.

United went behind for the second time not long after.  Erskine again on hand to convert a well aimed cross.  Boston nearly levelled it up through Weir-Daley but the Dartford 'keeper again saved well.  This was the prelude to more misery for Boston as some really shoddy defending saw Noble through on goal to slide the ball past Bastock.  At 3-1 down the Pilgrims heads still didn't drop.  Buoyed by their excellent support Weir-Daley again saw a good chance go begging.  With ten minutes to go United had reduced the deficit, Constantine heading home well.  This prompted some of the more loutish of the Dartford fans to express their nervousness by trying to start trouble.  Needless to say the Boston fans only response was laughter, it's hard to take being threatened by someone who looks like a Danny Dyer body double seriously.

United tried to push for an equaliser but this only resulted in more pressure from the neat passing play of Dartford.  Bastock managed to keep one out but in the last minute of normal time Dartford put the game out of reach, Erskine completing his hat-trick.  It wasn't a bad performance from United, who could probably do with a bit more solidarity at the back and a bit more fire-power up front.  Despite the obvious deficit in the strike force being pace, the managers have yet to address this issue and Weir-Daley, competent as he undoubtedly is, isn't the answer.  4-2, in the end, was a fair reflection of the game.

Next up: ... I have no idea but I'm sure I'll get to a game soon!

Dr Jekyll

Boston United vs Hyde FC

The first round proper of the FA Trophy brought yet another new team to York St... no, wait... brought the same team that was here barely a month ago.  Hyde did us over on that occasion with a couple of soft goals.  Since then United have been in good form, with the exception of the last Trophy game, even if results haven't quite been there.  In an effort to maintain this momentum the line-up was unchanged.

Apologies for the lack of photos, my camera doesn't like to focus when it's cold.

The story of Boston's season was played out in the first half as the Pilgrims did well but struggled to threaten in the final third.  There were very few chances of note, Hyde seeing a chance flicked just wide of the post while United saw Newsham and Semple shots blocked.  Ian Ross had a go from range, forcing the Hyde 'keeper to save well.  United went behind just before the break, the otherwise good Jordan Fairclough was done down the Pilgrims right and the resulting cross was smashed past Bastock via the head of Spencer.  Boston tried to respond immediately but Jason Lee's header was cleared off the line.

The second half performance was much improved and the Pilgrims pushed Hyde back.  The good Boston play was rewarded on the hour.  Austin converting a Milnes corner to notch up his eighth goal in twenty something years and his first for the Pilgrims.  As the Pilgrims celebrated, Hyde's Griffin stupidly mouthed off and earned himself a second yellow.  Possibly the daftest sending off since Jamie Yates threw a ball in a players face when Boston were 10-0 up against Durham!  

Moonrise over the York St end; brass monkeys.

Ben Fairclough was thrown into the mix as ten-men Hyde struggled to handle United.  United scored their second through Ben Fairclough, the shortest player on the pitch - possibly in the world - heading home a driven cross from Ross.  Hyde recovered well and maintained possession in the closing stages but the return of Tom Ward in the middle of the defence, after Jelleyman was subbed off injured, ensured that nothing got through.  Ward has been a massive miss for Boston so hopefully he's nearly back to match fitness.  Despite their possession it was Hyde who looked more likely to concede.  United were giving the Manchester club a taste of their own medicine and playing confidently, with pace on the break.  Sleath was twice denied by the Hyde shot-stopper who then had to be alert to keep Ross out just before full-time.

Boston through to the second round then and the draw has thrown up Dartford away.  Dartford are doing well in the BSB South and will be a tough challenge for the Pilgrims.  Don't they have grass on their roof or something?

Next up for me: Eastwood Town at York St on Boxing Day.

Magic Of The Trophy

Boston United vs Workington

Poor turnout in the Town End.

Following two exciting fixtures the magic of the FA Trophy was bound to provide another, right?  Erm... not quite.  The Trophy isn't exactly a prestige competition in this corner of south Lincs.  Until the later stages of the competition the Boston public fail to get excited about this competition, only 743 could be bothered to turn out for the final qualifying round.  Unfortunately in recent seasons Boston have failed to trouble the later stages of the competition with a worrying consistency.  Luckily for United, Workington are struggling this season.  Add that to the fact that Workington have and abysmal record against the Pilgrims - P11, W1, L10 - and United must at least stand a chance of going through to the first round proper.

Magic of the Trophy.

After all the rumours, Ian Ross joined the Pilgrims and went straight into the starting line-up alongside Tyrone Kirk; harsh on Chris Hall and Ryan Semple who were the stars of the fantastic performance at Gainsborough.  This left the Pilgrims with three in the middle of the park and only on winger.  The game itself mirrored the enthusiasm of the crowd in as much that almost nothing happened in the first period.  The only action of note was a fantastic triple save from Bazza minutes before the break to keep Workington at bay.

The second half started in much the same vein as the first had ended.  There were few chances for either side until the introduction of Semple in place of Ross on the hour mark.  Semple was duly fouled.  The resulting Milnes free-kick was headed down by Austin and converted by Newsham.  Workington were almost level when their tubby striker slid in and pinged one off the post.  Workington had a couple of chances as the game started to develop an edge.  Tackles flew in, including one horrendous challenge that could've easily broken Newsham's leg; a fight ensued as the referee lost the plot.

Milnes had a curling free-kick well saved, Semple and Sleath also had chances as the game drew to a close.  Not the most exciting of matches then but through to the First Round Proper is the important part.  The only real conclusions to be drawn were that Bazza is still pretty agile, Ian Ross still has it and the Trophy is still uninspiring in the early stages.

Next up: Stalybridge Celtic away.

We blew it.

Boston United vs Gloucester City

When Boston United beat Gloucester 1-0 last week I thought it was one of the poorest performances that the Pilgrims had put in this season.  I thought, though, that a win is a win and the performance can only get better.  I thought we'd do them easily at York St and book a place in the last 16 of the FA Trophy.  Apparently I was wrong...

The littlest referee talks to the team captains.

The defensive crisis continued as Church was forced to start at centre-back.  The goal keeping worries concerning having to start Butcher looked to have been alleviated as James McKeown came back for a cameo appearance between the United sticks.  Newsham and Sleath also came in to the midfield.  Gloucester were playing better than last week and McKeown was in action early on to keep the scores level.   Gloucester were denied a stonewall, nailed on penalty and the chance to reduce United to ten men as Coleman, doing his best van der Sar impression, punched the ball off the line!  Thankfully for Boston the shortest referee in the world couldn't see through the bodies in the box.  His linesman should have seen it though, 1110 other people in the ground did.  I suppose Gloucester can't complain too much after the penalty that we didn't get at their place last week.

Boston weren't playing well.  In fact they were barely playing at all.  I cannot remember the Pilgrims having a shot that really troubled the portly Gloucester 'keeper.  Suarez had a headed effort pushed onto the post and Weir-Daley passed the ball into the 'keepers arms but that was about it.  The Pilgrims were making hard work of the half.  The wind played a big part in piling the pressure on as McKeown's clearances rarely got much further than the half-way line.  Boston were lucky to be going in to the break at 0-0.

The Pilgrims on a rare first half attack.

The half time break didn't seem to have woken the Pilgrims up and they laboured.  The wind was with Boston this half though and the performance started to pick up with an hour gone and the introduction of Davidson for Suarez.  Clarke hit a good shot from outside the box which tested the Gloucester 'keeper's concentration.  Just as Boston were getting into their stride they had the stuffing well and truly knocked out of them.  McKeown, looking up field for someone to clear to, failed to deal with the bobble.  The clearance went high but got no distance, falling to a Gloucester player on the wing.  The ball was knocked through to Mullings who slid the ball into the gaping United net.

Gloucester's 'keeper, this time in green.

Boston made their final changes and went for pace with Koranteng and Semple coming in for Newsham and Yates.  The Pilgrims were struggling to get back into their stride after the setback of the goal conceded.  With ten minutes to go Boston were battering at the Gloucester door.  Coleman had a couple of good chances and tested the 'keeper from range before smacking another shot against the crossbar.  The last minute saw everyone come forward for a Boston corner.  Yes, everyone!  The corner dropped to McKeown of all people who scuffed a shot into a defenders hand as the ball bobbled around in the box.  Coleman hit the ball towards the goal but the Gloucester 'keeper pushed it out before Sleath had a good effort just over the bar in a frantic finish.

The Pilgrims were very, very poor for an hour and didn't deserve anything from the game.  A physical Gloucester team kept us out well and we couldn't cope.  That said the last ten minutes of pressure could and probably should have resulted in an equalizer.  None of the Boston players were terrible but all of them were below average.  The Gloucester defender Matt Coupe took his celebrations too far and post-match apology or not he has won no friends in this corner of Lincolnshire.  The run of form is getting a little worrying now.  If we play like this in the up-coming games against Guiseley and Alfreton we will get absolutely battered.

Next up: Guiseley pay a visit to York St as the Pilgrims get back to league action.

You can put away your snow shovel... We're back!

York City vs Boston United

Welcome to York.

Sunny North Londonshire.

It was hardly a classic, neither the trip or the match.  I left a sunny and warm North Londonshire (yes that's right) fairly early and arrived into a decidedly more chilly York with plenty of time to spare.  Time for some good pub food and a couple of beers as well.  There was reportedly nothing around the ground and I'd had several pubs recommended to me.  So having met up with a mate we walked into the city centre.  It was rammed!  Tiny, narrow streets packed with Christmas shoppers all walking incredibly slowly and stopping randomly.  This made it almost impossible to find our targeted pubs and any pubs or restaurants we did find were queued out of the door!  Eventually, after about an hour, we found a chippy and plumped for take-away.  Drakes fish and chips are the self-proclaimed best in York.  If those're the best in York I'd be surprised!  Unable to find a pub in which it was possible to get to the bar we decided to make our way out to the ground.

The icy road to Wembley (maybe).

Bootham Crescent is a little way outside the centre and there isn't very much around it.  I was advised against the supporters club and the only other pub in the area is the Burton Stone Inn.  That said it's a nice enough place to have a pre-game drink.  It wasn't overly busy before the match and was only a short walk from the away end.  The away end is pretty spartan, there was no roof and half of the terrace closed due to the blanket of snow that still covered it.  At least there was running water in the presumably original Roman toilets.

Both teams had recently had games called off due to the weather with Boston having had an extended break due to postponements.  York were in great form going into this game; unbeaten in seven games in the BSB Premier and cup competitions, conceding only once in the process.  It was looking like a tough ask for the Pilgrims to get anything from this match.  Boston made a couple of changes with McKeown coming back in and Pearson replacing an injured Murphy.  This meant that Boston started with Newsham and Weir-Daley up front again!  Brilliant!

The Boston support before kick-off.

York dominated the early stages of the first half but didn't really create anything from their possession until the 20th minute, when Canoville put in a superb block to keep Robbie Weir out.  Boston, when in possession, were playing some really nice football; cheered on by 150 very vocal Pilgrims.  York didn't get into United or close down as much as the teams in BSB North do.  Conversely York didn't like the way Boston got into them and Rankine in particular spent a lot of the time on the floor or moaning to the officials.  Boston tend to do well against teams who let them play and this started to show with York being the team under pressure for the remainder of the half.  The pressure told in the 30th minute when Weir-Daley headed home at the back stick after a Jamie Yates corner went all the way through a crowded box.  York had no answer and only managed one further chance which curled over the bar before the break.

Thanks to the York City fans for making a good job of clearing the pitch.

York clearly got a rollicking during half-time and they were sent back out onto the pitch early.  It obviously worked as they were the dominant side by far, in terms of possession and chances, during the second period.  United's defence was magnificent, throwing blocks and tackles at everything York could produce.  City, in spite of their dominance, had limited chances and couldn't take advantage of their dominance with Rankine spurning three good opportunities.  Presumably he was concentrating on moaning at the officials rather than striking the ball.  The Pilgrims were playing on the break and struggling to get out of their own half.  There was one occurrence of note in the 60th minute: the first bit of noise from the 1150 York City supporters that wasn't a claim for handball.  The repeated handball claims may have actually hindered York as when it came to a penalty claim for a real handball the referee waved it away.  York would've drawn level with 10 minutes left were it not for an absolutely brilliant save from McKeown as he acrobatically stopped an Andre Boucard 20 yarder.  York couldn't really create anything else, even with the assistance of an extra five minutes and the clearly tiring Pilgrims held on for a fantastic result to progress through to the second round proper of the FA Trophy.

Like I said, by no means a classic but a fantastic win none the less!  I'm just pleased to get back to watching the football after an enforced weather break.  The Boston players and supporters were awesome, even if I do say so myself and the only sour note came from the police accusing one of our number of racism for the stick he gave Rankine.  Calling Rankine a w**ker has nothing to do with the colour of his skin and everything to do with the fact that he is a w**ker.  Yet again the police over-react and spoil things.  The second round draw will be carried out on Monday lunchtime and details can be found on the FA website.

Next up: Hyde F.C. at York St in the BSB North, dependant on the weather of course!

Just a Little joke.

Boston United vs Gainsborough Trinity

Gainsborough hate Boston. I mean they really hate us, that much is clear from their forum.  This relationship is, though, much like that of Australia and New Zealand or England and Wales in that one party is filled with zealous, burning hatred and the other really couldn't care less.  Boston are like the successful younger sibling coming back from the big city with exciting tales to tell.  Gainsborough on the other hand are like the ginger step-child who has never left the village before.  With this in mind it was difficult to bring myself to actually hate Tinpot Trinity rather than just see them as a bit of a joke really.  Their manager is a joke, he and his team of elbows actually criticised our style of play when we last met in pre-season.  Their fans are a bit of a joke, bringing twenty-six fans, fifty-five miles across Lincolnshire for a Boxing day derby is a bit laughable you have to admit.  Their catering last time we were there was a joke as they completely underestimated our travelling support.  The colossal amount of money they have spent of players and wages for very little gain is a joke.  The list goes on...

The Stump through the fog before the Townenders arrive.

Boston have made a couple of signings since Droylsden, mostly as cover for injuries.  Gary Montgomery has signed, the ex-Coventry, Rotherham and Grimsby 'keeper has been signed as cover for the slightly injured McKeown instead of entrusting ourselves to Butcher's butterfingers.  18 year old defender John Williams took time out from directing the London Symphony Orchestra to sign on loan for us from Scunthorpe and 23 year old Shane Clarke who used to play in midfield for Lincoln is also now on the Pilgrims books.  Two of these signings began the match in place of McKeown and Sleath with only Williams missing out on a start.  The Boston line-up also included changes up front as the managers finally played Newsham and Weir-Daley together while Yates and Semple ran the wings.

My man of the match, Jamie Yates.

The changes worked a treat as the lack of a big man meant that United actually had to play football.  The midfield pressed up and there was bundles of creativity coming from all over the park.  Boston were rampant on a foggy York St pitch and should have been in front inside the first five minutes as Newsham nearly broke the post following a great ball in from Jelleyman.  This was a sign of things to come and the Tinpot 'keeper must have eaten a massive slice of luck that morning to stop the Pilgrims taking the lead.  S**tborough on the other had decided shooting from distance was the best policy, it nearly paid off as well when ex-Linscum Paul Mayo rattled the post from a long way out.  Boston went back to dominating and had several shots blocked, cleared or just wide.  The Pilgrims were also denied a penalty when one of the Tinpot players committed an obvious handball in  the box, obvious to everyone but the referee that is.  Boston finished the half counting themselves very unlucky not to be in front.

The second half was a much tighter affair as Tinpot came back into the game.  Shane Clarke, who had done so well in the first half, now looked a little lightweight in the midfield.  Several times he needed to put a boot in but pulled out at the last moment.  It was looking like being one of those days where United hit everything but the back of the net and then get done 1-0 on the break.  Luckily it wasn't as ten minutes into the second period the referee awarded a penalty for a less obvious handball than the one in the first half, not that I'm going to complain.  Marc Newsham had the honour of banging home the Pilgrims first penalty of the season.  This settled Boston and they promptly took control of the game again.  United's attacking play resulted in a second goal as Nathan Peat made contact with an in-swinging corner, knocking it into his own net.  Trinity came back into it with fifteen minutes left, Gavin Cowen heading past Montgomery to make it an uncomfortable finish for the vast majority of the 1136.  Tinpot couldn't find an equalizer and Boston go through to the first round proper of the FA Trophy.  The draw is on Monday; someone easy at home or someone big like York or Grimsby away, please!

Newsham slams the penalty home.

The new signings looked pretty good.  Montgomery had a few early moments but soon played himself into the game.  Clarke looked good on the ball technically and very composed in possession but he doesn't seem to like tracking back if he loses it or putting in a tackle when it's needed.  Williams only got on for a few minutes and promptly got booked for kicking the ball away, a little harsh but it's difficult to tell about him as a player from that.  The side looked much more balanced playing 4-4-2 and the midfield really supported the two smaller strikers well.  The team was much the better on the day and definitely much improved on last Saturday's offering with Yates, Newsham, Cullingworth and Canoville all having brilliant games.  Keep it going, lads!

Next up: A much improved Redditch pay a visit to York St having been beaten by United 9-0 earlier this season.