Scunthorpe United v Darlington

Saturday, January 1, 2005

Football League Two

Scunthorpe United :
Musselwhite, Stanton, Crosby, Butler (sent off 38), Ridley, Sparrow, Baraclough, Kell (Taylor 69), Beagrie, Hayes (Rankine 76), Teggart (Jackson 40)
Subs not used:
Evans, Byrne

Darlington :
Russell, Clarke, Fleming (Hughes 64), Close (sent off 86), Wainwright (Russell 80), Webster, Maddison, Gregorio, Valentine, Wijnhard, Armstrong (Hignett 70)
Subs not used:
St'Juste, Keltie

SULSESC REPORT

by Bob Dook at Glanford Park

WHY I seem to end up always writing the Darlo report is probably because the secretary knows of my total dislike of their town, club and fans.

Rather than be baited to go on my usual tirade about "the Gateway to Hell", I thought I would give it a rest this time. Of course, I could get lathered up about the referee, but then I used to work with an idiot of the same name, so I've been there and done that. So, a brief on the game.

I was looking forward to seeing Darlo this time around, with Sam Russell, Alun Armstrong and Clive The Orange in their ranks. Sammy had a good game, but I was disappointed with the performance of their front line. Generally we were poor and hardly deserved anything, but then Darlo were not much better.

The first-half sending-off of Butler for a definite foul on the edge of the box was arguable to say the least. The question was whether he was the last man. I thought Stanton was covering quite comfortably, as he does, but the idiot in black saw it differently.

Darlo’s second-half goal was an easy matter, after the defence waited for a whistle that never came. Ridley, beaten for pace again, felt he had been fouled, he stopped, the defence hesitated, the cross came in and bang, back of the net. No use complaining. Ridley's fault.

We huffed and puffed a lot, but didn't quite have what it took to draw level. The final ball let us down and we generally were poor in the final third. The answer for me is to slow the game down, pass it around, increasing the range of pass, as we get to the final third. The goals will come again, but not with the ‘lump it forward’ game we've slipped into.

On a final note was an injury to Stanton, which will rule him out for the rest of the season. Some, including Stanton would claim a penalty for the ‘tackle’ which injured his knee. I saw it differently, as he seemed to have lost the ball. Maybe the referee saw it that way too. If he did, then it was only decision he got right all afternoon.

There, managed to report a Darlo game without increasing my blood pressure and feeling physically sick. Mind you, looking out of the window across a turquoise coloured sea towards the Riau Islands, sipping on an excellent Saint-Estephe, helps no end.