Bradford City 1-1 Plymouth Argyle - Npower League Two
Saturday 10th December 2011 - The Coral Stadium - Attendance: 10,143 (521 Visitors)
So, it was time for the Green Army to make the long old poke north to VP for this massive six pointer between the Football League's bottom & third bottom sides.
After our pre match ritual which you now know better than me & Carribob do ourselves. Which this week involved joining in a jog with Dave Syers, Lee Bullock, Mark Stewart, Robbie Threfall & soon to be Bantam Caolon Lavery, we headed into the ground for kick off.
So, the teams shock hands after a warm up which saw Ross Hannah withdraw to be replaced by Jack Compton & we had kick off at Valley Parade & the six pointer was under way.
In typical bog standard bottom of League Two style the game started as it meant to go one with dodgy tackles & hoof ball galore.
The first real chance came from a corner in the tenth minute, when Michael Flynn sent one across with Hanson heading it on before Oliver narrowly tapped the ball wide.
Some more dodgy tackles resulted in a yellow for unsporting behaviour to Plymouth defender Onismor Bhasera.
Then, we recieved some tragic news mid way through the first half. We learnt that Smudge the guinea pig, the cherised pet of Jonny Stott had sadly passed after some 'action' with the rabbit. RIP Smudge, you shall be missed.
Back on the pitch however, James Hanson & Darren Purse clashed heads which resulted in Hanson being vaselined to stop the bleeding from a cut & Purse suffering a bad enough head injury which resulted in a half time withdrawal.
However, before this withdrawal he made a goaline clearance that defies the law of physics. The ball was sent across the goal & Flynn tapped it into the goal or so we thought! Purse came sliding in & somehow cleared the ball of the line round the post for a corner.
So, half time drew & with this being the last time we would see each other before Christmas, the all important topic of presents came up. With me & Ben buying each other one & me sorting out Carribob's Newcastle tickets (Cheers Mick Speight!) it was a straight forward conversation. However, Ben is still looking for a present for Grace. So feel free to send in your suggestions for what Ben could buy a 14 year old lass (Kitchen need not answer) to me, Ben or the blog.
So, to the second half we went & to say it went badly for Bradford City is one hell of an understatement. Especially after they were booed off at the half time interval. After Jon McLaughlin pulled out a fantastic save to stop former Manchester United striker Nick Chadwick, Plymouth later won a corner.
Will Atkinson sent in a inswinging corner to the middle of the box & after some scrambling Simon Walton had a volley which was turned in by Blackpool loanee Craig Sutherland. However, being directly above the goal I can inform you that Sutherland never touched it & it had infact gone in off Ramsden. Our old friends the Dubious Goal Commitee however saved Rambo his blushes.
The City faithful began to get more & more wound up by Kyel Reid who kept losing possesion or stopping attacks, so when Nakhi Wells came on it was met by boos & a small rendition of you don't know what you're doing when it was Fagan who was hauled off.
The game seemed to be pattering out to a Plymouth win as everything was kicked into the stands or down the field by the Green Army's defence until Kyel Reid got a half decent cross in (first time for everything, eh?) & James Hanson manage to work a good technical effort past Jake Cole in the Argyle goal to bring City level & save our blushes versus the Football League's worst (since the game finished, second worst) team.
Plymouth's bad boy left back Onismor Bhasera was sent off for a second bookable offence, he was never lasting the full game. Dirty little sod.
City had a golden chance to win it when a few failed clearances by the Plymouth Argyle tiring defence saw City work the ball to Ricky Ravenhill in the box who somehow scuffed it wide, but a point a piece was fair on both teams & the game was brought to an end.
PLAYER RATINGS:
Jon McLaughlin - 5 - Pulled off a fantastic save from Nick Chadwick in the second half apart from that not much to do for Super Jonny Mac today.
Simon Ramsden - 5 - Far better than Moore & apart from the Plymouth goal proved it today.
Luke Oliver - 5 - Another solid performance by the centre back, should have scored in the first half though.
Andrew Davies - 7 - MOTM - Followed Tuesday with yet another solid performance at the back which stopped City conceding more of Plymouth's few counter attacks, him & Oliver are a solid partnership.
Marcel Seip - 4 - Offered little today & was easily beat for pace by Hemmings & Atkinson.
Jack Compton - 5 - Offered more than Reid with more better balls & some good work with the midfield & attack, bar those throwings with Flynn.
Michael Flynn - 5 - Had a solid game in centre of midfield, makes you realise how good he is when you miss him like Oldham.
Ricky Ravenhill - 6 - After a poor start to his City career has proved to be a very astute loan signing. Offers far more to the team & bar his 93rd minute winning goal miss was very strong today & deserves more praise than he gets.
Kyel Reid - 4 - Did nothing until he saw Chris Mitchell stripping off on the bench & then went & provided a half decent cross to Hanson to bring the Bantams level.
Craig Fagan - 4 - A lot of huffing & puffing & not much else. However, Reid should have gone for Wells not him.
James Hanson - 6 - One of his best games so far. One the majority of headers & a fantastic techincal goal to save City's blushes & rescue the point.
SUBS:
Nakhi Wells - 5 - In typical Nakhi style, came on & made a nuisance of himself.
And to finish, the now re-named & improved Starting XI:
Was it worth the money? No, then Jimmy popped up & it was yes, then went back to no when Ravenhill missed the injury time sitter.
City MOTM - Andrew Davies - Followed Tuesday with yet another solid performance at the back which stopped City conceding more of Plymouth's few counter attacks, him & Oliver are a solid partnership. Plymouth Argyle MOTM - Ashley Hemmings - Ran the City defence ragged with his pace throughout the game, one for the future is the Wolves loanee.Referee Watch - Brendan Malone - Had quite a bit to do this afternoon & got the majority of calls right throughout the game.
Quote of the Match - Got three for you today!
"Haha, My Guinea Pigs died!" - Jonny sees the funny side to the untimely death of his pet Guinea Pig
"Yes! I'm in with Graces mum!" - Ben's badly worded remark to the news that Grace's Mum is a fan of his.
Matthew: "It cost me £14 pound to go to Southend." Me: "Are you looking at student or disabled with carer?" - I decide to make a joke out of Matthew's views on Southend pricing.
Goal of the Match - City's goal after some wonderfully worked finishing by James 'Jimmy' Hanson.
Moment of the Match - The reaction to the news of the death of Smudge the Guinea Pig.
Fan of the Match - The Plymouth fan who took his top off for the whole game, your brave lad! Especially in this weather!
Chant of the Match - Thumbs up if you love Marcel! - Some love being shown to Marcel Seip by the Bradford City faithful with the use of his banterous reaction to scoring v Plymouth for Blackpool back in the Championship a few seasons ago.
FB Status of the Match - Some sad news has reached us here at VP... The tragic passing of Jonny's Guinea Pig. RIP Smudge.
FATWATCH - The severly obesce elderly Plymouth fan towards the front of the away fans.
Saturday 10th December 2011 - The Coral Stadium - Attendance: 10,143 (521 Visitors)
So, it was time for the Green Army to make the long old poke north to VP for this massive six pointer between the Football League's bottom & third bottom sides.
After our pre match ritual which you now know better than me & Carribob do ourselves. Which this week involved joining in a jog with Dave Syers, Lee Bullock, Mark Stewart, Robbie Threfall & soon to be Bantam Caolon Lavery, we headed into the ground for kick off.
So, the teams shock hands after a warm up which saw Ross Hannah withdraw to be replaced by Jack Compton & we had kick off at Valley Parade & the six pointer was under way.
In typical bog standard bottom of League Two style the game started as it meant to go one with dodgy tackles & hoof ball galore.
The first real chance came from a corner in the tenth minute, when Michael Flynn sent one across with Hanson heading it on before Oliver narrowly tapped the ball wide.
Some more dodgy tackles resulted in a yellow for unsporting behaviour to Plymouth defender Onismor Bhasera.
Then, we recieved some tragic news mid way through the first half. We learnt that Smudge the guinea pig, the cherised pet of Jonny Stott had sadly passed after some 'action' with the rabbit. RIP Smudge, you shall be missed.
Back on the pitch however, James Hanson & Darren Purse clashed heads which resulted in Hanson being vaselined to stop the bleeding from a cut & Purse suffering a bad enough head injury which resulted in a half time withdrawal.
However, before this withdrawal he made a goaline clearance that defies the law of physics. The ball was sent across the goal & Flynn tapped it into the goal or so we thought! Purse came sliding in & somehow cleared the ball of the line round the post for a corner.
So, half time drew & with this being the last time we would see each other before Christmas, the all important topic of presents came up. With me & Ben buying each other one & me sorting out Carribob's Newcastle tickets (Cheers Mick Speight!) it was a straight forward conversation. However, Ben is still looking for a present for Grace. So feel free to send in your suggestions for what Ben could buy a 14 year old lass (Kitchen need not answer) to me, Ben or the blog.
So, to the second half we went & to say it went badly for Bradford City is one hell of an understatement. Especially after they were booed off at the half time interval. After Jon McLaughlin pulled out a fantastic save to stop former Manchester United striker Nick Chadwick, Plymouth later won a corner.
Will Atkinson sent in a inswinging corner to the middle of the box & after some scrambling Simon Walton had a volley which was turned in by Blackpool loanee Craig Sutherland. However, being directly above the goal I can inform you that Sutherland never touched it & it had infact gone in off Ramsden. Our old friends the Dubious Goal Commitee however saved Rambo his blushes.
The City faithful began to get more & more wound up by Kyel Reid who kept losing possesion or stopping attacks, so when Nakhi Wells came on it was met by boos & a small rendition of you don't know what you're doing when it was Fagan who was hauled off.
The game seemed to be pattering out to a Plymouth win as everything was kicked into the stands or down the field by the Green Army's defence until Kyel Reid got a half decent cross in (first time for everything, eh?) & James Hanson manage to work a good technical effort past Jake Cole in the Argyle goal to bring City level & save our blushes versus the Football League's worst (since the game finished, second worst) team.
Plymouth's bad boy left back Onismor Bhasera was sent off for a second bookable offence, he was never lasting the full game. Dirty little sod.
City had a golden chance to win it when a few failed clearances by the Plymouth Argyle tiring defence saw City work the ball to Ricky Ravenhill in the box who somehow scuffed it wide, but a point a piece was fair on both teams & the game was brought to an end.
PLAYER RATINGS:
Jon McLaughlin - 5 - Pulled off a fantastic save from Nick Chadwick in the second half apart from that not much to do for Super Jonny Mac today.
Simon Ramsden - 5 - Far better than Moore & apart from the Plymouth goal proved it today.
Luke Oliver - 5 - Another solid performance by the centre back, should have scored in the first half though.
Andrew Davies - 7 - MOTM - Followed Tuesday with yet another solid performance at the back which stopped City conceding more of Plymouth's few counter attacks, him & Oliver are a solid partnership.
Marcel Seip - 4 - Offered little today & was easily beat for pace by Hemmings & Atkinson.
Jack Compton - 5 - Offered more than Reid with more better balls & some good work with the midfield & attack, bar those throwings with Flynn.
Michael Flynn - 5 - Had a solid game in centre of midfield, makes you realise how good he is when you miss him like Oldham.
Ricky Ravenhill - 6 - After a poor start to his City career has proved to be a very astute loan signing. Offers far more to the team & bar his 93rd minute winning goal miss was very strong today & deserves more praise than he gets.
Kyel Reid - 4 - Did nothing until he saw Chris Mitchell stripping off on the bench & then went & provided a half decent cross to Hanson to bring the Bantams level.
Craig Fagan - 4 - A lot of huffing & puffing & not much else. However, Reid should have gone for Wells not him.
James Hanson - 6 - One of his best games so far. One the majority of headers & a fantastic techincal goal to save City's blushes & rescue the point.
SUBS:
Nakhi Wells - 5 - In typical Nakhi style, came on & made a nuisance of himself.
And to finish, the now re-named & improved Starting XI:
Was it worth the money? No, then Jimmy popped up & it was yes, then went back to no when Ravenhill missed the injury time sitter.
City MOTM - Andrew Davies - Followed Tuesday with yet another solid performance at the back which stopped City conceding more of Plymouth's few counter attacks, him & Oliver are a solid partnership. Plymouth Argyle MOTM - Ashley Hemmings - Ran the City defence ragged with his pace throughout the game, one for the future is the Wolves loanee.Referee Watch - Brendan Malone - Had quite a bit to do this afternoon & got the majority of calls right throughout the game.
Quote of the Match - Got three for you today!
"Haha, My Guinea Pigs died!" - Jonny sees the funny side to the untimely death of his pet Guinea Pig
"Yes! I'm in with Graces mum!" - Ben's badly worded remark to the news that Grace's Mum is a fan of his.
Matthew: "It cost me £14 pound to go to Southend." Me: "Are you looking at student or disabled with carer?" - I decide to make a joke out of Matthew's views on Southend pricing.
Goal of the Match - City's goal after some wonderfully worked finishing by James 'Jimmy' Hanson.
Moment of the Match - The reaction to the news of the death of Smudge the Guinea Pig.
Fan of the Match - The Plymouth fan who took his top off for the whole game, your brave lad! Especially in this weather!
Chant of the Match - Thumbs up if you love Marcel! - Some love being shown to Marcel Seip by the Bradford City faithful with the use of his banterous reaction to scoring v Plymouth for Blackpool back in the Championship a few seasons ago.
FB Status of the Match - Some sad news has reached us here at VP... The tragic passing of Jonny's Guinea Pig. RIP Smudge.
FATWATCH - The severly obesce elderly Plymouth fan towards the front of the away fans.