‘Twas the night before Christmas Blackburn style...
OLD BLACKBURNIAN
TWAS the Night Before, the Night Before Christmas (with apologies to Clement Clarke Moore ) ‘TWAS the night before, the night before Christmas and all round the ground,
No home fans were singing, not even a sound,
The passing was poor, not with enough care,
Hoof it into the area, or somewhere near there.
The fans were all settled, all snug in their seats,
With visions of a home win as their Christmas treat,
Mum in a bobble hat, dad in a cap,
Well it was so dull, you had time for a nap.
When a cross came in, Danny Graham was clattered,
The referee saw nothing wrong with the matter,
Fans stood up to shout, frustration to the fore,
We could play here all night and still never score.
Floodlights shining down on the well-tended grass,
Wigan attacker falling down on his...behind,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear
A shot hit on target, a goal seemed so near.
With Holtby now on, so lively and quick,
His passing composed and with time for a flick,
No difference it made, the goal never came,
Mowbray whistled and shouted and called them by name;
“Now Darragh! Now Ryan! Now, Arma and Dacky! On, Danny! On, S t ew a r t ! Don’t keep passing backy...”
To the edge of the box, Put it over the wall,
Now dash away Arma, dash away all!
The passing was poor though, all through the game,
No matter which player, the end result the same,
The ref whistled loud, again and again,
The home crowd did groan, a familiar refrain.
Bradders went down, clutching his knee,
A sight no Rovers fan wanted to see,
It didn’t look good, he went down in great pain,
He’ll receive our best wishes again and again.
Wigan grew stronger, starting to feel bold,
Cook on the touchline, no longer cold,
Walton the hero, not once but twice,
Frustrating old teammates must have felt nice.
A goalless draw and a pretty poor game,
Not what was ordered, a performance so lame,
Seven changes it seems unsettled the team,
But promotion or playoffs remain in our dreams.
Mowbray sprang to his feet on the ref’s final whistle,
All off down the tunnel and no doubt this’ll,
Be what he said as he disappeared out of sight,
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”
We’ll all be back again on Boxing Day,
“Big Club” from Brum the team that we’ll play,
Let’s hope for three points and a welldeserved win,
A late Christmas present to make the fans grin.
Now it seems that all that is left to say,
Is hope you enjoyed your Christmas Day,
May the wins keep on coming, bringing great cheer,
And make 2020 a very good year!
Thanks for reading my various musings so far this season, hope you have enjoyed them and that you’ll continue to do so into the New Year.
Have a very Merry Christmas from me & everyone at www.BRFCS. com.
DONCASTER ................ 1 STANLEY....................... 1
ACCRINGTON Stanley made it four league games unbeaten after they earned a point away from home against Doncaster Rovers.
It looked like Doncaster may be on course for the three points when Jon Taylor gave them the lead just before the hour mark, but Offrande Zanzala came off the bench to equalise in the final 10 minutes to ensure Stanley got a share of the spoils.
Accrington boss
John Coleman was pleased with the effort from his players, but was left frustrated after his side were denied what he thought was a clear penalty.
“We’ve had our customary penalty turned down again. I don’t know what we’ve got to do to get a penalties anymore. People just seem to be able to trip our players up in the box and not give away a penalty,” he said.
“It defies belief. I think everyone in the ground thought it was a penalty part from the referee and the linesman.
“We worked really, really hard. We pressed them. They’ve scored on the counter because we were camping out on the edge of their box. That was a body blow.
“But we’ve matured over the last month because we might have gone under. They put us under a bit of pressure but we stood firm.
“We deservedly got the equaliser and I think if anyone was going to win it, it was going to be us.
“Their keeper has produced a world class save from Seamus [Conneelly].”
Chances were few and far between in the first half, with both sides doing plenty of attacking but then lacking quality in the final third.
Jordan Clark had a good opportunity for Stanley but couldn’t take full advantage