Retford United 0 Guiseley 2

Unibond Premier Division

Tuesday 27th October

Yet again, an inability to trouble the onion bag proved to be Retford United's undoing. As with the match on Saturday, enough chances were created in the first half alone to put the game to bed, yet the misfiring Godber and Harvey, normally so reliable, repeatedly failed to bring saves out of the visiting keeper, let alone put the PA guy to use. Add to their woes the fact that the back up artistes in Marrison, Bettney and the rest are suffering similar fates and all of sudden the free-scoring ream we have become accustomed to looks nervy, edgy and above all lacking in belief in it's own merits.


With first choice keeper James Lindley continuing to await surgery, long-term deputee Chris Kingston was rewarded for a series of uninspiring performances, culminating in a calamatous own goal on Saturday, by being dropped to the bench in favour of loan signing Ian Deakin, who played so magnifecently for Eastwood in the Notts Cup Final, and who has been their player of the season for the last 40-something seasons, or so it seems. Unfortunately for Deaks, his first job in a Retford shirt was to pick the ball out of the net after 5 minutes. After that, it was pretty much one-way traffic, as Retford played the attacking football we know and love, albeit not quite as pleasing on the eye as their efforts of Saturday. But the ball would not drop. Harvey shot tamely at the keeper, White headed over, Godber slipped, Bettney worried the corner flag, Ellender favoured finesse over brute strength. The Retford bench became increasingly forlorn as the malaise of the least few weeks continued.

The travelling hoardes from Guiseley were vociferous in their berating of the ref, but to this observer he was no more biased than he was just plain poor. I don't easily criticise officials, as regular readers will testify. However there are occassions when the men in black appear to be watching a whole other game to the rest of us. Increasingly physical challenges from both sides went unpunished, as the ire of spectators of all persuassions rose. And then, from nowhere, the ref would penalise a seemingly innocuous tackle, or pull play back when advantage would have been the prefered option. I hope this doesn't appear as sour grapes, as both sides suffered equally from his Lotto-style of authority.

The second half saw a more concerted effort by the visitors, and whilst Deakin never really got a chance to display the skills that so nearly frustrated us back in May, Retford struggled to clear their lines and pursue the equaliser. Then, sod's law, a long punt upfield should have been dealt with, but a defence who had met their new keeper only moments earlier were unsure, and a keeper who had met his defense only moments earlier was panicked. He went for an almighty hoof, and clear missed it. As the ball rolled incongruously into the unguarded net, there were audilbe chants of "Kingo" in praise of the benched deupty-cum-local folk hero. For the life of me, I cannot fathom what the thought process here was. So your mate got dropped? Didn't you just pay £8 to watch the team? Or does Chris charge an appearance fee on Saturday nights?

So another week, another possible six points, and only one gathered. As it happens, results elsewhere meant that the defeat wasn't as costly as it could have been. And we would all do well to remember where we have come from, rather than where we think we should be. Teams at this level don't roll over as easily as they have in the past. Our defence is still one of the best, and to be where we are in the league, with all parties agreeing we aren't firing on all cylinders can only mean we should be looking upwards rather than downwards. Whether this dose of rationalism will be heeded by some remians to be seen, but as long as the endeavour is there, and the chances are being created, I'll be satisfied.

For now, I'll content myself with watching Guitar Hero played by footballers