Wey, at the least the pressure of being the Invincibles is off. A competitive game in which Spartans battled all night long, and we’re a bit unlucky not to grab something from that game.
After another joyous day of work, I’d hopped in Davey Jackson’s van, and he sped down to North Yorkshire through Guisborough and the mountainous terrain oft the A171 like a rally driver with a deathwish. Mind his co driver (Liam) did his best to get us lost as we got into Scarborough.
As we landed we were greeted by a steward that seemed normal (at least he seemed like he wasn’t from one of the local hill tribes) and advised us we could gan into the bar, having previously read online we couldn’t. Alas as we turned up to the door, and a bull dog chewing a wasp snarled at us and exclaimed ‘THIS BE A LOCAL BAR FOR LOCAL PEOPLE IT BE’ or something along those lines. Eventually we scuttled off down the road and found the Victory Bar, who did a canny pint of Cruzcampo. After chatting some shite with the other Spartans fans we walked back up the ground, where the steward was kind enough to let us finish a pint, albeit it outside.
Prior to the game, Spartans announced they’d brought in Elliot Forbes in from Gateshead on loan until January, which is a superb bit of business. A lad who’s already a solid player with the potential to get even better, he was slotted straight into the midfield as a replacement for Jordan Hickey who was missing for some reason. Knight for Round was the only other change from Saturday’s starting XI.
As the game got underway it was apparent from the go that both sides were well up for it. The game started off with the tempo ramped up to 100, with both sets of players keen to win the ball high up the pitch and unleash an instant attack.
In the opening exchanges it was the Seadurgs who looked like they may break the deadlock, as Spartans struggled to deal with the height and size of the likes of Mulhern, Weledji Gooda and Thornton as they had a string of corners early on, but they couldn’t make the most of those chances.
The big scare came about 15 mins when Mulhern rattled the post after turning a defender. Soon after it was Spartans who were able to rattle off some chances, as Lewis Knight nearly chipped Whitley from about 25 yards out thanks to a deflection. He was causing S’boro a headache, as was JJ O’Donnell on the other flank.
Blyth had begun to favour the right flank, with Rhys making a few overlapping runs with Dev’s and Forbes also drifting over to that side to swing balls into the box but JJ Hooper was often well marked, and Whitley was equal to most efforts that swung into the box. O’Donnell had the left back turned inside out by the end of the first half and looked like he’d be the one to break the deadlock, but he’d get a knock late on and be forced off, as at half time and Curtis Round took his place.
After being in control at the end of the first half, Spartans started the second half well with Lewis Knight having a decent half chance from a Dev’s free kick and JJ Hooper came fairly close after Michael Liddle did well to get the ball into him.
As the game went on, Scarborough really began to grow in confidence, but we were still defending really well. Boro were coming forward with wave after wave of runs at the defence. One moment stands out where a ball comes over the top and Marshall looks like he’s about to pull away, but Rhys manages to get in between him and the ball, hold him and off and clear the ball away.
As added time hit, Scarborough finally broke through as the ball was fed along the edge of the 18-yard box, and Harry Green was able to stay clear of Lids and Round to get a shot away which rolled into the far corner. A gut-wrenching way to lose a game. Once the goal went in, the lads hit the deck and looked absolutely drained. Given the effort they’ve put in over the last 2 days, I was gutted for them. Incredibly this is also now the third time in a row we’ve lost to these in the dying seconds of games. Online the lads received plenty of praise from the home fans as well, which was well deserved.
Most of the traveling support stayed to applaud the lads after game, and we’d travelled in really good numbers for a Tuesday night. The tanoy announced it was 69 in the away the end, but anyone wanting to pay on the gate via card had to walk all the away around to the main office to pay… despite Scarborough advising online you could use card on the gate. On top of not being able to get a drink in the ground (though home fans can) the food was bang average but expensive as fuck. Away fans weren’t even able to get into the club shop to pick up the bog-standard collectables. Not a very welcoming experience for away supporters there, questionable way to go on from a fan owned club. As Mr Leonard Osbourne would say “You’ve made us feel about as welcome as a fart in astronauts suit.” The only saving grace was the steward at the end of the away end, who was kind enough to let us out for a can at half time.
Our journey home was a bit more eventful than I expected though. Davey drove through the mountains of North Yorkshire like he was Tyrone Biggums on the hunt for some crack, but as we got to Middlesbrough the flyover was closed, so we had to make a diversion via the Transporter Bridge. Presume the casino in Arizona didn’t work out then?
After a quick(ish) diversion we then got held up at the Tyne Tunnel, as Liam Allan asked, “They’re must be a big ship going over?” to which me and Pie let out a confused laugh. He reckoned it that’s what he got told they closed the tunnel when ships went over it, but it turns out it was just some wagon with ‘hazardous goods’ passing through. No confirmation yet as to this was Tony Young or not. I thought I’d be really mature and try and wind the lads up who were tralling behind, but the brilliant mind young Owen Elliot put stop to that instantly.
Thankfully though that delay went by and we made it yem will before midnight. All in all though, an enjoyable night out with the lads for a very good game of football. Onwards to Saturday!