It had to end sometime, and sometime came on Saturday afternoon, as predicted. Kingstionian ended their awful run with a committed and gritty performance that by all accounts fully warranted the three points. If the winner came around in slightly acrimonious circumstances with Michael Peacock receiving a caution for a handball by Dave Diedhiou. Bobby Traynor paid no attention to the mistaken identity and simply beat Berkley Laurencin from the spot. A strong penalty shout at the other end for a similar offence was turned down by the man in the middle, and with it went any hope of the unbeaten run entering a tenth match. With some of the luck we’ve received over the last couple of weeks in terms of penalty decisions, (Lewes at home, Margate away, AFC Hayes away) I don’t think we’re in much of a position to really quibble too much.
On then to last night and our first local derby against Wealdstone. I really wanted to preview the game yesterday, but sadly didn’t get a chance. It would have been along a similar theme to my Kingstonian one – hand out a few plaudits, say how I respect the way the club is run and that they would be a good model for Hendon to follow over the next few years (which I think we’re not doing a bad job of for what it’s worth), and that at the end of the day, we’ll get beaten because we’ve won just one of our last nine league meetings (losing the other eight).
Then I read their forum this morning. Some of the reaction has been fine, complaining about Gordon Bartlett’s tactics, the referee and lack of support up front for Richard Jolly. Even some of the criticism about the more cynical parts of Hendon’s performance is fair game, so many times I have had a whinge about the antics of Steve Terry or Jimmy MacFarlane back over the years. Is it being savvy or is it out of order? A debate for another time, but I’m no great fan of gamesmanship. Some of the more reactionary stuff has got me chuckling away, particularly the amount they seem to know about our club that I would imagine many on the Trust committee are unaware of.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I can understand the reaction both at the end of the match and later on. It’s never nice losing to local rivals, after all it’s something we Hendon fans have had plenty of practice in. Somehow though, on the whole we’re able to take it on the chin rather than froth at the mouth hurl abuse at the opposition and then froth even more when they respond with a smile and a wave. If you dish it out, you’ve got to be able to take it as well. Nearly every pantomime villain footballer is able to do that – look at Joey Barton (loathed as I am to use him as an example). Fans can’t expect to take the moral high ground having spent large parts of the evening using language that would make someone with Tourettes blush. Our fans' relationship with Delroy Preddie is a good case in point.
Gary McCann had announced the signing yesterday morning of Elliott Charles (taking the number of Elliotts in the squad to a club record 3!) who had appeared against us for Concord Rangers on the opening day of the season and he went straight into the starting line-up after three players were involved in a car accident on their way to the ground. Berkley Laurencin, Dave Diedhiou and Greg Ngoyi arrived late meaning that Sean Thomas, Kevin Maclaren and Charles came into the starting line-up, and James Archer replaced Bradley Fraser with James Parker moving to centre half alongside Michael Peacock. The depth of the squad has definitely come to the fore and despite having one of the largest budgets in the club’s history at his disposal, there is no doubt that Gary has used the money well.
The game was largely disjointed, largely because both sides were lining up with identical 4-5-1 formations and largely because of the way Hendon players insisted on going down at the slightest opportunity and continually chirped away at the referee. All very Finding Nemo, I’m sure you’ll agree.
What good football there was came mostly from those in Blue, and Sean Thomas needed to be at his best on more than one occasion to stop them taking the lead, notably from a deflected Alex Dyer effort in the first period and from a Chris O’Leary header. The Stones had loud shouts for a penalty waved away as well as Scott McCubbin appeared to be pushed over in the penalty area much to the chagrin of the home support. Although sporadic as an attacking force, the Greens were working hard, defending well and Charles was causing Sean Cronin in particular plenty of problems in his role as a lone striker. The big striker was perhaps fortunate not to pick up a caution late on in the half when he clattered Jonathan North late, which given the yellow cards given out to O’Leary and James Hammond wouldn’t have been unfair.
The second period continued in much the same vein as the first, Thomas saved well from Jolly and David Hicks headed not far wide from a Eddie Adjei cross. Greg Ngoyi, showing no ill effects from the accident earlier on came on with 20 minutes left to join Charles up front and the Greens began to show more attacking threat. Indeed, both men ended up scoring the goals to give the Greens the points inside 60 seconds of eachother, Charles stabbing home a richly deserved debut goal after a terrific North save before Ngoyi intercepted a weak Cronin backpass straight from the restart, rounded the Stones goalkeeper and finished simply for his fifth goal of the season. The celebrations were that from a man who looked as if he had a point to prove and much akin to Lee O’Leary’s when he scored a winner for the Stones against us three or four years ago. In spite of late pressure from the home side, the Greens held on with a degree of comfort, Peacock and Parker in particular completing excellent performances at the heart of the back four with another clean sheet.
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| An Artist's Impression of a stereotypical Hendon fan |
So another unspectacular and solid showing yielded another 3 points and swiftly laid to rest the memory of the Kingstonian horror show. For fans of the ‘Mongs’, as the Wealdstone fans affectionately describe us, we were able to leave the ground reveling in a job well done. A rare three points against our ‘big brothers’ in what will no doubt end up being our ‘biggest game of the season’, our ‘cup final’ against the ‘only real Semi-Pro side in Middlesex’ who will ‘definitely finish above’ us come the season end. All we have to look forward to is our ‘unsustainable future’ with our ‘decent budget’ supporting a club that’s ‘on its arse’. A club that we don’t ‘genuinely care’ about like Stones do about their club.
I have no axe to grind with Wealdstone fans, I’ve been to a few games as a neutral in the past and enjoyed the atmosphere, I’ve got nothing but respect and admiration for Gordon Bartlett, the way the club has survived their 17 homeless years and the various innovative initiatives their board and supporters group come up with to try and boost attendances and raise funds. As I’ve said before, a lot of the reaction to the game I’ve seen on twitter and their forum has been reasonable and fair, and some of the more reactionary outlandish things may well come true, who knows.
I don’t really get why they need to pontificate on the future or otherwise at Hendon though. I don’t bother myself with what goes on particularly at other clubs, it certainly doesn’t affect my mood like it seems to have done one or two Stones fans. We’ve been hearing the same kind of thing from them for a number of years now. No fans, no ground, no point. Is it a testament to our efforts that we’re able to compete at the same level as a club of Wealdstone’s size? Are we punching above our weight or are we, a fans owned club really staking the financial long term security of the club on a punt at promotion? I don’t know figures, but I would imagine that with all things considered (including the Jolly fund) there wouldn’t be too much difference between the funds available to McCann and Bartlett. Every single penny being spent on players has come from last season’s cup run, the good-will and deep pockets of supporters and from sponsors, the portfolio of which seems to be ever increasing. Perhaps Wealdstone are underachieving given their average crowd? Perhaps all that energy last night put into moaning about Hendon’s continued existence would be better channeled into moving their own club forward so they really needn’t concern themselves with us any longer. I imagine all involved at our ‘shit club’ would love to attract 400 plus through the gate week in week out, that would after all double our Matchday income. Realistically, that’s not going to happen so we need to look at other ways to bridge that gap.
Larger numbers on the terraces doesn’t mean more ‘passion’ (I loathe that word being applied to football), nor does it give you a right to expect to be playing at a higher level than clubs with half your home gate. It’s what happens on the pitch that matters most of all and for the last five years or so although Stones have proven themselves to be better than us eight times out of ten when playing eachother, over 42 matches in a season they haven’t. And last night over 90 minutes, they didn’t. It remains to be seen what happens when we meet again in January.
Until then, it’s great to be a Mong.
Player Ratings:
1. Sean Thomas: Outstanding ‘debut’ on his first match back as a permanent signing. Made a number of excellent saves and looked as if he’d been playing behind the back four for years. Has given the manager a real selection headache with Saturday in mind. 8
2. James Parker: Moved into the centre to become Michael Peacock’s fourth partner at the heart of defence this season and looked as if he’d never been away. 7
3. Scott Cousins: Same as ever. Steady, good leadership, defended well, used the ball well. 7
4. Michael Peacock: Another superb effort from the big fella, did extremely well to keep Jolly largely in check and dealt with balls in the air impeccably as always. 8
5. James Archer: Returned to the starting line-up at right back and put in another good, steady performance. Turning out to be a very smart addition by manager. 7
6. Kevin Maclaren: Did well coming into the side at short notice for Dave Diedhiou and kept things nice and simple in midfield. Didn’t get swamped by the neat quality of the Stones midfield. 7
7. Jamie Busby: Quiet, effective performance in the middle of the park, nicely disciplined and broke forward well when given the chance. 7
8. Carl McCluskey: Another smart intelligent performance from the big guy, linked up well at times with Elliott Charles and put in another very big shift. 7
9. Elliott Charles: Excellent debut, strong, powerful and gave Sean Cronin a real tough time. Led the line well, held the ball up, looks a great addition to the squad. Well deserved goal as well. 8
10. Elliot Godfrey: Intelligent performance, passed the ball well and remained disciplined. Perhaps not given as much space as he’d have liked though. 7
11. Casey Maclaren: Showing no ill-effects from his knock at Margate, Casey was his usual hard-working self. Has shown a much better attitude this season in terms of his behaviour and discipline. 7
Subs:
13. Craig Carby: Late substitute for Elliott Charles.
15. Greg Ngoyi: It was destined to happen I suppose. We’ve been on the receiving end often enough. Smartly taken goal, lively 20 minutes, job done. 7
16. Dave Diedhiou: Late substitute for Kevin Maclaren
Star Man: Sean Thomas
Match Rating: 6/10
Verdict: Overall a point would have been about right and Wealdstone can feel aggrieved to have lost the game and received the worst of the referee’s decisions. That said, Hendon showed a clinical edge again taking the few chances that fell our way to wrap up the three points.
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