[Div3North]

Accrington Stanley

v

Cambridge Utd

2017/18 Prediction League; Game 35 v Cambridge (away)


Exeter and Carlisle both needed to re-arrange games following postponements, Exeter at Crewe and Carlisle at Barnet; they fixed them for tonight (20th Feb). A round trip from Exeter to Crewe is 428.8 miles, and likewise from Carlisle to the Peoples’ Republic of Barnet and back is 606.2 miles ………………. You have to ask, then, what idiot re-arranged those games for tonight, when Saturday’s upcoming games take Exeter to Grimsby (a round trip of 613.2 miles) and Carlisle to Yeovil (660), meaning that travelling Carlisle fans who attend both games will cover 1266.2 miles, and Exeter fans will cover 1042! Rikkidoodleous!

And I think last Saturday, as far as we were concerned, was a point won, not two points dropped

This week’s starter for ten, then …………… Billy Whizz has scored 19 goals so far this season in League Two (next in the list is You Fat Bastard with 15) ……….. (i) how many of Billy’s goals were from open play, and how many from penalties, and (ii) Billy had a sequence of six consecutive games, in the first three of which he scored penalties, and in the 4th, 5th and 6th of which he scored but NOT from the spot; True or False? And your tie-breaker is – how many of his (League) goals have come in the second half of matches?

You won’t be surprised to hear that they haven’t been prolific signers in the Transfer Window; in fact the only player they ProperSigned was striker Barry Corr, who they signed, technically, from themselves! Reason for that is that he was released at the end of last season but continued to train at the Abbey Stadium, was signed for part of January on non-contract terms, and has now signed until the end of the season; the website headline was “Barry Corr stays!” …………. Not very inspiring or original, but the exclamation mark is of importance ……………. They also brought in loan signings Adam Phillips, a CM from Norwich; striker Billy Waters from the Cobblers; and Mansfield CB George Taft, who I last saw playing in a load of 1940s Gangster movies, making his mobility open to question, since he's got to be 90 if he’s a day ………….. CB Josh Coulson went on loan to Leyton Orient until Jan 1st, and has now MutuallyConsented on a permanent move (7th Jan), and Irish RMF Emmanuel Ebuka Osadebe (no, seriously, he’s Irish) joined the Exiles until May

They don’t, happily, travel very well; away, their record is P17 W3 D5 L9 GF13 GA32 – the only away win since 12th September being last Tuesday’s 3-2 win at Chesterfield which came about courtesy of a Dunk goal (that’s his name, not his technique) on 95 mins; in addition, all three away wins have come at teams starting with “C” – 1-0 at Crawley in August and 1-0 at Crewe in September ……………….. they’re better at home, where it’s W9 D4 L3 GF21 GA12, but overall P33 W12 D9 L12 GF34 GA44 gives them 45 points and 14th place, behind Carlisle on GD. They went out of the FA Cup 2-0 at Newport, having marmalised Bananarama side Sutton Utd 1-0 in Round One, they missed the cut in the EFLTroffy with two defeats and a “losing penalty” draw, and they left the EFL Cup in Round One, 4-1 at BrizzleRov …………. In total, played 39, scored 37 and conceded 54 …………………… Leading scorers are striker Karl Anthony Uchechukwu Mubiru Ikpeazu (who they got from Watford in 2016 after he had eleventy-billion loans elsewhere) and fellow striker Jabo Ibhere (ex Colchester and Carlisle) with 5

Teacher’s Pets this week are Stanley and Wycombe with 13 points from 5, followed by Mansfield and Crawley with 12; Luton have 10, the same as 17th-placed Yeovil …………….. Pointy Hats With a “D” On Them currently worn by Grimsby (1 point out of a possible 15), Newport and Portly Vale (2 each), Morecambe and Chesterfield with 3, and Stevenage and Crewe with 4 ……… Morecambe are now 22nd, by the way, having been leapfrogged by Vegan Greenpeace (oh the shame!)

Deadline for entries is, as always, scheduled kick-off time, which is 3.00pm on Saturday 24th February (soon be Christmas!) ………….. Brad Halliday is a regular in the U’s team team, but Piero last took part (as an unused sub) in the 3-3 draw at Notts County on 23rd December, leading me to assume – since I can’t find out – that he may be injured; hope he’s ok if that is the case …………..But looking at it logically, we’ve got 17 points and 23 goals more than them and they don’t really travel very well; I know that we drew 0-0 at their place earlier in the season, and that last year we lost 2-1 chez eux (goal by William Rodney Whizz) in a match notable for two red cards and two missed penalties in FergieTime and that – after two DISGRACEFUL postponements of the return fixture - we did them 2-0 at Fortress Wham courtesy of goals by The McC Brothers (Conville and Cartan) ……………. AND I know they sacked their Manager Shaun Derry on 9th February and that they’ve taken seven points from the three games since then ……………. But I still think we’re favourites to bank three more points – because Come The Revolution (Luton, Newport et al) we’ll be glad we did; a bit like squirrels and their nuts, really!

And by the way; 12 of Billy’s goals have been from open play and 7 from penalties (he first scored from the spot in mid-October!), and Q2 is true (penalties against Crawley, Carlisle and Grimsby on 23rd, 26th and 30th of December, and goals against Chesterfield, Cheltenham and Portly V on 6th, 13th and 20th January) …………..oh, and it’s 8 scored in the first half and 11 in the second!

“Nice One Billy, Nice One Son ……..” ……. who? ………… Oh, Cyril! Sorry!

Good luck to everyone! ……….. Keep the Faith! ………….. And thanks for playing!