2012 Prediction League; Game 14 v York City FC (home)

Div3North · 21-10-2012, 01:14

Accrington Stanley

V

York City

2012/13 Prediction League – Game 14; v York City (home)

This week’s starter for 10; when was the last time we lost three League games on the trot and conceded 11 goal while doing it?

We conceded 11 in 3 in 2010-11 (defeats by 4-2 at home to Cheltenham and 5-2 away at Chesterfield, and shipping 2 to Oldham in the FA Cup First Round, but we won that one 3-2)

; we lost three in a row in 2008-09 (1-2 at home to Bury, 1-5 at Lincoln and 1-3 at home to Rotherham); that’s only 10, though ……

The answer, in fact, is 2007-08, when we lost 0-2 at Stockport, 2-8 at Peterborough and 0-1 at Darlington …………

Doesn’t make yesterday any the less disappointing, though ……

On a different topic; stand up and take a bow York City midfielder Matty Blair (22), who was reported last week to be “on the mend” after being hurt in a clash with a training ground dummy

. Boss Gary Mills told the local radio, “Matty had a bit of a bump with a mannequin on Monday and cut his knee, we thought he might need stitches. He stumbled with Michael Potts and fell into it"……………Liverpool 0 Dustbins 3

York City FC - aka The Minstermen (“Give us an ‘M’, give us …..) - were first founded in 1908, lasting through to the 1914-15 season (the last before the war, when Glossop finished bottom of, and were refused re-election back to, the Second Division) and folding in 1917, being re-formed in 1922 by members of the former club. Elected to the Third Division North in 1929, they have, to be fair, been better known as Cup Giantkillers; back in 1937/8 they put (First Division) West Brom and Middlesbrough to the sword; they reached the Semi-Final of the FA Cup in 1954-5, beating – among others – Stan Matthews’ Blackpool side which had won the Cup 18 months before

, and eventually losing in a replay to Newcastle (2-0); more recently they beat Arsenal in 1985 (1-0) with a goal by Keith Houchen (who got the winner in the Final two years later for Coventry in their 3-2 win over Spurs); and in 1995-96 they dumped Man U out of the League Cup, 4-3 on aggregate, winning the away leg 3-0 ……………..

In 2003-04 they lost their League status, not winning any of their last 20 games

(they only got 9 points between 1st November and the end of the season and finished bottom, with 44 points but only 35 goals)

. As you’ll remember, they won the 2011-12 Playoff Final 2-1 against Luton, and came back into the League, despite having finished the regular season 15 points behind second-placed Wrexham; they also won (and therefore currently hold) the FA Trophy, beating Newport 2-0.

Over the summer they parted company with several of the promotion team, most notably striker Moses Ashikodi (25), whose career includes spells at no less than 13 teams, at none of which he played more than 23 games

(and that includes Rangers, where his ‘career’ was an appearance as a late substitute against Celtic

) wasn’t offered terms, and re-joined Ebbsfleet ("Own the Club - Pick the Team"); former Stockport winger Danny Pilkington (22) went to Kidderminster (don’t buy the pies Danny – they’re four quid each!

); and German u21 International MF Eugen Bopp (29), whom they signed from German 3rd Division side FC Carl Zeiss Jena in March, who only lasted 2 games – being subbed off in the 69th minute of his debut v Luton, and then dislocating his shoulder against Fleetwood, which ended his season and his spell at Bootham Crescent.

In came Lee Bullock (31), a MF from Bradford who’d had 6 years with York earlier in his career; ex Posh, Crewe and Burton defender Danny Blanchett (25); from Darlington they got MF John McReady (20); Preston born Jonathan Smith (26) – another midfielder – returned home to York after a spell at Swindon; former Scarborough, Barnsley and Grimsby winger/striker Michael Coulson (24) and ex Shepherd’s Arms

(in the Wakefield & District Sunday League), Nostell Miners' Welfare

, Stockport, Norwich and Oxford striker Oli Johnson (24) form a slightly unlikely new strike force; and – late in August, having regretted his decision to retire – PFA Chairman, BBC “Question Time” panellist, “Countdown” winner and all-round clever-clogs, Preston-born Clarke Carlisle (33), apparently a “defensive lynchpin” (defined as a ‘central cohesive source of support and stability’) signed for his home-town team (well, Ripponden, technically, but who’s counting …….or counting down ………..

)

We haven’t, of course, met since we came back up; normally, as you know, I don’t cite Conference results, but in this case, I’ll make an exception; in 2004-05 we won 1-0 away and drew 2-2 at home; in 2005-06 we won 4-2 away and 2-1 at home; and who was one of the unused subs for that 2-1 win? One Paul Cook ………….

Their Cup runs this season (so far) have been short and relatively painful

; in the CapOne Cup they lasted one game (a 1-1 draw at Donnie, who won the shoot-out 4-2); in the PaintTheWall Cup they did manage a 1-0 win at Rotherham, before Coventry came a-calling and left 4-0 winners

. In the League, their record at home is P7 W2 D3 L2 D9 A10; away, it’s P6 W2 D3 L1 F10 A8; overall, they lie 12th – P13 W4 D6 L3 F19 A18 with 18 points (the same number as no less than five other teams

); their wins were over Oxford (3-1) and the Daggers (3-2) at home, and away they’ve beaten Barnet (3-1) and Aldershot (2-0); losses at home to Wycombe (1-3) and Fleetwood (0-2), and away at Burton (1-3); the bad news is that they got 3 again yesterday (for the third time); the good news is that they failed to trouble the scorers four times in five games in late September / early October

. Their leading scorers are England u17/18/19 forward Ashley Chambers (22) – ex Leicester, for whom he made his first team debut aged 15 – with 6, Michael Coulson (see above) with 5, Matty “I couldn’t nutmeg a mannequin

” Blair (ex Telford, Bedworth Utd and Kidderminster Harriers) and Jason Walker (28), once with Morton, Morecambe, Barrow and Luton (but not all at the same time), both with 3 ………….

As always, the deadline for entries is scheduled kick-off time, which is 7.45pm on Tuesday 23rd October; we’ve lost our last three

, they haven’t scored in 4 of their last 7

; if you check the League table, though, you’ll see that 3 points covers every spot in League Two from 6th place Burton to Oxford in 18th. This is the time when it really IS “Keep the Faith”

; let’s hope that my mate Leylandii is right when he says “hopefully York will come expecting a walk-over and it’ll all come good again” ……………….. and I think that happen he is!

Good luck to everyone ………..and thanks for playing!