2013 Prediction League; Game 20v Exeter City (home)

Div3North · 13-12-2013, 01:20

Accrington Stanley

V

Exeter City

2013/14 Prediction League – Game 20; v Exeter (home)

You have to applaud consistency, I always think, so I applaud the Grecians for their consistency this season in the Cup Competitions; in the Capital One they played QPR at home; in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy they met Wycombe , also at home; and in the FA Cup they were drawn away at the Posh …………… and every game resulted in them losing 2-0 ………………

They lost their League status in 2003, and spent 5 years in the Conference; the reasons, in part, may have been to do with the financial shenanigans that had been going on and that resulted in criminal prosecutions against two former directors

; once taken over by the Supporters’ Trust they started the climb again ……….. in 2006/7 they reached the Playoff Final, losing 2-1 to Morecambe

; in 2007/8 they beat Torquay in the Playoff Semis (having looked in trouble at one point, they hit 3 in 8 minutes in the second leg to record a 5-3 aggregate victory

); that gave them Cambridge in the Final, and Rob Edwards’ goal gave them back their League status

. Like others before and since they went straight up to League One, coming 2nd behind Brentford, but their third-tier stay was short lived, being relegated in 2011/12

(finishing 23rd on 42 points – 8 from safety) with a record of 10 wins, 12 draws and 24 defeats, and a goal difference of -29 (46 for, 75 against); last season – helped by their good away form – they finished a respectable 10th on 64 points, five off the playoffs ………

Cash-strapped (been there, played that

) they released a few and signed hardly any

…………… CMF Mark Molesley (32) went to Aldershot; keeper Rhys Evans (31) also left for the Conference (Hereford); Kevin Amankwaah (CB, 31) went to the Cobblers and striker Jamie “OAP” Cureton (38) to Cheltenham; Myles Anderson (23, LB) to AC Monza Brianza (I thought that was a superior red wine – or was that Crianza?

); and CF Guillem Bauza (29), once of Mallorca B, Espanyol B, Swansea, Hereford and Northampton, now plays for Port Talbot Town

………..In came 32 year-old striker Sam Parkin, whose itinerary includes Swindon, Ipswich, Luton, Walsall, St Johnstone, Queen of the South and St Mirren and Aldershot’s 20 year old CB Doug Bergqvist, plus former Exeter player (between 2006 and 2009) Matthew Gill, now 32; he left for Norwich, joined Brizzle Rovers in 2011, was skipper there, and suffered a serious knee injury which kept him out for a lot of last season, and has gone back home on loan again from the Gas

After 10 games of the season they were third, with a record of W6 D2 L2 and 20 points

; then they lost 3-0 at home to Hartlepool

and won 4-0 at Scunthorpe

, and since then its all been downhill

……….Cup games apart, their last 7 in the League have gone DLLLLDD

– defeats away at Pompey (3-2) and Rochdale (3-1), draws at Oxford 0-0 and Wycombe 1-1, a home draw 2-2 with Bury and home defeats to Burton (0-1) and Southend (0-2); their overall League away record is W3 D4 L2 (home is W4 D1 L4, overall P19 W7 D5 L7 F24 A25 for 26 points), but 3 points from the last 7 games is relegation form

(isn’t it DAV?

) not promotion form, and they’ve dropped from 3rd to 11th in very short order. They may well be troubled by their relative lack of goals – 24 in 22 games including the Cup fiascos, and 10 games where they haven’t scored at all

, 7 of them in the League and 4 of those 7 in their last 8 League games ……………Leading scorers are Alan Gow (31), who’s plied his trade at Airdrie, Clydebank, Plymouth, Motherwell, Notts Co and East Bengal

) with 5, home-grown MF Scott Bennett (with 4) and John O’Flynn (Cork, Barnet) who has the same; the incoming Sam Parkin has 3, three others have 2 each, and two more have 1 ……..

Head-to-head favours them; in 2008/9 we lost 2-1 away (Jamie Clarke) but won 2-1 at home (Miles and Lindfield); last season we entertained them at ours for Game 3, and lost 3-0; the return game at theirs was loads better – we only lost that 2-0!

T'riffic

Despite the loss to the Cobblers – and I still think Boothroyd’s on borrowed time, having lost 2-0 at Grimsby in Round Two of the FA Cup

– we’re still the form team, and a week’s rest, and the impetus of the Youth Team’s brilliant result on Tuesday

(does anyone not know that they beat West Ham Utd Youth 2-1?), plus Exeter’s patchy – nay, “iffy” – recent form, and the rise up the table could continue unabated ……..

And good luck to Coley and Jimmy B at Southport!

The deadline for entries is, as always, listed kick off time, which is 3.00pm on Saturday 14th December; soon be Chrimbo – so get your predictions in faster than an orange and two nuts going into a Christmas stocking

Good luck to everyone …… remember; passion overcomes logic ……………..keep the faith! …… and thanks for playing!