15.01.1995 BGFC 1 - 2 CROFTERS

 

Two glaring defensive boobs in each half, one by Bob Page and the other by Harry Gibson made sure that the BGFC's jinx against Crofters continued.

 

Crofters humbled the BG out of the cup last November and other than one-win in a pre-season friendly, the BG have failed to beat Rob Stevenson's Newhall based hardnuts in a competitive game.

 

These meetings are very rarely pretty affairs, expect aggression, violence and effort instead of aesthetics, valour and entertainment. Add two sets of the noisest supporters in the league to the melting pot and you have got an atmosphere where inevitably mistakes will be made.

 

It was the usually impeccable Page who made the first error. To be fair, he received a poor ball from Lee Devlin, but his stuttering and stumbling allowed the Crofter's number 9 to nip in and poke the ball past stand-in keeper Shabba.

 

Brave Shabba was forced to don the number one jersey because Alan Jackson was unavailable, claiming to be a victim of a flu bug rampaiging through the Westfield's estate. A red-nosed Jacko was spotted in Zoo Corner where his medicine was definitely Bass and not Benylin!

 

Shabba was also without new-signings Eddie Robinson (ankle), Rod Mansfield and Mick Cope (both unavailable).

 

Despite going a goal down, the BG continued to enjoy the lions share of possession. One debutant Dicky Waldrum was a constant thorn in Crofter's side, who used barely legal tactics to stop him from opening his account.

 

The referee finally realised that sliding was prohibited and when Crofter's stopped fouling, they started to play a bit and rattled Shabba's post twice in search of what would have been a killer goal.

 

But Pete Gardner had other ideas. He quietly drifted into foreign enemy space and latched on to Waldrum's superb through ball before hammering home an excellent drive past Crofter's giant keeper.

 

There are conflicting verdicts from the BG camp about why Crofter's man-mountain custodian is so effective. Shabba argues strikers suffer a "psychological" fear because he is so big, meanwhile according to Harry Gibson it is to do with diet!!!

 

Gibson, the Bowling Green veteran was as guilty as a Gloucester builder as he tried to flick his way out of trouble when being caught short by a Crofter's attack. Why he did it left the disappointed Green supporters mystified. Unless you are winning 10-0 with a minute to go, Showboating should be the last thing on your mind. Inbstead of blocking the Crofter's raid more conventionally, Harry chose to do a passable impression of a sugar-plum fairy caught in a hurricane! The result was a tornado in the back of the BG net, courtesy of Stevenson the Crofter's player-boss who must rank as one of the most improved players at Hood Park in recent times.

 

Bob Page thought he had equalised in the dying seconds, having wriggled the ball under the Hulk-like frame of the Crofter's number one, but somehow he managed to claw the ball off the line and those in black and white were left to celebrate whilst those in yellow and green were left to reflect on yet another hard luck story.   

 

BGFC: Sharrocks, Devlin, Gardner, Page, Waldrum, Gibson.

 

 

BGFC 0 - 2 Veteran's of Style

 

Within the chamber of Zoo Corner, Shabba must call an emergency council meeting to try and find out why his side failed to muster a single shot on goal in a dull and drab match against a side who were as much Veteran's as they were stylish!

 

The cheekily named fivesome go under a tag probably more suited to the likes of Harry Gibson (although something like "past sell-by date" might be more apt in his case), Shabba, Pete Gardner and the fully-restored Alan Jackson who was man of the match.

 

Jackson was the BG's all action hero, who producted three death-defying stops to prevent this poor contest turning into a monotonous rout.At the other end, the Vet's keeper could have nipped to the bar for a pint and stayed there after the Vet's took the league. 

 

Infact the entire crowd watching on the balcony would have been forgiven if they had made a mass exodus to the bar and boosted the Leisure Centre's coffers. It really was an awful display of woeful passing and attacks that broke down as frequently as a British Rail express train.

 

The Vet's second was almost greeted with a sigh of relief, that this game would soon be over. It twas! At last rather than alas! Shabba's team have managed just NINE goals in the last SIX months and on this display the average could soon rival British Leyland in the 1970's eg: one strike every four weeks!

 

BGFC: Jackson, Devlin, Gardner, Page, Waldrum, Sharrocks, Robinson, Gibson,

 

 

 

Way back in 1979, one of my music heroes was Ian Dury and his Blockheads. Ian may have unwittingly penned "Billericay Dickie" as a tribute to the Bowling Green's free-scoring striker.

 

After all, the song is about "scoring" in one sense of the word, if you have ever heard it you will know what I mean!

 

In the last 32 minutes of football, our Dicky has found the net SIX times and he is surely on course to be up there with the club's past scoring greats such as Rod Mansfield, Ian Waite and Leon Patrick if he carries on like this!

 

Shabba has admitted that goals have cost the club in the past and he was looking to complement one of the meanest defences in the league with some fearsome strike-power.  

 

Oasis-reject Waldrum though blew away the gathering storm clouds over Brook Street following three straight defeats with another hat-trick. Is he on a one-man mission to collect Hood Park matchballs? Johnny Mac, the Oasis manager who let him go must be kicking himself.

 

It was the first time in the BG's history that Ashby YFC had been conquored and a delighted Shabba was left to woop it up in Zoo Corner rather than comiserate like he usually does!

 

 

12.02.95 - BGFC 4 - 2 Craftsmen

 

Deadly Dicky Waldrum continued his remarkable sequence of scoring for the Bowling Green FC when he bagged his THIRD consequetive hat-trick.

 

His latest treble had Craftsmen packing their tools away after they had took a 2-0 lead. It also had boss Shabba scurrying for the record books.

 

This amazing feat is definitely a first in the club's history.

 

More importantly, the canny signing who could not get into Oasis's team last season has brought a dimension so often lacking in the past year - a regular, out and out goalscorer.

 

And the prospect becomes even more mouthwatering when Waldrum's strike-partner tonight was Rod Mansfield. Rod need's no introduction to the BG having played here in the late 80's early 90's under Kev Lewis.

 

Whilst Dicky took the headlines, the quiet, unassuming Rod was happy to get himself on the scoresheet with the BG's fourth. The Green were boosted by the return of Lee Devlin, who put in some thundering challenges at the back.

 

Alan Jackson was another returnee, typically after we thought we had seen the last of the evergreen keeper, his comeback rolls on and banishes any thought of him going to goalkeepers boot-hill.

 

Shabba has turned around what was a miserable start to the season. Noe he can afford himself and his trusted assistant Harry Gibson the luxury of substitute roles.

 

Both men confessed to me after the hard-fought win over Ashby YFC last week that they were physically sick after the game. Whether this was induced by shock or by old-age one must reserve his opinion.

 

After two great win's on the spin, next week's blank fixture calender could not really have come at a worse time for the flying BGFC. One consolation is that it will give casualties Bob Page and Eddie Robinson another week to get over their injuries.