The Incredible Holk(er)

11/16/2024 12:26 PM

No, the picture wasn’t this bad. It’s not Bromley away earlier this season…

So, then. A win. A win away. And a win at an absolutely horrible place to get to at the best of times.

Those in deepest Cumbria this afternoon can have that enjoyable post-match glow of satisfaction, knowing what they witnessed today.

For those of us who chickened out (and I was going to go but I was in Ireland this week instead and that took priority on my wallet) and became armchair fans for the day, we too can share in the knowledge we’ve achieved something.

OK, it’s not as good as being there in the flesh, and I don’t think those who follow Premier League sides in this fashion are getting the proper fan experience.

That’s not to say you have to miss out what you can see and hear within the confines of a stadium.

Your editor managed to miss Piggy’s goal after two minutes, and Stevens’ ultimately decisive strike, so it wasn’t much different from my usual matchday.

To be fair, having games on like this readily available on Sky do help, and it’s definitely a godsend to those who find themselves unable to go.

Like, well, the people on the official supporters coach who turned up but found out their carriage wasn’t coming…

As for the game itself, I think it’s one of those ones that could have gone either way, but we managed to kill it off at the right time.

Piggy’s start was ideal, needless to say, and we were doing OK in keeping it at 1-0.

It’s still a massive annoyance how we let them back in though. For the second time in two games, Goodman managed to play a part in the opposition scoring.

It wasn’t a fumble, which you could understand in the conditions, but a professional goalkeeper shouldn’t be kicking like your editor.

He wasn’t entirely to blame, our defender was caught admiring the new stand and the Barrow player probably couldn’t believe his luck.

Still, cometh the hour, cometh the Matthew “Matty” Stevens. I actually think he’s a good candidate for Player of the Year already.

So watch him slump in form. Or get sold to Peterborough because the beancounters think we’re £1.50 short.

But that’s what you a) want, and b) need from your players. To be able to score that important goal away in the manner we did.

I was glad we got the third almost immediately after the second, as you suspect there’s another clanger in Goodman lurking.

But it didn’t matter, and we won quite comfortably in the end. And that’s always nice.

As is having a nice relaxing rest of the weekend. Even though we won’t get too long in basking in it.

We’ve got the Tuesday/Saturday/Tuesday/Saturday grind ahead now for the next couple of weeks at least, and we’re putting Academy lads like Ed Leach on the bench to fill it up.

Two of those are catchup, and of course our next game was due to Plough Lane deciding to become part of the River Wandle.

Our form has been indifferent recently, but if it’s going to pick up – perhaps the next couple of weeks isn’t a bad time to do it…