As the moustachioed half of Saint and Greavsie once proclaimed, “Football is a funny old game”. Never before has this statement been more apt when studying Salop in recent weeks. Prior to the visit of Macclesfield, in the previous two home fixtures against Darlington and Walsall, the Town produced some sublime, one-touch, Johan Cruyff style football, that had the natives swooning in admiration. Only trouble was, we didn’t win either game.
On Friday night, Salop were absolutely dreadful. Shocking. Clueless. Guess what? We won.
I must admit that after Ben Herd put us a goal up after about five seconds, I sank into complacency. And as I tucked into my overpriced sausage roll, I expected Salop to run up at least five or six goals against the league’s bottom club.
What transpired over the next 92 minutes was quite painful to watch, as we resembled a Unibond Premier Division outfit. Things got so bad, at one point, I thought I saw the figure of Jake King standing in the home dug out.
Our distribution in all areas was quite laughable and our consistently second best midfield were outbattled and outclassed in all areas. I don’t think I’m alone when I say that Messrs Sorvel and Drummond were abysmal and non-existent respectively, although they weren’t alone.
It was quite fitting perhaps that one of the few players to emerge with what could be described as a decent performance should win the game in the 93rd minute.
Big Kelvin’s scuffed, mistimed, 25 yard effort will not win any goal of the season accolades, but as I and my fellow Salopians leapt around the terraces like demented loons as the ball found the back of the Station End net, we did not care.
One thing that amused me as I strolled out of the ground, other than the hilariously bad performance by the referee, is how fickle football supporters are. It goes without saying that had Langmeads bouncing bomb of a shot gone wide, and the scoreline remained at 1-1, then Salop would have been booed off by the majority of the depressed crowd.
However, as we snatched an undeserved victory, applause and cheers rang out from three quarters of the ground as the final whistle blew and everybody went home to watch the Charlotte Church show in fine spirits.
Football, it’s all about results y’know.
- David Craig is the Shropshire Star’s new Shrewsbury Town blogger - reflecting on the ups and downs of life on the terraces and on the pitch.
- Send your comment’s on David’s blog here
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