The View From Churchmans

It’s been an extraordinary season, when you think about it. Town have looked like candidates for both automatic promotion and for relegation at different times; there’s been the worst-ever and the second-worst-ever local derby results; one of the heaviest defeats in the club’s history and one of the largest away wins in the club’s history; a victory over Arsenal, of all teams; and an almost unheard-of mid-season managerial sacking. Yet for some reason, this nondescript, forgettable kickabout seems to sum things up much better than those more newsworthy events. I think it’s because of the sheer lack of character – and lack of characters – throughout the club; at times, it’s been hard to care what’s going on.

Certainly that appeared to be the case at this game, in the sort of blazing sunshine in which end-of-season games ought to be played. The crowd were overwhelmingly subdued and offered barely a chant of encouragement. Despite being faced with an atrocious defence which caved in at the merest suggestion of a few quick passes, Town still couldn’t muster up the application to put this game away before half time, and were nearly made to pay. Preston obviously had it made quite clear to them at the interval that Town were just as ordinary as they were, and came out determined to show their 200 supporters that they still cared. If the match had ended up as a draw, it wouldn’t have been unfair, but in the end, the visitors weren’t up to it.

Normally if Town had been hanging on to a 2-1 lead for the last half an hour, it’d be a bit nervy, but nobody seemed concerned, on or off the pitch. For the last few minutes Town went 4-6-0, and few people around me even bothered to make wisecracks about such an obvious target. When Jewell brought on Jaime Peters for a cameo appearance at the end, it raised the roof in comparison, with fans standing to applaud in all four stands. Sadly, it’s unlikely to be a sign of Peters finding favour with the manager, and more likely that this was a case of a player who’s known to be popular amongst the supporters being allowed one last hurrah before being let go. To be honest, there are about 20 others in the squad who most fans would rather were shown the door first. Bring on next season.

Overall Town performance:
4/10 – Dull and uncreative; more representative of the season as a whole than any of all those memorable wins and defeats though.

Opposition quality:
3/10 – Down and out.

Referee:
6/10 – Almost nothing of any note to do.

Match excitement:
3/10 – Tedious, and poor quality.

Opposition supporters:
5/10 – A tiny turnout, but when you’re already relegated and then get such a long trip, hats off to them for turning up, and especially for having a whole bunch in fancy dress.

Player ratings, as ever 1 to 5 for each of effort/achievement…

FULOP 6 (3/3) won’t have had many quieter afternoons, but made a decent second-half stop when it was needed.

EDWARDS 6 (3/3) contributed a bit going forward, but wasn’t challenged too much defensively; BROWN 5 (2/3) made a silly challenge early on and seemed unsure at times; DELANEY 5 (2/3) was hardly commanding; and KENNEDY 5 (2/3) put in a quite unremarkable performance.

CARSON 5 (3/2) didn’t really create as much as we’ve been used to; NORRIS 5 (3/2) had another forgettable match; BULLARD 7 (3/4) ran the game for an hour, but faded towards the end, not for the first time; LEADBITTER 5 (3/2) was nondescript.

SCOTLAND 5 (2/3) was slow again, but dropped off into the right place to (at last) get on the scoresheet; MURRAY 6 (3/3) scurried around a lot in his first start, and kept the opposition occupied.

DRURY was pretty decent; PETERS got a hero’s welcome; and CIVELLI, er, came on.