Striker partnerships
You don’t seem to get striker partnerships these days. And, the term ‘twin strikers’ seems archaic. I’m (easily) old enough to remember SAS, Smash & Grab as well as Wright and Bright. SAS was the name given to the striker partnership at Premier League winners Blackburn
Rovers in 1995 when Chris Sutton and Alan Shearer scored 49 goals between them. At Crystal Palace, Ian Wright and Mark Bright came together as a strike force. They became famous as a pair because their names rhymed, as they gained greater fame individually at Arsenal and Sheffield Wednesday. Older readers may recall Smash & Grab, Alan Warboys and Bruce Bannister, who were strikers for Bristol Rovers in the 1970s. Warboys was the battering ram while Bannister preyed on leftovers. They scored 40 goals in one season to lift Rovers from the Third Division (that’s League One for the younger readers).
No more striker partnerships
You don’t get striker partnerships anymore; I guess the game has changed. However, looking through this week’s non-League results, several pairs of goalscorers caught my eye. I’m not sure if they are strike partnerships, but they were the scorers for their clubs this weekend. I also noticed that the scoring partnerships sounded like
names for businesses. For example, Cray Valley Paper Mills scorers in their 2-1 win over Sittingbourne were Barrington & Edgar. They sound like legal advisors to me. Whittle & Assante found the net for Chesterfield in their 3-2 defeat to Solihull Moors, but Whittle & Assante sounds more like an advertising agency to me. The list goes on. Who wouldn’t fancy a night out at a trendy nightclub called Kalala & Dinanga, the scorers of Dartford’s goals against Bath City.
Top ten ‘business’ strikers this week
So, here’s my top ten for this week. Do you agree?
Barrington & Edgar (Cray Valley PM v Sittingbourne) 2-1 – Legal advisors
Whittle & Assante (Chesterfield v Solihull Moors) 2-3 – Advertising agency
Kelly & Blissett (Maidenhead United v Boreham Wood) 2-0 – Second-hand car dealers
Kalala & Dinanga (Dartford v Bath City) 2-0 – Trendy nightclub
Roberts & Wootton (Notts County v Eastleigh) 2-0 – Accountants
Woodhouse & Mayhew (Hythe Town v Chichester City) 2-1 – Estate agents
Longstaff & Campbell (Gateshead v Spennymoor Town) 2-1 – Craft ale brewers
Turner & Johnson (Morpeth Town v Hyde United) 2-2 – Funeral directors
Coulson & Glynn (Scarborough Ath v FC United of Manchester) 2-2 – Insurance brokers
Cable & Bulford (Lymington Town v Slimbridge) 2-3 – Haulage company
Next stop Needham Market
I tuned into Talksport 2 last week for the FA Trophy draw. The draw was for the Quarter Final. The show presenter managed to get the eight numbers mixed up and was ready to send Needham Market to Bromley. A quick correction as the next ball was about to come out of the bag sent Solihull Moors to Bromley instead, but the next ball brought Needham Market a home tie. “That’s the one I want”, I said aloud (my dogs were the only ones listening). Sure enough, it was Stockport County, which means I travel to Suffolk for my ninth FA Trophy tie of the season. It will be Needham Market’s biggest game ever, but after victories over St Ives Town (a) 2-0, Margate (h) 3-2, Welwyn Garden City (h) 3-1, Wealdstone (h) 2-1, Yeovil Town (a) 1-1 (8-7 on pens) and Dartford (h) 1-0, they fully deserve their big day.
Eunice strikes fixtures and grounds
I am surprised Boris didn’t clamp down on the Met Office and tell them that calling a storm ‘EU nice’ was unacceptable. Do you ever wonder how they decide the name for storms? I imagine about twenty people sitting around a long table, participating in some elaborate voting system. Then, a meteorologist, a Remain campaigner before Brexit, sticks his hand up and says, “Eunice”. “Good idea”, they echo. Eunice, it is. Unsurprisingly, Eunice wreaked havoc with this week’s non-League fixtures and caused extensive damage. Barton Rovers, who suffered much damage five years ago when a floodlight pylon fell on their stand, had more problems as the storm damaged their stand and TV
tower with likely costs of £20K. The storm also wrecked stands at Horsham and Pagham Town. Hartley Wintney had their dugouts flipped over, while Egham Town had damage from trees.
Sing when you’re winning
In the Stockport County v Cheshunt FA Trophy last week, the visiting Cheshunt fans amazingly sang for almost the entire game. Meanwhile, the more reserved Stockport fans only burst into song briefly when they took a 1-0 lead. “Sing when you’re winning” boomed from the Amber Army from Hertfordshire. But, what did the Cheshunt fans do last weekend? Their game at Bognor Regis Town was called off. Did they still sing? “Sing when you’re postponed” doesn’t really scan so well.
