The Hampton Roar (Part 13)

The following article appeared in the programme for Racing Club Warwick v  Boldmere St Michaels on 18th December 2007.

Welcome to today’s match and the latest instalment of the season’s diary by your favourite Racing Club correspondent.

Wednesday 28th November – Wolverhampton Wanderers v Colchester United, Championship

A midweek without a Racing Club game but I have the opportunity to enjoy the corporate lifestyle in an Executive Box at Molineux, home of the Wanderers against their over-achieving visitors from Essex who are a little less than attractive on a cold November Wednesday night. This is my seventh visit to Molineux in three seasons and I am still waiting to see an entertaining game. Am I unlucky or are Wolves games all as bad as these? Invariably it either finishes 1-0, 0-1 or 1-1 and tonight is no different. The Wanderers take the lead before the break thanks to a Stephen Elliott header and you just know that you’ve just witnessed the end of the scoring. Not even the introduction of a 41 year old Teddy Sheringham for the U’s in the second half can conjure up another goal. Colchester and their 100 fans look forward to their three hour trip back to the wilds of Essex with nothing to show for their endeavours and I thank my lucky stars that I don’t support Wolves! Give me non-league football every time if this is the standard that you get in the Championship. The win takes Wolves back into the Play Off places so it’s not as if I was looking at one of the poorer sides in the second tier. In the unlikely event that Wolves do manage to get promoted then get your money on them coming straight back down again unless they can come up with the multi millions needed to replace most of their current first team. I confirm that my judgement is sound the next day with a look at the BBC website which quotes Wolves boss Mick McCarthy as saying that his side played lousy! You said it Mick! I blame the manager myself.

Saturday 1^st December – Racing Club Warwick v Coalville Town, Midland Alliance

I don’t know why it is but sometimes you just get a feeling that today is going to be your team’s day. Such feelings don’t always turn out to be correct but I go to the game with heightened anticipation anyway and, for once, I am not to be disappointed. We lost 3-2 to Coalville, our fifth placed visitors from Leicestershire, at their place back in September but have finally found some better form over the last half dozen games or so and my hunch is for a win provided that we show the required levels of commitment and work rate. For their own part the Ravens bring hot goal scoring form into this match having ransacked 18 goals in their last two games. I do love playing sides when they’ve got a run going because our league position is likely to lull our opponents into thinking that they’ll get an easy game.

Coalville have another secret weapon that gives me hope. Ian Brookes, who started the season playing for Racing Club, appears between the sticks for the Ravens. Brooksie is known as “Dracula” to loyal Racers because of his fear of crosses and we’re so glad to have Messrs Handley and Dipple fighting over our number one shirt instead. Also in the Coalville line up is former Racer Jermaine Gordon, something of a favourite of mine but who never did seem to manage to get as many goals as you thought he should. We’re all aware however that Gordon will be something of a handful for our defenders and we look to see if he has finally had studs fitted to the backside of his shorts so often did he take a tumble in and around the penalty area!

The game opens with Coalville taking the game to Warwick but we gradually work our way into it. The opening goal goes to our boys after 21 minutes thanks to a fine finish by Matty Blair. Matty, whose name now appears in the League’s top scorers table, apparently doesn’t much like playing as a striker but boy can he finish! Let’s hope that Bobby upsets young Matty by playing him up front every week until he realises that it’s his best position. Matty’s finish is so hot that it goes clean through the goal net (what was the referee’s assistant doing before the kick off?) which led to one seriously rattled Coalville supporter to start shouting at the referee – did he really think that our goal would be disallowed? Ten minutes later and Ross Holtom launched a ball into the Coalville area which had me moaning that he’d wasted the ball. Regular readers will know not to listen to my views on the game and, on this occasion, with Brooksie caught like a rabbit in the headlights, up popped Neil Stacey to nod the ball into the net for 2-0 at the break. As usual none of the Racing Club supporters thought we had it won, such has been our inability to kill the opposition off over recent weeks but when Jay Holtom made it 3-0 shortly after half time even the doubters began to wonder if today was going to be our day. As usual the boys then decided to keep us on the edge of our seats (or whatever it is that you do when you’re stood up) by giving away a stupid penalty with a needless push in the box. At 3-1 in previous games we would have started to wobble but today we played in a totally professional manner. Indeed, for the last 10 minutes Coalville could hardly get the ball out of their own half and, had we gone for more goals instead of heading for the corners to waste a few seconds I’m convinced that we could have won by a wider margin. I’m afraid I still would like to see the introduction of a rule that allows the referee to automatically penalise a team that is clearly playing for the final whistle but I suppose that our boys have the right to take advantage of the situation in the same way that others do to us and I’m probably just being churlish.

So another victory and we hoped that it would be enough to take us out of the bottom three. Alas, with Oadby coasting to a 2-5 away win at fast fading Stapenhill and all the teams immediately above us picking up at least a point we’re still in the trap door positions. That said, we’ve reeled a host of sides into the relegation dog fight now and six sides above us are now within three points (is anybody at Tipton, Friar Lane, Oldbury, Oadby, Coventry Sphinx or Biddulph having a touch of the “squeaky bums” yet?). Yes it’s turning into an exciting season with the Christmas period beginning to look especially crucial given that we’ve played several games more than some of the sides around and about us. Come on boys! Let’s keep it going!

Keep the faith!