The Raging Racer (Part 1)

The following article appeared in the programme for Racing Club Warwick v Bridgnorth Town on 9th August 2008.

I am sitting writing this with a beer in hand (and let me tell you that it’s hard to type with a beer!) on my hotel room balcony overlooking the crystal clear waters of the sunny Caribbean Sea. Yes it’s “Hola!” from Mexico and I’m delighted to report that the annual summer football drought is over for another nine months. Martin has emailed the first few fixtures for our new season so I can look forward to the delights of Bridgnorth at home just as soon as this pesky holiday is over! Yes, welcome to today’s first home game of the season. It’s just our luck to be playing one of the promoted sides at the first time of asking. Promoted sides always bring the optimism that comes with a recent promotion into their first half dozen or so games at the higher level so I do hope that our boys are ready for a battle.

This is expected to be the start of a new era for Racing Club following changes behind the scenes and, unless somebody has changed their mind, we expect to be parading a new Chairman and Football Secretary. Opinions vary regarding the contributions of Pat and Jim over the years but in my view it’s all too easy to criticise and I would say “Where are you when your Club needs you?” to all those who have grumbled in the past – time to put up or shut up I reckon. To Pat and Jim I say sincere thanks to you for all your hard work and effort over the years and I do hope that we’ll continue to see you around the place.

This year’s Cup draws have been somewhat kinder to Racing Club this season especially in comparison with last season where our ball came out of the bag five times as the away side – this time around we will be entertaining Cadbury Athletic in the Extra Preliminary Round of the FA Cup and we’re all hoping that they’ll put in a Flakey performance in order that we can progress to the Preliminary Round (either that or we’ll be left with Crème Egg on our faces) where we would face Stourport Swifts at home. 20^th September sees our entry into the FA Vase at the Second Qualifying Round stage where we will face either Sutton Town (that’s Sutton in Ashfield, Nottinghamshire and not Sutton Coldfield by the way) or Rocester here at Hampton Road. So three out of three home draws can’t be too bad can it? I reckon our name must be on the Cup!

It certainly seems like a long time since our last game here at Townsend Meadow. But before we get on with things, let’s take a quick look back at some the action that I’ve enjoyed since my last article in the final home programme of last season.

Saturday 12th April – Shifnal Town v Racing Club, Midland Football Alliance

This was our first ever visit to the small town of Shifnal which, for the majority of you who had better things to do on this particular Saturday, is just off the M54 near Telford and is just the other side of Wolverhampton. It took just about an hour to make the easy trip up from Warwick and we arrived just before two having found the ground that is located right on the edge of town and is pretty well out in the countryside. Enquiries of the gentleman in the car park revealed that Shifnal don’t have a club house however so we leapt back into the car for a quick look around the charming town and for a spot of light refreshment.

Phoenix Park is home to Shifnal and it left me with a feeling that it isn’t “quite right” yet. On the plus side, the pitch is flat and looked relatively good (certainly better than our own patch) and they have a nice looking stand on the far side and banking on the other three sides (not terracing however). But on the down side the facilities for the ordinary punter are very poor indeed. As I’ve already mentioned, no club house and, even facilities for the players and officials consisted of temporary buildings. I’m sure that Shifnal must have plans to do more with Phoenix Park but it remains disappointing as it stands. Certainly a small shudder went through me when the thought occurred to me that most grounds in the Midland Combination are probably much worse than Shifnal’s – never ever get relegated to Step 6 Racing Club, I don’t know if I could put up with the surroundings!

On the playing front Shifnal looked like a good side and were certainly better than when we beat them here earlier in the season. On a cold and blustery April day Racing Club looked out of sorts and made hard work of the game. In the first half Ryan Howell scored a super goal when he managed to control a ball that he had no right to get before dragging it back and smashing it low past Shifnal keeper Martin Poole’s right hand side (I always enjoy an appearance by former Ludlow custodian Poolie as he has one of those curly hairstyles that look a bit like a 70’s perm and he sports a 70’s keepers outfit to match – a little bit like Jean-Marie Pfaff, the old Belgium keeper, nostalgia fans). In the second half Shifnal continued to look solid and it was no great surprise when Warwick failed to clear the ball and it was lashed home by Dovey after 73 minutes. It finished 1-1 and we left the players and officials to find the location of the post match hospitality as we winded our way back along the country lanes to the M54 and home.

Tuesday 15th April – Racing Club v Westfields, Midland Football Alliance

It was only the middle of April and this was our last home game of the season. With three away games to go following this one, our topsy turvey season at Townsend Meadow was at an end and to mark the occasion our boys decided that we should go out on a high. All credit to our visitors from Hereford who came with the sole intention of winning and attacked Racing Club from the very start. On a perfect night for football other than the kind of surface that invited sliding tackles, Westfields were soon a goal ahead. However Ryan Howell scored with a deft header shortly afterwards and this took him joint top of the scoring charts with Matty Blair, having chalked up twelve apiece. Racing fans began to relish the battle of the titans that would take place in the closing games as the two fought it out for the accolade of our very own Golden Boot.

Westfields’ Matt Aubrey headed home on the half hour mark but his effort was disallowed for a marginal offside that clearly upset the Westfields bench. This was compounded when Racing Club took the lead prior to half time courtesy of a pile driver from Neil Stacey who was making the most of a rare opportunity of a start. As the teams left the field at the break it was noted that a member of the Westfields backroom staff gave the referee a tirade of abuse and this resulted the home supporters applauding the much maligned official off the park. Little did we know that the man in black was going to award Westfields an extremely generous penalty in the second period allegedly due to a push by Ross Holtom. This correspondent didn’t see a push and certainly nothing inside the area and it left me wondering whether “talking” to the officials has a greater effect than they would like to have you believe. Westfields players seemed to be as surprised as anyone but duly despatched the spot kick to level things up.

In the closing minutes Ryan Howell twice had opportunities to secure the win for the Racers but was foiled on each occasion by visiting keeper Jon Pugh and we thought that our chance had gone. Cue a corner in the 87^th minute that Westfields struggled to clear and Hutch stepped up to stuff home the late winner and send all Racers wild with delight. It was a superb 3-2 victory and that made it eight in a row without defeat, our best run since we managed nine in a row between 23^rd August and 20^th September 2005 under Marcus Law. Eighteen points out of a possible twenty-four is certainly promotion form but would need to be sustained across 42 games and not just eight but the signs looked good for the following season. A small word also must go to Westfields who, besides that one gentleman on the bench with rather too much to say to the referee, played the game the way it should be played and were unlucky to lose on the night. They looked like a team to watch out for in the new season to me.

Keep the faith!