Sometimes in football good teams go through bad runs. At the moment, all aspects of the media are obsessed by Chelsea's poor run of form and questionning whether Jose Mourinho's job is safe and what can he as manager do to turn their fortunes around.
Sometimes the answer to that question is....nothing.
Rewind to the 27th September this year. On a sunny King George's Playing Fields, Oswaldtwistle Immanuel played Park F.C. a week after losing to Stanley Ultras in cruel circumstances.
On that day, 4 goals in 6 minutes took Oswaldtwistle Immanuel from 4-2 up to 6-4 down as they fell to another defeat on a day where the team's performance and attitude let them down. What can a manager do to turn around his team's fortunes?
In this case, Andy Parky did nothing. A few strong words about his disappointment but nothing more. He relied on the character of his players and trusted them to turn it around theirselves. And they have not let him down.
They followed that game with a spirited performance in a defeat against a good Hare And Hounds side but have been unstoppable since and came into 'The Middle Class Derby' against Helmshore Harriers on the back of 4 straight wins.
This was a match that pitted 2 of more posh areas served by the Blackburn Sunday League against each other but that wasn't going to affect Immanuel's approach, although rumour has it that Parky was seen tucking into a caviar sandwich prior to kick off as opposed to the usual bacon and sausage.
A mixture of ankles, hamstrings and beer had meant Immanuel were missing a few stars and were forced to shuffle their pack and even risk a semi-fit Nathan Berry in midfield.Despite this Immanuel started brightly and 3 minutes a typical show of strength from Andy Dewhurst allowed him to out muscle his marker and score his seventh of the season.
Immanuel carried on putting the pressure on but were unable to add to their lead as Helmshore Harriers grew into the game and they levelled on 27 as a dangerous cross was deflected in by the unlucky Tom Leach. Immanuel were unfortunate to lose their lead but had to show character and start again.
And 9 minutes later Helmshore Harriers repaid the own goal as a centre half helped Toby Hodgkiss's dangerous delivery past a helpless keeper. 2-1 Immanuel. And that was soon 3 after great link up between Andy Dewhurst and the excellent Daniel Mooring led to a goal for the latter.
So, Immanuel led 3-1 at half time but that was not to be the end of the drama. A twinge in the hamstring of Daniel Mooring meant it was time for a debut for Immanuel's only substitute, Brian Hodgkiss. And after a rigorous warm up on the touchline he was on. Visibly nervous, Daddy Hodgkiss pointed out that his legs hadn't 'seen daylight in a long time'. From the colour of them, we could tell!
The game was still in the balance and a goal from Helmshore would have made things uncomfortable and on the hour mark they looked to have worked their way back into the match as a well crafted move down the left allowed the winger time to put a dangerous ball into the box that found a forward 2 yards from goal to tap home. But Matt Cook hadn't read the script. No one could argue that since Oswaldtwistle Immanuel's conception back in June 2014, Matthew Cook has been one of the most, if not the most, improved players in the squad and has been pivotal in their success since then with his commanding presence and an array of great saves.
This wasn't a great save though, this was outstanding. He somehow scampered accross his line when most would have given up and got his feet to the goalbound ball and watched relieved as it looped over the bar. Luck was on his side that it went to safety from his touch but he deserved that luck. The Helmshore forward was clearly gutted with himself that he had not scored but he had put the ball on target which was all he had to do. Sometimes you have to accept brilliance.
The psychological effect of that moment was there to see minutes later when another Helmshore forward beat the Immanuel backline and found himself one on one with the Immanuel stopper. When a keeper is in this form they look huge to the approaching forward though, and he could only offer a strike that may have beaten most second division keepers, but not Matt 'The Only Non-Schizophrenic Keeper in Blackburn' Cook.
The chance of Helmshore getting anything looked to be slipping away with every passing minute and things were made more difficult on 71 as Jack Gaskill topped off an angry performance with a good finish.
Immanuel weren't finished though, and 10 minutes later Brian Hodgkiss showed why he was brought on ahead of Pete 'The Luminous Late Linesman of Pleasington' Riding. Rolling back the years, everybody's second favourite Hodgkiss picked up the ball on halfway and played a perfect through ball for Dewhurst to bag his second.
So, Immanuel recorded their fifth straight victory with a complete performance in which every player did theirselves proud. And Immanuel showed that when people are asking what Jose Mourinho can do to turn his team's fortunes around, maybe the answer is nothing. Just trust his players to have the character to turn things around themselves. And if Jose cannot pull Chelsea out of the doldrums, there is a very promising young manager in the Blackburn Sunday League Division 2.
