The hoardes descended upon Pleasington during this big weekend of footballing derbies.
Saturday had seen Burnley win the East Lancashire derby at Ewood Park and Sunday was the day that Newcastle were to play Sunderland in the North East derby and City took on United in the Manchester derby, but the game that everybody was talking about was at Pleasington Playing Fields where, for the first time, Oswaldtwistle Immanuel were pitted against their bitter local rivals, The Stanhill Working Mens' Club.
Whether the players would understand how much this rivalry meant to the people of this sleepy Lancashire suburb was a question on everybody's lips. Especially as there were doubts when the Stanhill team lined up as to whether any of the players did frequent the working mens' club whose team they played for, or whether they had ever set foot in there, or knew where it was!
On the other side of that coin however, the question could be raised as to how many of the Oswaldtwistle Immanuel side are regulars at the church from which their club takes it's name. Whether they did or not, they hoped that God would be on their side today.
Unfortunately he wasn't. After disappearing into thin air mid-way through the previous season owing his club £30, James Leech still was not available. The man who stepped into his shoes, John Spencer, or God#2 as he is known in certain circles, was also unavailable with a hamstring injury. A condition that is now labelled in the British Medical Journal as 'Mooring's Regret'.
Fortunately, top scorer Andy Dewhurst decided at the last minute that he was available to play as he was not going to go to the service of the christening he was invited to and would just go to the enjoyable part afterwards. You can say what you like about Dewhurst, but he is certainly a better forward than he is a friend.
This match also saw the return of Jonny Baxter. This was vital to Andy Parky's side as there was a Hodgkiss needed babysitting. The pressure of being everybody's favourite Hodgkiss was clearly getting to Simon and driving him to drink. Fortunately, Baxter managed to contact Simon and after working out that despite what he said, he wasn't on the M65, he was able to collect Simon from the house he found himself locked in. What had happened the previous evening was unknown but as the saying goes, 'What happens at 9-inch Alan's, stays at 9-inch Alan's!'
The match started well and Immanuel took an early lead. Andy Dewhurst smashing home a free kick from 30 yards leaving the keeper stranded. It was just what was needed to settle the nerves.
They could have got more as there were a few chances created in the first half as the Stanhill's 3 man back line struggled to cope with the pace of Immanuel. Unfortunately the finishing let them down. At the other end though, the defence was standing strong and Matt Cook was in a defiant moo.
This may have been down to the thorough preparation Cook had put in since getting up at 6am. Not one to conform to society's norms, Cook decided as the rest of the UK put their clocks back an hour to put his forward an hour. You go Matt, stick it to The Man!
Just before half time, Immanuel doubled their lead as Joel Gaskill was on hand to meet Graham Harrison's cross and convert with a tap in that the injured Spencer would be proud of.
The Stanhill started the second half well and created a few chances that on another day would have probably been converted, but Immanuel still looked dangerous when in possession and it was during a foray into the Stanhill box that led to the game's big talking point. Chasing a ball down Simon Hodgkiss performed a 'Harrison' on the onrushing keeper and the resulting push to the head and kick to the ribs left the referee with no option but to produce the red card. It seemed an over reaction from the keeper and he was probably fortunate that he had blind sided Hodgkiss otherwise who knows what Hodgkiss would have done.
Stanhill still put in a spirited effort but despite the game now being all but dead as a contest but they could not stop Immanuel sealing the result with two late goals. Matt Hodgkiss continued his scoring form with a little help from the stand-in goalkeeper and substitute Jack Gaskill rounded of a good Immanuel move with a close range finish.
This 4-0 victory made it 3 straight wins for Immanuel in all competitions as they have really hit form and look like there is no stopping them at the moment. The only concern is that now is the time of season managers begin to lose their jobs and as news filtered through that Tim Sherwood had parted company with Aston Villa, the Immanuel supporters couldn't help but wonder how long they were going to be able to keep hold of their exciting young manager before he is tempted by an offer to move on to bigger things. On this form, their concerns are understandable.
