...................it's a sultry April overcast afternoon in the tranquil market village of sleepy Wednesbury, and the local chavs dared to whisper at the prospect of the Prince of Wales finally overcoming thir Grapes voodoo, having never gained a point from their Claret vestooned adverseries in their proud history . The visitors dispelled the rumours of a midweek struggle for players with a Coopwilly sized squad and Prince knew they would be in for yet another aerial bombardment , the Hydes Rd trees being dwarfed by the Grapes outfit , almost all of them between 6ft and 7ft high . We also boasted a healthy contingent , youngsters Jack Davies and Malcolm Wyre both rested against the giants . The svelt Kevin Kenny Botos stepped into midfield to replace Pedro Haddock as Baz went otherwise unchanged from our impressive Sunday outing . The bench of Joe-Squizz-Toon-Bean set the tongues wagging as the cut set a healthy background to their awesome stretching routines . At six apiece you might be expecting an extensive description of the game I suppose .. but I'll keep it succinct . It wasnt pretty but by our Good God it was nerve wracking . We did we did we did try to keep it on the deck and for 20 minutes our visitors played ball , only for them to concede 3 in the process. First Coop met Geoffers' cross to convert neatly . Then Anton nodded on a Legs Lawley free kick and finally Colin ran on to an Anton (on fire) flick to send us 3-0 up . The Grapes suddenly switched on to the fact they werent going to compete technically and (to be fair) astutely altered their game plan . Sending their giants forward the away side lumped balls non stop into our box and despite a fine performance from Rick we managed to concede 2 goals .. enough said . We have got to deal better with the long hoof and that is something we must work on in pre season as it has cost us so many goals this campaign. At half time we all had a good constructive chat and despite them equalizing from a VERY dubious penalty we hit another 3 to give us our highest total this season - Anton superbly met a Roberts corner to put us 4-3 up until they again equalized . We then dominated and Colin was upended to earn Toony a succesful penalty , before Joe Cohen met a lovely Roberts drilled cross to surely give us the points at 6-4 . Ha ha NOT game over ........ we met an onslaught as they employed the tactics that gave them the draw - Grapes put their regular goalie Blowsy (Bloosie ?) up top and launched it every time . Predictably(yawn) he got 2 and the score finished 6 a piece . I have been a bit critical of Grapes, they did what they had to and a big HIGH FIVE to their linesman who ran the line in style ; unbias and if anything leaned towards the benefit of the doubt for our strikers . MUCH RESPECT BLOD ! From our point of view great handling from Rick first half in particular and outstanding displays in my opinion from Coop and Anton as well as Deano our best defender on the night . A great effort from all of our players who are now competing with dignity(no bookings) , passion (100% effort) and thrust (6 goals) The disappointment of the draw was turned by one and all into a positive at the end .. they ARE our bogey side after all and we have literally dragged ourselves by the collar up that table from 6 defeats out of 6 to 20+ points . I can go to bed tonight and (despite my arthritic neck problem) sleep with a knowing smile (not pervy of course) . Much love ... I'm off to Torquay lads ha ha ..see you on Saturday !
