Ah, another pre-season, another commendable result. How does Kent 1 Surrey 1 do you? Out of the three games against Conference sides, this one was probably the hardest of the lot, as we were on post-Barnet comedown, and against a side who had Conf style fitness. None the less, we did actually take the lead, a defence splitting pass for Bolger, who managed to slot it past their goalie. From then on, we seemed to cease to function as an attacking unit, and inevitably, in something like the 85th minute, we conceded. To a Matt-E type goal as well. Gravesend played like Barnet should have done, but didn’t. We can’t win 3-0 every time.
Never mind…
Plus points: Well, we didn’t lose. Defence got a MUCH needed workout – against crappier opposition, we should be quite solid. Did at least try and get something at the end
Minus points: Should have lost. Probably our worst PSF to date. Looked completely shagged out.
The referee’s a……: He wasn’t bad, not really noticable TBH. Didn’t like tackles though.
Them: There are some nice places in Kent. Gravesend and Northfleet aren’t two of them.Well, OK, it’s not Romany city like Gillingham, but it doesn’t exactly live up to Kent’s “Garden of England” moniker. (Incidentally, why is it called the Garden of England? Surely it should be Garden Centre of England, with the main bulk of it being where the fertilizer is stored). And where the fuck do people in Kent get their driving licences from? Woolworths? Anyway, decent side, G&N, and maybe should have won it. Thought £10 was a bit on the steep side for a PSF.
And didn’t their ground remind you of those old away trips up North? Industrial enclaves behind the goal, hilled streets with iffy looking pubs on the corner, grey council flats that look transported from Leipzig or Warsaw, ground that hadn’t looked much different since 1978, that kind of thing. Now this is football. Had a nice bar though, looked like an Ibis hotel, even if the Guinness was shit.
Quotes: From the Belly himself : “Why do the second halves of pre season friendlies degenerate into bollocks?”.
Point to ponder (1): Do you think the locals were confused by the “Kent Wombles” banner?
Truth is stranger than fiction: (1) The amount of midges and mosquitos about, some of whom were particularly keen on a bit of Cockernee flesh. Comparisons between blood sucking diseased insects and people from Kent are to be actively discouraged. (2) Bus park behind ground, including a couple of burnt out ones. What do they get up to around there?
Point to ponder (2): Was it me or were we pulling out of loads of challenges? Whether it was the exhaustion thing, or whether our players are so scared of getting injured because they’ll lose their place is anyone’s guess.
Anything else? Yeah. Initially I thought for the first time we were outnumbered in the crowd. Looking around, I think we were slightly in the majority. But it did feel sort of reassuring that we weren’t alone…
So, was it worth it? Guess so.
In a nutshell: We ought to walk the division next year.