Saturday 25th March 2017 - Dunston (a)

Glorious!

 It was the last day of winter and the sun had finally appeared in all its warming glory!
Personally, the previous week had been a nightmare with the passing away of one of our pet chickens: and no Pecky was not eaten!
The morning had been spent travelling too and from Durham Hens to purchase two replacements to avoid our remaining chicken, Clucky getting lonely. Flappy and Eggy Pop moved in.
Then came the bad news that The Boy Mark was still waiting for his new dishwasher to arrive and so couldn't drive me to the game! Thankfully, Claire (Little Claire's Mum) came to the rescue and so, along with Mr Twitter, we headed off into the bright afternoon sun.
Memories of the Bay's smash and grab FA Vase Quarter-final victory in 2011 always spring up when I pass the Metrocentre and today was no exception.
Arriving at the ground it was good to meet up with running buddy from NS Poly Running Club (can't type the NS words): the follicly-challenged Bruce. After my last post in February he challenged me to up the interest level as he was a bit bored with the last post. In an effort to appease the fleet-footed one, I thought I'd try the old dinosaur-on-the-pitch routine.

However, maybe all I needed to do was take a picture of Dunston's number 1 fan: Derek the Dunston Dog! If only the coaches listened to his barks more often! (I made up his name BTW: call it poetic licence!)

As it was I needn't have relied on doctored photos and clever animals: the match itself would provide all of the drama you could have asked for.
Early on, Peter the Elf from Rivendale (completely lost on Mr Twitter he's never seen Lord of the Rings or the Hobbit!) was given a start after impressing for the reserves the previous week and he helped set up Robbo, who fired high and wide. The Robster came again and this time his drive was well saved.

shortly after, it was Supermac's turn and his blistering drive was turned over by the bouncing Jack Norton in the Dunston goal. In fact not only was Mr Norton excelling in goal, he was also amusing us with his guidance for the home defence. Shouts of :
"That's the line I want!" and "Get him!", "Get out!", Get up!" could well have been used in the mid 1990s by the likes of the Shamen but unfortunately his defence didn't appreciate that fact as they ignored his stream of shouts.
Next it was Thibault whose one on one effort was saved but the rebound landed perfectly for Kempo, who slid the ball through a crowd into the yawning net. 1-0 to the Mighty Bay.

Dunston bounced back and when the Flying Flynn took out a Dunston forward, he was duly shown the red card. Where was Chow when you needed him? There was no reserve team keeper on the bench so up drove General Patton in his Sherman tank.
Yes it was all up to Supercal to save the day! The visiting fans were not sure about this one.
At half time Supercal was run through his paces by the subs and in between them completely missing the target and smashing the ball quite easily past the hapless Cal, our concerns about Supercal's prowess in goal grew.

Supercal to the rescue?

"In Cal we trust!" turned out to be the motto for the second half and the maestro did not disappoint. The PATtern of play became clear straight away as the PATrons of the UTS Stadium screamed their dissatisfaction with their team. Not wanting to PATronise him, Cal did a sound job. He certainly wasn't a PATsy or a PAT-er-cake, as he raced out to deal with every ball that came his way: with varying degrees of success. He may not have had the PATter of Flynn but he kept the away sheet clean. Like PAT Butcher after her fags, Supercal leapt for every ball with an almost PATernal care for his goal. Not even PATrick Stewart could have driven the USS Enterprise past him. He was inspirational, even though he did look a bit of a PATootie in his Pink shirt. (sorry that one was Mr Twitter's).
Despite Professor Wilko having to clear one off the line, after Supercal's initial save, and Dunston's Liam Thear rattled the crossbar, Supercal was solid.

Sing in the Cheap Seats!

But it wasn't all Dunston. First Kempo's shot was saved then Liam Brooks wriggled into the box like a snake but his effort lacked any pace. Supercal PATted one out of the air with both hands as Dunston grew frustrated. Brooksie could have sealed the win if he had rolled it to Teeny PATton but the chance went begging and out for a throw-in.

Finally, after over 5 minutes of injury time according to Mr Twitter, the full time whistle was blown and the Bay could celebrate the 1-0 win. Supercal certainly deserved the PATs on the back he received! The Bay march on...to a home game no less! When was the last time that happened?