FMS Patriots – November 2011

Hey everyone! Welcome back to Scunthorpe where I will be taking you through the month of November with the Patriots.

Last time out, we started well with a couple of solid wins at Midlands clubs Wolves and Villa while we struggled to create anything in the latter two matches! Hopefully our lads could pull it out of the bag this month, although they would have to be strong as we faced three of the top six clubs in the country. Did we make it? Read on to find out…

Our months adventure started with a home game against Chelsea, a team that are really out of our league in terms of class. The game isn’t played on paper though so our lads had nothing to loose! This must have taken the Chelsea team back as the Patriots were rampant in the early stages in front of the home crowd, with a few early chances skimming the post. It was little surprise who opened the scoring then, that man Pepper giving the Patriots a well deserved lead after a Crosby cross found him smash it home in the area. The opposition were starting to get back into it in the later stages of the half though, lead by their front two of Torres and Drogba. It was the former who got their side back level though as he managed to find some space and sneak one in under Vaibhav. Second half was much the same as Chelsea dominated for large periods although failing to produce anything other than wasted chances. We could have snatched it as Dezmo put the ball into the net, but it was deemed offside by the linesman. As the final whistle blew, is was a good day all round for the lads as they gained a point that they didn’t really have a right to.. (Click here to see the highlights)

A trip down to riot haven Tottenham next then (well, it was pretty much everywhere..) as we hoped to snatch some points that agian, we didn’t really have any right to. Spurs really created the better of the opportunities in the opening half an hour and we were carved out numerous times due to that maestro Modric in the centre of midfield. Luckily, it was us who took the lead as a heavy deflection took Johnson‘s shot into the net from 20 yards. I was really feeling good after we scored as we went into the break 1-0 up, but unfortunately Spurs managed to take their chances in the second half as they flew into a 2-1 lead after a headed corner and a flowing counter attacking move. I was dispondant, but not down as Dami managed to pull one back for the Patriots after a beautiful freekick from around the 30 yard area. Just magic. However, at the death we just didn’t have the legs to hold on and it was from another corner that Spurs got their equaliser. Probably deserved on the day, but I was gutted all the same.. (Click here to see the highlights)

Again another tough one as we host Manchester City at Patriots Park. Although the run of results hasn’t been bad, we haven’t won in a while so I was hoping that even against a Manchester City side, we would force points out of somewhere. It might have just got to the players too as we took the lead on the 7th minute as Dully rose to head home a Crosby corner. Pandemonium in the stands, could this be our day? Well it could have been, until we fell apart in the last 10 minutes of the half, conceding after a rocket freekick and a mistake by Jagginman that gifted Tevez a one on one opportunity that he wasn’t exactly going to pass up. After the break it was pretty even, but the clinical finishing had faded somewhat and it felt like the two sides were going through the motions a little. It approached the 90th minute mark and luckily we won a corner. Karp swinging the ball in which was met by the head of Sears.. Crashing the ball home to send the fans into raptures!

All hail half injured Captain Sears! ;) (Click here to see the highlights)

Last game of the month then, and I was hoping that we would get our first win in six games against Stoke as we travelled down to the Britannia. Things started brightly as the sides were pretty hungry in the opening half an hour, which made for good viewing. Nothing substantial came of it though and I was thinking that the game would turn out a bore draw.. How wrong was I. Hazza getting the first goal of the game after some fine work from Crosby on the right hand side lead us into the break with a 1-0 advantage. It snowballed from there really as Alex popped up to hit home after exchanges with Smith on the left hand side to double our lead. A G own goal was a minor setback (although I’m doubting it was as the ball was going in anyway..) as we went to score another just a couple of minutes after, Pepper getting the all important touch as he hit home after a Smith shot ricocheted off the keeper. The Patriots saw the match out with minor scares as we capped the month off with a vital win. Woo! (Click here to see the highlights)

That win left us in a very healthy 7th position in the league after a very tough fixture list. I’m happy, but we are sliding down the league one place at a time.. Just hope by the end of the season we aren’t fighting for our lives ;)

Go to the next page to read the rest of the story…

Reserve Games:

Two games for the reserves this month as they travel to Trafford for the first game against United. Brilliant game, and we came out 5-3 victors as Niller, Liam101, Jimmy and Alex all got on the scoresheet!

Final game was against City! 3-1 winners with Big O and Jimmy grabbing the goals for domination over the Manchester sides :D

Injury news now then, and I’m pretty sure we haven’t seen anything like this since the plague..







I’m just glad that we have a big squad ;)

Some international news to report too..

Plobdork told to prove himself after 12 caps for the first team?!

..And some good news for the fans as the stadium completed its expansion! Hopefully we can do some more of that :)

We will cap the month off with some awards and we have pretty much had a clean sweep..

Well done to League 1 runner up Samlar, Championship winner Srujun Gupta and Premier League Young Player of the month Dully, with his French compatriot Pepper bringing in the runner’s up award. Happy days :D

Hope you can join us next month as we have an extraordinary seven games to contend with in December. Luckily, they aren’t too tough as we open with a game against Premier League’s bottom side Blackpool while we face struggling Leicester, Birmingham, West Brom and Fulham. Hoping for at least 5 wins from this lot so fingers crossed ;)

Thanks for reading. Comments are always welcome, just stick them in the box ;)