Flying Kiwis – May 8
Stefan Marinovic – Vancouver Whitecaps vs Michael Boxall – Minnesota United (American Major League Soccer)
Eighty Six Forever: “Heading into this season, I was a strong advocate for Marinovic. I felt that he would be at least on par with Ousted. Unfortunately, watching each match, I cannot confidently reach that same conclusion. It isn’t that he has been bad this season. The struggle I face is that he has not been overly good at any point. There were numerous times in seasons’ past where Ousted was the reason why the Caps won a match. Sure, Davies has grabbed all the headlines this season, and we are only nine matches into the 2018 season, but I cannot point to any saves he has made and say “that earned the Caps points in this one”.”
That’s from a Whitecaps fan site analysing Stefan Marinovic’s early work so far in 2018, which is a little more in-focus than most keepers since he’s come in and replaced a fan favourite in David Ousted. It’s a little rough on him and the article does admit that it’s way too early to make any permanent judgements. Seems like there’s a thing amongst American footy fans to overanalyse keepers individually rather than focussing on the whole defence (including GKs) as a unit, particularly when it comes to dealing with crosses and goalie positioning, but no dramas. One more reminder that Marinovic is in the big time now and everything’s magnified.
This week he took on a familiar face in Mike Boxall and, with two teams used to doing a lot of defending, something had to give. In this case it was Vancouver who unexpectedly found their attacking flair, Anthony Blondell and Alphonso Davies causing Boxall and mates all sorts of danger but keeper Bobby Shuttleworth was in inspired form. How the ‘Caps didn’t score in the first ten minutes… bloody hell.
Somehow it was still level at the break and then Mason Toye did a silly thing by thumping an elbow into VW defender Kendall Waston and that dude saw red, Minny down to ten men. But they still took the lead, no worries. Miguel Ibarra was the man. Big Stef made a superb save at the first attempt but couldn’t get back to his feet in time to deny Ibarra at the second effort.
Yordy Reyna then hit the crossbar from distance and Kei Kamara put a couple shots over the top after coming on as a sub. Clearly Vancouver were bringing the heat towards the end and yet there was no way through. Shuttleworth made another top save to deny Brek Shea and, after six minutes of injury time, Minnesota finally got their final whistle and a 1-0 win.
Eighty Six Forever Report Card: “Stefan Marinovic - 6.5 - Did well with his regular housekeeping: negating a number chances played across his box, particularly during a dangerous scoring opportunity in the 34th minute, by disrupting a cross inside his six. Even on the goal, he did well to block Miguel Ibarra’s initial shot, only for the rebound to remain in front of the open net.”
Of course, this was actually a bit of a return for Mike Boxall, who used to play for the Vancouver Whitecaps back in the day. Not that he really cared when asked about it. He was a little more pumped about his team keeping their first clean sheet of the season, even if on an unluckier day they mighta lost 5-1…
Mike Boxall: “We felt like we have been doing so much of the right things. When we have conceded goals, as a unit, we have played better than we did today. This clean sheet perhaps validates the performances from the past weeks where we may have deserved a clean sheet but haven’t quite got one. We gave them too many chances at goal and that’s something we still need to work on.”
Up Next: Minnesota have an away game against LAFC on Thurday at 2pm while Vancouver wait until Saturday at 2.30pm to host Houston Dynamo (NZT)
Ryan Thomas – PEC Zwolle (Dutch Eredivisie)
Whatever happened during that winter break, it’s now the task of everybody affiliated with PEC Zwolle to make sure it never happens again. When they hit the middle part of the season Zwolle had only lost three times and were sitting fourth on the ladder with 33 points from 18 games. By the end of the season they were ninth with 14 defeats and only 44 points from 34 games. They hit absolute rock bottom in the last game of their campaign with a 6-0 defeat away to AZ Alkmaar, a team who had nothing left to play for after already guaranteeing third place.
To be fair, John van’t Schip did have to make a couple of changes to his team, one of which being leaving Ryan Thomas out of things altogether as he failed to recover from his injured hamstring. It was only 1-0 at the half but Alireza Jahanbakhsh ended up scoring a hatty and three AZ goals in the final fifteen made it ugly. Including the cup defeat (a 4-1 loss to these same opponents), the PECers won only two of their last 16 games in 2017-18. Might be the last time we get to chat about them too with Thomas poised to leave in the summer.
Thommo had a talk with AZ’s website before the game, dropping some perspective on his journey as a pro, the recent struggles of his club and his transfer situation, among a few other points of interest.
RT on Zwolle’s form since the break: “In the first half of the season, opponents did not take into account that we could play football so well. Teams were not used to changing their game plan for PEC. Opponents were convinced that they could play their own game against us. Now you see that opponents get better and better. They have taken more time to find out how we play and how they have to stop us. Of course, it also has to do with the fact that we do not have the (financial) resources that, for example, a Vitesse, do have. The first half of the season also cost a lot of energy and we do not have the selection to keep changing.”
Makes sense. But will you be around next season or is it time to spread those wings?
RT on his status: “My contract runs for another year and I am now working on my fifth season. So in short: Yes. It is now the ideal time for me to look around. I am ready; I want a new challenge. Just like my beginning here, I want to struggle again. Be outside my comfort zone. I like to challenge myself. For the time being I want to stay in the Netherlands because I am familiar with the competition and the clubs that are just one step higher than PEC are familiar with me. In the Eredivisie a step up is absolutely my preference.”
Interesting. Very interesting. Almost blunt in his desire to move on, but having grown as much as he has already with Zwolle, he’s right in that now is the ideal time to progress his career. He goes on to say that his dream move would be to his dad’s favourite team, Manchester United, but that for his career right now he doesn’t believe he’s ready for that and would rather stay within the Dutch stuff where he’s got a profile, ideally at one of those top three clubs… which could even mean AZ. Or PSV or Ajax, of course. Something suggests he might not be Jose Mourinho’s ideal midfielder… but he’d have a chance at any club in Holland. Having a young daughter obviously makes it tough to move abroad at this stage too.
Also, here’s Thommo winning his Player of the Year award at the supporter’s night last week.
Up Next: Dropping CVs in the mail, updating that LinkedIn profile, cold calling a few prospects…
Marco Rojas – sc Heerenveen (Dutch Eredivisie)
So with PEC Zwolle wetting the bed, Heerenveen had a shot at sneaking into the Europa League playoff places – which would mean a lot more to Flying Kiwis since Marco Rojas will actually still be at that club next season. Plus he’d had a good run of starts lately, his best run of starts since moving to Holland.
Luckily they didn’t cock it up, although they came close. They had a tough game against Feyenoord, who had won seven games in a row, and were behind after ten minutes thanks to Steven Berghuis. Arber Zeneli had already gone close for SCH and Yuki Kobayashi hit the crossbar but Berghuis made it 2-0 before the half. Feyenoord chucked on Robin van Persie with three quarters of the game gone and probably felt they had it won before Jordy Bruiijn pulled one back and then an own goal a minute later made it 2-2. But Zeneli missed a penalty late on and Bilal Basacikoglu won it for Feyenoord in the last minute. Gutted. Marco Rojas played 64 mins before he was subbed off as the team’s final change (they made two switches at HT).
A 3-2 loss but still enough to hold off the PECers after their capitulation and make it into the final Europa playoff spot, where they’ll begin with a two-legged semi against FC Utrecht – a team that beat them 3-1 in October and that they drew 2-2 with in March, as well as being the team that knocked them out 5-2 on aggregate at the same stage last season – in a few days. ADO Den Haag and Vitesse are the other two competing for the last European spot.
Up Next: Leg one is at home, Thursday at 6.45am. Leg two is away in Utrecht at the same time on Sunday (NZT)
Ali Riley – FC Rosengård (Swedish Damallsvenskan)
Them’s the latest highlights from the Rosengård Success Wagon. However up against Djurgårdens, this was far from a comfortable win. Iva Landeka put the Rosies up in the 20th minute but Michelle Wörner levelled it up straight after the break as she smashed in a scrappy one and it wasn’t until the 80th minute that Glofis Viggósdóttir scored the winner for Ali Riley’s lot. Not the best performance but, meh, 10 points from four games is a decent consolation.
Wasn’t as much consolation for Hannah Wilkinson’s Vittsjö as they lost 1-0 away to Limhamn Bunkeflo with Mia Persson scoring in the second half. Wilko played 68 minutes before being subbed off. Vittsjö have kicked things off with 4 points from four games. But the tunes are still quality.
Up Next: The big one in the Swedish Cup against perennial title challengers Linköping, that’s at 4.15am on Wednesday (NZT)
Abby Erceg – North Carolina Courage (American National Women’s Soccer League)
Tell you what, NCC came darn close to losing for the first time in 2018 against Chicago Red Stars. Aussie legend Sam Kerr’s first half goal had Erceg and the team in some trouble before McCall Zerboni finally equalised with eight minutes remaining. The Red Stars actually beat NCC three times last season before the Courage got revenge in the fourth meeting, the semi-final between the two, so it wasn’t too much of a surprise that they turned up to really play.
The Courage controlled thing as usual but a single moment of difference from Sam Kerr, slipping in through the defence, allowed her to strike past the keeper for her first goal for her new club. Definitely against the run of play and it only got more one-sided as NCC pressed for the equaliser. Incredibly they had 42 shots in this game, 15 of them on target, and it wasn’t until their 40th effort that they hit the net as Zerboni volleyed in on the swivel after Erceg had lobbed a corner kick back across goal. Chalk that one up as an assist, mate.
Up Next: Sunday at 11am at home to Washington Spirit (NZT)
Tommy Smith, Kip Colvey & Deklan Wynne – Colorado Rapids (American Major League Soccer)
One thing Anthony Hudson has had little time for this season, which is surprising after the way he managed the All Whites, is rotation. Tommy Smith and Deklan Wynne have each played every minute of the MLS season so far and Edgar Castillo and Jack Price are in the same boat, while Dominique Badji has started every game but been subbed off late three times. Tim Howard would’ve been too but for his red card and subsequent suspension a couple games back.
But there are always injuries and when Bismark Adjei-Boateng was ruled out of the game away to Sporting Kansas City it gave an opportunity to Kip Colvey to start his third game of the campaign at right wingback (his rotation policies have changed but Anthony Hudson still loves a 3-5-2).
So how did it go? Big long ball from the kickoff, of course. Huddo being Huddo. But it wasn’t so great otherwise, with SKC snatching the lead in the 16th minute after a not-so-fantastically defended set piece ended up with Daniel Salloi finishing from close range. Deklan Wynne was relieved to see Salloi hit the post soon after considering he’d been beaten for the header that put the dude into space.
Colvey lasted until the 79th minute before he was replaced while the other two got full games in there, the Rapids left to do a lot more defending than they’d have hoped. Smithy had to thank Tim Howard for a big save after he’d shanked a clearance in the box that led to an attempt. Then Dominique Badji couldn’t believe his fortune as a ball fell right to him one on one with the keeper in the box and he was so shocked that he put his shot wide. That was the one big moment the Rapids were counting on and it was wasted, SKC held on for a 1-0 win which probably should’ve been a fair bit worse.
You may also fancy a dash of this…
Up Next: Colorado Rapids vs New York Reb Bulls on Sunday at 1.00pm
Chris Wood – Burnley (English Premier League)
Dropping down the ranks a bit this week because The Woodsman couldn’t get fit in time to take part in Arsene Wenger’s final home game in charge of Arsenal. The cut on his foot ended up needing stitches but hints out of the team were that he was still expected to play… but then a day before the game, Everton could only draw 1-1 with Southampton (and with a very late, deflected goal at that – guts to Saints supporters with relegation still lurking in the shadows) which meant that Burnley could finish no lower than seventh, guaranteeing Europa League football. The first time Burnley will have competed in the continental stuff since the 1966–67 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, in which they made the quarters before being knocked out by Eintracht Franfurt.
With that all sorted wasn’t much left to play for. Maybe Woody wasn’t ever going to take part but, down in London, there was still plenty of logic in leaving him out of the match squad altogether either way.
As it turned out it wasn’t the worst one to miss. As soon as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored his first goal it was pretty much game over. Alexandre Lacazette scored to make it 2-0 by half-time and Saed Kolasinac and Alex Iwobi added two more around a second for Aubameyang and the Gunners said farewell to their legendary manager in fine fashion with a 5-0 win. Burnley looked like a team with nothing left to play for and this was easily their worst defensive performance of the season, having only three times conceded three in a game previously and two of those were against Manchester City (including a 4-1 loss to the champs).
There’s still one last game for Burnley to polish it all off and if Wood can recover in time then he and Ashley Barnes will get a dig at a head to head to see who can win the club’s golden boot award for. Both have nine Premier League goals and ten overall.
Up Next: Home to Bournemouth to close out the season, 2.00am on Monday (NZT)
Elliot Collier – Chicago Fire (American Major League Soccer)
Players continue to come in and out of this Fire team and it feels like they change their formation every week but Elliot Collier keeps on clinging in there, one way or another. He started his sixth game of the season against Atlanta United this week, and remains one of only six Fire players to have featured in all eight games so far. The easy guess was that he wouldn’t play much at all in his rookie campaign but here we are.
Unfortunately the game against Atlanta did quite go to plan. Nemanja Nikolic almost scored early but his shot was cleared off the line and the game was a tight one after that. Miguel Almiron and Darlington Nagbe each scored in the space of a few minutes in the second half and Elliot Collier was quickly sacrificed as part of a double sub to steady the ship. Kevin Ellis volleyed in to pull it back to 2-1 but the Fire couldn’t find an equaliser against an ATL side that’s now eight games unbeaten.
Maaaybe shoulda done better with this one though, Colly…
For whatever reason the Chicago side are just really short of top players and that led to centre back Jonathan Campbell coming off the bench to play up front for the last ten minutes or so. Collier has clearly benefitted from the lack of attacking options at the team and he’ll probably continue to do so until July when the secondary transfer window opens… and rumour is that the Fire are very close to signing Spanish legend Fernando Torres, if you believe that sort of thing. Could be another World Cup winning teammate for Collier alongside Bastian Schweinsteiger.
Up Next: 12.30pm on Thursday at home to Montreal Impact (NZT)
Jake Gleeson & Bill Tuiloma – Portland Timbers (American Major League Soccer)
Asked about his injured trio of first-teamers – David Guzman, Vytas and Bill Tuiloma – Timbers manager Giovanni Savarese had this to say in the lead in to the latest game…
GS: “They're progressing nicely. They are doing very well. They practiced fully today. That's a very positive thing. Now, they are going to give me a more difficult job to choose players.”
But instead of the three of them returning to the Timbers, the three of them instead all started for the T2 side in the USL. It’s a team that Tuiloma knows well having played there down the stretch of last season after he left Marseille. T2 were away to Saint Louis FC and drew 0-0. Tuiloma came close to scoring from a corner but couldn’t get his header on target, though he still bagged himself a clean sheet while playing the full contest. Guzman and Vytas were both subbed off at half-time.
As for Jake Gleeson, he was on the bench again for the MLS side as they scored very late to claim a 1-0 win over San Jose. Diego Valeri got the goal with an 88th minute screamer of a free kick, busting open an otherwise defensive stalemate.
Also Jeff Atinella had a fine game in goal which is bad news for Gleeson. Atinella’s played two games now and has kept two clean sheets with seven saves made. Gleeson played the first six and conceded 14 goals compared to 15 saves. He’s not getting back in there in a hurry unless Atinella gets injured again. That defensive improvement also seems to have a lot to do with the return of Liam Ridgewell at the back (in place of Bill Tuiloma) so starts might be tricky for both Portland kiwis in the short term.
Up Next: Portland vs Seattle, Monday at 8.00am (NZT)
C.J. Bott - USV Jena / Amber Hearn & Meikayla Moore – FC Köln (German Frauen-Bundesliga)
Good news and bad news from the ol’ Frauen Bundesliga watch. The good is that USV Jena finally bagged another win, lifting them off the bottom of the ladder. Susann Utes scored the winner in the 83rd minute for a 3-2 win away at 1899 Hoffenheim and just as good is that CJ Bott played the full game (picking up a second half yellow card). Only the second win of the season for Jena. Werder Bremen also lost which makes things very interesting in terms of the relegation race.
Bad news is that FC Köln also took an L, going down 2-0 to MSV Duisburg which means that they fall to last place and USV Jena are still second to last with three games left for each of them. Werder and Duisburg are both within range – there’s two points separating the bottom four teams with two of them to be relegated – but this was their most winnable remaining game. Once again it was their lack of goals that cost them, only six scored in 19 games. Amber Hearn has three of them. She played the whole game while Meikayla Moore took no part.
Up Next: USV Jena hosts SC Sand while FC Köln are away to Turbine Potsdam, both on Monday morning (NZT)
Clayton Lewis – Scunthorpe United (English League One)
Clayton Lewis news is hard to come by as he’s only sparingly even made the bench for Scunthorpe since the turn of the year. Despite scoring on debut in an EFL Trophy game back in October, he quickly fell out of the side and hadn’t gotten on the park since just before Christmas (as an injury time sub in a 3-1 win against Southend) when that interview went up with Rory Fallon.
The interview gets into Fallon’s post-footy ice cream business as well as some tales from the career, having not only briefly played for Scunthorpe but also having spent several years at their opponents for this match, Plymouth Argyle. He’s always a good storyteller, this bloke, and amidst it Rory had some advice for Clayton Lewis:
“It took me a while to get used to the English game and the speed of it. It might take him a year or so to really get used to it. The difference is a bit of a shock, as are the surroundings. I think he will hopefully kick on. We need as many New Zealand players in the best leagues as we possibly can. From the Premier League down, the English leagues are the strongest around. Everyone wants to be in those leagues. He’s going to be up against a lot of competition and that will make him scrap for it and be mentally stronger.”
Good yarns, those. Lewis didn’t make the squad for the Plymouth game as goals from Hakeem Adelakun and Ivan Toney earned a 2-0 win, a fourth in a row for Scunthorpe booking their place in the League One playoffs in the process. They’ll play Rotherham over two legs in the playoff semis. In their last game of the season, though, Lewis was included on the bench and… oh damn look at this!
Minutes for Clayton!
All it took was that magical Rory Fallon wisdom. Lewis got a good little cameo there, 17 full minutes making for the most he’s played in a senior game (excluding All Whites) since November. Curious to see if he’s able to have any impact on the playoffs or if he was only making up the numbers so others could rest. There were five regular starters who didn’t play this one so short odds on the latter. Regardless, it was always a bit rude to expect the best of him in his first season as a professional.
Scunthorpe Telegraph Player Ratings: “Clayton Lewis – His first game in a long time. Looked to get on the ball and make things happen. It will be interesting to see what happens with him next season, he certainly has a huge summer ahead of him and has a lot of work to do. But the talent is there - 6”
Up Next: Leg one at home vs Rotherham, 11.30pm on Saturday (NZT)
Rebekah Stott – Sky Blue FC (American National Women’s Soccer League)
Wild and exciting game here as Sky Blue fell 3-2 at home to Houston Dash. Twice they equalised but the third one never came in a game full of plenty of chances for both sides. No culpability for Stotty on any of the goals. The first was a fortunate tap in after a scramble and the second was a blatant keeper error while she might’ve been able to make a play at the third as it was crossed low between her and the goalie but it was also a quality ball, so it goes. Still without a win are Sky Blue but they’ve got a couple games in hand on most teams.
Up Next: Away to Seattle Reign – Stott’s old team! – on Sunday at 2pm (NZT)
Themi Tzimopoulos – PAS Giannina (Greek Superleague)
Get in, lad! Sign that contract extension! Two more years on the books, buddy.
Themi: “I really want to thank the team President, Mr Chrisostavilis and his family, for their trust and support towards me for all these years. Also important for me is our coach, Mr Petrakis, who, besides making me a better athlete, has helped me to evolve and as a man we’ve worked together. I also want to thank the Football Director of Nirhaco, who was the one who brought me to the team eight years ago and helped me become a member of the PAS family. Next season we’ll aim even higher as a team and I want to do my best to help. I want to see PAS succeed and hopefully soon get back into to European competition.”
PAS Giannina finished off their 2017-18 campaign with a 3-0 win over Olympiakos Piraeus in which Themi celebrated his new deal with the first goal. He also got a yellow card and was subbed off with seven minutes left and the result all sorted. With those final three points, PAS end up ninth on the ladder out of 16 teams, firmly in the mid-table. Themi missed a few games with injury in the middle there but still played in 26 games this league season and the hombre added three goals for his toils.
Up Next: Season over, boss
Katie Rood – Juventus (Italian Serie A)
Katie got five good minutes off the bench this weekend as Juve beat Fimauto Valpolicella 2-0 in a close game, the first goal coming from the penalty spot and the second not until there were only ten minutes to go (Aurora Galli and Arianna Caruso got them), but it’s enough that Juventus can win the championship next week with a win at home against Tavagnacco. Brescia are still tied on points going into the final game but Juve’s goal difference is seven better so one last victory would surely do it. It won’t be a perfect season though, as Brescia toppled them midweek with a 1-0 win in the cup quarters. As for Katie, this was her sixth league appearance of the season and her first in close to two months. Still slogging away for one of the biggest names in European football.
Up Next: Juve vs Tavagnacco, 1.00am on Sunday (NZT)
Katie Bowen – Utah Royals (American National Women’s Soccer League)
For the first time in franchise history, the brand new Utah Royals won a game. They had a couple close calls in their first few games but it was sixth time lucky as they hosted Washington Spirit and took an early lead through Kelley O’Hara and then killed it off with Diana Matheson’s 66th minute second. 2-0 was the final score although Katie Bowen was again on the outer, only coming on for the last five minutes. The Royals have latched onto a good thing with a midfield pairing of Desiree Scott and Gunny Jónsdóttir, Canadian and Icelandic internationals, and Bowen’s sorta the third wheel there unless the formation gets a shake. A win’s a win, though.
Up Next: Home to Orlando Pride at 1pm on Thursday (NZT)
Greg Draper – The New Saints (Welsh Premier League)
Check it out, Greg Draper’s been having a good chat about a few things after his successes this season at TNS. Here’s an excerpt of an interview with AFE Football News, talking about his development as a player back in Aotearoa back in the old days…
Greg Draper: “I was young when I played in New Zealand and Australia, so yeah it definitely helped me. Especially in Australia, because I went there not knowing anyone and didn’t have any family members around me either, so I was really out of my comfort zone. I think the New Zealand League is very similar to the Welsh Premier League as well, so I was always confident I’d be able to do well here in the Wales.”
And more with the TNS youtube folks after scoring another couple goals…
Drapes had another wicked season, scoring 22 goals as TNS won another Welsh Premier League and qualified for the early stages of the next Champions League as a bonus. Greg got the rewards, too. Celebrated as Golden Boot winner at the club’s awards night as well as being honoured as the Supporters’ Player of the Season. Nice haul.
Up Next: Must be time for a bit of a holiday or something?
Adam Mitchell – Bolton Wanderers (English Championship)
Having topped their Professional Development League North division, the Bolton U23s advanced to the playoff semis where they took on Charlton and pumped them 3-1, Adam Mitchell getting back just in time to help do the business. He hadn’t played since being injured on his international debut but popped straight back in there after more than a month out, further proof of how well he’s done this season establishing himself in this Bolton academy.
A few days later it was time for that final and up against Nottingham Forest they took the lead early thanks to a smart Stephen McKenna finish before Mitchell was inches away from getting his head on the end of an attacking free kick and doubling that lead. Just before the half, however, Dennis Politic did that on his own with a rocket of a shot. Danny Preston came off the bench and got Forest a deserved one later on to give them a chance, with Adam having to do a bit of desperate defending to keep the score intact. 2-1 was the way it finished and the Bolton Wanderers U23s had themselves a trophy.
The Bolton U23s then got another moment in the sun as they were brought onto the pitch before the first team’s final game of the Championship (also against Notts Forest), with a win and some other results needing to go their way in order to avoid relegation to League One. Guess what? They got the lot. Bolton scored first through Adam le Fondre but were down 2-1 with only five minutes left in the game. Easily enough time for David Wheater and Aaron Wilbrahim to spark a miraculous comeback and a 3-2 win that, coupled with Derby smacking Barnsley 4-1 and ten-man Preston avoiding defeat against Burton (they scored in injury time for a 2-1 win), keeps Bolton in the Championship for another season.
Which means that Bolton avoided going the same way as Sunderland, who have Michael Woud and Sam Brotherton on their books. Sunderland were relegated to the third tier while their U23s were also relegated to the Premier League 2 division. Rough stuff there, Woud and Brotherton were both used sparingly throughout the campaign and across the different competitions they competed in but neither played as much as they would’ve liked.
The Black Cats are a mess these days and it’s hard to predict how that’ll affect their younger players. Chances are they can’t attract as many top notch prospects for a couple years and chances are a few more of those players who were with them in the Premier League are handing in transfer requests. Might clear up some space for Woud and Brotherton to play some more. Woud is the more likely, still only 19 years old and already on the fringes of that U23 side, while Brotherton might need some more luck as he enters the final year of his contract.
Up Next: That’s it for season 2017-18, mate
Steven Old – Morecambe (English League Two)
There were dramatic, end-of-season happenings for Morecambe and Stevie Old… but they all happened other places. The Shrimps, with Old at CB for his 41st league two game out of 46 this season, knew they needed a single point to avoid relegation, regardless of what Barnet managed in their own fixture. Their hosts were Coventry, who also knew they needed a single point to book a playoff spot and keep their promotion hopes alive. So… surprise, surprise… it ended in a 0-0 draw.
Goalie Barry Roche was playing his 400th game for Morecambe and he made a couple ripping saves to keep things even around a solid and organised defence who were able to limit a dangerous Coventry attack. Got a bit sweaty at times but they hung on and will remain in the Football League for the next term. Barnet won 3-0 against Chesterfield having already beaten Morecambe 1-0 a week earlier but their brilliant/desperate late form fell four goals short on goal difference. Morecambe didn’t win a single game in their last ten but seven draws were able to save them. Both sets of fans celebrated on the field at the end of this one, beautiful scenes of footy harmony.
Up Next: End of the line… ‘til next season
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