ernieflag

Yeovil Town v Oldham Athletic – League One

Huish Park, Yeovil

Saturday 21 February 2009, 15:00 K.O.

As it was going to be a long trek to Yeovil, Margaret and I left home at 8:00am and took the M42 and M5, witnessing the Worcestershire traffic Police operating in marked and unmarked cars booking four speeding motorists in the space of a couple of miles . We arrived to be greeted with the look of Spring on daffodil-lined Bunford Lane and in plenty of time for the pre-match socialising, so often the best part of a day out supporting Latics.

Having parked conveniently for getting away easily after the game, we walked along Preston Road through Preston Plucknett passing the former Abbey Manor, dating back to 1420 and now used as part of a business complex.

At the Bell Inn we sampled the ‘Hungry Horse’ menu and were joined by Paul from Newport, South Wales, who told us of his missed train when trying to return home from the Leicester match. Being unable to travel by rail beyond Birmingham, he had minimised his excess costs by sharing a taxi with three girls who had suffered the same fate.

After eating we joined other Latics supporters in comfortable armchairs who were watching satellite TV football. This was limited to the German match Schalke 04 v Dortmund on Setanta, rather than the Sky Sports match which would have been preferable to most of them. This was the only criticism of a pub which was considered to be excellent in all other aspects.

From talking to the locals, it was evident that the natives were very restless. The fans’ much-loved manager, Russell Slade, who had guided the club clear of the drop zone with four successive victories and, most memorably of all, had taken it to Wembley for the first time in its history, had parted company with the club on Monday, due to an “off-the-field matter”. As if that was not bad enough, there had been no explanation from the club's bosses, claimed to be for legal reasons, and only a terse statement that posed more questions than it answered.

The outgoing manager had said he had been advised not to comment. There could be no message to the fans, no acknowledgement of the affection and gratitude that had been demonstrated in print, online and on air since Monday's shock announcement. Assistant Manager Steve Thompson had been released from his contract following Tuesday night’s first ever defeat to Bristol Rovers, and long-serving player and captain Terry Skivington had been appointed as Manager. The former Yeovil player, who may have been named after a hit by The Supremes, Nathan Jones, had been promoted from first team coach with the Yeovil Town Ladies to assistant Manager. So, to quote another Supremes song title after a week of ’Nothing but Heartaches’, this was to be a massive test to see if all factions of Yeovil Town FC could pull together. The fans’ patience and faith had been stretched and tested during the week, and inevitably the club had faced a tidal wave of criticism from frustrated supporters as a result.

The Yeovil Town Achieve By Unity Fans Partnership was being subjected to great strain by recent events, and they were hoping to take guidance from The Supremes in that ‘Someday We’ll Be Together Again’.

As usual opinions amongst the Latics faithful about the likely outcome of today’s game varied widely. As Latics had scored more goals away than Yeovil had scored at home, there were grounds for optimism. Latics were also out to avenge their only home league defeat in the past 11 months. Yeovil's 2-0 win in November made them the first team to beat Latics at Boundary Park since Hartlepool United the previous March.In the Bell we were joined by Diane, Jenny, Gareth and James who were staying in Yeovil for the weekend to make the most of their first visit to the Huish Park stadium. Despite being 22 years old, ‘baby-faced’ James was refused alcohol because he could not produce his ID card. This was somewhat ironic as he could produce a card to confirm that he had completed the J.W. Lees Brewery pub cellar man’s course. I think even today’s 28 year old match referee would have struggled to convince the Bell bar staff of his suitability to be trusted with two halves.

The three-strong Bristol Oldham Athletic Supporters’ Team (B.O.A.S.T.) were on an adjoining table for a rare get-together of B.O.A.S.T. and B.A.L.L.S. (Burton Area Loyal Latics Supporters). By the time their lunch arrived, the B.O.A.S.T. realised why that table had remained empty - it was in the full glare of the sun, which was to become the nuisance factor of the day. As they departed after lunch, one of them left his mobile phone as a tip for the waitress, only for Diane to return it to him, pointing out his generosity.

We walked up the road to the stadium and took the customary picture, on what was the replacement Flag’s first away outing. As the Huish Park official entrance was on the far side of the stadium and we also had to queue to buy match tickets, it was taking a lot longer than anticipated to do the pre-match formalities.

With no advance warning we found that we were to be accommodated in with the home supporters in one corner of the stand opposite the main stand. So the Ernie Flag was the Oldham Athletic supporters’ only representative in our normal position on the open terrace behind the goal, Margaret and I were allowed to go there, escorted by a steward, to display the Flag.

By the time we two B.A.L.L.S. entered the stand to take up our seats the match had been underway for well over five minutes, making this sign seem appropriate.

The Yeovil Town official programme for today’s match included an article about the Ernie Flag and also a ‘View from the Other Side’ interview with Manchester United’s Paul Scholes about his staying true to his roots by following his beloved Oldham Athletic - ‘Once a Blue always a Blue‘. Since last week’s victory over Northampton, the suspended Greg Fleming and winger Chris Taylor returned to the team, with loanee keeper Jan Budtz and defender Neal Eardley on the substitutes’ bench. The match started brightly and in the third minute Yeovil keeper Josh Wagenaar made a superb save to block Deane Smalley, but he could not stop Smalley scoring in the 12th minute, after he received on his chest a floated pass from Kevin Maher and struck it left-footed into the corner of the net to give Latics the lead.

Three minutes later the visitors’ defence stood motionless as Andy Welsh’s free-kick found two Yeovil players standing clear in goal-scoring positions and Gavin Tomlin had a free header for the equaliser. The game was very disjointed, when in the 32nd minute a long punt from the Yeovil defence dropped over the head of Latics defender Reuben Hazell and spun back towards him, causing him to check his stride momentarily. As goalkeeper Greg Fleming came out to deal with the ball, Hazell decided to pass it back to where he thought Fleming was, only for Gavin Tomlin’s momentum to take him past the pair of them and tap the ball into the empty net for his second goal. The Supremes would have deemed it ‘Just A Little Misunderstanding’ but the general consensus was that it was an almighty cock-up!

Sitting in this stand, rather than standing on an open terrace, at least had the potential for the Latics supporters to generate a lot of noise, but the atmosphere was more akin to a library, and it was as though we did not wish to disturb the home supporters with whom we shared the stand. There’s always one exception of course and that was ‘London Dave’ whose periodic plaintive cries from the rear broke the almost eerie silenceYeovil’s former Oldham Athletic ‘player of the year’ Paul Warne had said in the Oldham Chronicle that it would be good for Oldham Athletic and its supporters if the team could win promotion, and his team-mate and former Latics player Terrell Forbes seemed to be thinking along the same lines, when he kindly headed over his goalkeeper into his own net to give Latics a bizarre equaliser in the 38th minute. At last this made the Latics faithful raise their voices with a chant to Forbes of “Are you Hazell in disguise?”.

The half-time whistle brought to an end what had been a surreal experience - a strange encounter through the glare of the sun - more like ’The Happening’ than the match, with two contenders for next daft own goals DVD.  The pitch had cut up a little and the playing surface was very uneven - a sign seemed to indicate that the groundsman resented players using it.

I can assure you that I have never taken a photograph in the gents’ toilet before, but I could not resist taking this one, which I thought was a very nice touch by the home club.

The toilets were shared by home and away supporters and there was also another nice touch in the form of a floral display, but its position on top of the urinals prevented photography. I’m told that there were two floral displays in the ladies’ toilet, accompanied by a sign near each one requesting that the flowers be not touched or removed. Evidently no such sign was needed for the trustworthy gents.

Half-time also saw an appearance of Yeovil midfielder Darren Way, confined to a wheelchair, following eight operations to remedy serious injuries to his arm, leg and hip, which he had sustained as a passenger in a car accident shortly before Christmas 2008. Darren thanked everyone for the support he had received. Latics played slightly better as the second half continued in the same disjointed fashion, but without any more goals.

Although Latics had only conceded one goal after the 72nd minute in the League this season, there was no complacency amongst the faithful, with nails being bitten to the quick as thoughts echoed The Supremes’ ‘You Keep Me Hangin’ On’. Then in the 82nd minute a cross from Chris Taylor was not cleared and a golden opportunity arose for Deane Smalley to score the winner from about eight yards but, instead of stroking the loose ball into the net, he struck it with too much force and it cannoned back off the crossbar. All the occupants of our stand had to sit facing the full sun to watch the entire match. I had anticipated the sun by bringing my shades and Factor 50 lotion, but the view was still spoilt by the sun’s glare. It made photographing the action almost impossible and the best I could manage was this picture of one end of the pitch very late in the game.

Once again approximately 250 Latics faithful, including Brian who had flown over from his Spanish home to clock up a new ground, were left with a feeling of what might have been. Latics will play better than that and not even get today’s one point from the game. Manager John Sheridan said that it was probably the worst the team had played all season, but we have seen much worse performances than that, which he must have blanked from his memory.

In spite of the feeling that an opportunity to gain all three points had been squandered, in all honesty a draw was probably a fair result. As I reflected that it had been another good day out following Latics with little to show for it, I couldn’t help thinking of those damned Supremes singing ‘Some Things You Never Get Used To’.

Our return journey was trouble-free but longer, as we went to a gig in Nottingham to end off our sixteen hour and over 400 mile day by watching Bilge Pump and Lords, who would not play a Supremes’ song even if you paid them.