Well then, did everybody have a good christmas? Mine was alright, although nothing particularly wild or one that I will remember in years to come. For a christmas day I managed to stay pretty sober, aided by an horrendous throat and being stuffed from dinner, which limited my alcohol intake. Still, I wasn't feeling too great when I walked up to the Herne Bay railway station to be collected by Reginald, who had kindly agreed to give me a lift to Dover in light of there being no public transport.
Reg was absolutely full of delight when he saw me and I got to meet his other half, the peculiarly named Treena (sp ?). Reg actually spelt her name out so I could write it in my blog but I've managed to forget it already. Anyway, I felt slightly uncomfortable but touched when Reg explained to her that I am a Dover legend (highly questionable) and I write the best blog in the world (again, very debateable). The only real legend around here is Reg himself, who kindly takes pity on a fat miserable wanker like myself and has ferried me to and from Herne Bay on many occasions this season, despite it being miles out of the way of his Maidstone home.
Anyway, it was a really pleasant drive from Herne Bay to Dover as it always is. You get to drive past some lovely countrysides and little villages, plus the awesome view of Dover Castle and the seafront as you approach the wonderful town. He quickly dropped off at my house so I could dump some of my bags before taking us into the Old Endeavour. We arrived before 1PM which was pretty good going.
After a short while in there the place became cramped out, jam packed with Dover supporters and people going to the game, making it a good match-day atmosphere for the first time in ages. Although on the drinking front it was a bit dissapointing for myself. I only managed 3 pints in there, one of them a coors light because I couldn't handle the strong taste of stella. My throat was just fucked.
Most of the time in there consisted of sitting out in the beer garden with the younger lads, with most of them partacipating in a session of telling racist and sick jokes. I stress, I STRESS, I did not join in with them, nor did I laugh at any of the jokes that were told. I was going to tell a joke about a man drowning but in the end I decided it was too shallow.
Also the quiz machine was the root of all fun as usual, gathering a massive crowd outside them. But even with the dozens surrounding the machine, the combined intelligence of a group of pissed-up working-class scumbags was unable to win much money out of it.
So then, before half 2 I slouched my lazy arse into Lucey Andy's motor with Chrissy Hunt and by the end of the short journey to Crabble I had almost decided to turn into a homosexual. Not because either of them are particularly good looking, but because all they do is bloody whinge about women. Particularly because of the strain of the thumb Chris has to endure in order to go to football. It all seems like too much hassle for a blowjob, in my opinion.
As usual there was enough time for a pint to be consumed in the Centre Spot. As usual, the queues were awful and slow, the beer tasted shit and as Dave Waterfield described it later on 'its like drinking in a warehouse'. Dave is always spot on with his assertions.
Saying that though I was rather pleased to see the place full and good to catch-up with people over a fortnight from our last home game.
Outside the centre-spot before kick-off I tied up the new French flag to the barrier, which turned out to be a pointless exercise with all the wind. We then stood by the Club shop to see which end we would be kicking off towards, which evidently seems to have rightly been reverted back to the Dover Port end. We then had to observe a minute silence for ANOTHER recently deceased fan - they really seem to have been dropping like flies this season :-( .
Unfortunately the minute silence was disgracefully ruined by people chatting loudly outside the Centre Spot. Given that the whole place had suddenly gone silent you would have thought that they would have clocked on but unfortunately they continued to be disrespectful bastards.
After that debacle we all filtered onto the terraces where the atmosphere was BOOMING. Well, for a period of time anyway before our mood was dampened by a goal from Carl Rook, a former Dover striker and all-round general shit excuse of a footballer. He managed to tap it from a yard out after an Eastbourne corner was flicked on by the near post. A horribly soft goal to concede on the 17 minute mark.
The annoying thing was we had actually played well up until that point. James Walker tested Clark Masters in goal with a fierce shot and then we were unable to follow up when he fumbled a long-range Shane Huke shot. After the goal though we seemed to revert to shitty, long aimless balls up field to nobody in particular, with Ed Harris oftenly being a guilty culprit. Then we had Ruiz to thank for the situation not worsening when he made a great close-range double save, before an Eastbourne player fire narrowly wide.
Then he had to be alert moments later when his poor clearence allowed another Eastbourne attempt on goal.
With my fickle miserableness beginning to consume me, I moved to the front of the terrace for the remaining 10 minutes with my awesome sandwiches that my mum had packed for me: turkey,stuffing and cranberry being one and gammon, mustard and lettuce being the other, courtesy of the previous day Christmas meats.
Me and my sandwiches would witness and improved Dover display towards the end of the half with James Walker blasting a shot wide after some good link-up play and had Bricknell managed to deflect Purcell's long-range shot we would have gone into the break at even scores.
We didn't though, and I made my way round to the Centre Spot. I only bought myself a half pint in here for once as the beer wasn't really doing the buisness. I just really needed to hydrate my sore throat.
As I approached the River End for second half kick off I was in a rather glum mood, although fairly optimistic at getting something out of the game. We had played fairly well at times in the first half, we just needed to keep the ball on the floor and keep patient as the chances would eventually come.
And they did. We kick-started the second half with more fire in our bellies. James Walker tested Masters with a low drive outside the box but our equalizer would come courtesy of some superb counter-attacking play, which rather ironically came 17 minutes into the half, the same timing as Rook's goal.
Barry Cogan cleared an attack by spreading the ball out wide to Purcell on the right, who in-turn picked out subsitute Terry Dixon on the left. He carried the ball into the box and superbly picked out the on-coming Cogan, who then completed the move he started by side-stepping a defender and cooly finishing into the bottom right corner.
It was a rather stupendous goal, like watching poetry in motion.
Unfortunately after the equaliser we would have to endure plenty of Eastbourne attacks, who in credit to them actually came to Crabble to play and try and get the 3 points. They looked particularly threatening from dead balls but were unable to seriously trouble Ruiz from them.
Ruiz was called into action though and made two fine saves. The first where he palmed out a curling shot (which somehow failed to make the highlights?!) and then a brilliant save from a close-range blasted effort.
Another thing that somehow failed to make the highlights was an absolutely awful Michael Corcoron 'tackle' which he somehow only managed to get a yellow for. Me and Kingy were absolutely convinced that he would have to walk for it; a two-footed tackle at a steaming pace that absolutely clattered their poor victim. Its probably a good job it didn't make the highlights otherwise he would could get locked up for GBH!
The last 15 minutes saw many full-blooded tackles as both sides pushed for a winner with the tempo increasing.
Neither side would grab a winner. We played some nice stuff going forward but were unable to calve any real clear cut openings, although our best chance fell in the final seconds of the game. After Eastbourne blocked many scrambled efforts the ball eventuall fell to Glen Southam, who's shot just managed to deflect into the path of the goalkeeper to keep the scoreline level. Then the whistle blew for what I found to be a rather entertaining game, although I was frustrated that we didn't get the 3 points we needed, with many of the other sides above us only managing to draw aswell.
I thought Eastbourne were a much better side than their modest league position suggests and they certainly looked threatening going forward. I still think that they are beatable though come January 2nd, their defense is certainly exploitable and new signing Terry Dixon certainly caused them some problems. I like the look of that lad, he's very skillful and quick with his feet, offering us extra options upfront. Glen Southam impressed me again with another tireless display in midfield again and credit to Cogan for such a cool composed finish for the equaliser. Man of the match in my mind has to go to Ruiz though, looking back on the highlights he certainly earned us that point with a string of fine saves.
In the bar though I was fairly miserable at what I thought was turning into a miserable day. My throat was horrible, the beer wasn't working or going down at all and everyone seemed to fuck off straight home afterwards which didn't bode well for our planned curry in the evening.
My mood was slightly improved when the charming Glen Southam had offered to buy me a pint. I was actually planning on going home at this point but I thought to myself "fuck it, I want to boast about how the should-be-Dover-captain bought me a drink" and so I stayed. And I boasted. Phil was fairly pissed at this point and kept winding up Chris Collings about it. LOL! We actually ended up staying beyond all the players did until about half 6, with only myself, Phil, Dave Waterfield and Craig Burnie remaining. I hadn't actually met Craig before but he introduced himself and said he reads and enjoys my blog, and would like a mention in one. So here it is!!
Me and Phil eventually stumbled into the Old Endeavour for a few pints in there with Chris and Dave, plus fleeting appearences from Dover legends like Champ. I watched a lot of Stoke v Aston Villa on some blokes laptop and I must confess, Stoke really are dull as fuck to watch. I hardly catch any Premier League football so could not relate to the wankfest, although now I can see some of the complaints about their football being justified.
Other than that, all I can remember is Phil desperately trying to convince Chris Collings to join us for a curry and being unsuccessfully in doing so, labelling him a tight boring bastard (all true).
We did eventually manage to make our way to the Taste of India for some much needed grub, and thanks to the persuasive skills of Phil he managed to wrangle us a banquet for £9.99, even though it wasn't a Wednesday evening (their usual banquet night). I must say as always with Indian food, it was fantastic. I had a lamb tikka for a starter and plenty of poppadums. Unfortunately though I already felt massively bloated by the time I had tucked a few mouthfuls into my main course and struggled to complete it, which is complete humiliating for a mammoth like myself. I ordered a prawn biriyini (which I didn't realise is mainly a rice dish which is served with vegetable curry) with my side dish being a mushroom bhaji. I eventually managed to complete it after several short breaks although I didn't enjoy it as much as I shouldve done. I left the majority of my keema naan which I decided to take home in a bag, as it would be a waste otherwise.
But yeah, it was quite amusing in there. Phil was really hammered and kept asking them waitors if they liked cricket, which could be construed as casual racism, as well as speaking to them in a really LOUD and sllooooooooowwwww voice. Luckily they did love cricket, and Phil encouraged them to sign up to his cricket team.
Anyway, the 5 minute walk to my house felt like a 15 minute one with how bloated and ill I felt. After a short bit of dialogue with my dad and my brother, I nipped off to bed early.
Overall it was a dissapointing day with all factors considered; being sober, struggling to eat my curry, no 3 points. Hopefully the visit to Priory Lane on Monday 2nd will be more fruitful and I'm really looking forward to it. For a change we are all getting the coach, which has now managed to be filled out. Its also my first visit to the ground so fingers crossed it will be a memorable one and will see our play-off charge resumed.
Finally, I'd like to wish a happy new year to all my readers and thanks for the continued support. Hopefully 2012 will prove to be a more successful one for DAFC all-round. Other than opening up this year with a third round cup trip to Huddersfield, this year has mainly been full of dissapointment and underachievement, with things off the field and on the terraces not being great either. We need to get our progress back on track, and I for one am optimistic that we will do so.
TAKE CARE SPIKE YOUR HAIR
WOO WOO WOO YOU KNOW IT
| Monday 26 Dec 2011 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boreham Wood | 1 | - | 1 | Sutton Utd | |
 Thalassitis (05) |
McCrae (91) |
 232 |
|||
| Bromley | 2 | - | 2 | Tonbridge Angels | |
 Araba (62) Smith (07) |
Miles (50) Suarez (88) |
771 |
|||
| Chelmsford | 1 | - | 0 | Thurrock | |
| Rainford (16) |
1,064 |
||||
| Dorchester | 0 | - | 3 | Salisbury | |
| Kelly (13) Williams (24) Webb (43) |
981 |
||||
| Dover | 1 | - | 1 | Eastbourne Borough | |
| Cogan (62) |
Rook (18) |
1,027 |
|||
| Hampton & Richmond | 1 | - | 2 | Staines Town | |
| Ross (32 og ) O'Donnoll (48) |
Charles-Smith (29) |
629 |
|||
| Havant and W | 0 | - | 0 | Eastleigh | |
| 938 |
|||||
| Maidenhead Utd | 1 | - | 1 | Basingstoke | |
| Wall (61) |
Ogunbote (75) |
314 |
|||
| Weston-S-Mare | 0 | - | 1 | Truro City | |
| Ash (68) |
620 |
||||
| Welling | 1 | - | 1 | Dartford | |
| Clarke (39) |
Noble (91) |
1,815 |
|||
| Woking | 1 | - | 0 | Farnborough | |
| Smith (12) |
3,014 | ||||
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Woking | 23 | 17 | 5 | 1 | 53 | 18 | 35 | 56 |
| 2 | |
Welling United | 22 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 48 | 31 | 17 | 44 |
| 3 |  |
Chelmsford | 22 | 11 | 9 | 2 | 41 | 19 | 22 | 42 |
| 4 |  |
Dartford | 21 | 11 | 6 | 4 | 42 | 26 | 16 | 39 |
| 5 | |
Sutton United | 21 | 11 | 6 | 4 | 41 | 26 | 15 | 39 |
| 6 | |
Dover | 22 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 35 | 23 | 12 | 35 |
| 7 | |
Basingstoke Town | 20 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 34 | 24 | 10 | 32 |
| 8 | |
Dorchester | 25 | 9 | 5 | 11 | 30 | 37 | -7 | 32 |
| 9 | |
Weston-S-Mare | 21 | 9 | 4 | 8 | 36 | 34 | 2 | 31 |
| 10 | |
Truro City | 22 | 9 | 4 | 9 | 39 | 40 | -1 | 31 |
| 11 | |
Eastleigh | 22 | 9 | 4 | 9 | 29 | 33 | -4 | 31 |
| 12 | |
Tonbridge Angels | 23 | 8 | 5 | 10 | 38 | 44 | -6 | 29 |
| 13 | |
Boreham Wood | 22 | 8 | 5 | 9 | 25 | 32 | -7 | 29 |
| 14 | |
Eastbourne Borough | 21 | 7 | 5 | 9 | 36 | 35 | 1 | 26 |
| 15 | |
Havant and Waterlooville | 21 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 34 | 33 | 1 | 25 |
| 16 | |
Salisbury City | 20 | 7 | 4 | 9 | 29 | 31 | -2 | 25 |
| 17 | |
Farnborough | 22 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 30 | 49 | -19 | 23 |
| 18 | |
Maidenhead United | 23 | 6 | 4 | 13 | 27 | 47 | -20 | 22 |
| 19 | |
Bromley | 22 | 5 | 5 | 12 | 31 | 47 | -16 | 20 |
| 20 | |
Hampton & Richmond | 21 | 4 | 5 | 12 | 27 | 38 | -11 | 17 |
| 21 | |
Staines Town | 21 | 4 | 5 | 12 | 23 | 34 | -11 | 17 |
| 22 | |
Thurrock | 21 | 3 | 4 | 14 | 20 | 47 | -27 | 13 |
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