Holker Street Newsletter 1287 - 24th March 2004

Last night there were a number of games in the UniBond Premier League which brought mixed news for Barrow. Alfreton Town's victory means that they jump above us on goal difference but Worksop, who are just behind us with games in hand, had a surprise home defeat by Burscough. With games running out we can't afford too many slip ups, however it would be a huge boost for us to beat the League leaders Hucknall Town at Holker Street on Saturday. Just to make things a little harder, Neil Campbell will be missing from the Hucknall game as he serves the first match of a two game suspension.

Sadly it just wasn't to be at Whitby on Monday evening when we suffered the 3-2 defeat. There have been a number of comments about the manner of the defeat and in particular the referee's performance. Although the referee may have missed some offences I think we should concentrate more on our own game and ignore any mistakes that the officials make even though they may be difficult to understand. If we don't make mistakes, we won't get punished and on Monday night we were punished three times which was enough to prevent us taking anything from the game. Rise above it I say and get on with winning our remaining games.


MARK SALMON SUSPENSION
The sending of Mark Salmon at Whitby may not be as bad as everyone seems to be thinking it could be. The suspension is dependant upon the referees report which will be crucial in determining how long the suspension is that Salmon will receive. The disciplinary rules on the FA site at www.thefa.com state the following:

(c) PLAYERS SENT OFF UNDER LAW 12 (4) and (5)
A player who is dismissed from the Field of Play for denying a goal or an obvious goal-scoring opportunity by physical means or by handling the ball, will be suspended automatically from all domestic League, League Cup and FA Challenge Cup matches and Friendly matches commencing on the 14th day following the match in which he was sent off, until such time as his Club's recognised Senior Team has completed one (1) match in an approved Competition during the period covered by its opening match in The Isthmian / Northern Premier / Southern League and ending with the final match in which the Club is playing in a domestic Competition organised by The Football Association, The Isthmian / Northern Premier / Southern League or matches concerning a Club's nominated County Senior Cup Competition. Plus a fine of UKP15.

There is another rule which says the following:
(e) PLAYERS SENT OFF UNDER LAW 12 (1), (2) and (3)
A player who is dismissed from the Field of Play for Violent Conduct, Serious Foul Play or spitting at an opponent or any other person whether he has previously been cautioned in the match or not, will be suspended automatically from all domestic League, League Cup, FA Challenge Cup matches and Friendly matches commencing on the 14th day following the match in which he was sent off and until such time as his Club's recognised Senior Team has completed three (3) matches.

John's Note: If the first rule is how Monday night's referee saw Salmon's offence he'll only get a one match suspension and the game he'll miss will be the President's Cup Final First Leg with Workington. As I saw it Salmon was sent off for being last man so surely the first rule will apply and Salmon won't miss any League games. I certainly thought his tackle was more stopping the opposing player than violent conduct, here's hoping!


THOUGHTS FROM LEE TURNBULL
Lee Turnbull, the Barrow AFC manager declared after the game at Whitby that it wasn't all bad news following the defeat and that it remains all to play for. The defeat which leaves Barrow six points behind Droylsden was the same position as they were in last week but the fact that there are less games remaining means its just that little bit harder to overhaul the second placed side. the manager also think that Saturday's match against League leaders Hucknall is another huge match that is another must win game.

Regarding the match at Whitby, Turnbull revealed that Salmon who was sent off had said that Whitby's player took a dive to win the penalty and get him sent off. What was even more annoying was that just before that Turnbull mentioned that the player who won the penalty had received the ball in an offside position though no flag was raised. The Barrow manager also described the referee's performance as diabolical and overall felt that Barrow deserved a point.


FROM BEHIND THEIR ELECTRONIC FENCES
Match report from the Whitby Town site at www.whitbytownfc.co.uk
Whitby Town 3 Barrow 2, attendance - 210

Team: Campbell D, Atkinson, Williams, Campbell P, Nicholson, McTiernan, Gildea A, Johnson, Ormerod, Gildea L, Veart Subs - Robinson, Hore

Whitby Town, without a recognised centre half in their side, and missing striker Mark Sheeran, stunned third placed Barrow with 3-2 win at the Turnbull Ground. The game had been rearranged from a few weeks ago and only a small crowd of 210 turned up to see one the best matches at home this season.

Whitby started brightly with McTiernan and Ormerod looking sharp, but the first bit of controversy occurred after five minutes when Nicholson's boot connected with Neil Campbell's head when trying to clear the ball from the Whitby box. The referee, who missed the incident was alerted by the linesman, and booked Nicholson.

Six minutes later Whitby took the lead their early good work had deserved when McTiernan broke down the left and fired in a 20 yarder into the bottom corner of former Whitby keeper Simon Bishop's net. Whitby were looking good at this stage but were pegged back only seven minutes later when former Stalybridge skipper, Kenny Mayers rose to powerfully head the equaliser from a corner. Whitby looked to pressure Barrow, and they made the Conference hopefuls task even harder when Anthony Ormerod broke through on goal with minutes left to half time. Gavin Salmon hauled the former player Boro down in the box and was shown a red card for his troubles. The ever reliable Craig Veart strode up and put the penalty away for a 2-1 half time lead. Barrow were not put off by the dismissal and equalised again when Mayers shot from 25 yards out forced a save from Campbell, who despite getting both hands on the ball, watched in bounce gently over the line.

Whitby weren't to be out done though and with eleven minutes remaining Steve Johnson scored the winner and his first in a Whitby shirt when his shot on the turn flew into the net giving Bishop no chance. The relief was evident on the crowd's face when the referee blew for full time as this was definitely a bonus three points that moves the Blues up to 14th place in the table.



SOME THOUGHTS ON THE WHITBY GAME
From Chris Dale

The Bluebirds blew the chance to close within three points of Droylsden last night at a bitterly cold Turnbull Ground, slumping to a 3-2 defeat against lowly Whitby Town. Barrow have previously never lost in the League to the Seasiders but revenge was theirs in a game that could have been won by a greater margin. After three minutes a break on the right after Maxfield lost the ball on the halfway line resulted in the ball being crossed to the penalty spot. The shot found its way through Bishops outstretched palms but was cleared onto the post and away.

Atkinson was having a tough time at centre half against the impressive Campbell who was winning everything in the air. Campbell went down after an aerial challenge with Atkinson who seemed to kick out at the floored player. The linesman drew the referee's attention and after a lengthy chat a yellow card was produced, much to the disgust of the Barrow bench.

Whitby's early endeavour paid off after just ten minutes. McTiernan wrong footed both centre-halves 30 yards out, strode forward and hit a shot from all of 25 yards which wrong footed Bishop who stayed rooted in the centre of the goal. This seemed to wake the visitors who began to play the ball around and forced Town to play themselves into trouble. After a foul on the Barrow right hand side, Maxfield drilled over a curling free kick. Mayers rose majestically like a salmon unchallenged 12 yards out and glanced the ball in to the far top corner.

Barrow began to go forward like a team pushing for promotion but looked inept at the back. A ball played over the top left Maxfield et-al standing, hands raised appealing for offside. Ormerod was at least level and raced into the box only to be cynically halted from behind by the outstretched leg of Salmon who was rightly sent for an early bath, this only five minutes before half time. Veart coolly converted from the spot and the home side led 2-1 at half-time.

Barrow made two substitutions (Shaw and Hill for the ineffective Heffernan and Ridley) at the break in an attempt to shore up the leaky defence. It only took eight minutes for the fussy referee to book Simon Shaw for his first challenge of the night. The ref also made a point of reading War and Peace to each victim of his card (produced no less than eight times) which frustrated both the players and both sets of fans.

Ten minutes into the second half, the ten men of Barrow were holding their own and the impressive Mayers went on a run from just inside the Whitby half. Finding no support and an impending challenge from a beefy centre-half he let fly from 30 yards. The keeper managed to get both hands to the ball that was flying into the top corner but could only take most of the pace off it. As the keeper went to ground the ball bobbled into the net, 2-2.

Whitby then began to up the tempo as the Barrow side tired. Two Town efforts were cleared off the line and Bishop made a string of fine saves in a man of the match performance. Barrow too had their chances as Whitby looked all at sea when any ball was crossed high into the box. Mayers could've had a hat-trick when his scuffed shot was cleared off the line. Knight also ran through on the right for the Bluebirds, his shot beat the keeper but hit the side netting. The game was now end to end but the best chances were being created by Town, and but for Bishop and some questionable finishing the game could've been over. Shaw was taken off with an injury forcing another reshuffle that Barrow failed to adapt to. Rankine played up front for the last ten minutes but his enthusiasm and endeavour created little, Barrow would have to hold on for a point. The winning goal came from a ball played along the edge of the area from the left. With nowhere to go, Johnson turned a fired a shot between the legs of Mayers which curled beyond the outstretched hand of the unlucky Bishop into the bottom right hand corner of the net.

The referee managed to book eight players in the game that was not a violent affair and was played with good spirit. Campbell however had been the main threat for Barrow up front and had been taunted, kicked and held by the Town defenders all night. This culminated in a booking after two minutes of added time, when Campbell blatantly pushed a Town player to the ground in front of the referee whilst waiting for a corner to be taken. The referee from Newcastle somehow only managed to book Campbell who could easily have joined Salmon in the bath.

The result was fair and Barrow now have given themselves a mountain to climb to reach second spot especially with the visit of Hucknall Town to Holker Street on Saturday.


BARROW AFC BLUEBIRDS CASHLINE WEEKLY DRAW
From Alex at the Soccer Shop

Week 34 winners
UKP350: E Low, Marsden Street, Barrow
UKP150: Mr Bell, Brook Street, Barrow
UKP50: J Cowing, Keswick Avenue, Barrow

UKP10 winners: Mr Simister, Ben's Fruit & Veg, Barrow; Mr Meighan, Friars View, Barrow; E Park, Marsden Street, Barrow; S Glover, Willow Road, Barrow; P McMenemy, Albert Street, Ramsbottom; D Caine, Holbeck Road, Barrow; G Connolly, Aberdare Street, Barrow; C Greenop, Oakdale Court, Oxen; J Chalker, Horndale Avenue, Barrow; M Milligan, Wheatclose Road, Barrow.


TUESDAY'S UNIBOND RESULTS
Premier Division: Alfreton Town 1 Burscough 0 (197), Ashton United 0 Vauxhall Motors 1 (202), Marine 1 Blyth Spartans 0 (205), Radcliffe Borough 0 Lancaster City 2 (180), Southport 2 Gainsborough Trinity 0 (601), Stalybridge Celtic 5 Frickley Athletic 0 (374), Worksop Town 1 Bradford Park Avenue 2 (374).

1 Hucknall Town 35 26 4 5 73 30 82
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2 Droylsden 37 22 5 10 80 56 71
3 Alfreton Town 36 20 5 11 64 37 65
4 BARROW 36 18 11 7 69 45 65
5 Southport 38 18 8 12 61 44 62
6 Harrogate Town 36 19 5 12 57 46 62
7 Worksop Town 34 16 11 7 54 35 59
8 Lancaster City 36 16 6 14 55 47 54
9 Altrincham 35 13 13 9 54 37 52
10 Stalybridge Celtic 35 15 7 13 55 48 52
11 Ashton United 35 15 6 14 48 63 51
12 Gainsborough Trinity 36 13 10 13 60 46 49
13 Vauxhall Motors 36 13 8 15 63 67 47
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14 Whitby Town 35 12 8 15 47 59 44
15 Runcorn FC Halton 34 11 10 13 47 52 43
16 Marine 34 12 5 17 53 63 41
17 Radcliffe Borough 37 12 5 20 68 83 41
18 Bradford Park Ave. 35 9 10 16 42 56 37
19 Spennymoor United 36 11 4 21 43 81 37
20 Frickley Athletic 37 10 6 21 45 72 36
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21 Blyth Spartans 34 9 8 17 46 55 35
22 Burscough 39 7 13 19 41 65 34
23 Wakefield & Emley 36 7 6 23 36 74 27

First Division: Farsley Celtic 1 Matlock Town 2 (253), Ossett Town 2 Hyde United 2 (145), Stocksbridge Park Steels 0 Leek Town 2 (169), Workington 4 Chorley 0 (305).

P W D L F A Pts
1 Hyde United 35 19 7 9 65 44 64
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2 Matlock Town 35 19 4 12 66 47 61
3 Farsley Celtic 34 16 12 6 63 44 60
4 Lincoln United 35 17 8 10 58 44 59
5 Prescot Cables 35 16 7 12 55 53 55
6 Bamber Bridge 35 15 9 11 55 45 54
7 Leek Town 34 14 11 9 46 37 53
8 Witton Albion 35 14 9 12 50 47 51
9 Workington 32 14 8 10 60 44 50
10 Gateshead *(4) 35 17 3 15 51 57 50
11 Bridlington Town 32 14 6 12 57 52 48
12 Guiseley 33 12 9 12 54 45 45
13 Bishop Auckland 33 12 9 12 49 48 45
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14 Colwyn Bay 35 13 6 16 50 72 45
15 North Ferriby United 35 11 9 15 52 57 42
16 Belper Town 35 9 12 14 41 46 39
17 Stocksbridge PS 32 10 9 13 48 54 39
18 Chorley 33 10 8 15 47 58 38
19 Rossendale United 32 9 9 14 38 48 36
20 Kidsgrove Athletic 35 10 6 19 40 55 36
21 Ossett Town *(3) 35 10 9 16 48 66 36
22 Kendal Town 35 7 4 24 44 74 25
* points deducted for breach of League rules

East Riding Senior Cup Semi-Final at North Ferriby United FC: Bridlington Town 0 Hull City 0 AET - Hull City won 3-1 on penalties (346).
Liverpool Senior Cup Semi-Final: Runcorn FC Halton 1 Liverpool 3 AET (303)
Staffordshire Senior Cup Semi-Final: Stourbridge Swifts 1 Kidsgrove Athletic 2 (102)


UNIBOND NEWS
From the official UniBond League site at www.unibondleague.com

Clubs Meet Again After 69 Years: When Phil Chadwick, the Witton Albion secretary, was researching previous Witton Albion v Prescot Cables fixtures he discovered that Witton and Prescott last played League matches against each other in the Cheshire County League for three seasons in the mid 1930s. By a strange coincidence the last two meetings came on successive Saturdays playing at Prescot on December 7 1935 and then on Witton's old Central Ground on December 14. This season renewing League matches Witton and Prescott are also playing back to back fixtures on successive Saturdays, ie March 20 and March 27. The results back in 1935 saw Prescot winning both matches 2-1 so Prescott are very much hoping history does repeat itself, having wont 3-0 at home on Saturday.

Family Fun Day At Rossett Park For League Game This Saturday, Fourth community event of season welcomes children for free. UniBond League Marine FC announces the final community event of the season this Saturday when they play Radcliffe Borough in another vital League game at College Rd. The fun day is being sponsored by local newspaper The Crosby Herald and includes a steel band, children's entertainers, an inter schools penalty shoot out and a free prize draw. All children will be admitted for free as long as they are accompanied by a paying adult. Marine Supporter and Community Development Officer Barry Lenton said: " This is the final and largest community day that has been planned this season. With the backing of The Crosby Herald in addition to invitations being sent to all local primary and secondary schools we are anticipating our second highest attendance of the season." Chairman Paul Leary said "This is an important day as we continue to work with the local community and schools to increase support at Marine. It is of course important that we win the game and hopefully the bigger crowd will help us to do just that. "


CONFERENCE EXPLAINS EXETER DECISION
From the Conference website at www.confguide.com

The Conference Board has decided to drop the Sporting Sanctions rule, which would have deducted Exeter City points for entering into a CVA. Explaining the move, the Conference said that: Although the rule had been passed democratically by clubs at an AGM, the Conference¹s lawyers advised that, rather than expend considerable energy and money on defending the technical points raised by Exeter on the way the rule was passed, it was better to address the future and resubmit the rule. Furthermore, the Conference were advised by its lawyers that overall costs could rise as high as UKP35,000 per club due to the wider ramifications of the Football Creditors rule if a defence of the petition was not successful. As such, the Conference board of directors did not feel that it had the right to gamble with the very existence of some clubs and were therefore forced to agree a compromise agreeing not to implement sporting sanctions this season. The details of the Compromise Agreement are bound by confidentiality, but the Football Creditors petition against the Conference will not now take place. So, the Conference has dropped the sanctions against Exeter City, and Exeter City has dropped its legal action against the Conference. There remains the issue of Dwane Lee, who joined Exeter from Yeading in August. The club where charged with playing an ineligible player, as the Conference claimed irregularities in his registration - claiming that it was not completed correctly before a transfer embargo came into effect. A Conference statement said that: In view of Exeter's present League position and the seriousness of the issue the Conference have agreed to pass the matter over to the FA to investigate. In coming to this decision, the Conference were mindful that no less than four of the six clubs represented on the board had a mathematical conflict of interest and it was therefore felt prudent, again on legal advice, to allow the FA to adjudicate. The Conference, having invested an inordinate amount of time and money defending rules democratically arrived at by clubs, has had to recognise that the very survival of clubs is more important than any rule. In so doing, the Conference have still had to invest a six figure sum in legal fees, something it finds difficult to reconcile with the spirit of the game. The Conference have stressed the importance of the FA making an early decision in the case of the registration issue in order that qualification for the play offs is not left undecided.


THE FA VASE SEMI-FINALS
UKP6000 to each winning club, Second LEG: SATURDAY 20 MARCH

Winchester City 4 Bideford 0 (1818) Winchester City won 7-3 on aggregate, Colne 1 AFC Sudbury 1 (1742) AFC Sudbury won 4-3 on aggregate.

FA VASE FINAL - SUNDAY 16 MAY
AFC Sudbury v Winchester City, at Birmingham City FC


LOOK BACK AT SEASON 1980-81
From Terry Kendall

February 14 1981, Kettering Town 0 Barrow 1
Barrow maintain away win record.
Kettering: Walters, Curtis, Easthall, Clarke, Suddards, Haverson, Phipps, Evans, Atkins, Martin, Flannagan. Sub: Guy.
Barrow: Thomas, Richmond, Knowles, Gordon, Brooks, Taylor, Eatough, Whittle, Pearson (Gerrard 75), Towers, Worswick.
Goal: Frank Towers 58.
Ref: D. Hedges (Headington). H/t: 0-0. Att: 1565


ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY - 24 March
1923 D3N Halifax Town (H) L 0-1
1928 D3N Halifax Town (H) W 6-2
1934 D3N Mansfield Town (H) W 6-3
1951 D3N Hartlepools United (H) W 3-0
1956 D3N York City (A) L 2-3
1962 D4 Carlisle United (A) D 0-0
1967 D4 Chesterfield (H) W 2-1
1990 CONF Kettering Town (A) L 0-2
1998 NPL Winsford United (A) D 0-0