The year is 1956 and some fella called Gene Vincent is on the verge of making it big on the other side of the pond after dabbling with what the kids call “rockabilly”. Britain is cocking things up over the Suez Canal, the people of Australia are introduced to television (and with it, Home and Away) and Breaking Bad star Martin Jol is born. Shexy. Meanwhile, a football team in Hertfordshire called Stevenage are busy finishing bottom of the Delphian League.
It could be worse, however. Crewe Alexandra are in the middle of a run that will eventually stretch 56 away games without a victory. The run started in 1955 and it ended in 1957. You want three points? Invite the Railwaymen down for a party at yours in 1956. You’ll end up taking their girl to the prom, drinking their nut brown ale and discovering the sound that’s going to make Chuck Berry a star. When Crewe are in town, so is your luck…
And now back to the future.
The FA Cup is done with, you hear us. The league is all we have left to see us through until the beginning of May and there are 19 games to decide whether we’re off to Milton Keynes or Accrington Stanley next season. Yeah, we know – the choice is a right peach ain’t it. It is just that little bit important we get something out of this Crewe game – six behind ’em and two in hand could become three behind and two in hand. You see?
Looking for something to tell the grandkids? Well, here goes! We’ve never lost against this lot, but we’ve never had ’em at our own gaff; we have this nagging habit of drawing against them at our place. Crewe Alexandra love naffing up a lead, with 19 points dropped from an advantageous position this term. That said, we’ve scored just nine times in the second half this season and, like the league table, ain’t no-one worse than that.
We’ve tried to avoid looking at the form book – mainly because to look at ours is to look at the most Welsh place name going. But seriously, if you haven’t been to Llwlwlldd, now is a great time of year to visit. If the table was an indication of home results, we’d be bottom by three points with just 11 (and three wins) to our name. If it were done on away games, our guests would be 23rd with two wins and eight points.
Let’s go win this game of football. Be-bop-a-Crewe-laa, we don’t mean maybe
[expand title=”WE’VE MET BEFORE…”]
| 22 Oct 2013 | A | Sky Bet League One | 3-0 |
| 05 Jan 2013 | A | npower League One | 2-1 |
| 15 Sep 2012 | H | npower League One | 2-2 |
| 19 Feb 2011 | A | npower League Two | 1-0 |
| 04 Sep 2010 | H | npower League Two | 1-1 |
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[expand title=”REFEREE WATCH”]
Fred Graham (or Frederick, we haven’t asked) is the man in the middle for the visit of Crewe Alexandra and you’d be hard pushed to find a referee with whom we have a better record. The 2001/2 season first saw us paired us together and we’ve grown with him ever since, or at least it seems. In that time, we’ve just had the one defeat – against Crawley in the 2005/6 FA Trophy First Round at the Lamex Stadium.
The last time we had Mr Graham was in charge of a Boro’ game, we showed MK Dons the exit door from the Paint Pot Trophy earlier this season. That’s one of the 20 games across the Football League and cup competitions he has reffed, with his average of 3.55 yellows a game creeping towards the top end of the range when it comes to the officials we’ve had of late. Just the one dismissal, too, if you’re counting…
This season for Fred Graham:
Games: 20 — Yellow: 71 (3.55pg), Red: 1
Our record under Fred Graham:
P12 W7 D4 L1 F19 A9 — Yellow: 13, Red: 0
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[expand title=”FIFA14 VERDICT”]
Team:
Day; Jones, Ashton, Hartley, Charles; Morais, Smith, Heslop, Freeman; Akins, Zoko
With the squad looking a bit thin at the moment, we went with pretty much the same side that lined up against Everton – give or take a minor tinker. Boro’ dominated the first half; Lucas Akins yet again missing a gilt-edged chance (below) as we struggled to make one of the chances become a goal. And just as we were fearing another Notts County type-match, two corners either side of the break yielded goals. Relief!
FT: Stevenage 2-0 Crewe Alexandra (Hartley 45′, Zoko 52′)
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[expand title=”BOOKIE BASHING”]
If it’s pleasure or pain, milk the success or soften the blow with a risk-free £10 from Titan Bet. There are 72 markets open on our latest game, with the home win coming in at 21/10 and the draw at 9/4. Under 2.5 Goals is priced at 19/20 and both teams to score gets you 3/5. Given our lack of goals in the second half this season, you may back us to score Under 0.5 in the second half at 27/20. Explore the alternative options if you wish.
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