It seems a strange thing to do, but the past few days, the local senior club had again gone out of its way to keep the floating punter away and antagonise some of its own regular support.
On the face of it, it seemed a sound enough move. Due to other clubs involvement in the FA Trophy, Great Wakering Rovers found themselves at a loose end this weekend. They therefore re-arranged a midweek clash with Southend Manor in its place.
Except that the original date never clashed with a Southend United home game. It did now. Matchday and ball sponsors, able to make the scheduled game in March, couldn't do so now. Some season ticket holders, who also held one for Southend United, sold on the promise that everything would be done to avoid matchdays at Roots Hall, were left high and dry.
It was all the more mystifying, bearing in mind the loss of potential punters and sponsors for a local derby, that another side who had a blank weekend weren't contacted. London Bari had a scheduled week off and Rovers had still to play them at home, too.
You can't, of course, blame Rovers for getting some much needed revenue through the turnstiles before the festive season, bearing in mind the vagaries of winter weather. Every club would do the same. But sacrificing sponsorship money and probable increased gate revenue from a derby game, when another club may have been able to fill the weekend void, seemed illogical.
That's a recurring frustration with non league football everywhere. There's thousands of volunteers, players, and supporters, all wanting to back their truly local club, only for the decision of one to inconvenience the many. Midweek games having to be on a Tuesday, because one person goes to their bowls night on a Wednesday is another, more anonymous, example, for which I'll spare the identity of that club's blushes..
Anyway, soapbox time over. Matchday, weather permitting. Something that did not permit a trip to follow Billericay Town for the radio. Match off before the clock struck 9.30. Brentwood Town's game was on, but have you ever tried to get to Heybridge Swifts by public transport? It has to be a good five or six miles from the nearest rail station. A 6+ hour round trip? No way Pedro.
Instead it was again the welcoming home that is Rookery Hill where Chipper and I headed off to. For the Rocks, an unremarkable Ryman Premier clash was in prospect. Lowestoft Town, as ever, were in the play-off zone. But, as seems to be depressingly common at this level, their success was achieved on the basis of "playing to their strengths" - football parlance for the long ball and a physical approach.
It's the very antithesis of what Covo instills in his side. If you have to mix it up, then do it. Otherwise, ball on the deck, make every pass a good one. Coupled with a team spirit running throughout the entire club, everyone all in together whether it's your first time there or 1,001st, it made East Thurrock United a pleasure to visit and watch at any time.
Before we arrived, Chipper and I were treated to the spectacle of the first half between Montrose and The Rangers. ESPN really don't like Sevco. "Where would this team finish in the SPL, Mark?" "Bottom." Chortle.
As the game started, I said to Chipper "I don't care if they win 5 or 6-1, just one moment of humiliation will do me." A few minutes later, Montrose, and Garry Wood, duly obliged. Sevco. The present that just keeps giving. Chortle.
That, though, was forgotten as the main match kicked off. Having passed the early pitch inspection, you could tell it was a close run thing. Within seconds the pitch was cutting up. And within minutes, our eyes went skywards, looking for the ball. Ho hum. This was going to be a right thriller.
After 25 minutes or so of absolute nothingness, my mind was wandering to what games to get to next week. Or what telly to watch. Or what testicle to scratch first as the itch in my groin grew more irritable. Anything except concentrate on the game.
I should've know better. Within a few moments a bout of handbags breaks out. A two footed, studs up challenge from Lowestoft's most menacing player thus far, Michael Frew. With less than half an hour on the clock, we thought he might get away with a yellow.
But no. Straight red. "That's ridiculous" whinged one away supporter. "Yellow at worst", shouted another. Bollocks. Sometimes, supporters are so stupidly biased, they make themselves look right dicks. Chortle.
As ever the case, though, the team down to 10 men are somehow energised and take control. A Lowestoft goal is soon after chalked off. A few minutes later another attack. An onrushing forward steams into Kris Newby on the goalline, grabbing him by the arm. Over the goal line, and almost in the back of the net, Newby retaliates with an elbow.
Again, the ref has no option. Inside the goalmouth is still the field of play. Newby has to go and does so. The question is, did he see the contact that incited Kris's retaliation? Apparently no. Penalty instead of free kick. Dale Cockrill slots it away. 1-0 to the Trawlermen.
As it happens, the away supporters are a decent bunch on the whole. The earlier comments about the first red came very much from a minority, with the rest feeling mildly embarrassed by them. Empty vessels making the most noise, I guess. The rest are quite happily chatting away with myself and the home supporters, including the Lowestoft directors. I like them a lot.
Which makes it a real pity that the side they support play the way they do. At this level, the intersection between results and entertainment veer towards the former and away from the latter. A dull 1-0 win is infinitely better than an unforgettable 4-4 draw. I know which game I preferred though.
At least the Rocks tried to make a game of it in the second half. They piled forward. Ben Wood had a header cleared off the line. Sam Collins had a shot superbly turned round the post. Hakeem Araba and Kye Ruel had shots centimetres wide. When Andy Plummer in the visitors goal was beaten, the post came to his aid.
Throughout all this, though, you felt East Thurrock were really missing the injured Sam Higgins, out with a dodgy hamstring. They paid the price late on when Lowestoft made the game safe with a second. Which, inevitably, Chipper and the rest of the crowd saw but I didn't. That was a fun update to file, that one.
Full time, and the inevitable defeat. The Rocks tried their hardest, but it just wasn't their day. Direct wins out over the pass. Again. Rookery Hill, for once, wasn't a particularly happy place. Still, the team and the club will have better days, better results. And will enjoy them that much more because of days like this.
Before long Chipper and I had made it back to the Bay. In our absence, Great Wakering Rovers had beaten Southend Manor in the derby game 3-1. There was an online boast about the attendance being 100. Perhaps that comment was aimed at dissenters like me.
The fact that the crowd was down from the previous couple of home games was airbrushed over. And a derby game only being above their league average for the season by a massive 7 or 8 was maybe forgotten too. But hey, I'm just a grumpy old man. Let sleeping dogs lie. Life's too short.
But I'm right.
East Thurrock United 0, Lowestoft Town 2
On the face of it, it seemed a sound enough move. Due to other clubs involvement in the FA Trophy, Great Wakering Rovers found themselves at a loose end this weekend. They therefore re-arranged a midweek clash with Southend Manor in its place.
It was all the more mystifying, bearing in mind the loss of potential punters and sponsors for a local derby, that another side who had a blank weekend weren't contacted. London Bari had a scheduled week off and Rovers had still to play them at home, too.
You can't, of course, blame Rovers for getting some much needed revenue through the turnstiles before the festive season, bearing in mind the vagaries of winter weather. Every club would do the same. But sacrificing sponsorship money and probable increased gate revenue from a derby game, when another club may have been able to fill the weekend void, seemed illogical.
Anyway, soapbox time over. Matchday, weather permitting. Something that did not permit a trip to follow Billericay Town for the radio. Match off before the clock struck 9.30. Brentwood Town's game was on, but have you ever tried to get to Heybridge Swifts by public transport? It has to be a good five or six miles from the nearest rail station. A 6+ hour round trip? No way Pedro.
Instead it was again the welcoming home that is Rookery Hill where Chipper and I headed off to. For the Rocks, an unremarkable Ryman Premier clash was in prospect. Lowestoft Town, as ever, were in the play-off zone. But, as seems to be depressingly common at this level, their success was achieved on the basis of "playing to their strengths" - football parlance for the long ball and a physical approach.
Before we arrived, Chipper and I were treated to the spectacle of the first half between Montrose and The Rangers. ESPN really don't like Sevco. "Where would this team finish in the SPL, Mark?" "Bottom." Chortle.
As the game started, I said to Chipper "I don't care if they win 5 or 6-1, just one moment of humiliation will do me." A few minutes later, Montrose, and Garry Wood, duly obliged. Sevco. The present that just keeps giving. Chortle.
That, though, was forgotten as the main match kicked off. Having passed the early pitch inspection, you could tell it was a close run thing. Within seconds the pitch was cutting up. And within minutes, our eyes went skywards, looking for the ball. Ho hum. This was going to be a right thriller.
I should've know better. Within a few moments a bout of handbags breaks out. A two footed, studs up challenge from Lowestoft's most menacing player thus far, Michael Frew. With less than half an hour on the clock, we thought he might get away with a yellow.
But no. Straight red. "That's ridiculous" whinged one away supporter. "Yellow at worst", shouted another. Bollocks. Sometimes, supporters are so stupidly biased, they make themselves look right dicks. Chortle.
As ever the case, though, the team down to 10 men are somehow energised and take control. A Lowestoft goal is soon after chalked off. A few minutes later another attack. An onrushing forward steams into Kris Newby on the goalline, grabbing him by the arm. Over the goal line, and almost in the back of the net, Newby retaliates with an elbow.
As it happens, the away supporters are a decent bunch on the whole. The earlier comments about the first red came very much from a minority, with the rest feeling mildly embarrassed by them. Empty vessels making the most noise, I guess. The rest are quite happily chatting away with myself and the home supporters, including the Lowestoft directors. I like them a lot.
Which makes it a real pity that the side they support play the way they do. At this level, the intersection between results and entertainment veer towards the former and away from the latter. A dull 1-0 win is infinitely better than an unforgettable 4-4 draw. I know which game I preferred though.
At least the Rocks tried to make a game of it in the second half. They piled forward. Ben Wood had a header cleared off the line. Sam Collins had a shot superbly turned round the post. Hakeem Araba and Kye Ruel had shots centimetres wide. When Andy Plummer in the visitors goal was beaten, the post came to his aid.Throughout all this, though, you felt East Thurrock were really missing the injured Sam Higgins, out with a dodgy hamstring. They paid the price late on when Lowestoft made the game safe with a second. Which, inevitably, Chipper and the rest of the crowd saw but I didn't. That was a fun update to file, that one.
Full time, and the inevitable defeat. The Rocks tried their hardest, but it just wasn't their day. Direct wins out over the pass. Again. Rookery Hill, for once, wasn't a particularly happy place. Still, the team and the club will have better days, better results. And will enjoy them that much more because of days like this.
Before long Chipper and I had made it back to the Bay. In our absence, Great Wakering Rovers had beaten Southend Manor in the derby game 3-1. There was an online boast about the attendance being 100. Perhaps that comment was aimed at dissenters like me. The fact that the crowd was down from the previous couple of home games was airbrushed over. And a derby game only being above their league average for the season by a massive 7 or 8 was maybe forgotten too. But hey, I'm just a grumpy old man. Let sleeping dogs lie. Life's too short.
But I'm right.
East Thurrock United 0, Lowestoft Town 2
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