Post by skally on Jul 22, 2006 14:12:22 GMT
Hello all and welcome to Gay Meadow for tonight’s match against Oldham Athletic. I hope that those of you that attended this afternoon’s open day thoroughly enjoyed it and are all now decked out in the red and black of Town’s new away strip. For those of you that haven’t picked up your shirt yet can still do so at the bargain price of £30 tomorrow morning between 10am and midday.
I have recently been mulling over in my mind which name and number I’m going to have printed on the back of my new shirt. I though I might go the whole hogg (no pun intended) this year as I haven’t personalised a shirt since Carl Griffith’s name appeared on my shirt in the early 1990’s! I was already a fan of Ben Davies from his work with Chester City but his debut performance on Tuesday night confirmed that he is officially my new favourite player and ‘Davies 14’ will soon be on my back. Like Mark I hope that Ben can soon be the new Ben Smith. Since Smithy left, the TMS team has been waiting for a new player to dedicate its worship to and it appears that Davies is the lucky/unlucky man. I just hope that the TMS curse doesn’t strike again!
This brings us to Tuesday night’s game against Bradford City. I was generally really impressed with the performance. It’s hard to tell from a pre-season game how the team will fair in the league campaign but early indications are good. It was nice to see all the available squad get a run out. Although the substitutions interrupted the flow of the game a little in the heat they were entirely necessary, I myself was sweating, and that was just watching! Out of the new boys I was most impressed by Ben Davies and Andy Cooke. Ben provided the first goal for Colin McMenamin with a quality cross and he looked a constant threat all night with his passing and crossing ability. Andy worked tirelessly throughout the game and got his reward in the second half when he powered home a header from another great delivery from the right.
The undoubted highlight of the game though was my excellent display of goalkeeping from behind the Wakeman End goal in the second half. A wild deflected Bradford effort swerved towards me at the back of the stand, I promptly rose to my right and plucked the ball out the air before calmly throwing the ball into Ryan Esson’s gloves. Much applause from the fans around me followed as I celebrated my work with a punch of the air. A bloke shouted ‘Sign him up!’ and I even received a text from a friend on the riverside congratulating me. I could see that both Ryan and Chris were both quaking in their boots as a new challenger for the number 1 shirt emerged, just a pity that it all came a little too early for Soccer Am!
I was a little surprised to see that Cookey was wearing the number nine shirt for the match, the shirt usually occupied by Mark Stallard. I later learned that this was because Mark had left the club following an enquiry from Lincoln City. The Imps had offered him a two year deal and the opportunity to be based closer to his home in the East Midlands. I would like to wish Mark all the best and thank him for his work with Shrewsbury Town. It is fair to say that he never really set the world alight in a blue and amber shirt but he certainly had his moments and always gave his all. His performance in the away victory at Darlington back in February certainly stands out in my mind.
As tonight’s game is the last fixture at Gay Meadow before the season proper begins on August 5th, I would like to wish all the squad the best of luck. There is a real genuine feeling amongst fans and players alike that this year we may just have a squad that is really capable of challenging at the top of the table.
It is imperative that we get off to a good start with 3 points against Mansfield as two away trips follow at Notts County and Bury. This makes our first home game all the more important. All too often we start poorly and then leave ourselves with an uphill battle to climb the table but this year I’m confident that this will not be the case.
Enjoy tonight’s game everyone and I look forward to spending another football season with you. I really can’t wait for it all to begin again.
Keep the faith!
Skally
www.themightyshrew.co.uk
I have recently been mulling over in my mind which name and number I’m going to have printed on the back of my new shirt. I though I might go the whole hogg (no pun intended) this year as I haven’t personalised a shirt since Carl Griffith’s name appeared on my shirt in the early 1990’s! I was already a fan of Ben Davies from his work with Chester City but his debut performance on Tuesday night confirmed that he is officially my new favourite player and ‘Davies 14’ will soon be on my back. Like Mark I hope that Ben can soon be the new Ben Smith. Since Smithy left, the TMS team has been waiting for a new player to dedicate its worship to and it appears that Davies is the lucky/unlucky man. I just hope that the TMS curse doesn’t strike again!
This brings us to Tuesday night’s game against Bradford City. I was generally really impressed with the performance. It’s hard to tell from a pre-season game how the team will fair in the league campaign but early indications are good. It was nice to see all the available squad get a run out. Although the substitutions interrupted the flow of the game a little in the heat they were entirely necessary, I myself was sweating, and that was just watching! Out of the new boys I was most impressed by Ben Davies and Andy Cooke. Ben provided the first goal for Colin McMenamin with a quality cross and he looked a constant threat all night with his passing and crossing ability. Andy worked tirelessly throughout the game and got his reward in the second half when he powered home a header from another great delivery from the right.
The undoubted highlight of the game though was my excellent display of goalkeeping from behind the Wakeman End goal in the second half. A wild deflected Bradford effort swerved towards me at the back of the stand, I promptly rose to my right and plucked the ball out the air before calmly throwing the ball into Ryan Esson’s gloves. Much applause from the fans around me followed as I celebrated my work with a punch of the air. A bloke shouted ‘Sign him up!’ and I even received a text from a friend on the riverside congratulating me. I could see that both Ryan and Chris were both quaking in their boots as a new challenger for the number 1 shirt emerged, just a pity that it all came a little too early for Soccer Am!
I was a little surprised to see that Cookey was wearing the number nine shirt for the match, the shirt usually occupied by Mark Stallard. I later learned that this was because Mark had left the club following an enquiry from Lincoln City. The Imps had offered him a two year deal and the opportunity to be based closer to his home in the East Midlands. I would like to wish Mark all the best and thank him for his work with Shrewsbury Town. It is fair to say that he never really set the world alight in a blue and amber shirt but he certainly had his moments and always gave his all. His performance in the away victory at Darlington back in February certainly stands out in my mind.
As tonight’s game is the last fixture at Gay Meadow before the season proper begins on August 5th, I would like to wish all the squad the best of luck. There is a real genuine feeling amongst fans and players alike that this year we may just have a squad that is really capable of challenging at the top of the table.
It is imperative that we get off to a good start with 3 points against Mansfield as two away trips follow at Notts County and Bury. This makes our first home game all the more important. All too often we start poorly and then leave ourselves with an uphill battle to climb the table but this year I’m confident that this will not be the case.
Enjoy tonight’s game everyone and I look forward to spending another football season with you. I really can’t wait for it all to begin again.
Keep the faith!
Skally
www.themightyshrew.co.uk
