Match Report: No Giant Killing at Highbury

Fleetwood Town 4-0 Bromley

The magic of the FA Cup was bypassed on the North West Riviera on Saturday as Fleetwood brushed aside minnows Bromley in their First Round tie. There are 60 league places between the two teams with Fleetwood riding high in 4th place in League Two while Bromley sit in 17th in the Blue Square South and the gulf in class was evident between these two teams.

Before the game I found out that Fleetwood had captured the signing of Barry Ferguson on loan from neighbours Blackpool and he was signed in time to make his debut today (possibly not a good sign for him that Blackpool weren't worried about him being cup-tied for them later in the competition, but good news for me!).

Bromley brought a decent amount of fans for a club their size (obviously all full time fans who don't support bigger teams and decided to joy-ride on their local teams success!) and their fans were in good voice before the game.

Bromley started brightly and looked like they fancied getting at Fleetwood down the flanks but they failed to really threaten as their strikers couldn't really get on the end of anything. Fleetwood then broke down the right hand side and former Citeh trainee David Ball scored a really scrappy goal after Bromley just failed to deal with a cross completely. Brilliantly the Cod Army's goal music is pirate themed and set off many fans (included my Cod Army devotee, JJ) dancing along with Captain Cod, the mascot, to this.

This goal seemed to knock the wind out of Bromley's sails and in just 6 more minutes Fleetwood added another from the penalty spot when Bromley's keeper Welch was adjudged to have felled ex-Crewe man Junior Brown after Bromley again failed to deal with a ball in from the right hand side. Big Jon Parkin dispatched the penalty with minimal fuss and effort (after all he's not one to run up quickly). Amazingly this was only the second game Big Jon Parkin has scored in for Fleetwood this season - and I've been present for both now. If you're wondering Big Jon, I could be available to travel to all of your games this season - for the right price! 

Bromley tried to get back into the game and on their right hand side Tony Finn was quite lively and had a couple of efforts on goal. One particular effort was in a terrific position from the corner of the box and he really should have hit the target. Unfortunately, the lack of quality in Bromley's side was exposed again and he curled the ball high and wide. 

Bromley 'keeper Joe Welch then conceded another penalty when he was left exposed by his defence and the pacy Curtis Obeng galloped through (again down the right hand side) only for his run to be illegally halted by the goalkeeper. Big Jon Parkin thundered in the penalty straight down the middle and the tie was effectively over.

After around half an hour, Fleetwood's club captain Steve McNulty came on for a return from injury. He received an excellent reception from the Cod Army faithful - apparently he's a red and hates Barrow (but don't we all?!). He was the quintessential non-league defender with a physique that makes Big Jon Parkin look like an adonis!

Bromley came out all guns blazing after half time and they'd obviously had a rocket up their arses. They had a couple of gilt-edged chances but their finishing was woeful. Pierre Joseph-Dubois was particularly culpable after Fleetwood goalkeeper Scott Davies nearly gifted him a goal through a terrible pass out. Former QPR striker Richard Pacquette also had a pretty dismal game and was very ineffective. It was obvious Fleetwood had become a bit complacent after half time and with some better finishing they would have been punished.

Big Jon Parkin did have a pearler of a goal ruled out for offside to deny him a hat-trick as well. He hit a stunning half-volley with his left foot right into the top corner but was dismayed to see the flag up. He did have another good chance to score a third for himself when put through but he hit very unhandsomely high and wide and ended up getting the ball stuck in the roof of the stand as it lodged due to the brute force behind it!

All in all though the second half was a pretty dour affair and Fleetwood were happy to settle for a 3-0 comfortable victory and a place in the second round of the FA Cup.

Man of the Match: Former Scotland captain Barry Ferguson was clearly a class above everyone else on the pitch, particularly in the first half. He always found space to receive the ball from a teammate when nothing else was on, and he consistently found teammates in space when he played the ball. He tired in the second half and you could tell he hasn't been consistently playing first team football this season, but all evidence on Saturday suggested Fleetwood have a gem of a signing for League Two. He has since said he would like to stay until the end of the season which should be music to any Fleetwood fans ears!

J

Yes There Is Football On This Weekend Actually

I'm going to start this post by saying I will try to make this weekend sound as enticing and interesting as possible but I'm not sure it will work very well since international weekends have become as exciting as Mark Lawrenson.

England are playing Moldova tonight in Chisinau in what I am sure will be an enthralling match. I actually think that it is a shame that Andy Carroll is injured for this match as he seemed to have a new lease of life last weekend in a West Ham shirt and when he is in the right mood he can be unplayable, as demonstrated by that monster of a header against Sweden in the Euros. England have quite a few injuries and the likes of Carroll, Ashley Cole, Wayne Rooney and Adam Johnson are all missing from the game and John Terry is not 100% fit (though I don't necessarily think this is a bad thing as I think Cahill and Lescott are the way forward for England). Up front England look a bit light with only Jermain Defoe, Danny Welbeck and Daniel Sturridge in the squad, but you would hope that they will still be too much for the Moldovan defence. I hope Oxlade-Chamberlain and/or Cleverley will be given a chance in central midfield to give England some dynamism which they will arguably be missing if Gerrard and Lampard start. The Gerrard/Lampard axis is tried and failed as far as I'm concerned and that was in the days that they were both more attacking and dynamic than they are now. The squad as a whole though is pretty uninspiring and only Ryan Bertrand is untried. I hope Roy gives the likes of Cleverley and Welbeck and Sturridge a chance to make England a bit more exciting than the usual dross we're used to but I'm not holding my breath. 

Prediction: Moldova 0-2 England in a dour affair

Now we get to the tricky bit...if you're reading this hoping for a Wales/Scotland/Northern Ireland/Republic of Ireland prediction it's not going to happen sorry. Instead we're going to focus on a Football League weekend. This weekend if you usually go to a Premier League or Championship game then you should make the effort and go to a lower league club or non-league game and support the lower reaches of the game instead of moaning about the lack of football.

C&J are both doing a first ESDB Football day out (patent pending) and heading up to the glamorous Globe Arena to watch the Irish Sea derby between Morecambe and Fleetwood! The game should be a feisty affair as Sporcle in a recent quiz informed me these two clubs regard the other as their main rival (I'm not sure how true this is though!). Morecambe and Fleetwood have both started the season quite well and lie in or around the play-off places. I am particularly looking forward to seeing the battle up front for Fleetwood with Jon 'The Beast' Parkin going toe to toe with former Crewe defender Chris McCready. I am also looking forward to seeing the most unlikely looking winger in football Kevin Ellison weaving his magic for Morecambe. This should be a full blooded derby hopefully with both teams having little to lose at this stage of the season and I have no idea what the score will be but hopefully there will be goals!

Crewe are playing Tranmere this weekend armed with new recruit Chuks Aneke who was signed on loan from Arsenal to replace the departed former captain Ashley Westwood. Now to be honest I know nothing at all about Aneke and I'm sure not many other than Arsene Wenger will, but the fact he is at Arsenal says a lot for his ability. Steve Davis played with Arsenal coach Steve Bould at Stoke so hopefully his mate will have done him a favour and Davis has said he hopes Aneke will 'excite' fans and Saturday will tell us something about that. Tranmere have started the season really well and currently sit top of the table so it will be a tough test for the Alex.

Union Berlin travel to FC Ingolstadt on Saturday having not won in 3 games. They could really do with a result in this game having slipped to third bottom of 2.Bundesliga. Last time these teams met there was a 3-3 thriller and fans I'm sure will be hoping for a similarly exciting match! 

Lastly, having heard the apparently false news about Samba Diakite's extended absence from QPR being  due to depression (apparently he has personal issues to sort out and isn't suffering from depression) I'd just like to make a point that depression in football needs to be talked about more often so that the football community can understand it more. If you've never read it before Ronald Reng's book 'A Life Too Short: The Tragic Story of Robert Enke' is a superb narrative about Robert Enke's career and battle with depression. It's not a story that's designed to make you feel sorry for Enke just to understand what he and countless other footballers have gone through, so it is well worth a read.

Anyway, enjoy the international break everyone and we'll be back next week with a match review from the Morecambe v Fleetwood game as well as a recap of England etc.

J