Half Bore

By: Dave Boylen
Date: 10/10/2006

I suppose the jury is still out regarding the management abilities of Graham Rodger, but it was a welcome 2-1 home win against Hereford, coming on the back of a very useful away draw against Darlington after being two goals down. Town nearly snatched a win with Toner hitting the bar late on.

The Hereford game was not pretty, it has to be said, and with the fact that Sky were covering the game the interest nationwide was there for all to see. I was delighted for Gary Jones to get the two goals that secured the win for Town. He never gives up, always making himself available, although he's not always liked by the Town fans, why I don't know. Gary Jones is what you call a players' player, appreciated by his fellow professionals out on the pitch but not always by the supporters in the stands. I thought his link up with Thorpe was very good indeed. The movement was there for all to see, Hereford could not contain them at times. Agreed it is not Real Madrid stuff at Blundell Park at the moment, but this is not a pretty league, I have not seen one good team that is truly outstanding. You might say that Hartlepool were good but Town were in that game until Beagrie made that fateful mistake just before half time and Town collapsed in the second half.

I would like to make a point about the progress of young Peter Bore. He disappoints me at the moment. Peter has got tremendous ability which has got to be cultivated for sure, but I can only compare him with a certain young Tony Ford who was coming through the ranks when I was in the latter stages of my Town career. There were times in a game when I would give him a right rollicking because I could see that he could offer more to his own personal performance. He was not hiding, he was just reluctant to take his game that little bit further, and I used to tell him that in no uncertain terms. Peter Bore to me could on Saturday have stamped his authority on the game more than he did. When he attacked the Hereford back three in the last third they were frightened to death but he did not do it enough, and if he is going to progress in this game he has got to learn quick and fast.

The game at Swindon will be a hard match this week, but surely some of these injuries that Graham has suffered to his small squad are now beginning to evaporate. Rankin to my mind is a big loss and we can certainly do with him being available for the Swindon game even if he was on the subs' bench. Hopefully we will begin to climb the league, just a few wins can make a lot of difference and could push Town up the table.

On a final note the question of a new ground will raise its head very shortly. There are very important battles that will test the resolve of the Chairman in the next few weeks. I hope it goes Town's way and especially for John Fenty who has worked his socks off for this project, and I can say this council of ours has not helped this club a great deal. Just look at other clubs who have gained a new stadium over the last few years, they were backed all the way by their respective councils.

See Dave's other articles

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