 Knees-up Mother Brown #2Written by wessex_exile on Sunday, 13th Aug 2023 14:09 I must confess, with the Lionesses’ World Cup quarter-final welcome distraction this morning, and given last Saturday’s false start to our league campaign, I was sorely tempted to just recycle last weekend’s [i]Knees-up Mother Brown[/i]. However, me and the boy’s midweek trip to Cardiff, along with the other 319 brave souls, has filled me with positivity, so here goes. It may be abbreviated to a degree, depends probably on how much of a distraction the Lionesses prove to be.  [b]Come on England – Australia awaits![/b] [b]The world outside U’s World[/b] The government’s migration policy, involving the use of the Bibby Stockholm barge, has already metaphorically run aground, after Legionella bacteria were found in the on-board water system. The 39 migrants who had to date been housed in what is essentially a prison hulk have all been moved back to hotels. Critics have branded the Home Office as incompetent, with Tory MPs furious over the situation, one describing it as an “[i]embarrassment[/i]”.
 The organisers of the Malaysian “The Good Vibes” festival are demanding a $2.7m compensation payment from Wilmslow-based British indie pop band The 1975. Say what now? Well, it appears that when lead singer Matt Healy kissed bassist Ross MacDonald on the festival stage back in July, the organisers were so morally outraged they cancelled the entire festival, and now want to be compensated for their own cancel culture. A lawyer for the event organiser claimed that the band signed an assurance that the band would “[i]adhere to all local guidelines and regulations[/i]”, and homosexuality is illegal in progressive-thinking tolerant Malaysia. And, as if the world isn’t full enough of willy-waving these days, Italy’s cultural minister has offered to stage the cage-fight between Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg in an “[i]ancient Rome[/i]” setting, to see which billionaire can claim the coveted [i]Fragile Masculinity[/i] award for 2023…
 [b]U’s World[/b]
 [b]The Brave 300…and 21[/b] The U18s, under new captain Milton Oni, kick-off their season today at Florence Park more or less right now (1130) with a home fixture against Coventry City (as do the U16s). Good luck to the nippers, the future of our first team. Otherwise, not much else U’s World activity to report on in the few days since our game at Cardiff – other than [b]Come On Col U[/b] at Valley Parade today! [b]Match of the Day
 [b]An added bonus, the ticket as well[/b] Having invested time and energy in a ‘special’ for [i]KMB01[/i] to mark the first game of the season, only for the weather to have the final say, I’ve let the memorabilia random match selector do the heavy lifting for our second attempt to get the league campaign underway. It has chosen our 15th April 2000 trip to Adams Park to face auld enemy Wycombe Wanderers. For those familiar with the date, this was also the eleventh anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster, hence the universal 3.06pm kick-off across all divisions to allow supporters to commemorate the victims. Being in my inter-partner years back then (I met Em in the summer of 2000), and therefore young free and single, my brother-in-law Steve came over for the weekend, partly to lay some carpet for me and partly for us to take in the game and a few beers. At the time, under Steve Whitton, the U’s were going through a dreadful run of form and struggling to get to confirmed safety. Wycombe were faring better, and although the play-offs had long since been forgotten, they were 14 points clear of the relegation zone with only five games to go, and all but mathematically safe for another season. Many will recall Steve Whitton had inherited a somewhat poisoned chalice, following the (welcome) departure of Mick Wadsworth. Although Whitts won his first game in charge, 3-2 at home against Reading, we then went another eleven games without victory, which had seen us drop to the bottom of the league. However, a spirited run of games from December through to March (nine wins and three draws in 16 games) saw the U’s clamber just out of the relegation zone, to set up this vital match against Lawrie Sanchez’s Wycombe Wanderers. Steve Whitton’s U’s lined up: We drove across from Salisbury late morning, finding time for a couple of beers in the infamous White Horse before taking our place in the away end alongside what must have been another 7-800 or so noisy U’s supporters. We had reason to be confident too, despite our relative league positions, with the U’s on an unbeaten four-game run against the Chairboys. That confidence was helped by the prompt return of loanee Efe Sodje following his international debut for Nigeria in their 0-0 friendly against Eritrea the previous weekend. Sadly, that confidence on the terrace wasn’t exactly matched by the players on the pitch, with a poor U’s second best throughout most of the first half. We weren’t helped with Gregory going off injured after just 17 minutes, even if it did provide the opportunity to bring on a more attack-minded Jason Dozzell. The fact that we actually made it to half-time without conceding was really down to Simon Brown, who in a desert of ineptitude was looking like our only oasis. It would take into the second half before we registered our first half-decent chance, with Dozzell latching onto a pinpoint cross from Tony Lock, only to see his bullet header acrobatically kept out by Martin Taylor. That also heralded in introduction of Lua Lua, and finally we were starting to get a foothold in the game, particularly down Wycombe’s right side where Mark Rogers was being played out of position as right back. It was, however, only a temporary respite from otherwise one-way traffic going the other way. Makeshift striker Keith Ryan was having a belter, and eventually just after the hour gave Wycombe the lead most of us were expecting. Charging into the six-yard box from a Dave Carroll free kick, Ryan headed powerfully into the net, with nothing that Simon Brown could do about it. The celebrations had barely subsided when five minutes later Ryan did it again. This one was courtesy of the unlikely Rogers, who shrugged off the difficulties he’d been facing to hoist a high hanging cross into the U’s box. Our defence were guilty of ball-watching as it sailed over to the back post, where Ryan was arriving late to crash home their second. Ironically, almost immediately we had our best chance to get back into the game, with McGavin and Dozzell working well together to set up Lua Lua. Sadly, facing virtually an open goal, the otherwise superb Lua Lua managed to drill his effort wide of the post.
 That could have been a pivotal moment for the U’s to go on and snatch a somewhat undeserved point, but instead further reinforced the belief amongst the faithful that we were getting nothing from this game. Instead, most attention turned to elsewhere in the league to see how others were faring. It didn’t look good either – Cambridge were romping away 3-0 at Cardiff, Bury and Wrexham were beating Chesterfield and Bournemouth respectively 1-0, even Scunthorpe were 2-0 up at Blackpool. The final nail in the coffin came in the 90th minute, and to be fair it was a belter. There seemed to be nothing on as the ball was rolled sideways across the U’s midfield. Only for Steve Brown to charge in and hammer an absolute rocket from all of 35 yards that gave Simon Brown no chance. And that was that, the Chairboys celebrated like they’d won the World Cup, and the Faithful shuffled off home to reflect on where the points to avoid relegation were going to come from. [b]Wycombe Wanderers 3 (Ryan 62’, 67’; Brown 90’) Colchester United 0[/b] Whitton was so incensed by the lacklustre performance, he actually threatened to make the first team play in the following mid-week Avon Insurance Combination clash with Fulham (though I think he did eventually relent). On a day when virtually every other result went against us, the U’s found themselves just four points outside the relegation zone. With the benefit of hindsight the points for survival came the following Saturday, with the U’s battering Cambridge United 3-1 at Layer Road in the archetypal relegation six-pointer. With a final day draw at Brentford, Steve Whitton’s U’s eventually finished six points and three places outside the relegation zone. Efe Sodje, on his return from international duty, asserted that he had told Whitts “[i]I would rather stay and fight for a contract than play for my country[/i]”. Sadly for Efe, although he would go on to play 12 times for Nigeria, the Adams Park game would be his last appearance in a U’s shirt. [b]Up the U’s![/b] Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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