Robins Not At The Races

Wigan Robin Park 1 - 4 Stone Dominoes
Saturday 4th April
Vodkat North West Counties League First Division
Robin Park Arena, Attendance: 27

The Robins failed to turn up as Stone ran riot at the Robin Park Arena. We just didn’t look at the races on Grand National day and barely deserved our consolation goal, which came courtesy of James Martin.

After Tuesday bumper crowd of 298, it was a rather disappointing 27 (including 3 from Stone!) that saw this one. Stone looked good early on and it was the clubs’ namesake, Stone, that powered in an header from a corner, after just two minutes. Those familiar groans that accompanies me while watching Latics, escaped my lips.

Things got worse, as sat behind us was the most annoying bloke you’ll only ever see/hear in Wigan! His constant shouts of ‘COME ON LINO!’ and ‘HOW MANY TIMES REFEREE!’ were really pissing me off!

The first half petered out, with Stone knocking the ball around comfortably and the Robins getting frustrated as the referee seemed to blow up every time they got in a decent position. Our friend behind us was in his element as his booming voice seemed to grow louder!

With the Champions bar shut, we had our half-time pints in the expensive but quite nice ‘Frankie’s and Benny’s’ American-style resultant. At £3 a pint, it was on the expensive side but a nice looking waitress made up for that!

We got back to the arena 20 minutes into the second half (!!!) to find out that Stone had scored 2 more (goals scored by Brown and Stone, again - according to the league website). I wanted to go back to the bar after hearing that! But the Robins gave us a glimmer of hope with a well-crafted goal – James Martin getting his foot to the ball which looped over the Stone defenders and into the net.

The Robins put constant pressure on their opponents but never looked like scoring again. Stone sealed their win after Brown was put through and slided the ball past the onrushing Jay Foluds.

It’s a disappointing result which means the Robins have a mountain to climb if they want to finish in the top two. Next for the Robins is an away trip to Chadderton on Easter Saturday. Next up for me though is a trip to Lancaster on Good Friday to sample some Unibond League football and the odd hostelry in the historic city!

Thanks to 'The Pole' from the Cheadle Town Blog for the photo