Match Discussion: FA Trophy - Morpeth Town (A)

[DangerousSausage]

Tomorrow we (well, the team) travel to Morpeth Town for which I assume will be the first time ever. Morpeth currently sit 16th in the Northern Premier League Premier Division, the same division as Basford United and Grantham Town, with nine points from seven games. One interesting aspect of this one is the reunion with one Liam Noble...

Morpeth are actually allowed to have fans in, but as the FA deems us an "elite" club (which we are in many respects, of course), this one will be behind closed doors. However, for those of you in the UK the club will be showing it on the live stream - check the official site if you fancy it.

Personally I can't say I'm too bothered about the FA Trophy this season. I was totally up for it last time round, but with empty stadia and a massive fixture pile-up this season it all feels a bit redundant. But it's a competitive match and a chance to give a few players on the fringes some proper match practice so they can get in the groove - perhaps full matches for Knowles, Wolfe and Pilling.

Will any of you be tuning in?

[Elite_pie]

I tuned in to the live stream the club supplied, and it was a bizarre but enjoyable experience.  It was bizarre because I've never before heard the commentary refer to a Christmas light show visible through the trees, never heard an address to the nation from the Prime Minister clearly audible in the background, and never heard the commentary team rushing to get their equipment indoors because it started to rain!   I am probably one of the few who is actually bothered about this competition.  It provided some great memories from last season, and today it gave us an ideal opportunity to get some game time into the fringe players.  Even though due to the state of the pitch the game wasn't much of a spectacle, we can only take positives from it.

[Dripsey3]

Who ever let the local cattle graze on the pitch should hang their head in shame.....

[menzinho]

Yeah, I've just watched the goals and that pitch was like a farmers field, so credit to the team for going out there and putting on a professional display.

I certainly don't think the competition is a waste of time - ok there might be a few issues come the close of the season if we have to postpone league games for it. But lets worry about that when/if we get there. 

We needed to give some players game time and they got it. It also keeps the likes of Rodrigues and Sam ticking over nicely...

But most of all, another win! Not a bad habit to be getting into.

[DangerousSausage]

A win's a win and it does help some of the fringe players get in the groove with a real, competitive match. As our only cup competition this season (I take it the Notts Senior Cup has been cancelled), it's our only chance to do that. From the pictures it also seems to have been an interesting spectacle too!

Last season I was more interested in the FA Trophy than I ever was in the Paint Pot Trophy - as well as a realistic chance of playing in front of our fans at Wembley, it's an opportunity to go to places we've never been before, like Morpeth. And for them, of course, we're the big draw as the most well-known team in the competition. In normal times it's an interesting trip for us and a bumper gate for them. But now? We play several matches on potato fields in front of maybe a dozen spectators, possibly followed by a Wembley final with the doors locked.