Cod Almighty | Diary

Don't Panic

23 March 2026

Miss Guest Diary writes: Hurrah, a Saturday 3 o'clock kick-off at Blundell Park for the first time in over two months. I suppose it was too much to ask that Town also got to kick towards the Pontoon in the second half. Being 'turned around' by the opposition has happened a lot this season and has the power to spoil the game for me before it even starts. My usual response is to say that we need to score at least three in the first half to make up for the disappointment – which happened in the recent game against Salford and almost happened again on Saturday. I still felt a little cheated that three of our goals were scored in front of the Osmond Stand and, as was the case with Kabia's injury time winner last Tuesday, I didn't even really see him put the fifth one in.

But it will have been a treat for the contingent from Iceland, over here for a walking football charity tournament which took place yesterday at Clee Fields, raising money for Prostate Cancer UK. The Icelanders added considerably to the atmosphere at Blundell Park with their Viking Clap. It seems a little harder to master than our own clap-clap-fish chant, as shown by a chap sat near me in the Pontoon who was always just a beat behind, putting me in mind of Corporal Jones in Dad's Army. I read complaints on social media about heavy-handedness from stewards in the Osmond spoiling some of the fun. I wish they'd come over to the Pontoon instead to sort out the rowdy crew who have taken to gathering on the concourse behind my seat during the last few games.

Now we have 10 days with no Town game. The negative Nellies have already started to fret about us being overtaken in the table by teams below us who will be playing when Town aren't and how hard it will be to catch them up. It's almost as if when things are going well some fans need to invent something to worry about. These people never seem to imagine a scenario where our rivals lose those games, leaving Town with games in hand which they go on to win. Was A46 Diary the only resident of CA Towers who fully expected Danny Rose to score for Barrow on Saturday? I don't think so. And did he? No. In fact, our defence coped really well with all the little tricks that we loved him for when Danny was our player. It was pleasing, though, to see him get a chant and an ovation from our fans both before the game and when he was substituted. Classy, I thought.

With no football this week, Mr B and I have turned our thoughts to our second sport – cricket – and, weather permitting, we have our eyes on a pre-season game at Trent Bridge next weekend. It's no real substitute for watching Town, but it will have to do.