Tidy up FFS

Bohemians U19 2 v Sheffield United 0
(Billed as U18)

Pre Season Friendly

Wednesday 26 July 2017

Twitter @ball_sup

That is my 196th ground watching a Sheffield United XI. Any Age. Any Surface. Any Competition. And. Let's face this head on. I've been to lots of grounds. I've been around the block. The fucking state of Dalymount Park surprised me. Bits crumbling. Litter. Rust. Bushes & trees growing out of the terracing and THE ROOF. Holes. Flaking paint. Just GRIM.

I know there's no money around at their League/Level. And, SALUTE, they're a fan owned club. So, here's the Wake Up Call. If you're fan owned, someone needs to have pride in the surroundings. Chuck free manpower at it. John will have a strimmer. Jim will have a ladder. Joe will have some paint brushes. Get it sorted.

The body language seemed to be blaming SUFC. But, with a nice healthy little crowd let in free. The teams were still running round cones at 7pm. The advertised kick off time. Football Eats Itself. Fucking Gerronweeit.

Derek Geary in charge. With no teamsheet. With no tannoy. I'm somewhat loathe to mention players by name. In case I misidentify them. But, the ones I'm sure about.

Hugo Warhurst. Poor bloke let in a horrible goal after two minutes. Innocuous head high lob just seemed to slip right through his hands & looped over the line. United never really recovered from that. It was one of those games where not much was happening in either penalty area. And, Hugo had very little chance with the second. I thought the defenders could have done better. The ball fell loose & the fella hit a clean and powerful strike from close range. Otherwise, he was tidy enough on crosses & tumbling saves.

There were lots of hard, & some bad, tackles flying about. Keenan Ferguson, set up as CB in a back four, earned two yellows by the 53rd minute.

Stephen Mallon has had some sort of knock to his right knee. His pre season objective is to come back from that. He got some minutes last night at Linfield as a Sub. Tonight, he started as conventional left back. He looked a little off it at times. But, he's got the skills and was one of the standout SUFC players. Better attacking than defending. And linking well with the midfielders.

Notably. The main SUFC standout. Oli Greaves. Very complete & impressive display. Watch this lad this season. Great midfield engine. Did all the roles. Back of the diamond Coutts. Box to box. In the hole. Link up. And creative midfield. Great to watch last night.

And. I wish I knew who number 9 was. Tall up top striker. Long legs, looks ungainly. But great control. Second behind Greaves in the ratings for me.

The Whitworth is just up from the ground. You can see the rusty, decaying, crumbling, dysfunctional floodlights from the bar. Ten Porterhouse on keg. Couple of guests. I went;
Porterhouse, Hop Head IPA on keg
Porterhouse, Dublin Pale Ale on keg

The tardis like Old School House in Swords. All the usual industrial macro suspects. And home to Haven Brew. I went;
Raven Brew, Pale Ale on keg
Raven Brew, Stout on keg
That Stout can have Standout Beer Of The Trip.

My Ireland ticks completed by;
Franciscan Well, Chieftain Irish Pale Ale on keg

That lot takes me to 12 Irish Beer Ticks as a running total.

509/1072
10