Gameweek 17 Preview

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Old Headingley’s Guardian Angell provides this weekend’s preview…

What a week this is in Old Headingley history- the first team manager has announced his impending departure. The first-team captain is a broken man after being made to look inferior to kids from the third team in training. Someone has taken my snood. And now the entire squad faces the daunting task of the OHAFC Xmas do this Thursday… Bookies are being inundated with punters trying to guess the following:

Which of Oli Seed’s alter egos will be hosting the games this year?
How many boys will Paul Harrington kiss in Bar Risa?
Who will win the penis-exposure-off between Monkhouse and Hasson?
To the nearest 10kg, how much will the girl who George Clark chats up weigh?
Re the above, how long before one of the Eds leaves with her?
How much will Ash Austin camp it up this year?
Who will lose Egg of Death?!

I could go on. Instead I will attempt to answer the question of what impact such a night will have on the matches two days later:

Old Headingley AFC Vs Aberford Albion (League)

Form LWLLD LWLDL

Last league meeting: Aberford Albion 2-2 OHAFC (Pickup x 2) 20/08/11

Everything about this fixture should point towards a much-needed Headingley win and, in theory, playing the side bottom of the league couldn’t come at a better time. However, anyone in the OHAFC camp that feels this game is an automatic 3-pointer should reflect on a few facts; Headingley are slightly stuttering in their form and have failed to beat Aberford once already this season. Add to that the inevitable hangover carry-over and a pitch that may not have had enough time to recover from the previous week’s battering and suddenly the task of winning becomes a bit more of an ask. Taking all this into account though, there is still one major question that surely trumps any suggestions of Headingley dropping points: Will Chris Burns really let this happen in his penultimate game as OHAFC first team manager? I don’t think so…

Expect the drought of opportunities last week to turn into a flood this week, and although many will be spurned, enough will be converted to see off any consolations that the tricky Aberford front men may take at the other end. Pickup and Booth to get amongst the scorers, with Will Johnson breaking his first team duck for the season and a member of the back 4 chipping in too.

Angell’s Score Prediction: Old Headingley AFC 4-2 Aberford Albion

Horbury Town Reserves Vs Old Headingley AFC (League)

Form DLLWW LDLDL

Last league meeting: OHAFC Reserves 4-1 Horbury Town Reserves (Gillespie, Grant, K Burns, Paul Harrington) 05/02/11

The Reserves were gutted to have missed the chance to get their season back on track last week. Hopefully this means they are chomping at the bit twice as hard this week to resurrect their season. Headingley enjoyed a league double over Horbury last season, but they go into this tie as underdogs with Horbury sitting pretty in 4th. Given the number of games OHAFC have in hand on the teams above them, they still have a good chance of moving further up the table if they can rediscover the form that gave them such an encouraging start to the campaign. Title dreams may be fading but they have certainly not disappeared yet. Big question marks over team selection this week; how many reserve team regulars will get requested to join the firsts? Who will get the nod at centre half? Did Gav Johnstone do enough at training to justify a fast track return to the side? Hard to comment on how exactly the game will pan out while all these questions remain unanswered, but on camaraderie alone from Reserve team regulars such as Monkhouse, Hasson and the Burns brothers, I would like to think Headingley will, in the very least, spoil Horbury’s day.

Angell’s Score Prediction: Horbury Town Reserves 2-2 Old Headingley AFC Reserves