Gameweek 9 Preview

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

Despite being only 2 weeks ago, the last OHAFC matches seem an age away, not least because of the change in weather. I have a feeling the meet will be back indoors this Saturday and Eddie K may even have to cover himself up. No doubt he will still rock up in sunglasses, but his decision on which set of boots to prepare relentlessly with vast amounts of dubin and polish and a variety of small tools, may be left late. The ‘studs vs moulds’ debate will be rife before kick-off this weekend. Aside from the weather, the two weeks since the last game have been jam-packed with events, including a superb but predictable north London derby win for Spurs, England qualifying for next years Euros, Amelia getting kicked out of x-factor (ask Leigh Fearne how much he put on her to win it) and a number of stories emerging from a small town in Wales following OHAFC’s visit last Saturday. Having been absent I cannot report stories of a great substance, but all I know is that I am now officially very scared of Phil Harrington, and I NEVER want to get too close to Andy Williams’ face- not even if he washes it with a wire brush… Anyway, pants parties and fat welsh women aside, lets have a look at this weekends’ cup fixtures:

BD3 United vs Old Headingley AFC

N/a Form WDWWW
Last league meeting: N/a

As with the last prediction, I cannot tell you much about this team- other than they are a ‘community-based’ team from the heart of Bradford, and earlier in the season the OHAFC reserve team trounced their BD3 counterparts 5-0. I see no reason why the firsts cannot repeat this, especially when 3 of the last 4 wins have come against Kippax, Ilkley Town and Wibsey. Indeed there could be even more goals if Booth is available. Although he is stealing most of the limelight at the moment, it is also important to take note of the current spells of form that the majority of the first team find themselves in; Kempton, Hallam and Pickup in particular up top, while Williams and Phil Harrington are keeping a tight line in defence. It will be interesting to see which starting line-up Burns decides to go with, especially having missed the last two training sessions. Whichever line-up he opts for, I expect them to do a professional job and carry on the goalfest. Sadly, having seen too many sloppy goals conceded recently, I cannot predict the clean sheet I would otherwise have gone for. Good scorelines come in 3s…

Angell’s Predicton: BD3 United 1 – 6 Old Headingley AFC

Old Headingley AFC Res vs Campion

DWWWL Form

Last League Meeting: N/a

This is an extremely hard prediction, not only to make, but to put into words. The OHAFC reserves are under no illusions that previously against Wetherby, they were well below the standards expected of an OHAFC player. Rumours of discontent at training sessions unfortunately made their way to the tabloid media, which inevitably lead to further non-footballing stories coming out to unsettle the squad. CCTV footage of Marc Lucas getting a peck on the bald patch from an ex was closely followed by claims from a Welsh chamber maid that she was subject to lewd sexist comments from Tom Monkhouse and Sean Tyres. Add to this the media frenzy surrounding Paul Leonard after he took it upon himself to dive-bomb off a ferry and get arrested, and you’ve got a pretty big week for Fryer to have to deal with.
The next issue is this weeks’ opponents- I watched them beat the OHAFC first team 4-0 at Woodhall 2 years ago, and this was without their centre midfielder Des Hamilton, once a £2m signing for Newcastle Utd, who I played against the previous season in the same competition. Campion are a very good team. They are technically very good, they do not shirk a challenge and they know how to get the ref on their side. They also have one of the best left wingers I have ever seen. That said, they are not the greatest team in Yorkshire, and they have not all bonded in a small Welsh town in the last 7 days. If the OHAFC reserves do not show the passion they should once they pull the shirt on, not only will they get well-beaten, but they risk falling into the beginnings of a ‘bad patch’… They go into this game as underdogs, and although the starting 11 gets harder to call every week, you can’t help but feel this is the type of game players like Leonard, Comrie, Shields and Curtis would relish. The recent good form of Danny Burns could also prove timely. Unfortunately I predict a loss this week, but I hope I’m wrong. If I’m right, I hope there are still plenty of positives to be discussed at the Skyrack after the game.

Angell’s Predicton: Old Headingley AFC Reserves 2 – 4 Campion