True Blue

Hello readers! I am writing today after a pretty relaxing and ever welcome day off college.

I may have explained before, but every Wednesday, I have a whole day off! This is by far the greatest perk of my timetable and journey into college life. So, the past week has been mostly just doing college work and playing football with friends, this weekend has been a similar one in terms of routine to the current season so far; I went off to watch Bangor City! The match was against Afan Lido, an average side who were really lucky to win their last game and they were facing up against a Bangor team in good form and looking for nothing short of a win.

A win is what Bangor got, and a great performance accompanied a lovely 4-1 scoreline. The first half was more frustrating than anything, as Chris Simm missed a few good chances and they equalised a minute or two after the deadlock was broken with a flukey deflected effort. So we went in drawing and feeling hard done by at the halfway break, but Nev Powell must of given the boys quite a talking to as they came out, took control and finally found the net! Les Davies fired home the second - a powerful bullet-like header for the guy who needed a goal most (This was his first of the season), then Chris Jones got a second and Damien Allen finished them off with a good piece of passing and moving, losing his marker and receiving a great setup from John Owen (Promising young lad who's come through the youths) and never looked like missing.

So three points to stay top, possibly the best display at the new stadium, and the news that TNS only drew 0-0 were great factors - Bangor play at TNS next weekend and the rivals have got 2 points from their last 9 and haven't scored in three games. All encouraging factors!

It was at the match this weekend when Les scored that I realised just how much I'm currently enjoying travelling to watch City, the past week dragged so much that on Monday I was wishing it was Saturday for the match! Never before have I felt this passionate about football or Bangor, and I've been watching them since I can remember (Not down to choice like now though, Mum used to work Saturdays so I was with Dad and Bangor was where he went). At the game, me and Dad signed up for the Supporters Association and to truly show how much I love it, I bought a shirt! (Right)





It was great that United got a comfortable win while City only drew as well, and last night me and Dad went to watch Shrewsbury playing Coventry which resulted in an entertaining 4-1 for the Shrews, a much needed result! I'm now looking forward to the United game tonight and watching Bangor in possibly the toughest game of the season at the weekend!!

Thanks for reading!
-Andy.

College is cool!

Hello readers! Sorry about the gap since my last post!

Last week I started college! I'm attending Walford and North Shropshire College; the Oswestry campus to do A Levels in Pschology, English, Media and Film Studies. So far I am a week and half in to college life and am quite enjoying it! The best bit has to be the fact I have no lessons on a Wednesday and at least one free lesson every other day so I'm effectively only doing a four day week!!!
My favourite lessons are definitely Media and Film, I didn't enjoy Psychology much last week but it's definitely gotten a lot better this week. Also I already feel comfortable in and around the campus, I recognise quite a few faces and am enjoying being able to wear my own clothes all the time too - all good so far in summary. Now to football!

A week ago yesterday I traipsed with my Dad, his mate 'Ballo' and Declan to watch Bangor face Aberystwyth at Aber, I was hopeful of another 7-1 turnover like the one experienced on Saturday (That was live on TV so we stayed at home and watched), but this match was a lot different. It ended up 0-0, very few chances for both sides as Aber set out a lot tighter defensively and were aiming for a draw. The only highlight was when Jamie Brewerton got straight red carded for what the ref called a two footed challenge, upon first sight it looked harsh, watching it again on a highlights programme you wonder what on Earth the ref is doing! To make it worse, Bangor had an appeal against the red card dismissed!! Anyway what can you do, he's now out for three matches.

On Saturday Bangor were away at Airbus which is pretty much Chester so that was a short half an hour drive for me and Dad on a really hot day (where I foolishly wore tight jeans!) to enjoy a good ol' game of football. Bangor won 3-2, Chris Simm with a first half hat trick but yet again there was more shocking referee-ing, it really makes you wonder what's going on behind the scenes. So three well deserved points there and all week now I have been really looking forward to next Saturday where Bangor are hosts to Afan Lido; it's dawned on me how much I'm enjoying watching / following City this season - the only game I've missed is the 7-1 Aber game!

Today me and Connor Watts went to Wrexham Odeon cinema to watch The Sweeney, it was absolutely brilliant and I had a great time.In all, I'm enjoying college, can't wait for match days and everything is pretty good at the moment!

Thanks for reading!
-Andy

Venture into the unknown

Hello and welcome to my realm!

It's been a while since my last post and quite a bit has happened; last Saturday I travelled with Dad to watch Bangor away at Newtown (much shorter journey for us) where the officials were terrible, Bangor went 2-1 up with 5 minutes left and somehow lost the game 3-2. In the car back was pretty tense too as the radio described a pretty tense victory for Man United over Fulham (again, 3-2 but this time in our favour).

This past week has been my last of summer freedom as tomorrow (Monday 3rd September) I start college! I'm looking forward to it and seeing how it varies to school life but hope my timetable contains free blocks, maybe even a free day!! On Wednesday I ventured into Wrexham with Declan and Jack to watch Ted and as all the reviews state it was hilarious, I was laughing from start to finish and thoroughly enjoyed it.

This weekend, Bangor's match at home against Aberystwth was televised live on S4C so we decided to save the petrol money and watch from the sofa. We could not believe our eyes as after 6 minutes Bangor were 2-0 up and continued in this vein toward a resounding 7-1 demolition job! Quite a bounce back from the disappointment a week before! Today we - again from the sofa - watched the Southampton - Man United game and despite a terrible performance from the 11 that saw United 2-1 down with 5 minutes left, the magic of Robin van Persie occurred and an amazing 3-2 victory was achieved thanks to a van Persie hat trick!!!

So far too many 3-2's for my liking but what can you do? I'll post in about a week talking about how I'm finding college. Thanks for reading!
-Andy.

Birthday treat

Hello and welcome to my blog!

This week has been quite a good one, especially in the footballing world as Man United sealed the deal with Arsenal to sign Robin van Persie! This transfer has strengthened United's attack so much so that people are now comparing the current strike force to the one we had in 1999 (When we won the treble!). Since then, rumours about a loan deal for Kaka to join the Red Devil's for a season have been circulating and Sky Bet have massively slashed the odds so things are looking good!

On Friday Bangor City played the first league game of the season, at their newly named The Book People Stadium against Connah's Quay. me and my friend Declan went with my Dad on his birthday to see if Bangor could get the best possible start to a league campaign. Things started well with Chris Simm putting City ahead inside 10 minutes and the first half hour of the game looked like Bangor were on to a comfortable victory, but a bit of complacency set in and a few minutes before half time they conceded and so went in level at half time.

At this point, the only people in the ground who were pleased were the fifteen away fans. I wriggled a few pounds off my Dad to get a nice chicken and mushroom pie from the refreshments and must have been stood there queueing, in the rain, for at least twenty minutes of the second half. All I could see was Bangor dominance and getting unlucky to not have taken a lead when all of a sudden Connah's Quay had a break and a shot fantastically saved onto the bar by Lee Idzi. When I finally got back to my seat with the rather satisfying pie again I was seeing City chances. The goal eventually came when sub John Owen pinged a ball into the box which bounced up and struck their defender on the arm, this caused the stadium to explode into cries of 'HANDBALL!!!', the referee obliged and we were awarded a penalty, with three or four minutes to go. Up steps Dave Morley who confidently tucked the penalty away and has increased his Bangor status as a match winning hero.

We drove home happy overall at the victory, and a late goal is always special. The day prior to this, as a birthday treat, me and Dad went to see Expendables 2 on its first day of showing in the UK. We were thoroughly entertained and can confirm it is definitely as good as the first, Chuck Norris even makes an appearance! To celebrate the birthday further, my Nan and her husband Ian gifted him with three crates of strongbow cider, something that will keep him busy for sure!! Yesterday we went for a Wetherspoons meal again due to the birthday, and for the first time in too long I had the beauty that is a chili con carne.

Thanks for reading!
-Andy.

Super summer!

Hello! Sorry about leaving yet another sizable gap between posts, I've just been a bit busy recently.

So, on Tuesday 31st July I went to the Greenhous Meadow again with my Dad and this time my uncle Phil to watch and support Shrewsbury. This match was another pre season friendly and was against Wolverhampton Wonderers (who last year were relegated from the Premiership). In the first half, Wovles had a weaker side out and Shrewsbury were miles better and had a nice 2-0 lead at the break thanks to goals from Terry Gornell and Marvin Morgan. Second half, Wolves switched the majority of their team and managed to pull two goals back so it finished up 2-2 which was a fair result as each team had moments of dominance and were rather equal overall. The highlight of the game would probably be the Shrewsbury fans chanting "Are you sure you're not Wrexham in disguise?!", I'm glad I went and am looking forward to attending more games this season.

I have spent most of time either playing FIFA, playing football or watching football so far this summer and we've had suitable weather for it; day after day of clear blue sky and luminous sun. Also, as long as the weather stays good, I can predict this pattern continuing right until the start of college. I am eagerly awaiting the end of September, for the release of FIFA 13 (which I have pre-ordered), all the screenshots and clips I have seen of it look amazing and a big step up from FIFA 12!

This Saturday, I am going with my Dad and Declan to watch a Bangor City pre season game against Chester in the day, then rocking hard with Declan in the Ironworks watching The Misty Blue Trio by night! We saw this band a few months ago when the Miners Arms pub in Morda put on an all day event and were very impressed so I'm very much looking forward to that, my best musical discovery so far this summer has been Lower Than Atlantis; I've got their World Record album and every time I listen, it gets better and better. I highly recommend you give them a listen and perhaps even see them live this October, as they are touring the UK at the great price of £10 a ticket!

Thanks for reading!
-Andy.

Sun!

Hello world!

Last Saturday - a week ago today - me and my family were touching down at Manchester Airport and driving back into Oswestry after a week in the extreme sun in Corfu. We had a lovely holiday altogether, just at some points the heat was unbearable - we went into Corfu town via bus and on the return journey I was so sweaty I couldn't hold on to the support bars as my hands were slipping!!

Since being back in Oswestry, we've had some great weather (sunny, dry but not too hot) and remarkably I wasn't burnt once in Greece but here I have been burnt on my shoulders and neck! On Tuesday me and my Dad went up to the Greenhous Meadow to watch a Shrewsbury Town pre season friendly against Birmingham City. This was my first ever Shrewsbury match and it was a very enjoyful experience, Birmingham won 2-1 but had a better side especially in the second half when they brought on 7ft Zigic up front! We were impressed with the striker Marvin Morgan, Matt Richards in midfield and versatile defender Grandison and are going to attend the friendly against Wolverhampton next Tuesday!

Now, I am enjoying the sun playing football, relaxing and seeing friends, here's to a great summer!!

Catch up

Hello, sorry about how late this post is, I just haven't got round to doing it.

First of all, I'VE FINISHED SCHOOL FOR EVER!!!!!
Monday 25th June was my last day, doing science lessons and a science exam to end it. So I'm currently enjoying my huge summer and am glad to be away. The night before that, I watched England suffer yet again to the evils of a penalty shootout with disappointment in my eyes; we played well against the Italians and even looked like we were going to win the penalties but that didn't last. It is a shame to see us go out, but I think Roy Hodgson did a decent job - we did finish top of our group and are now ranked #4 in the FIFA World rankings. This means we're supposedly the 4th best team in the world. Whoah.

Last Tuesday (26th June), me, my friend Declan and my Dad went to watch Bangor City play Cefn Druids in a friendly which Bangor won 2-0. This experience reminded me how much I miss going to Bangor and how much I'll miss Farrar Road as they now have a new ground. Bangor played well in the game and a 2-0 is probably a fair result, both teams looked rusty but that's understandable as it was a warm up friendly. This game was preparation for the UEFA Europa League match at Nantporth on Thursday (5th July) against Moldovan side Zimbru Chisinau. Again, me and Declan accompanied my Dad and his friend Matt to attend and support the Blues. The game was good and Bangor were unlucky to not have taken a lead with them as they will travel to Moldova for the 2nd leg. Also, because of that match, Zimbru's manager has been sacked - this sounds like good news. The highlight of the game had to be a Bangor fan shouting "Gypo on!" when one of the Moldovans was closing down on an unaware Blue.

I've spent most of my free summer holiday time so far playing a lot of football with friends and for the majority, we've had suitable weather. Hopefully it will remain sunny / dry so this can continue, no one likes a rainy day.

That's it for now and I will make sure the next post is not as far off as this one was.
Thanks for reading!
-Andy.