Moaning Moaners moaning.

Bangor City 0 Neath Athletic 1
Welsh Premier League

It was all going so well, the pitch had been cut into a diagonal pattern, there was a nice breeze and the trade in the shop had been brisk.  Then the crowd from the High Street side began to move under cover; a sure sign that the rain was coming.  And lo!! The rain did come; a dribble then a downpour.

Our play wasn’t helped by the atmospherics; when the wind swirled so did the ball.  We’d had two good away wins in the last week but this was a bit more difficult. A packed defence plus a swirling wind don’t add up to sexy football. Consequently there were few chances and little excitement.

By the time I’d left the shop for the second half the rain had worsened. Viewing proceedings from the stand seemed to be the prudent choice. Whilst I looked for a space I caught sight of the end of a Neath move. The Neath player  unleashed a pea roller past Smithy. My plan had backfired as well; being two rows up doesn’t prevent sodden jeans.

Watching the match from the stand is somewhat different to watching the match from behind the goal. Not only is the perspective totally different but the people sat there seem to act differently too; We (behind the goal Ultras) support, they (in the stand moaners) criticise. We sing, they moan. We encourage, they grumble. I don’t think this has anything to do with age because GPO is “old” but supportive and he’s with us normally. I know they’ve paid their money, so you may argue that they’ve paid for the right to criticise but this is surely stretching that “right”.

It’s not just the the quantity of moaning it’s the quality. One Bloke wanted Bangor to; “Stop playing so much football. Iesu!!”. Another one wanted Bangor to; “Stop trying to walk the ball into the net”  one minute then castigated someone for shooting from distance the next; “He won’t score from there!!” He turned to me to find agreement after the last statement but I stared blankly forward. I kept thinking; “The players and Nev aren’t deaf, for fuck’s sake”

We didn’t play well but without the encouragement they only sound emanating from the crowd was criticism. Encouragement could have helped but, never mind, eh, it’s only one game in our history and we weren’t going to win the League anyway. As a lot of the moaners are more experienced in watching football than I am you may  think that they would be a bit more philosophical about it all. It’s not like the players weren’t trying either, something was just  missing today, just one of those days. I’d like to end by asking the moaners whether it’s too much to ask that they encourage a little more, just a little mind.

Neath left the Farrar Rd pitch in the manner of champions. There surely can’t be a finer sight in football that a  forty something taunting an 8 year old, nice one Neath!!!

 The fact that there was a  poignant tribute to Mark before the kick off put today’s match further into perspective.