JN2053 - Assignment 2

CITY’S WEMBLEY
DREAM IN TATTERS
York City 1 – 0 Torquay United
(Torquay win 2-1 on aggregate)

York City once again missed out on a trip to Wembley after a 2-1 aggregate defeat to Torquay United in the FA Trophy semi final.

City won the second leg 1-0 but, courtesy of the 2-0 reverse at Plainmoor, crashed out of the competition.

An own goal on the hour by Torquay defender Chris Todd gave City hope but the Gulls held out to book a place in the final.

The Minstermen have now twice missed out on trips to Wembley in the space of ten months, having lost in last season’s play-off semi-final to Morecambe.

Chances were scarce in the opening half with Torquay looking to protect their lead and City wary of the tie being put out of their reach.

The home side though will rue the errant offside flag raised early in the game against Onome Sodje, whose goal was perfectly legitimate.

The second half produced more chances though and, cheered on by a now boisterous Bootham Crescent crowd, York looked to claw their way back into the tie.

City captain Manny Panther should have done better seven minutes in after being picked out by Wroe in the box but he miscued his shot.

Punishment swiftly followed for the City skipper as boss Colin Walker looked to seize the initiative, replacing Panther with striker Richard Brodie.

And just six minutes later the home side broke the deadlock. Craig Farrell collected a pass and cleverly threaded the ball through to Onome Sodje leaving him a clear run on goal.

His shot was well saved by Torquay keeper Martin Rice but his parry flew into the net after striking the defender Todd.

Chances then came and quickly went for City.

Brodie hit a firm shot from a difficult angle that Rice did well to gather before Wroe found the ball at his feet close to goal only for the impressive Torquay stopper to smother well.

With no doubt nerves jangling, Torquay desperately needed a goal to finish off the tie as the City pressure increased.

A free-kick 35 yards from goal looked an unlikely source for their relief but, after being brilliantly struck by Kevin Nicholson, City keeper Tom Evans was forced to swat the ball away from his top corner.

The respite was brief for the away side as two penalty appeals in quick succession again set Gulls hearts aflutter.

A Purkiss cross fell to the feet of Robinson inside the Torquay area and, as he looked to shoot, appeared to be tugged off balance. Referee Steve Bratt wasn’t impressed.

The second appeal followed an attempted strike from Woolford, who seemed to have had his leg taken away from behind as he looked to pull the trigger. Again the official waved away the protests.

That seemed to knock the wind out of the home side and, despite the hapless Todd’s attempts to gift City another own goal with a nervous header back to Rice, Torquay held on.

Watch highlights of York City's FA Trophy semi-final second leg defeat to Torquay United.


Video by YorkTV

DOUBLE WEMBLEY

HEARTACHE FOR CITY

And so City miss out on Wembley again by the finest of margins and must now play out the rest of a relatively meaningless season with the play-offs a far too distant target.

That is now what lies ahead for Minstermen fans and new manager Colin Walker.

A representative of Jorvik Reds, one of the club’s most prominent supporter groups, believes though that the players will have no excuses for switching off for the remainder of the season.

"Missing out on Wembley is obviously a disappointment, but these are professional players and should be able to move on from that."

It was, however, under the tutelage of Walker’s predecessor Billy McEwan that York suffered the first dose of their double heartache.

After a goalless first leg at Bootham Crescent in May last year, there was genuine hope on the terraces that York would be one of the first few teams to sample the ‘best stadium in the world’.

As is though familiar with the City faithful, hope turned quickly to despair as the second leg of the Conference play-off semi-final was lost 2-1, despite taking the lead.

Fans were then forced to endure images of the victors of the tie, Morecambe, gracing the new Wembley turf. Ninety minutes later they saw them dance around in elation having beaten Exeter and were left to wonder what might have been.

To say the last few years for City fans have been tough would be an understatement.

Relegation from the Football League in 2003 on the back of several financial nightmares, where the club’s own future existence was in doubt, was about all the supporters could take.

The last piece of success for City was the old third division play-off victory in 1993 and, after briefly threatening a second successive promotion, a period of stability kept the fans optimistic.

It was during this period that York put themselves on the map with perhaps one of the greatest ever upsets in football.

Travelling to Old Trafford in 1995 in the League Cup second round, the Minstermen recorded an emphatic 3-0 victory. And despite a 3-1 reverse at Bootham Crescent, City progressed past the team that would go on to win a Premiership and FA Cup double.

Just a season later York repeated the feat, this time defeating FA Cup holders Everton in the same competition.

This was as good as it got though for the club, as relegation to the bottom tier of English football soon followed. As quickly as they had appeared in peoples’ minds, they disappeared.

The end of 2001 signalled the start of a significant period of turmoil, as chairman Douglas Craig put the club up for sale, stating that unless a buyer was found the club would have to surrender it s League status.

In March of the following year a ‘saviour’ was found in the form of John Batchelor, a Team B&Q racing driver and owner. Despite claiming he had purchased both the club and the ground it was later revealed the ground had not in fact been secured.

Then, to the ridicule of football clubs around the land, he re-branded the club York City Soccer Club in an attempt to appeal to American markets. Rather predictably the plan failed and, after other promises went unfulfilled, the club entered administration in 2003.

Between then and now York have hired and fired four different managers. Never afraid of the bizarre, one of these managers included the youngest in league football in the form of Chris Brass, 27.

Now, in their fourth season of non-league football, York City are enjoying a time of relative stability.

Despite this fresh dose of disappointment the York faithful will remain loyal. But will they soon expect more than the mid-table Blue Square Premier position they now occupy?

The Jorvik Reds supporters group clearly do.

"The season has clearly been a disappointment. Our league position is unforgivable. To get to the Semi-Finals of the FA Trophy is good, but not good enough.

"I don't think missing out [on Wembley] has affected them, I think it's more the loss of our key players and poor management that have cost York this season.

And on the club’s ambitions for next season, the group confirmed their belief that City should be aiming higher. "This league is unpredictable and I think silverware can be achieved.

"Next season York should be looking for the play-offs."

Cast your vote on York City's ambitions for next season...

more at twiigs.com...

Golf: the good and bad

Thanks to Chris Henry's blog at EagleParBirdie for this post. Over two articles Henry highlights a disruptive influence creeping its way into golf and "two figures who maintain their heroic stature."

The first centres around a story on the antics of John Daly at the recent PODS Championship. The Tampa Tribune told how the American, after he had failed to make the cut for the event, hung out at a Hooters bar by the 17th hole.

Reporters covering the event described this area of the course as "raucous", understandably as it is believed the bar served unlimited wings, beer and parking for $69!

This leads to Henry expressing concern as to the present conduct of the watching galleries at US golf events: "Aren't tailgate parties meant for parking lots rather than golf tournaments?"

Golf, of course, has always been seen as a civilised and highly skilled sport and so rowdy spectators plied with beer can hardly be seen as welcome. With atmospheres "akin to a stag party" the real spectators who genuinely come to watch and learn from the pros at first hand are losing out.

Henry sums up the problem: "Now, golf tournaments are beginning to attract people who couldn't give a s***t about golf but are coming out because they can get free wings, beer and hooters all day."

Henry counteracts this with a posted article on the great work done for the underprivileged by Tiger Woods and Ernie Els. Despite some players offering nothing back to the game that has served them so well, these two leading players have set up organisations which "offer under-privileged kids the opportunity to learn a game while [also] developing as human beings."

The Tiger Woods Foundation and the Ernie Els and Fancourt Foundation, Henry argues, show that two of golf's most prominent figures are willing to leverage their talent "for leadership in a way that empowers lives."

These two articles both reflect on the morality of golf as a sport, much more than would ever be seen on mainstream sports news sites.

Upcoming tournaments...

European Tour: Maybank Malaysian Open

View Larger Map

US Tour: PODS Championship

View Larger Map

Asian golf on the rise

Thanks to Patricia Hannigan (the Golf Girl) for this post.

She highlights the fact that now half of the world's top twenty women's players are Asian, with this figure at virtually zero just ten years ago.

Players such as 18 year old Michelle Wie (pictured, right) have been at the forefront of this surge but the current leading Asian is Ji-Yai Shin at world no. 7.

Considering she is only 19 years old, there is a real prospect that Asian players may soon be ruling the women's golf world.

As the Golf Girl states: "The LPGA Tour is paying close attention to this Amazin' Asian golf trend and there will surely be more high profile events held in Asia in the future, as they acquire more globally oriented sponsors and build a strong international fan base."

This article has sparked great debate on her blog, with issues being raised on whether these Asians carry enough 'personality' on the Tour and why there isn't a similar trend in the men's game. To see these comments, click here.

Chris Henry, on his EagleParBirdie blog, backs this up with an article on increased commercial sponsorship of Asian golf events.

Mercedes Benz have recognised the surge in popularity of golf in that part of the world and have become "title sponsor of a regional tour in Southeast Asia." Now, certainly in regards to the women's game, Asia is now being recognised not only as the source of the best up-and-coming golfers but also as the best place to generate money.
Picture: www.chosun.com

The Golf Girl post in particular highlights how these blogs can pick up on these growing trends in golf and from that spark debate on the issues behind them.

Garcia/Weekley feud

This is perhaps a story that the main news channels haven't picked up on; the Golf Blog claims that Sergio Garcia, during his WGC match last week against Boo Weekley, made a noise as the American was about to play his shot in an attempt to put him off!

This apparently stems from an incident last year when Weekley filled in Garcia's scorecard for the PGA Championship incorrectly, leading to the Spaniard's disqualification from the event.

The little piece of gamesmanship didn't help though, as Garcia lost 3&1.

Picture by Bret Arnett/Flickr

Golf on the decline?

EagleParBirdie, Gauging Golf and the Golf Blog have all posted articles voicing their concerns that the number of people playing golf is declining every year; perhaps millions in the US.

EagleParBirdie (EPB) states that "according to the National Golf Foundation, the core golfer today is someone who plays 8 rounds a year." This to me sounds pretty alarming considering that I, as a kid with my Dad when I briefly took up the sport, must have played 8 rounds in, at the most, six months.

EPB does not believe the problem is time, they argue the issue is purely financial; "a skateboard or even an Xbox 360 costs less than your average set of irons."

However mulligan, of the Golf Blog, does believe the problem is time and says he has the solution: "make a round of golf 6 holes. You can divide up 18 holes into 3 courses. People can finish in under 90 minutes."

This idea has attracted several comments and more ideas on the blog. Click here to view them. The main problems within golf people have highlighted are lack of etiquette, lack of quality instruction, poor golf course marshalling and, perhaps most humorously, as one person wrote: "Taking 15 practice swings on your putt. It's not going to help. take two, three, and then freaking putt the darn ball."

These posts all refer to an article from the New York Times published 21 Feb. Click here to read.

All these blogs have addressed a very significant issue within the sport and each have interpreted the problems and come up with their own thoughts and ideas. But most importantly, they have also allowed scope for people to agree or disagree and to suggest other ideas and concepts. The best place to look for solutions to golf's problems may well be in its blogging community.

Golfing history

A brilliant article written by the Armchair Golfer comments on his meeting with Errie Ball, a 97 year old resident of Florida who played in the first ever Masters and was reportedly the youngest ever player to compete in the Open in 1926!

In it Ball remarks on the time he spent with Jack Fleck, who in 1955 pulled off one of the greatest sporting shocks in golf history by defeating the great Ben Hogan in an 18 hole US Open play off.

Aparrently before the tournament, in the qualifying section, Fleck told Ball he would not be going through to the main event after shooting a disappointing total over 36 holes. Ball wagered a dollar that he would and the rest, as they say, is history.

For the article in full, click here.

This article shows that much more intimate, genuinely interesting and humorous stories from the past can be found in the golf blogging community.