Livzy reviews Bangor City from 2001-02
Here's part 2
By Webmaster/Rheolwr y Wefan
October 21 2002
This is part 2 of 'Livzy's review of Bangor City, from 2001 to pre season 2002.
…..roller
coasters just keep on rolling…
So
how does the end of the season find me? To be honest rather like a kipper. Or a
two up two down after a fire. Gutted, mate, gutted. OK – if you’d come to me
on August 23rd and offered me third place, an appearance in the Welsh
Cup final and a UEFA Cup slot I’d probably have ripped your arms off and hit
you with the soggy end but football’s a “funny old game” as Sir Ron
Bojangles Atko may have once said. Chasing hard on the heels of the Barry Clowns
full time pros right up until the last ten days of the season and, as predicted,
Jiws scoring more goals than you can shake a large stick shaped stick at. The
Ginger Monster appearing on, and in, even more radio, t.v. and newspaper reports
than Livzy himself! Top goalscorer in Europe for actual goals scored. Some
achievement and certainly the main reason City got to the top of the league and
Welsh Cup final. Five hat-tricks, one four, two fives and two double hat-tricks.
Amazing really. 66 goals in all compos. I think I left you after the farcical
Oswestry floodlight thing. So to race through the rest of the season quicker
than Kenny B skinning defenders, here goes…..
13
goals against Flexsys home and away (TEN for Jiws!) Hammering TNS 3-0 at home,
paying Daniel O’Connell’s fine after Cardiff Civil Service came up to
Fortress Farrar with great hopes and leaving with ten men and a nine – one
scoreline. (SIX for Jiws!), getting beat by Caersws in the league cup, two trips
to Port Talbot, two late kick offs, two geographically challenged drivers and
two shameful 1-0 defeats, annihilating Carmarthen in the Welsh Cup 4-0 (only the
one for Jiws – shock, horror!) Beating the English home and away within a week
and Lofty continuing to prove he’s one for the future. Getting beat by Caersws
with Jiws and Robbo on the bench, another five against Flexsys in the Welsh Cup
semi at Rhyl. (Yep – another Jiws hat-trick) Getting beat by Newtown two-zip
after them not scoring a goal for about fifty five hours of football,
re-visiting Appleface down Rhayader way and coming away with a seven niller (Go
on then, SIX more for Ginger Balls – well if Becks can have golden ones…)
Finishing our home season with the best record by far. 13 wins, 3 draws and only
one defeat. Contriving to lose second spot on the last day of the season with a
pathetic 0-0 draw at Carmarthen and then on to Park Avenue, Aberystwyth and
losing 4-1 to the Barry in the “showpiece” of Welsh Football. Or at least it
would’ve been had we not played on a ploughed field and the BBC in their
infinite wisdom, pointing the cameras at the minibus of Barry fans rather than
the 1500 passionate City supporters. OK – we may have lost – we may have
been second best on the day but “we are Bangor, super Bangor” and we
shouted, chanted and sang long before the match started, all the way through and
long, long after the final whistle had blown. Not often in any Cup final
anywhere in the world do you see the winning team stand still and being clapped
politely by a few old dears with their knitting and the losing finalists doing a
lap of honour to a standing ovation. I guess that’s the difference between
buying success and actually having a successful, well-supported team whose fans
love their Club. What else can I tell you? I suppose I could mention Jiws being
picked as Supporters Player of the Season, Jiws being picked as Managers Player
of the Season (by a massive vote), four city players in the Top 5, five City
players in the Team of the Season, Lofty as “Ar Y Marc” Player of the Month
(having followed Jiws of course!), Lofty being absent from the Rhayader game due
to a week long trial at Villa, Lofty getting international recognition and his
first cap looming for the Wales under 19’s (remembering of course, the lad is
still only 17) Jiws and Shaker being picked by Tommi for the Semi-pro side but
even more surprising, no place for Mop-Head Glyndwr. Not bad, not bad at all.
So
what’s next? Well we’ve got a jolly somewhere in Europe come August, we’ve
got a Manager who has already sated that he’s going to be around for a while
yet, a Chairman, who despite his protestations, will be “investing” again
next term, we’ve got a job on our hands to keep the lads we’ve got and,
hopefully, add two or three more to what is already, one of the best City sides
I’ve seen in a long, long while.
And
so ends the ride for another term. Like I said right at the beginning of the
season, I love roller coaster, me, the ups and the downs, and we’ve certainly
had them both. Unfortunately most of the downs came in the last fortnight of the
season. Two defeats, one win and a draw isn’t Championship form. Getting beat
by full-timers isn’t so bad but when it’s the Welsh Cup final and it’s
against Barry Clowns, it seems to hurt twice as much. Tell you what, they’d
better be ready for us next season coz we’re out to get ‘em! Time to pack up
the candyfloss and toffee apples, send the Roustabouts home for a few months
break and get the tarpaulins out. My roller coaster is over – well at least
till August 19th and the UEFA Cup Qualifiers anyway!!
Oh
Aye WE ARE BANGOR Aye
Oh
Aye WE ARE BANGOR Aye
Oh Aye WE ARE BANGOR Aye