How Soon Is A$AP?

Tranmere Rovers face Notts County In EFL 2 at The County Ground

The Rovers visit the Pies on a surprisingly sunny day in Robin Hood Country 🏹. We hope that it's the Whites pulling off a daylight robbery today. Tranmere are on a run of 2 draws but have not won away from home since December. We are hovering just above the trapdoor to the bin league😨. The Pies are up at the other end, pushing for automatic promotion. Big news of the week comes from a court in Los Angeles where A$AP Rocky, husband of Rihanna , was acquitted on gun charges. He and his lawyer, Joe Tocopina, are now free to get on with the takeover💰💰💰. There is a new face on the pitch. it’s Jake Garrett who is on loan from Blackburn Rovers. Hope he’s a proper Garrett head. Sam Mather, the young MUFC loanee, is on the bench. It’s a back 3 with Captain Tom joined by Lee O’Connor and Jordan Turnbull. Cameron Norman and Omari Patrick are wingbacks. It’s Sam Finley, Jake Garrett and Chris Merrie in the middle. Connor Jennings, in his 250th Rovers appearance, is up front with Josh Davison. We don’t recognize any of the Pies. New signing Pukka 🥧 must be injured. It’s a nice ground on the banks of the river Trent. Just a shame that we are not allowed to sit pitchside. There is a good crowd with nearly 500 of the SW Ahere having made the journey. We’re making a good noise. Let’s hope it spurs the boys on.

The Whites start well and are camped out in the attacking half. Within 5 minutes we have had a couple of shots blocked. It's the Pies turn for a shot then it’s straight down the other end again. Josh Davison hits it wide before Omari’s shot is saved. Tranmere running riot here. Where have these players been all season? Need to make it count though. Luke makes his first save on 20. Back down the other end again and the Rovers get their first corner. There are a flurry of chances from Jake, Omari and Josh. Still not clinical enough with the shooting. The Pies get their second shot on 44 but it’s saved by Luke. Into injury time and Careron’s header is saved. That’s it for the first half. It’s 0-0 at the break but Tranmere have had 12 shots and none of them wild strikes. Blimey. Unlucky not to have scored a couple there.

The Pies start brighter and dominate the first 5 minutes. The Whites start to get back into it and get yet another corner. Lee O’Connor is booked on 52 as the ref changes tack and stops letting things go. Jordan gets in shot in from the edge of the box and it goes for another corner. It’s the Pies turn to get in a few blocked and missed shots, We get another corner but Connor’s header is saved. Tom Davies gets ready to take a free kick just inside the Rover half. He delays it as Luke has decided to come up and take it. Tom is booked for something and has to retake the freekick himself. Bizarre from Rovers and the ref. Ref may be losing it here! Jake sees another shot go just wide. Nigel has waited until the 79th minute to make his first change. It’s Josh Williams that comes on to replace Sam Finley. A stray pass in the middle of the pitch gives the Pies a chance to break. IThe move ends in a well taken goal. Luke gets his fingertips to it but can’t stop it flying just inside the post on 80. Bugger. Need to get back into this quickly. Notts are still pressing and and Rovers fail to clear the ball. It’s chaos in the area and Jatta scores despite falling over and kicking while horizontal. 2-0 on 83. The consolation is that Jatta gets booked for over celebrating 🎉. Let the time wasting begin. And begin it does, as the County keeper suddenly finds himself immersed in treacle. Hope the Rovers can stay calm and not let it get to them. Nigel makes some more changes now we are losing. Josh (the invisible man) Hawkes replaces Omari. A claxon must have sounded somewhere to announce the arrival on the pitch of a striker as Davison is replaced by Dennis on 87. In a loanee exchange, Sam Mather replaces Jake Garrett who has had a great game. The Whites suddenly come to life and Kristian Dennis scores from a Merrie cross having only been on the pitch for a minute ⚽. The 4th official announces 7 minutes of injury time to cheering from the SWA. The comeback is on. Dennis’s next shot is saved then the keeper goes back into sloth mode 🦥 taking a minute to take the goal kick. Ref does nothing. Dennis' next shot goes wide. Keeper wastes another minute. Ref does nothing. Connor comes so close to the leveller as he throws himself at the ball but get get enough on it to direct it into the net, We get a good shout for a penalty for a handball in the box but the ref is not impressed. The County keeper does his sloth thing again and finally gets a booking. Such an amateur. Scotty Davies would have wasted more time and not got booked. The Pies manager joins in the time wasting as the ball goes out for a Tranmere throw. Instead of catching it, he flicks it over his head into the stand. Ref is wide awake now and give him a straight red. He eventually stomps off down the tunnel. It’s all getting a bit Minority Report as the ref appears to get the yellow card out to book Merrie before he has even made the late tackle. It’s the last action of the game as the whistle goes on 90+8. Aaaand breath.  Wow. What an end to the second half.

That was the performance of the season from Tranmere. Not the result it deserved though but we are a bit toothless up front. The SWA were fantastic too. Or as we have now rebranded ourselves, “A$AP Rocky’s Super White Army”. A new song for the Palios too with a bit of a reworking of “This is how it feels to be Tranmere”. Mark and Nicola won’t have enjoyed that. Maybe the performance was a buyout bump as the players can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Whatever it is, we’ll take it and hope we see a few more like it. Better results will come if we can bottle the passion from today. It could be improved. A bit more confidence to shoot from the edge of the box might see us get a goal or 2. Not that we didn’t have plenty of shots but we always wait too long looking for the extra pass and it’s blocked or saved. Not that there was any wild shooting today, there were some very near misses. Today exceeded expectations as we didn’t get the battering we were anticipating. It was close in the end and we weren’t outplayed at any point. Confidence is maybe the difference in the teams as this is our 10th consecutive away loss. Feel a bit sorry for the sub who came on after the game had gone. They made a really positive impact. Might have even turned it around if they have been given more time. It was good the see Dave Goat outside the ground selling the latest GUAR and if you’re reading this Dave, the Brighton manager we couldn’t remember was Gus Poyet 🤮. We'll have a read of GUAR on the tram back to the car. A long day and a long journey home but really enjoyed being back with the SWA. Hope to see you again soon. UTFW✊.

POTM: Todays award goes to Jake Garrett. Love a young loanee who gets stuck in and makes a difference. Well done 🏅.

The ref started off doing OK but didn’t cope well in the second half when the Pies started to push it. He’d completely lost the plot by the end. He didn’t bottle doing some unpopular things like booking the over celebration and time wasting x2. Three yellows and a red in injury time is a reflection of how inconsistent in what was OK and what wasn’t.

The Scran’O’meter gave the hot chocolate a 7.5/10. Cadburys but nothing special.

The stewards looked really fierce but were very friendly and told us they thought we deserved to win. Now we like them even more. See you next season maybe.

Breaking - Bottle top news - Pepsi sold with the lid still on. And it was a removable lid. What sorcery is this?

That’s us for today. Lionesses at some place in Brent up next.

Love Tranmerekat 🐾

In the sunshine

On the Football Motorway

Tram ride

Robin Hood woz ere

At Meadow Lane

12 shots in 45 minutes

Stand and We Shiver

Brighton & Hove Actually Women face West Ham Women in the WSL at the Chigwell Construction Stadium

The Seagulls are on the road again.  This time we take on the Hammers on a very cold afternoon in Dagenham. It's a new ground for us and first impressions are not good as we are put in an open terrace behind the goal with no seating. There is a huge seated stand at the far end with about 10 people in it. What a farce 🤷. At least we are able to soak up what little sunshine ☀ there is. There are 2 mascots here. Bubbles the Bear 🐻 and Hammerhead the … hammer 🔨. Bubbles gives us the thumbs down 👎. Hammerhead gives us a thumbs up 👍 and gets a kick from Bubbles for being nice. No good deed goes unpunished. There is some great team news. She’s back. Well nearly. Super Fran is on the bench. Kiko starts as does newbie Caitlin Hayes who has replaced or displaced Dotti today. Caitlin played at Stanford Bridge when we watched Chelsea beat them 3-0 back in November. We are unfortunately familiar with one of the Irons. It's Vivienne Asseyi who falls over a lot and screams very loudly every time. The ref shut her up with a yellow card last time we met at the Broadfield. Hope she gets shut down if she starts that nonsense today. Ex Albion keeper Megan Walsh is on the bench. We are well above them in the table but they seem to be a bit of a bogey team. Hope we can turn that around today.

It starts with good tempo and both keepers are forced to make early saves. Melina makes another good save from Riko Ueki only for it to drop to Shekiera Martinez to tap home on 11. 1-0. Boo. It 's soon level again as Nikita levels from Rachel’s low cross on 14 ⚽. 1-1. Back in it. Vicky is booked for holding (looked more like a move out of Jorelyn's Judo Manual). The resulting free kick forces Melina into a good save but she is injured and play stops for a while. There are chances at both ends. They come thick and fast towards the end of the half. The Hammers come so close as they hit the inside of the post and rolls across the goal. Fortunately there is no-one there to capitalise and it’s all even at the break.

It’s West Ham who start better than Brighton and dominate for a while. We have to wait to to 55 when Kiko forces a good save. The play becomes scrappy for a while. The Hammers eventually take the lead as Riko capitalises on an error at the back to score on 64. And they double their advantage on 67 as Rachel gives away a penalty. It's the unusually quiet Asseyi makes it 3-1. Double boo, Long road back now. The Seagulls haven’t given up though. We win a corner on 70. Vicky hits it straight at the first defender. It goes out for another corner which hits the same defender. What an appalling waste. Vicky is soon replaced by Dejana, as is Kiko by Pauline and Jelana by Super Fran. Whoop. She’s back. It gets better from the Seagulls with Pauline on the right and Fran causing problems in the middle. Maddie has had another good game and is replaced by Bex Rayner. She goes on the right displacing Pauline to the left where she is on the wrong foot to get in deep crosses. Again. Bex is lively but we get no more clear chances. A 3-1 defeat for the Seagulls. The warm coach beckons 🚌.

That wasn’t much fun. Well, until the last 10 minutes, again, when the Seagulls we know and love finally appeared from their slumber. The first half was an even battle with chances taken and missed both ways. They got the better of us in the second half as we ran out of ideas and energy again. Dario waited until we were behind, again, inject a bit of energy. The team came back to life with the changes, especially the addition of Fran to the attack. Dejana was a good replacement for Vicky who seems to slow play down too much at times. Dario needs to find something to stop us getting beaten in the second half.  Despite the result, we did our bit and made a lot of noise. A song for every player except Caitlin because we don’t have one yet. Bit more to celebrate would have been nice though. The new signings look good and both have Champions League experience . Hopefully we’ll be needing that soon 🙏.

POTM: Newbie Caitlin Hayes gets the award for a solid performance on her first start. She can only get better.

The officials did OK at times but made some odd decisions. Didn’t see the penalty foul so will reserve judgement. Big upgrade on last week though.

The scran’O'meter made do with some Cappacinos ☕ from the kiosk. Was OK, a steady 8 but much appreciated in the cold. Service was a bit fierce 🦁.

Steward Watch returns after a long absence to moan about them being unhelpful and grumpy in equal measure. Good job we had low Essexpectations.

It’s the international break now so we are off up north to catch up with the Super White Army and see how Tranmere are getting on🙏🏼.

Love Tranmerekat 🐾

Dull in Dagenham

Watching the action

Sally is here

Home of the Daggers

Freezing in Dagenham

Achy Breaky Bart

Brighton & Hove Albion Men face Chelsea in the FA Cup 4th round at the AMEX Stadium

The Seagulls (boys edition) host the Blues, seen here in black with pink and yellow trim, at Falmer in the FA Cup 4th round. Following the Women's defeat to Aston Villa at Walsall this afternoon, we are hoping that the boys can get a result tonight. It’s been a long day already so to do it in 90 minutes would be much appreciated. We're in the front row of the North Stand which we have been told is the noisy bunch. We have managed to avoid being eaten by Gully. Again. The balti pie has been consumed (mostly, one of us may be wearing some of it and has an appointment with the Vanish when we get home). The wheelie bins of fire 🔥 put on a very impressive display. There is a very loud rendition of 🎶Sussex By The Sea🎶, a bit louder than earlier today, and we are off.

Cole 🧊 Palmer takes the kick off and the Blues get the first chance. Bart Verbruggen makes a great save to tip it over the bar. The resulting corner turns into a comedy of errors as Bart fumbles it then headbutts it into his own net on 5. Opps. 0-1 to the Chels. The early play is energetic and fiesty. The battle between Lamptey and Pedro Neto is very entertaining. Neto is getting very frustrated 🤣. There is booing every time Cucurella gets the ball and the same for Sanchez in goal. The equaliser comes on 12 as Georginio heads home from Veltman’s cross ⚽. Best limbs wev’e seen for a while. The booing starts as soon as Cucurella gets the ball and turns into a massive celebration as he is sent flying by Veltman. Cheering a foul like it’s a goal. Love it🥰. Veltman gets a yellow and the freedom of the city 🗝. The Blues are getting frustrated with the officials, none more so than Neto who, when he is fairly tackled by Lamptey, ends up doing a forward roll over him. His shouting and gesticulation get him nowhere. Dunk gets injured late in the half. He comes back on but it looked nasty and we don’t expect to see him after the break. It’s still 1-1 as the whistle goes.

The Seagulls are now attacking the North End so let’s hope we get some action around the Chelsea goal. Webster comes on to replace the injured Dunk. Brighton start well and Chelsea are looking frustrated but still dangerous. Mitoma is causing chaos down the left wing. He drifts into the middle and is on hand to put the ball into the top of the net on 57⚽. Limbs especially in the North Stand as he celebrates right in front us 📣. There are a few more chances but we can’t stretch the lead. As the clock winds down, the pressure builds on the Seagulls. They start to use the corners of the pitch for a bit of Chloe Kelly style time wasting. It works and the final whistle goes on 90+4 with a 2-1 victory.

That was fun. First time watching the Albion men at the Amex and the first time in a decade or 5 watching Chelsea boys. A deserved win in front of an almost sell out crowd. The was a good atmosphere and it was especially noisy in the North Stand behind us. The Chelsea fans were surprisingly quiet for such a big number. Guess Basil doesn’t go to these games ,they could do with him to get them singing. Some of the chanting at Cucurella was a bit much and was probably only spurring him on. We enjoyed the battle between Lamptey and Neto with Lamptey being good value for the win. The Albion now move on to the 5th round with the draw taking place on Monday. Don’t think we will be there but you never know. Maybe next year though 🤔.

POTM: goes to Kaoru Mitoma for being unplayable, And celebrating in front of us.

The officiating was good, kept the game flowing and innored the theatrics of both sides. The lack of VAR helped and was good not to be waiting for ages for decisions. A better game for it.

The Scran’o’meter gave the Balti pie a scrummy 9/10. Hope it comes out in the wash.

It’s been a very long day so we’re going home to bed when we can find the car.

Love Tranmerekat 🐾

In the West Stand

Warm in here

Love a programme

When The Chip Goes Down

Brighton & Hove Actually Women face Aston Villa Women in the FA Cup 5th Round at the Poundland Stadium

The Seagulls travel to the West Midlands to play the Villains at a cold, damp and overcast Bescot Stadium. The Seagulls beat Durham 3-1 at the Amex training centre after some ‘issues’ with the pitch in Crawley. This should be a tougher test as Villa are vying with the Seagulls, Spurs and Liverpool to be the best of the rest in the WSL. No points on offer today though, just a place in the last 8☝. There is a new face in the Albion line up. It’s Nadine Noordam who we last saw playing for Ajax against Chelsea in the Champions League a year ago. Maddie is banned after being sent off last week. Melina keeps her place in goal 🥅. Bruna is injured and has gone back to Barca ✈. Kieke is injured and not in the squad today. The Villians have the usual suspects plus our own Katie Robinson who is on the bench. We have arrived in plenty of time thanks to the excellent Dave the Driver 🚌. 32 fans and a meerkat travelled on the coach. It’s a cup 🏆 game so the risk of extra time and penalties is ever present. Hope not though as we have to get back in time for the men’s game at the Amex. We meet up with the Villain’s mascot in the carpark. It’s Olaf ☃ but in need of a good wash. The pitch doesn’t look great. It’s got even less grass than the Broadfield. There are about 50 of us. There is a group of about 20 Villians behind the goal making a good noise. They have a bigger drum 🥁 than we do but we do our best with 🎶Sussex by the Sea🎶 as the teams come out.

It’s all Villains from the kick off and Brighton can’t keep hold of the ball. It’s very broken up and scrappy, not helped by he state of the pitch. The Seagulls start to come back into it after about 15 minutes. Nikita’s shot is saved. Jelena’s free kick drops to Maria but she can’t sort her feet to prod it home. Nadine is starting to come into the game a bit and is looking like a good addition. The Albions are given the strangest free kick on 36. Anna Patten returns to the pitch without the ref’s permission and so she gives us a free kick. There is confusion before it’s taken, unsuprisingly more so because it’s indirect. Still ends up wasted though. Maddie gets her chance but the shot is saved. The Villains are outraged when Kirsty Hanson isn’t given a pen but it’s waved away. Oh dear, what a shame, never mind. The breakthrough comes when a mistake by Lucy Parker sees the ball fall for Nikita who makes it count. on 45. Into injury time and Villa get a corner. It’s a scamble in the box and it drops to the unmarked Anna Patten who prods it home on 45+2. Bugger. Level at the break.

It’s a rare bit of quality on the pitch that sees the Villains take the lead. It’s a Rachel Daly header from the middle of the box on 50. 2-1. They finish us off with a 3rd on 55 as Chastity Grant runs on to a through ball and scores from a tight angle. 3-1. The Seagulls protest 🙋 about it being off-side and Dotti ends up getting booked for something 🤷. Jelena hits one of her great freekicks but it’s saved in the top corner. The Seagulls' changes start on 66. Nadine is replaced by Pauline, Vicky by Marisa and Jorelyn by Dejana. Hope that adds a bit more energy. We get a goal back as Nikita finishes from Maddie’s cross. 3-2. Anna Patten goes down injured again. She gets up, goes down etc and is finally subbed off. We get lucky as there is a mix up between Maria and Melina but the Villains can’t capitalise. Jelena has not stopped running but she can have a rest now as she is replaced by Michelle on 82. Villa are starting to waste even more time now. We breathe a sigh of relief as Rachel Daly goes off only to groan as Ebony Salmon replaces her. The Seagulls are playing better now and get some chances as Michelle has a positive impact. She gets caught off-side in the last action of the game. A frustrating 3-2 loss. We may have lost but at least we did it in 90 minutes so we can get off back to the Amex now.

That was fun and frustrating in equal measure. The actual game was the frustrating bit as the Seagulls struggled to pass on the lumpy muddy pitch. The coach trip and spectating were fun 🎉. The Villains Ultras, all 20 of them, competed to make a good noise and the banter was good natured. “You’re only here to steal our chips” beats “you’re just a sh*t West Ham” everytime. The attendance was very low, 500 maybe. So low it’s not been officially published. Embarrassing, although it isn’t their usual venue as they are normally based at Villa Park. We need to have different ideas when Plan A doesn’t work due to the conditions. Anyway, we’re concentrating on the league now and looking forward to the Hammers away next Sunday. That’s all for now. Got to get back to the Amex to watch the boys.

POTM: Goes to Maddie for a gutsy performance and an assist 🏅. Special mention goes to Dave the Driver 🚌 who got us there and back safely and in good time.

The ref will be disappointed with her poor day at the office today. At least we hope she would be disappointed although she may be oblivious to or even proud of her performance or lack thereof. Villa got a foul for flattening their own keeper. The keeper herself flattened Nikita and got a free kick for it. NAd booking Dotti for pointing out the bleeding obvious. Enough said.

The Scran’O’meter thought the Vegan Pukka pie managed a mediocre 6/10 and the hot chocolate earned a watery 6/10 despite adding loads of sugar. We should have had the chips which were apparently very nice. We would also have paid for them and not stolen them as per our reputation.

Long trip back to Brighton now. See you later.

Love Tranmerekat 🐾

World of Quid

On the football motorway

It's My Party

Brighton & Hove Albion Women host Crystal Place Women in the WSL at the Peoples Pension Stadium

The Seagulls host the Eagles on a sunny day in Crawley, Sussex (soon to be Surrey). Brighton have stalled in the league but are still unbeaten at home in the league. They did win 3-1 over Durham in the FA Cup on Wednesday. We didn’t go as we couldn’t get tickets for the match that was moved to the Lancing Training Centre at the last minute. The Eagles are sitting bottom of the league and looking most likely for the drop. They only have a single win so far. They have made a few signings in the transfer window so may well save themselves. It would be nice to have some rivals in the league and Sutton in an easy awayday. The team news is in and Melina Loeck is in goal with Guru and Maria in front of her. Poppy andd Rachel are out wide Last time out they played as a sort of back 3 with Poppy and then Rachel dropping into a 4 when needed. The defensive mids are birthday girl 🎂 Maisie and Vicky. Unusual to see them playing together but we like it. Cancovic, Maddie and Pauline make up the 3 with Nikita up front. There is only one familiar name on the Eagles team sheet and it’s young Lioness and Chelsea loanee, Lexi Potter. Looking at the league table would appear to favour the Seagulls but the Eagles are in a scrap for survival so will make it a tough game. Brighton are in 5th but Spurs have closed the points gap with the difference being goal difference. Need to start on the front foot today and make the possession count. Sally (the big one) was spotted leaving the car park before the game and didn’t reappear. Did she stomp off 🥾in a huff after being banned from the Redz Bar again for stealing chips 🍟 off the customers?

Starting on the front foot is exactly what the Seagulls do with Nikita missing in the first minute. Vicky’s shot is blocked then Pauline misses from range. The Eagles start to get some possession but keep falling foul of the offside trap. The Seagulls are pressing in the middle of the pitch when the Eagles have a nightmare. A long back pass is missed by the keeper and she chased 🏃 after it but it evades her and rolls slowly into the net on 22 ⚽.  Poppy nearly makes it 2 when she makes herself a great chance. It's a fantastic shot but it curls just wide of the top corner. The Eagles are trying but still can’t beat the offside trap. There is a worrying moment when Maddie goes down injured in the opposition box. It looks bad but she’s tough and soon up on her feet. No penalty though. Into injury time and Nikita wins a free-kick just outside the box. Jelena hits it well but it’s saved in the top corner. The second goal won’t come and it’s a narrow lead at the break.

The second half starts well but Pauline’s shot is saved. Maisie makes a robust tackle in the middle of the pitch. It looks like a good tackle to us and most of the crowd but the ref brandishes a card. Booking her seems a bit harsh but then she directs Maisie to leave the pitch. In her wisdom the ref has given a red card. Unbelievable ref. Dismay and confusion as the birthday girl walks off and down the tunnel. Aimee Everett is down after the tackle, she gets up after treatment but soon goes down again and is subbed off. Still think the tackle was OK though. The first Albion change comes with Pauline making way for Marisa. Palace start to get a bit stroppy and get a flurry of bookings followed by a flurry of hasty subs. The Seagulls get some good chances now. Marisa, on the turn puts it just wide. Nikita’s shot is saved but results in Albion’s first corner. Whoop. Don’t score though. Maddie has given everything and is replaced by Michelle. The Eagles are putting Brighton under pressure and Melina makes a good save. She can’t save the next one and the score is level on 88. Bugger. It’s hard to follow the time as the scoreboard has gone off. It came back on briefly but has gone off again. There are 10 added minutes and chances for the Eagles. They start time wasting even throwing away the spare ball to prevent a quick throw in. Is there ref bothered? Hardly. Marisa gets the best chance for the Seagulls on 90+7 as she runs clear but it hits the post and there is no-one there for the rebound. The Eagles get the last shot but it’s well over and the bar and the whistle goes at 1-1. 2 points dropped stolen there.

The Seagulls must be disappointed that they couldn’t get that done and dusted in the 1st half. They dominated the ball but were not able to get it into the back of the net despite a few chances. Their only goal coming from a defensive howler. They still should have got it done right at the end but it wouldn’t go in. Feel sorry for Maisie, she won’t forget her birthday this year for all the wrong reasons. It was the turning point but they hung on well and nearly nicked it. I wonder how long it took to round up all the match balls after the game. Never seen so many go up on the roof with at least 10 going over.  Expect to see a few of those on EBay tomorrow.  Credit has to go to the Eagles player who found a new way to waste time. With Brighton attacking the far end then Palace, the ball was only down our end for 5 exciting minutes near the end. Note to self: bring 50p for the meter to help with the scoreboard.

POTM: goes to Poppy for battling and running throughout and the 2nd best shot of the day.

The ref seemed to be doing OK up until the sending off that we thought she got very wrong. And missed a few others that were as bad. There were a flurry of bookings after that. The time wasting needed clamping down on but she did nothing. The lines persons did well except for missing a howler in the first half when the Eagles no.9 was about 2 yards offside.

Scran’o’meter loves a Dough Shack margaritta pizza and gives it a 9.5/10.

See you soon.

Love Tranmerekat 🐾

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Sunshine in Sussex

Ska

Wheelie bins of fire

Little Sally

Flagtabulous

Long Ball Sally

Brighton & Hove Albion Women host Arsenal Women in the Subway League Cup Quarter Final at the Broadfield Stadium

The Seagulls play host to the Gooners for a place in the semi-final of the cup formerly known as the Conti Cup. We are hoping for a bounce back from losing to Liverpool away on Friday. It’s our first Seagulls game of 2025 after the very late postponement of the Durham FA Cup game 12 days ago due to a frozen pitch. The pitch has defrosted and the pizza 🍕 van has arrived so things are looking good. Melina Loeck is in goal with Baggers on the bench. Dotti is back from injury so starts alongside Guru. Poppy and Rachel are out wide. Vicky, Marisa and Jelena are in the middle, Kiko, Maddie and Bruna are up front. Nikita and Pauline are on the bench. Michelle can’t play against her home club so is not in the squad. It’s not the strongest line up but it is the Fast Food Cup. The Gunners line up is formidable even with a few big names resting on the bench. Zinsberger is in goal so we are expecting a break in the play at some point as she takes a nap. We have 62 minutes in the Zinsberger Nap Sweepstake. Last time the Seagulls met the Gunners, we showed way too much respect and suffered badly for it. We need to start on the front foot tonight.

The Albion hold their own at the start and are getting plenty of possession in the Gooners half. We seem to keep passing until we lose the ball and without ever actually getting round to taking a shot. The Gooner are more of a threat. The Seagulls insistence on playing out from the back nearly costs them as Lotte pounces on a mistake and for Melina into a good save. The visitors are putting a bit of pressure on the hosts now. The Seagulls get a good chance on the break but Kiko’s shot is wild and miles off target. It’s a shot though. The Gunners get some more chances but the Seagulls hold on until the break. 0-0. Take that. Big half to come.

There are some early changes. Walti is replaced by Little on 48. Katie Ried, who has had a good game, is replaced by Emily Fox and Meado by Mariona on 57. The Seagulls join in a Parris replaces Cancovic and Maisie replaces Bruna. Dotti is recently back from injury and is replaced by Caribali. The Gunners come close as Mariona hits the post from range. That’s a warning from Mariona. She then dispossesses Vicky and assists Russo to break the deadlock on 65. Between them, they create another for McCabe on 68. A fantastic shot from Cooney-Cross on 70 takes it to 3-0. The result seems inevitable now. The Seagulls final changes are Dejana for Vicky and Pauline for Maddie. Maddie has put in a great shift and gets a good round of applause 👏 as she walks past the stand. The Gunners show their depth by bringing on Stina for Leah for Leia. Mariona caps off 2 assists with a goal. It comes after the Seagulls fail to clear the ball and it’s a fantastic chip from the corner of the box. Can’t save that. The Seagulls have been well beaten by the supersub Gooners with 3 goals in 5 minutes in the second half delivering the fatal blow. The 4th was just salt in the wounds.

The Seagulls played well in the first half but were ground down by the quality that the Gunners were able to bring on from the bench. Mariona had an amazing game and undid all the Seagulls hard work. It was a much better game than the 5-0 thrashing in North London despite the similar looking scoreline. Our prediction of penalties was a possibility for the first half at least. The Seagulls put in some good performances particularly Poppy and Keke on the left. Dotti was playing well but Carabali has had better games. Still love her though ♥. Maddie played well and looked knackered when she was subbed. A tough night up against McCabe. We had been expecting a Zinsberger nap at some point and were very disappointed it didn’t happen. We had our own supersub at halftime as Sally joined our gang. The Seagulls need to regroup ready for Man Utd away on Sunday. We’ll see them back here for Durham on Wednesday. We are hoping to tp summon up the courage to get to Swindle to see Tranmere on Tuesday,

POTM: Goes to our favourite left back, Poppy who had a great game linking up with Kiko and dropping back into defence when needed.

The officiating could have been better. Maddie got no protection and took a bit of a battering tonight.

The Scran’O’meter is back to it’s best with the wood oven Margarita pizza 🍕 and garlic dip courtesy of the Dough Shack 🚚.

See You soon. Love tranmerekat 🐾.

New coat at the Broadfield 

Well hello Sally

2 Storey Love Song

Newhaven FC away to Saltdean United in the SCFL at Hill Park

The Dockers visit the Tigers in the second league game of the new era. This fixture was postponed from last year due to a waterlogged pitch between Christmas and New Year. It’s a chilly night at Hill Park but it’s stayed dry and the wind has dropped. Hopefully a good game will follow. We have paid £2 for the programme which is a 100% price increase and something we really approve of. Anything that keeps printed programmes going is fine by us. Saltdean are just above the relegation spot with just 2 wins to their credit. They have started to draw some games so will hopefully pick up enough points to stay (just). Just not tonight of course. You can’t have rivalries without rivals so we would be disappointed if they went down. The building work for the new club house and stand has started. The stand still has wooden benches but is much longer and already in use. The club house is only a single storey peeking over the hoarding. Team new now. Reedy has moved up to fight wing. Behind him is a new face, Richmond Osei. Related to Kwabs? Hope he’s as good. “Inset short fanfare here” because Little is getting his first start for a year following a few sub appearances including a late goal at the Withdean on Saturday. “Big” is in the crowd as he’s under the weather. There are two new faces on the bench. They are Dexter Lambert and Liam Osborne. No familiar faces in the Tigers. Aaron is in the crowd and there is no sign of Marley so he must have moved on. The teams change ends after the toss so the Dockers are attacking the south end.

The Dockers get plenty of the ball and get the first chance but Bailie’s header is well saved. There are a few more chances but then the first goal comes from nowhere. Literally! The Dockers are pressing just inside the Tigers half when the ref blows the whistle. What for? Who knows? Not us or the lino. It turns out that the ref has given a penalty for a foul on Jake off the ball. Saltdean are livid. We’ll take it though, or rather Jake takes it and smashes it home ⚽. 0-1. There are some more odd decisions with pushes on jumping players going unpunished and 50:50 tackle resulting in free kicks. We can almost hear the Monty Python music playing in the background. He is certainly making it up as he goes along. The half finishes with no more drama. 0-1 to the visitors.

The second half starts where the first left off. There is a comedy of errors from the ref. The crowd is baffled. The equaliser comes on 60 and it’s a great goal. The ball is turned over in the middle of the pitch and lumped forward. The Tigers No.9 runs under it, pulls it down with his first touch and gives Josh no chance with the finish. All very James Norwood circa 2019. The game starts to get a bit niggley Tucky is booked as seems to be usual these days. The Robinsons combine as Little blocks a Tigers defensive clearance. It lands at the feet of Jake who fires it at the goal from about 35 yards. The keeper is caught unawares and it’s 2-1 to the Dockers on 67 ⚽. Saltdean have been better this half but they have had a shocker there. It’s time for some Dockers changes with Kwabs on for Tuck who looks injured. Little is working back to match fitness and is replaced by Dexter Lambert. It gets more niggley now and there are some bizarre decisions. Reagn and Bailie both booked for something or other. There are a few more subs. Kieron is shouting a lot to try to motivate his boys to get back into the game. It’s almost working as they have the Dockers pinned in. There are some late subs with Orbourne for Reedy and Warwick for Radley-Martin. Jake wanders over to the touchline as the number 10 is held up. He’s not 10 today and he knows it. He wanders back to the centre circle as Warwick who is the 10 leaves the pitch. The number 9 is held up now and Jake wanders slowly back to the touchline where he is replaced by Mo, our favourite supersub on 90+4. Top time wasting from Jake. Eventually the ref decides he wants a cup of tea and blows the whistle. Victory on the road for the Dockers.

That was fun and bizarre at the same time. The Dockers huffed and puffed a bit but had quality that the Tigers couldn’t match. The Tigers are organised, Kieron does his best, but are 2nd bottom for a reason. It will be a surprise, and very disappointing, if they get relegated. It’s back to back away wins for the Dockers who are starting to creep back up the table. Fingers crossed for some consistency building through the rest of the season. It's exciting to see the building work started. We like the bigger stand already. Wondering how they are going to level the pitch for the 3G and what they might find buried under it 💰🦴🤷. Looking forward to seeing the progress next season.V

POTM: Performance of the day goes to Jake 🏅. Great energy, fantastic goals and top time wasting.

The Scran’O'meter enjoyed the hot chocolate and rated it 8/10.

The officiating was bizarre at times tonight. The decision making was very strange and “he making it up as he goes along” has rarely been more accurate. No-one saw the foul on Jake for the pen but we’ll take it. Lino on our side was a bit bewildered by what was going on.

Three points heading back along the A259.

See you soon.

Love Tranmerekat 🐾

In the new stand

Back at Hill Park

Peace-haven Queasy Feeling

Newhaven FC host Peacehaven & Telscombe FC in the SCFL Premire League at Fort Road

Happy BRUT and new gloves day. It's Havens derby day as the Dockers host south coast rivals, the Tye on Boxing Day. The Dockers are improving after a very patchy run of form The Tye are in the unusual position of being above the Dockers in the table. It's not the usual bright and cold weather of Boxing Day, it's mild, overcast and drizzling. There have been a few changes to the line up since we last saw the Dockers 6 weeks ago. Jack Shonk has joined Bexhill and scored a brace to beat the Dockers last time out. There are lots of injuries, both long and short term. A new face for us is Johnson Adesanya who is playing in the no. 7. Lee and Jake up front. The Ryans are in the middle. Jack is between the posts with Tarun Rohilla and Kwabena Osei in front of him. Wide of them are Billy on the right and Bailie on the left. 'Little' is still working up to full fitness and helping the coaching team. The bacon rolls are being munched round the ground by the big crowd. The ferry leaves just before kick-off and were ready to go.

The first chance goes to Captain Lee but it's off target. The Tye get a great chance next. Somehow Billy gets in a massive thumping tackle at the edge of the box. He's down for a while and is helped off the pitch to be replaced by Harry Reed. What follows is a lot of scrappy football with neither side getting any decent possession. Warwick's shot from range goes wide. One of the Tye players comes up with a great new way to delay a free kick. Stopping next to Tye 🤣your laces right in front of the ball. The Tye no. 10 breaks the deadlock on 39 as he volleys from outside the box into the top corner. No keeper is saving that worldie. 0-1. The Dockers are under a bit of pressure and get a couple of yellows. Jack makes a great save after 5 minutes of injury time to keeps the deficit to 1. Relief for us as the whistle goes for the break.

Charlie Connell is replaced by Tristan Jarvis at the break. The first chance goes to the Dockers as Lee picks up a through ball and passes it to Reedy be can't get it under control as he runs out of space and it ends up in the side netting. A minute later down the other end and it's a different story and the second goal for the visitors. 0-2. The Tye are making their few chances count. The Dockers first shot on target comes after almost an hour although Jake's shot is well saved. The next shot is from Warwick. It's a scuffed effort from the edge of the box that rolls slowly towards the goal line. It just crosses the line before the defender gets back to clear it ⚽. We get close to a second but Bailie's header from a corner hits the post. The equaliser won't come and the visitors extend their lead on 73. The ball is given away cheaply and despite a good save, the rebound is put into the net. 1-3. It would probably have been given as a penalty due to a late lunge in the box had it not ended up in net anyway. The Tye keeper is given a very loud and deliberately public final warning about time wasting from the referee. Top man👍. The Dockers make 3 changes and gain some momentum at last. The chances suddenly come thick and fast. They go: Bailey header (over), Jack (wide), Reagan (over), Bailey (over again) and finally Jake (over). It’s not going to go in is it? The whistle goes and it ends with a loss. The points and the bragging rights heading west down the A259. We'll be there on Easter Sunday to get those bragging rights back.

A scrappy game between two sides , neither in consistent form. Loved it😍. The Tye just edged it on the efficiency of the chances converted but the Dockers were very wasteful at the end. Might have been a bit more composed if it wasn’t for the 2 goal deficit. They didn't use the wings as well as they can do but hopefully a few personnel will be back from injury in the new year. Neither side really matching their levels from last season. We were really impressed with the Tye-m wasting techniques and hope to see that copied elsewhere. It was a jumbo 🛫crowd of 747 packing into Fort Road for bacon rolls and 9th division football. Although some of the Tye fans may have been a bit annoying reaching a heady 8.5/10 on the Whitehawk scale. We did have to move to the other side of the ground. The Peacehaven fans in the stand did make a lot more noise than the Dockers who were barely heard today. Perhaps they are still in bed.

POTM: No real stand out performances today but the award goes to Ryan Warwick 🏅for work rate and the goal out of nothing to keep us in the game.

The ref had a good game generally and especially loved his earbashing of the Tye keeper with a very public and final warning for timewasting 🤣. He got the yellow cards right. Also credit to the lino on the park side for admitting he didn't know which way a contested throw went rather than guess👍.

Ferry ⛴watch: It left spot on time before the kick-off which was 2 minutes late.

The Scran'o'meter scored the hot chocolate a yummy 8.5/10 ☕.

Last game of the year in a year of 53 games and 162 goals. What a year it has been. Wonder what 2025 holds. See you there.

Love Tranmerekat 🐾

Ferry about to go

The teams

Boxing day at Fort road

Quiet in the Skatepark

A busy year!