THE RESERVES

A GUEST blog today by Hannah Bargery about watching our wonderful ressies in Widnes. Anyone dedicated enough to spend their Tuesday at the Halton will do for me.....

A trip to watch the reserves in Widnes may not be one of the most glamorous nights out you will ever have but it’s surely better than watching a United Champions league game on ITV with Clive Tysley banging on about ‘That night in Barcelona’.

A night at the Halton Stadium begins with you trying to work out which players you recognise from the first team and then filling in the rest of the gaps with the team sheet, (Get there early if you’re planning on relying on one of these, they only seem to print about five!)
Due to the size of our squad the reserves have been relying on a group of talented, young players such as summer signing Jutkiewicz, left back Paddy Boyle and the closest thing the reserves have to a ‘showboater’ JPK (John Paul Kissock-you won’t need a team sheet to spot him!) The reserves were extremely unlucky last year losing games by one goal as a result of the opposition having more experienced players and taking advantage at the end of games. With a year’s more experience under their belts however, they are already looking a stronger side and one thing you are guaranteed going to watch them is 100% effort and commitment.
In addition to obviously enjoying the game there’s always plenty of entertainment to be had from listening to the reserves crowd. Whether it’s the old bloke shouting “Come on Shiirrrrrrtttttyyyy” (ie. Slurred way of shouting ‘Come on City’), the group of eight year-olds chanting “Who are ya?” back at him (much more menacing when it’s yelled by such angelic voices) or a couple of years ago a confused young girl screeching “Look at that man’s hat!!” as Abel Xavier made a sub appearance to which her embarrassed Dad had to reply “er…that’s his hair”.
The mini-derbies always pull in big crowds and the reserves tend to have a good record against the red sh*te in this particular match. However it’s probably due to the fact that our sides in recent seasons have been made up of enthusiastic, hard-working kids. Whereas Liverpool teams often consist of fairly lost-looking Spaniards who spend the game wandering why the hell they have moved from Madrid to play in ‘Viva Las Widnes’ on a cold winter night. It was particularly entertaining last season watching Vaughany and Victor run rings around Pauletta and then irritating Dudek to the extent he took a swipe at Anichebe earning himself a red card in the process!
If this taster has tempted you to sample the delights the reserves has to offer you’ll have to wait until November 6 for the next home game. However just think how much more satisfaction there is to be gained from watching Everton’s future stars compared to some boring red sh*te game on the box!

• Post to:
•  del.icio.us
•  Digg
•  Newsvine
•  Nowpublic
•  Reddit