2013 William Hill Sports Book of the Year – Shortlist
The shortlist for the 2013 William Hill Sports Book of the Year has been announced and is as follows:
- The Boys In The Boat: An Epic True-Life Journey to the Heart of Hitler’s Berlin by Daniel James Brown (Macmillan)
- The Sports Gene: What Makes The Perfect Athlete by David Epstein (Yellow Jersey Press)
- Bookie Gambler Fixer Spy: A Journey to the Heart of Cricket’s Underworld by Ed Hawkins (Bloomsbury)
- I Am Zlatan Ibrahimovic by Zlatan Ibrahimovic, David Lagercrantz and Ruth Urbom (Penguin)
- Doped: The Real Life Story of the 1960s Racehorse Doping Gang by Jamie Reid (Racing Post)
- Seven Deadly Sins: My Pursuit of Lance Armstrong by David Walsh (Simon & Schuster)
The winner, to be announced live on BBC Radio 4?s Front Row on Wednesday 27 November, will receive a £25,000 cash prize, a £2,500 William Hill bet, a hand-bound copy of their book, and a day at the races.
Having arrived about fifty minutes before kick-off we took in the clubhouse for a pint and with others watching the racing from the St Leger meeting at Doncaster on the television, my son and I read our programmes and talked about the game to come. With kick-off approaching, we made our way out to the pitch and eventually settled for a spot near the edge of the Frank Hill Stand. The main stand opposite is an impressive structure, but it is evident that the terraced ends within the ground have been reduced in size. Yes the stadium is a little rough round the edges, but it has bundles of character.
We opted for a change of view for the second half and walked round to the main stand, first purchasing a tasty burger and pie and peas. With the weather still fine, we took in the September sun, munched and idly discussed the game so far. Soon the teams were back out on the pitch, and it was another highly enjoyable half of football. Sheffield started the more positive of the teams, dominating the possession and creating the better chances, with Andy Gascoigne firing an excellent opportunity over the bar. Frickley were having to play on the break and on fifty seven minutes made the most of the chance. Luke Hinsley had time and space to run at the Sheffield defence and fired a shot on target which Annerson failed to hold, allowing an easy tap-in for Picton. Despite being 3-1 down the visitors continued to press, but it was just not their day as when Sheffield were able to get in on goal, Woodhead came to the rescue for Frickley. The visitors huffed and puffed, but Athletic continued to be dangerous and clinical on the break and progress to the next round was secured on seventy eight minutes. Allott was the outlet on the right for Frickley and his cross was poorly dealt with by Annerson who could only finger-tip the ball which fell to Picton, who had a simple finish to complete his hat-trick and seal a 4-1 win.
However, sometimes you just can’t help yourself. Take the game today for instance. Farsley had lost their opening game of the season away at Clitheroe 1-0 missing two penalties into the bargain and followed this up with a 3-1 home victory over Prescot Cables. Their opponents today Darlington 1883 had stormed to promotion taking the Northern League Division One title last season and had got off to a flyer in the new campaign not conceding a goal, as they dispatched Warrington Town (2-0) at home and Bamber Bridge (3-0) away. With Farsley seemingly still trying to bed in the summer signings and Darlington massive favourites to achieve a second promotion, the result seemed to be a bit of a foregone conclusion. Certainly this was the buzz from the travelling Quakers fans’ that swelled the attendance to a healthy 502 at Throstle Nest.
That confidence translated from the terraces to the Darlington players on the pitch, as they dominated the game from the off. The opening ten minutes belonged to Darlo as Stephen Thompson was the major threat to the Farsley defence. He was providing a dangerous outlet down the left and also had an early attempt on goal which Tom Morgan saved with his feet. Morgan was soon in action again, as he turned an Amal Purewal effort round the post. However, The Villagers held on during that early bombardment and on the counter won a penalty when Darlington skipper Leon Scott clipped the heels of Aidan Savory. Farsley skipper Rob O’Brien stepped up and scored to put the home side ahead with thirteen minutes gone. Darlington though took it in their stride and nearly equalised on the quarter hour mark, but Thompson fired wide after good work by James Moore provided the opportunity. If the expectation was that it was just a matter of time before Darlington equalised then this belief was dispelled as Farsley grew in stature as the half went on with Ellington and Savory coming more into the game. Bell in the Darlington goal had to make a finger-tip save from a Savory volley and suddenly the visiting fans were looking nervously at each other as their side was struggling at the back. Their concern was realised when on thirty one minutes Savory collected the box on the edge of the box before turning and firing home a low drive past Bell. The Farsley faithful were in raptures just three minutes later, when from a Paddy Miller free-kick, Bell tipped the ball onto the bar and with Darlington failing to clear the ball, Savory slammed home his second to make it 3-0. The Quakers players were shell-shocked and their supporters stunned at the shift in momentum of the game. However, they did get back in the game with Thompson providing the cross from which Andrew Johnson had a comfortable finish, just before the half-time whistle.
Many in the ground would have assumed that the visitors would come out all guns blazing in the second-half. However, it was Farsley who started the more positively. Darlington manager Martin Gray reacted by bringing on David Dowson and Craig Gott on fifty four minutes, but just two minutes later Farsley restored their three goal cushion as Savory raced onto a Mark Thompson through ball to smash home for his hat-trick. With the home side 4-1 up they seemed happy to sit back and allow Darlington possession. Whilst this allowed The Quakers plenty of the ball and despite the introduction of final substitute Paul Robinson, Darlington were unable to fashion a genuine chance as the game hit the seventy minute mark. Just as it seemed there would be no breakthrough for the visitors, Farsley backed off too far and allowed Stephen Thompson time and space to shot past Tom Morgan. Darlington continued to ‘huff and puff’ and with seven minutes remaining they were awarded a penalty after Matt Young was adjudged to have fouled Andy Johnson. Stephen Thompson took the kick, but blasted it high and wide and with it went The Quakers last chance to put Farsley under pressure and salvage anything from the game. At the whistle, Farsley had deservedly taken the points with a 4-2 score-line.
Manager Graham Nicholas has to be applauded for getting together a team from ‘scratch’, but it will take time before the squad settles and gels as a unit, as more players sign-on and Nicholas is able to impart his vision for how he wants Garforth to play. In the case of the Thackley fixture, The Miners were up against a side used to the rigours of the Northern Counties East League and it showed. The opening twenty minutes of the game were pretty cagey as both teams tried to play passing football when in possession without really threatening or creating a scoring opportunity. However, the visitors started to dominate and Karl Martens had to react smartly to stop an effort from Thackley’s Chris Davey, before another Davey effort went wide shortly afterwards. The pressure from The Dennyboys finally paid dividends on thirty minutes and it was the dangerous Chris Davey who made the breakthrough, firing home after a Matt Morgan cross. The last fifteen minutes of the half were all about Thackley as Martens made excellent saves from Matt Morgan, Mike Garrod and Lewis Morgan, and efforts cleared off the line. The Miners were grateful to hear the half-time whistle and lucky that they weren’t two or three goals down at the break.
One of the features of the early weeks of the new season is the start of the League Cup. 2013/14 is no exception as August will see Rounds One and Two completed of what is the Capital One Cup. It’s a chance for some early ‘giant-killing’ and as Bradford City proved last season it can be the start of an unexpected and lucrative adventure.
Neither side made any substitutions at the break, but the second period, despite no changes in personnel had a different tempo. Within the opening fifteen minutes of the half, there was a flurry of chances as Feulner and Ginczek had efforts on goal for the visitors and McCormack and Varney responded for Leeds. There was also a bit of ‘hand-bags’ as McCormack and Dabanli tangled which sparked a skirmish in which both keepers became involved in. Once this all calmed down, both teams started to introduce a number of substitutes just after the hour mark which meant the game struggled for any flow thereinafter. However, with twenty minutes remaining, Leeds once again conceded at a set-piece. German Under-21 international Marvin Plattenhardt took the corner, which was flicked on by Berkay Dabanli to provide an easy header from just inside the penalty box for man of the match Ginczek. More substitutions took place which included a home debut for Matt Smith, but the Germans continued to look dangerous and created two very good chances late on for Niklas Stark and American International Timothy Chandler as the game went into the last ten minutes.
