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Saturday 21 October 2023 - Slip Slidin' Away

Photo by Luís Sousa on Unsplash

The cat is still alive.  But more of that in a moment.

On Sunday evening I drove to Chesterfield to pick up my wife and daughter from the railway station.  I had deposited them there on Saturday afternoon in brilliant autumn sunshine, but the nights have drawn in and on this foray my middle-aged eyes struggled to navigate through the gloom. I had better visibility playing the fog level of Lotus Turbo Challenge 2 on the Mega Drive.  I appreciate there are far worse things to worry about in the world right now, but it seems with each passing week another part of me either stops working or threatens to drop off.  Welcome to I, Punter.

Fair play to Bradford City.  If it's a dead cat bounce the cat must be made of rubber. The Bantams have clearly turned their fortunes around and last Saturday left Plough Lane - which for sponsorship reasons is currently masquerading as the Cherry Red Records Stadium - with all three points and my hope of another winning double in tatters.  In my defence, when making notes for last week’s blog I had jotted down “Tip DON” and in hindsight I may actually have meant to back Doncaster (4-1 winners over Sutton United) rather than The Dons.  My other selection Crewe Alexandra won 2-0 and are quietly taking care of business whilst the likes of Notts County (1-4 losers to Mansfield - ouch!) and Wrexham continue to reap most of the League Two attention.  To have any chance of making that £100 profit in October, I need this weekend’s double to be a winner but - famous last words - I am feeling optimistic as the following selections almost picked themselves.

After their demolition of League Two leaders Notts County at fortress Meadow Lane, Mansfield Town’s (4/9) home fixture with Forest Green Rovers should be a formality.  If the season finished today Forest Green would be in the National League and it would be a major shock if they were to leave Field Mill with anything other than a joyless journey home.  This is a game Mansfield wins nine times out of ten. The second leg of my double is another beneficiary of County’s humiliating defeat, Stockport County (8/15), who now sit top of League Two.  Fate has been kind to Stockport and their first game as new league leaders is Grimsby Town at home, a side who have lost four of their last six games with their only win being over Barrow who have similar form to Forest Green.  All games kick off at three pm on Saturday and at the time of writing my “hypothetical” £20 win double returns £44.30 for a profit of £24.30 at combined odds of 1.21/1 with Sky Bet.

In case you hadn't realised, this is a blog about betting and so far football betting has dominated.  But I still like an occasional punt on the horses and here is a speculative bet for anyone prepared to wait the best part of a year for a non-guaranteed payout: City Of Troy to win the 2024 UK Triple Crown (2000 Guineas, Epsom Derby and St. Leger) at 12/1 with Sky Bet (10s with other bookmakers).  It needs a lot to go right, and for connections to follow this lofty path, but it might be one of those crazy bets that actually seems nailed on in hindsight.  You never know.

I hope to see you next week.
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