NEWS
29 November 2006
You can be forgiven for being a bit sore and fatigued this morning, I certainly am. Football wouldn't be football without games like Southampton Parkway 2 Merton Park 2 (AET, won 4-2 on pens).
OK, this may "only" be the 3rd qualifying round, but I'm really hoping this result will finally kickstart our season. While at times we did look second best (Eastleigh are a waged CS club after all), the attitude was there, and so was the desire to win. This would have pleased a lot of doubters of recent form, because it showed that we can apply ourselves as and when. Or perhaps frustrate them even more?
Game of the season so far? Undoubtedly. This was the first time we'd beaten a higher division side in a "proper" (none of that Surrey Senior shite) competition since Dover Athletic in 2004, though I will probably get an email now saying we beat somebody else in 2005 or something. While ideally I'd liked to have done this over the 90 minutes, I hope this game proves to everyone that we can play well. Whatever was put in the refreshment bottles last night I hope is done again for the rest of the season.
Was everything sweetness and light? No. For the last half-hour, we seemed determined to throw it away with them inching closer and making AL earn his pay. If I'm being honest, their goal was inevitable, and I was consoling myself that at least I would get home early and that we'd tried hard but ultimately failed.
I suppose I felt the last hurrah when on 92 minutes, Roscoe made one last darting run through their defence from the half way line. At the time, I didn't think we were going to score, it was more a case of hoping we would have one last decent strike and we could go home content. When he passed to Lewis Cook I still felt the same. When he whipped it in for SF, I was still thinking about Saturday and how it was going to be the must-win of all must wins.
You know what happened next. Well, if you were there you did. If you weren't, basically, SF slotted home from the near post, and by fuck was he happy. Come to think of it, I think all of us were slightly pleased.
Somehow, after that, I knew we wouldn't lose. How many cup games have you seen over the years when a team is under the cosh yet gets a last gasper, going on to win? I think the players knew it as well, because we really looked a more composed outfit. Runs were coming off, passes were being, er, passed, our energy levels were almost inhuman. Perhaps we ought to lobby the Ryman for all of our games to be played over 120 minutes in future? We certainly seem to kick into life then.
When SF netted a practically identical goal in ET, I knew we weren't going to lose. When they equalised later on, I still didn't. And even though there was a collective breaking of wind when penalties were due, I wasn't feeling the vibes before the Wycombe shootout, put it that way.
And while I'm no sports psychologist, the players really must have had their confidence sky high. I'm not exaggerating when I say that every penalty we took was as calm as you like. Unlike the Eastleigh players, a couple of whom looked as though they needed the bog themselves to calm their nerves.
I know we won, but I think this anyway. I really can't understand why people (particularly ex-pro commentators) are so anti-penalty shootouts. They're not unfair - each team gets five penalties, score them all and you win. Simple. Forget all this shite about "least bookings" or "most corners" to decide games. You're at the whim of referees then, and I wouldn't trust them as far as I could throw them.
Penalties are a test of skill, nerve and application - hardly alien traits in football. The reason why Germany does them so well is because Jens Lehman spends countless hours studying potential opponents. They don't think it's an unfair way to settle games, they get on with it. A lesson to be learnt there, methinks.Yes, penalties are cruel, but then so are last minute goals. And I don't see people wanting them to be outlawed (not yet anyway). So, next time you hear some ex-pro complaining about how unfair they are, consider this - they may be admitting that they haven't got the bottle when it comes to the crunch.
None of those things applied to us last night. By fuck we were happy, Roscoe especially. If he had the game of his life last night, what will he be like for Aldershot? Hopefully he - and we - won't fold up and embarass ourselves for that one.
While you're waiting for the Clash of the Fans Clubs (for the touchy feely politically correct types), a resuming of fourth division hostilities (Batsford era drunkards) or a decent trip to a Conf side (everyone else), just remember we've got a league game this Saturday that we simply must win. And while you're waiting for that......
Plus points:
We win. Cool as you like penalties. Rosco D'Insane. The much-maligned Richard
Butler SF. Kept going and going and going. Visibly a different team after
the 92nd minute.
Minus points: Last half hour.
The referee's a......: An illustration on how people can see games differently. A lot of people thought he was all right, certainly better than the horse fucker who took charge on Saturday. Me, I thought he was determined to let Eastleigh win, blowing up for them at given opportunities yet not quite so willing when we were being fouled...
Them: Nice hosts, ground has potential (when they put steps in the terracing that is), though if they progress further they'll need to put a walkway and driveway through to the main road. Their team however did justify why their manager called them lazy - they're paid more than ours, apparently, yet at times we tore through them. Can see why they're second bottom of the CS. As for their goalie, what a shame he lost on penalties. No, really. His "haha you cunts" type celebration when they scored was that of a dedicated professional, and not one of a miserable little scrotum-faced twat. Honest. Still, he can go back to his job of banging dodgy German frauleins with hairy armpits on film today.
Point to ponder: There's been a lot of internet column inches about the team, the future of DA etc, and one or two discussions in the bar beforehand last night as well. They may reignite if we lose to Horsham on Saturday (or even win and play badly), but for now I offer this simple, one-sentenced thought : perhaps the only wholesale change we need at AFCW is one of luck?
Truth is stranger than fiction: (1) The odd sight of seeing two defenders pulled off after 30 minutes. Surely DG wasn't that physical? (2) Their PA calling us "breakaway" fans. Not the brightest of comments to make, although he probably meant well. Fortunately for him, most of the ground couldn't hear the tannoy anyway. (3) BBC Radio Solent getting all excited that "non-league Eastleigh" - their words - were expecting a bumper crowd with up to 600 AFCW fans. By the sound of it, they really did think we were something like a League Two side about to descend on their little hamlet.
Anything else? Yup, a floodlight went out. Not a massive deal, it came back on 5 minutes later and it wasn't like it was pitch black. It does however give me another reason to have a go at their goalie, who basically acted like a stroppy teenager when play wasn't being stopped. Perhaps his eyesight isn't too great, which does give credence to the old wives tale that it does make you go blind....
So, was it worth it? Yes. All those not there, hang your heads in shame ;)
In a nutshell:
Now for Horsham Aldershot....
25 November 2006
So, I make it to a game for once, and what did I see? Well, actually Airbus A350s 1 Spitfires 1 wasn't too bad at the end. I say at the end, because for the first half hour we really did look like a team sans la confiance. A couple of AL saves here, a lucky clearance or two, and I thought I would be writing my own post mortem about the game, our season and in some way, our club.
Yet things picked up, Jermaine Darlington started to cross wide and I think we may have even come close once. We do however seem to be the Liverpool of the Ryman Premier at the moment, insofar as we can't score much either. And not because our captain is the subject of a vicous Chinese whispering campaign*
* - story about Gerrard might be in a national newspaper tomorrow, or it might not. Too libellous for me to put on here, though even Alan Green apparently mentioned about "something" involving him recently. Gerrard, not Green.
Anyway, you would have thought that things would have changed for the better for us. Their #9 got sent off and sure enough, we might have fancied it then. Dreams of the higher division side struggling against the minnows full of vitality, vigour and spunk were starting to be as vivid as the increasingly threatening skies above. Except they suckerpunched us 30 seconds later by scoring. Bastards.
The funny thing was, I didn't expect us to lose the game. I know Eastleigh are doing shit right now, but even so they're still higher than us and lest we forget we struggled to beat Dover all them years ago in the FAC. Perhaps we're not such dead certs to survive in the CS next season should we go up?
Anyway, Scott Fitzgerald
(the most complete waste of a player registration sheet ineffective
Dons player since Gerald Dobbs) left and DG came on. From then on, you really
couldn't see Eastleigh scoring. Seriously. Of course, it's all very well saying
we should score, but you do have to actually score to get results in this
game.
So, up pops JD on the flank, a cross in and there's Rosco D'Insane waiting. Cue orgasmic surge. This felt a bit more like those CCL days when every goal seemed like a moral victory. Mind you, it may be because I was down the West Bank end for the first time in years. Still can't see jack shit even now.
After the bundle came a load of angry shouting from the supporters. At first I thought some Eastleigh had got a bit miffed, but what I saw was Shroot being red-carded. Now, it was apparently for "over-celebrating". OK, so he'd been booked, but fucking hell - we'd come back against a higher division side in an important competition and you expect the players to stand there, shake hands and look slightly embarrased at showing any sort of emotion whatsoever? I'm going to add another example to the Football Is Fucked list (must be past the 2 million examples stage by now) : player sent off for being genuinely happy at a goal in an important game. The sanitisation of football continues, dressed up as "crowd safety" and "family friendly atmosphere". Cunts.
I suppose we could have scored again, but with Shroot's sending off I guess that knocked the stuffing out of us. Anyway, we get to do it all again Tuesday.
I have left this bit until last, at least on this section. DA wasn't there today, he had male flu. Now, there are two ways at looking at this : you could either say that the players responded better in his absence, as they came back in the second half. Or you could say that not a lot really changed regardless, as was painfully proven in the first 45 minutes. Me, I've got a third angle on this, but you'll have to read on.
Before you get there, read this first...
Plus points: We didn't lose. Didn't really look like we'd lose. Still in the FAT. Coming back. Jermaine Darlington. DG.
Minus points: We didn't win. Suckerpunched for their goal. SF. Watson's injury.
The referee's a......: Remember You Are The Ref? That badly drawn 1970s cultural icon which asked you whether a 14 foot pass in the wrong direction constituted a direct or indirect free kick? Here's one for today : You are refereeing a cup game when the lower division team scores to equalise. Needless to say the crowd and players are extremely jubilant and are celebrating with each other. What action do you take next? (a) Let the celebrations calm down to their natural cooling point, (b) Advise the players to cease celebrating and return to the game, or (c) Remember you sent a player off from the higher division team, and to even the contest up send off a celebrating player for no reason. Safe in the knowledge that your bet on it being a draw is safe, you may return to the dressing room to lovingly play with your 12" dildo that you have bought with your winnings. No prizes on offer.
Them: Started off like a Conference South side, yet towards the end looked more like a Ryman One South side. Their #9 looked like Andrew Martin and was a bit of a twat when he was sent off. Presumably seeking attention, by the looks of him he wasn't even a household name in his own household. Their GK was shit at crosses. As for their lovely looking fanbase, they were loud and vocal enough, although a copper who knows them stated "they couldn't fight their way out of a paper bag." Would like to see them versus our own ICF-wannabe lot, the fight would make Elton John vs Boy George look like Michael Stone vs the IRA.
Point to ponder: And this is down to a bit of info I received today. Is our "problem" not DA, not the coaching staff, nor the players, but Bob Dowie? Consider this : I am led to believe that Dowie made a large contribution to the half time team talk on Tuesday, and those there against Ashford will happily (?) tell you what happened in the second half. Now, you would think that being a high placed coach at a Championship side would be a help, right? The thing is, if the players don't react to him positively, we're fucked. I noticed he was there for the shitty W&H game earlier this season, giving DA some general hints. And I'd be interested to see whether his inclusion co-incided with our worst performances of the season. Q, E and indeed, D. Have we just added 2 and 2 and got four? More to the point, can/will DA react accordingly?
Truth is stranger than fiction: (1) Wasn't that black cloud in the second half seriously ominous? When I saw a flock of birds flying overhead, with the way their white undersides contrasted with the cloud, it had an eery feel of biblical tales from way back. Apocalyptic, almost. For the record I can't recall whether it was before or after Shroot got sent off, if it was before it would certainly explain a lot. (2) Meeting an SW19 reader from California who moved over there 3 days after the FAC Final in 1988 and stayed there since. No idea why he remained, but I hope it wasn't a result of getting too drunk on 14/5/88. (3) Lewes and RPV coaching staff at the game today. Hopefully only one of them was there for scouting purposes.
Anything else? Oh yes. Francis Benali. Remember him from PL days in 1989, when he poleaxed Fash and didn't even bother to stick around for his red card? Anyway, he's now at Eastleigh and obviously memories are still long. Personally, I always thought he looked like Freddie Mercury with his short hair and tasche. I would like to believe that he had the singing voice and stage presence of the Queen frontman, although he's probably more likely to be wearing fishnet stockings and leather jockstraps on nights out.
Anything else? Part 2: Anyone else see the impromptu team meeting on the pitch during the first half when an Eastleigh player was down? I don't recall about 9 players all in a group (not a huddle) discussing things. Hmmm.
So, was it worth it? Possibly, if we win the replay that is.
In a nutshell: Now, where the fuck is Eastleigh?
24 November 2006
Looks like it was a good job I wasn't there on Tuesday either, if this kindly submitted report was anything to go by.
I'll let you read it, then I'll come back at the end.
Was it me, or did none of us (fans, players, officials et al) want to be here Tuesday night?
Perhaps it was a hangover from Saturday, but I should have realised when we failed to sell out of Golden Goal tickets that it was gonna be one of those nights.
Bleak, cold, soulless – and that was just the team. We started poorly, got progressively worse to the point where the description of ‘shit’ was complimentary! At least shit has function, form and purpose, removing waste from the body.
This was dire towards the end, even for the most ardent optimist. An older fan by me who is usually so quiet I had not even noticed he was there was joining in with the moaning, albeit under his breath because of age. The only saving grace to slitting your wrists was the queue of Ashford fans in front of us waiting for their turn of the razor blade. I mean they had one decent shot on target (in 89th min) that they scored from was due to an air-kick by our defence. At least one team will be below us in the league then.
So what’s wrong? On Saturday we fans felt frustration. Tonight we say confidence – total lack of it. It is so shot to pieces within 80% of the team; they turn to jelly if the ball comes near them. About 3 players seemed interested last night and 2 of them scored the goals. Otherwise Suburbanites 2 Townies 1 could easily have been a gore bore – fans impaling themselves on any sharp object!
I lost it a bit on the night. The inability of an AFCW player, without an Ashford player within 30 yards just hoofing the ball away in blind panic was too much. Hell Leamington Pete’s under-10s could do better. So it was a good idea I’d not offered to write this prior to the match.
A bit calmer now, I still have difficulty in working out what to do. And from comments elsewhere I think most fans too are becoming totally perplexed how they if they were manager would change things. Of course, Anderson gets some credit for bring on Barnes who immediately scored with his first touch: but what had he done at half time? The team was totally demotivated when it came out such that it barely got out of its half for the first 20 mins. And then he takes of Shroot, one of our livelier players who was suffering and exhibiting the early signs of ‘Darlington Avoidance Syndrome’ in the 2nd half. Why is this break in play so damaging to us?
A better side than Ashford (TA anyone?) would have 0-4ed us; little comfort can be taken from that. It was an insult at times to the paying fans. And Anderson has a lot to answer for, because fans are beginning to really question why with the resources we have; the apparent pedigree of the players we have; and the investment in the team that they cannot produce a performance that is at least ‘professional’ for this level of football.
So closing with:
Plus points: We won. End of.
Minus Points: Team is totally shit scared and show no signs of getting it together soon.
The Referee’s a …: A friend let me in on FA Rule 13b: Never give a decision to a player in blue …
Them: Very poor. Lots of running, though a lot of it seemed to involve their mouths - 2 booked for dissent!
Point to ponder: What has killed the confidence and is creating the panic? Injuries? The management? Or maybe even the fans? Good players don’t become bad overnight, do they? Something is very wrong.
Truth is stranger than fiction: We won this game?
Anything else: Do we need anything else to go wrong at the moment?
So was it worth it? I suppose so as we won, but the patience was severely tried.
In a nutshell: Saturday could be embarrassing …
Really doesn't make for pleasant viewing does it? OK, perhaps the lack of interest on Tuesday could have been down to yet another game against Ashford Town (Postcode), but even so, reading that the confidence is drained is enough to require a change in underwear.
Right now, we take on the impression of a car that has given us good service, and will still get you down the A3, but has now lost its guts and its bite. You wonder whether a new car is needed or whether a change of spark plugs and maybe a new gearbox will do the trick. Ultimately, a new car will be needed, yet it would cost a lot to purchase and would make a big dent in your finances for a while. You don't need to call out the RAC every time you go out, but it just doesn't perform the way you want it to.
A lot will depend on our next two games, Worthing especially (replay notwithstanding). Put in two decent performances and we'll treat this as a blip, like we always do. If we don't, you can guess what will happen.
Then again, it is rather strange that we're talking like this after a win. Maybe we have deeper problems at AFCW than just team performance?
In another not-totally-coincidental
bit of news, I received my "Why aren't you a season ticket holder this
year?" letter from the club this morning. For those who don't know, apparently
800 people in total haven't renewed since 2002, and needless to say the club
wants their money support, so they sent out a questionnaire with a
nice pre-paid envelope. The questions are quite straightforward, and I suspect
many people haven't renewed simply because of changing personal circumstances.
And you can give the club a few ideas back, which SW19 may well take the opportunity
to...
That said, there is a rather intriguing option of "Style of the team's football". With everything written from the past week, this should be interesting. With luck, we'll get some indication of what people replied in the form of the club's actions in the relatively near future. That said, I wonder how the club will deal with people so pissed off that they don't even bother to reply?
20 November 2006
Do not adjust your expensive LCD monitor, this really is an SW19 match report. OK, so I didn't write it, but it's worth reading.
My own $0.02. The fact that I've literally spent all morning trying to think of something different to write (ie something that doesn't reflect on how we can't keep a lead, or the rammifications of keeping DA, or sacking him now, or releasing him at the end of the season) is telling in itself.
What is new and signficant is there is now real discontent about, more than I've seen for a long while. Has the collective patience worn thin? Guess we'll find out soon enough, it's November after all. And that's when quite a few people were going to pass judgement.
If anything, we're in the worst position ATM. We're not out of anything yet - a couple of wins and we'll be up there again - but people are starting to entertain the thought - even very briefly - that it ain't going to happen this season. Have we written ourselves off even in November? If so, it's time to change your underpants.
Personally, I think we're heading towards a watershed moment. Something is going to happen, maybe soon, but sometime this season. What it'll be I don't know, but it's worth sticking around to find out.
Anyway...
Q: What’s the
definition of frustration?
A: A man who has a house with one wife, two daughters and only ONE bathroom!
Well, frustration was certainly order of the day as Dirty Faces 2 Angels 3 proved that, like I sometimes suffer at home with that only one bathroom, you can’t always get into the room when you want to.
Now by rooms I mean areas of the pitch (I think the technical term is thirds?) where defence, midfield and attack operate. At times we occupied each with a degree of confidence, at others sheer panic set in. But though this was a highly entertaining, exciting game of football (credit to TA here again for not just coming to defend) it left most of the crowd still wondering when it is all going to come together. But at least we saw some glimpses of the Holy Grail, particularly towards the end of the first half.
Indeed, half-time interrupted the momentum and put us all back in frustration mode: frustration with a sporadic midfield; frustration with TA players walking through tackles; frustration with a wobbly defence; and frustration with a ref determined not to be swayed by a home crowd. And, to cop it all, another crazy ‘own-goal’ to hand the 3pts to TA!
But frustration leads to anger and some of the locals were revolting – but enough of one or two loudmouths in the main stand ;-)
But was it justified? Well yes (a bit) and no (a lot). Today was a match of so many emotions, a roller coaster of a ride: cautious optimism at the start (we’d beaten them); resignation (at their first goal); joy at our goals (both of them); and a touch of appreciation of our play, particularly towards the end of that 1st half. But it dissolved into disappointment and frustration, as we couldn’t quite make that extra step up to secure the points in an even 2nd half. We’d been seduced by Jermaine Darlington’s curling shot against the cross-station; by Scott Fitzgerald’s enthusiasm (yes, really and he also had a mean turn of speed); but frightened by the fragility of defence, again left exposed by our midfield. The only plus point seemed to be Watson finding his feet until his untimely departure through injury. Yet listen to the crowd and you’d hear the plaudits for Watson interspersed with the “For god’s sake get him off!” We’re a fickle crowd us fans.
What is worrying was how if any of our players made a mistake it was like it was the end of the world! Never mind the TA player might have made a great tackle, or shielded the guy away; it was the AFCW player’s fault. Hell, playing for us he should be perfection personified.
Bollocks.
The TA players made as many mistakes as ours throughout the game but they weren’t chastised as being inept (even by our fans). Why can’t some of our fans accept the human nature of our players, and therefore not berate him at his first mistake? I vividly recall this happening to Watson who, 20 mins in made his first ‘poor’ pass. What did the guy in the stand shouting at him want him to do? NOT pass it? Go on, give us a clue? Hell it seems like some main standers thin this is a life-sized version of Football Manager 2006.
Our fans want it both ways and they want it now. Attacking football and excellent defence. Now DA has gone on record to say the attacking has been worked on, and I think we saw that today. But change takes time. We still have that problem of sorting out the balance between attacking midfield and defensive midfield. That must be next for his coaching sessions for god’s sake.
Anyway, to the bits you really like to read:
Plus points: Jermaine Darlington, more chances than usual; best performances so far from Sweeney & Watson (at home); Fitzgerald looking interested and scoring
Minus points: Luke Garrard’s injury*; TA not running out of steam this time; Watson’s injury just before the winning goal; poor conversion rate on chances created. Losing, of course.
The referee's a …: refused two stonewall penalties and missed a kick-out at Barnes. Gave TA most of the key decisions. Was told by my ref-assessor friend that the lunge at Darlington in the 1st half warranted a red – ref obviously decided not contact, no foul. Wrong. Don’t know why linesmen were there – ref never used them.
Them: Certainly the most adventurous side to visit KM, and, as seen, no single match flash in the pan. Their no 10 – John Main – I thought in both games has been awesome. Don’t think we’ve got the £120K transfer fee reportedly asked for by their Chairman before they show interest in transferring him. But it was the team effort that stood out – supporting the front two, covering the pitch the whole time and often knowing where to play the ball even when the player wasn’t there. Spot the difference?
Point to ponder: 1) When was the last time we saw ‘essentially’ 3 own-goals in two games? Surreal, be masochistic and watch the last one on DonsOnline! 2) That’s 3 goals conceded without Steve Butler in the defence? Time to bring him back, or was it a case of ‘it didn’t matter who was there?’ 3) Did we just have bad luck today like we had good luck in the Trophy game? Or is luck given or earned?
Truth is stranger than fiction: Why do we always seem to lose in front of ‘bigger’ crowds? Why is it we stop being left in the changing room at the beginning of the 2nd half only to be left there at the beginning of the 1st?
Anything else: Didn’t hear much talking on the pitch today. Do you think the players went to the Silent Auction in the back bar and forgot they could talk once outside? Also noticed DA was relatively ‘late’ arriving today – did that disrupt the pre-match routine at all?
So was it worth it? Well we said we wanted goals, so who are we to have the right to complain when we’ve seen 10 between these two teams?
In a nutshell: Work in progress
* Sidelined before the game we certainly missed his drive at times – oh and the possibility of another wonder goal! (And I am not just saying this as a sock sponsor)
4 November 2006
Yes, SW19 is back. I think we've played more league games than I've done updates in the past month. You might have to excuse some of the content in this report, I'm still getting over being poleaxed by male flu this week. Well, either that or watching Chelski v Barcelona made me ill.....
Anyway. At times, Hells Angels 3 Tonbridge Angels 2 was the footballing equivalent of a snot-filled hankerchief. Ultimately, it doesn't matter - our name is in the next round - but really we escaped with that. Whether it was a post-Exeter hangover or not I don't know, but I'm not sure what was worse : us losing a 2-0 lead or realising it could have been 2-5 at half time.
I've waxed lyrical to the point of tedium about our defence, even if I do get the occasional reminder that statwise, it ain't too bad. Well, minus Frankie or not, we were lucky. Yes, Luke Garrard's goal was a deffo contender for Goal Of The Round, but after that, by fuck we tried it on. At least one fine save by AL and one clearance off the line, not to mention a zillion corners. Christ, even the Belgians in WW2 tried to put up a bit more resistance.
That said, having rode that lot all out, we went 2-0 up. I'm not sure if I can describe it, I hope Dons Online have it up and running. However it was scored (and it looked like a backpass gone wrong) we should have sewn the game up there and then. Take the sting out of the tie, frustrate the opposition and give our secretary plenty of time to start organising with Bromley for the rearranged fixture.
Simple, eh? Hey, this is AFCW - find a round hole and push a square through it. The luck that we'd had in the first half gave out and about 5 minutes later it was 2-2. Suddenly, visions of seasons collapsing around our ears came into being. It was obvious that we were never going to get into their half ever again, and that the killer third for them was merely forthcoming. I'm sure I wasn't the only one thinking we can now concentrate on the league.
Well, that's how it should have gone, anyway. Typically, and demonstrating our increased resolve this season, we scored again. The one bit of quality that we showed in the second half up until then, and we got the goal. QE fucking D. Strangely enough, it seemed to pan out as a contest after that.We could (and probably should) have got a 4th, while Tonbridge sort of had the stuffing knocked out of them a little bit.
Anyway, we won. We can now start planning for the victory parade around Wimbledon, because our name is clearly on the cup. Why? Well, every team that wins the trophy has one dodgy game during their run. WFC vs Watford in 1988, Italy vs Australia in the WC 2006, Man Utd vs Oldham in 1994, that sort of thing. I will not listen to anyone who points out that all those results happened in the latter stages of the competition.
While you await what Ryman Prem side at KM we'll draw, here....
Plus points: We won. In the next round. Came back when it mattered. PB. Luke Garrard's goal.
Minus points: Defence. Letting slip a two-goal lead. Mindless panic hoofing at times. Rosco and PB going off injured.
The referee's a.....: Some would describe his performance as poor. Others may believe that his decision making had eccentric elements to it. Personally, I thought he was a complete cunt who films himself ramming suitably shaped pieces of fruit up his rectum before sending said video clip to his friends at the MK Dons Supporters Club for bukkake purposes. Probably. The cheer when he gave us a decision said a lot, anyway. Joining in with the banana/anal insertion protocol was the linesman, whose interpretation of the offside rule now includes flagging players for being behind the defender when the ball is played.
Them: To be honest, they can consider themselves unlucky not to have their name in the next round of the cup. They worked hard, passed well (and usually to each other), and at times really wanted to win. Their fans? Did the highly original MK stuff five minutes before kickoff, such was their eagerness to show how witty, forward thinking and distinctly non small time they were. Mind you they are from Kent, which immediately puts them into SW19's bad books, although I believe Tonbridge is a well-to-do place. In other words, they're posh pikeys. Presumably their caravans are made by BMW.
Point to ponder: Was it me or was the atmosphere dead? Even with the TE central singing section, it did appear that we were trying to outdo Franchise. Wonder if like the team, we ourselves were suffering a post-Exeter hangover?
Truth is stranger than fiction: (1) Spotting of an FCUM shirt in the crowd. Bit weird as they were playing the Man Shitty equivalent today. (2) Firework display at the end of the game. Perhaps they should have done it halfway during the second half. Would have been less painful to watch. (3) Michael of T doing the PA. Sadly, no reciting of Young Ones scripts.
Anything else? Yeah. I notice that we now have a drum in the TE. We already have a mascot. What's the betting we start coming out to "Let Me Entertain You" by Blobby Williams in future? And you wait when they make KM all-seater at £30 a game....
So, was it worth it? Well, I suppose I did see us win a cup game. Which is more than can be said for all those who turned up to Exeter last week ;)
In a nutshell: When's the draw?