Yes, for the first time in however long, I could have happily left early. 10 minutes in to the match, to be precise, as Mads got himself sent off for tangling with their centre forward in our box. A Bolton penalty and facing 80 minutes of a match with 10 men, having been played off the park with 11…even my masochistic tendencies were being tested. It didn’t help that too many other Londontykes absolved themselves from the despair. Sunning themselves in San Diego, or Corsica, or watching on ifollow, or recovering from life-threatening illness….I’ll give it to Reedy, who chose to stay at home and clean his house. I wished I’d stayed at home and cleaned the house. I wish I’d driven to Beckenham and cleaned Reedy’s house. That’s how bad it was.
Was it a pen? Was it a sending off? Are all referees part of some conspiracy to deny Little Old Barnsley their rightful place in the European Super League? I dunno. I didn’t see the start of the tangle, but once the ref has decreed Mads is preventing their player from reaching the ball by nefarious means, he has no choice but to send him off. It wasn’t like Mads was trying to win the ball through a tackle, so ‘double jeopardy’ didn’t apply. Seeing it again (27 times) I think the ref has no choice. Yes, Kitching was running across to cover, but was it unreasonable for the ref to decide that without the infringement, their player would’ve got his shot off? I don’t think so, and although we were all hoping we could blame the ref for a 3rd game running (or ‘living the dream’ as a Reds fan), it’s not to be for me. In basic terms, Mads holding on to their man gives Kitching time to come back.
And the writing was already on the wall…their centre forward clearing the bar from 8 yards under pressure from Kitching (or ‘despite being fouled by Kitching’ came the ifollow verdict; so we could have been down to 10 men and facing a penalty even earlier). Earlier than early, we’d escaped a let off as their right winger broke free on his own, but somehow messed it up. For the linesman’s (lineswoman?) sake, good job, cos he was never onside the entire more, always being a yard behind our last man. (I was in line with this one, so feel I can speak authoritatively.)
With the penalty put away, it was 80 minutes of damage limitation. Yes, we had a couple of efforts on target (Connell and Norwood snapshots in either half) but all hope was officially lost with Cundy’s inexplicable blunder. Not content with miskicking a backpass, (did he stub his toe? Kick the grass? What?) he then fails to stop the player rounding him before winning a tackle with Collins. Do we have the only centre half in the entire world of professional football incapable of obstructing an opponent? Where’s Keith Curle when you need him? Even at 59 (yes, I looked it up) he could still do a better job than Cundy. And he obviously knows his football, sending back Clarke Oduor from his loan spell at 2nd off bottom League 2 Hartlepool. (*Pedants: Hartlepool are no longer 2nd bottom, having improved since sending Oduor back to Oakwell.)
Apparently, plenty of fans left at half-time, but I didn’t really notice, watching the action to the end, flagellating myself for crimes not yet committed. Plus nobody had left in our row, so I hadn’t had to get up and let escapees pass. However, the killer 3rd with about 15 left brought floods to the Oakwell exits. Worse, it was to a 30 second strain of ‘olés’ as the Trotters played it around and we gave up / were too tired to put in a challenge. Another positive was that was it. (I’m all about the positives, me.) The pummelling was complete.
Onwards and upwards!
*** Connell. Head and shoulders above anything in a Reds’ shirt, whether covering in defence, making tackles in midfield or driving forward the attack. The former Trotter had a tremendous game, no matter the taunts from the away end.
** Kitching. Kept us in it at times (look away for the 3rd tho).
* Kane. In a toss up between him and Norwood, I’ll give it Kane for some nice pass and moves.
Official MOTM: Kane
Londontykes’ MOTM: 1. Connell 2. Kane 3. Kitching
Despatches:
I learnt today that the average number of negative thoughts per person per day is 11. Surely some mistake? That’s gotta be per hour, right? Or, per minute in the case of 3:10pm, yesterday. I’ll add a fresh one to the mix: Collins’ recent inability to get near a penalty. Is it just bad luck he’s gone the wrong way 3 times in a row? As a guide, I’d say, more often than not, a right footer will hit it left and vice versa. Why? Cos if you’re putting your foot through it, that’s the way the ball would naturally go. Collins meantime is hoping the right footer will PLACE it to his left, thereby having a softer shot to save (and it’s true, players do this too). Maybe he’s even done his homework on the penalty takers. But if I was a penalty taker, I’d do my homework on keepers, and to my mind, Collins dives the same way every time. (I would do some research, but I’ll leave it to those who’d like to prove me wrong.)
Talking of research, I know ‘Super Michael Duffy’ is extremely popular (‘Mads at the back, Devante in attack’….errrrr…..lads….Mads has been sent off). Anyway, to show what a difference our new hero makes, let’s point to our last 2 matches. Given he was sent from the stands with 5 minutes to go in our last game….we have averaged a goal every 5 minutes without him. In the 175 minutes of the remaining 2 games, we have scored…once. So we are 35 times more likely to score without Duffy bothering to rock up. Defensively, in 5 minutes without him, we have yet to concede, while in 175 minutes with him, we’ve let in 3. Thus, mathematically at least, we are INFINITELY better without him. I think that’s how it works. (On a semi-serious note, what a waste of time appealing his sending off last home game; could today have gone WORSE were he in the stands? Just take your medicine and move on.)
Drink du jour: Leffe at the local ‘spoons. It’s not my fault other ale houses don’t serve my favourite tipple!
Away: 3,091. Holiday time, crucial game, average home crowds of nearly 20,000….I was expecting a sellout and a 15,000+ crowd. Oh well, their loss. Those that were there had a ball.
Today’s take home: A draw would’ve done, keep ‘em at arm’s length…
The Damage:
c.£30 travel (petrol)
= £30
Programme? I’m still boycotting it because of this season’s comedy covers. Today was exceptional – a cartoon of a (presumably) Barnsley footballer (who I didn’t recognise) with an elephant. No, I’ve no idea either.
Oh, and 4 years in, the pedestrian bridge over the closed level crossing is finally under way!
The Tunes:
BBC 6Music
BBC5Live
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