That first half was as bad as….home to Wycombe (0-3). Coincidence? Or do they just have a style of playing which we have trouble with? We should have been 3, maybe 4, down by the interval. Yet I don’t remember Isted making a (decent) save. The Chairboys could miss the target from anywhere, probably the worst being the rebound from 8 yards after Isted palmed it nicely into his path. (One shot on target in 10 attempts, I’ve checked.)
And yet…if Watters had any pace…or could even match an octogenarian with a walking frame…we’d have snatched the lead on the break. Is he just terrible, or the proverbial ‘lacking in confidence’? Still, he’s perked the likes of Norwood and Cole up, the latter pair presumably seeing Watters on the training ground and thinking ‘the manager CAN’T POSSIBLY think this bloke is better than ME’. The subsequent trot and powderpuff effort from Watters was at least at the other end, so difficult to see in its full ‘glory’. Half the Londontykes missed this (still not back from half-time beers) but Watters missed another chance at the start of the second half, as Phillips whipped in a great ball and the farmer former headed over.
The second half was more even but we carried zero threat, till Duff started chucking the subs on. And what a bench! Cole and Tedic came on for the ineffectual Watters and Norwood. Halfway through the half, Duff pulls Kane and sticks Thomas on. Phillips somehow survives till 78 minutes, when him and Cadden make way for Benson and Larkeche. In Benson, we finally have a player who’s prepared to put his foot on the ball while Thomas (Luke) is prepared to run at players. It is on decisions like these that seasons depend. Thomas beats his man, sprints to the touchline and pulls it back for Tedic to bang a header into the top corner. You f***ing Reds! 85 minutes gone, proper smash and grab. There is no way in a million years Wycombe will score. And they don’t.
Onwards and upwards!
*** Mads. A wall at the back in the face of Wycombe pressure.
** Kitching. Defence and attack. And stupidity. Who doesn’t love stupidity?
* Tedic. Could anyone else have scored that header?
Londontykes’ MOTM: 1. Andersen 2. Kitching 3. Luke Thomas
Despatches:
I’d like to give Nice Guy Chris the assist for the goal. For a good minute he pondered whether to go to the toilet or not. ‘I think you should, Chris. We need to try something different.’ We were to the right of the net as you look at it. Chris never even reached the back of the goal before we’d scored. COYR!
Before the goal…and before the 78th minute…my main entertainment involved tormenting poor Chris about future Ballon D’Or winner Adam Phillips. The ghost of Direwatch loomed, as Phillips couldn’t put a foot right (aside from that earlier cross). Did that shot of his clear the stand? Or just the bar? (Well, he was maybe 15 yards out, long way to hit a barn door from). But no, my favourite bit(s) were the twice he completely missed the ball, swiping away at clean air. These were the occasions he crept out from his anonymity. (For the record, Kane was equally terrible.)
Another player noted negatively was Kitching. Don’t disagree with a foul, spend two seconds THINKING about what to do…then throw the ball away in disgust. Are you THICK? (It’s a rhetorical question.) Of course, it’s a nailed on yellow, whether he disagreed with the ref’s decision or not (and it was a soft one). This is in the first half hour, so he’s risking a sending off…and maybe defeat. And I hear that if he gets booked once more he misses two games. He’s an idiot. I love him!
And don’t underestimate Cole’s cameo, holding the ball up for (Luke) Thomas to make his run for the winner. And what a finish from Tedic, a bullet header into the top corner. He’s had his 7 months’ rest. It’s now time to shine.
Still, party time. Chris and Lord Selwood slope off early to get the last train out of Dodge (another railstrike) while the rest of our 8 (wo)man party jump into a taxi to celebrate in Slacki’s ‘pub’, a converted garage in his front garden. And I have to say, very good it is too. Space Invaders, darts, Brewdog on tap, Sky Sports. Even the service isn’t too bad. There’s even time for me to lose weight eating a curry, the sweat pouring out of me. Bl**dy hot these dhansaks!
Drink du jour: Brewdog Planet Pale. And whatever someone got me from the Wycombe Wanderers fan zone, a large marquee outside the ground
Away: 1,020.
Today’s take home: Someone call the police – there’s been a robbery.
The Damage:
£73 travel (petrol)
£23 ent
= £96
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