Phew! There we were, lambs to the slaughter. The Beeb had turned up (both radio and TV highlights show) and those Reds fans from far flung regions with the nouse for these things could pick up the game on Salisbury’s favourite foreign channel ‘Ah’ll Jizz Ne’er thee’. The Super Reds were, of course, purely there as the fall guys to Hull City’s promotional aspirations. All the Tigers would have to do is turn up and the game was theirs. In fact, we weren’t helped by the previous night’s result: Had Leicester turned over Watford, Hull would’ve been up and their players could’ve come out drunk to wild celebratory scenes before we wiped out the 6 goals difference the Charlton game cost us. Which makes our victory yesterday even more worthy – Hull came to win and we cleaned them out, bigstyle.
Flitcroft picked an attacking side, aware that results of late hadn’t been good enough with a more defensive psychology. Obviously, this could’ve gone either way, and if Boyd had hit his pass right, their centre forward would’ve had a tap in early doors. Thankfully, it was too close to Steele, danger averted. Then, 4 mins in, Mellis (Mellis!!) breaks on the right. The angle is poor for a shot, but there’s no support, so he cracks it…I’ve never seen him hit a ball so hard…and it flies off the underside of the crossbar, bounces, spins back, appears to hit the staunchion (sp?) at the back of the goal and bounces out. We celebrate, but we all know it still needs to be given…and IT IS. Get the f*** in there. Only 86 more minutes to hang on.
The 1st 15-20 mins, Hull looked dangerous, spurning 3 opportunities to make something, but as the match wore on, we absolutely took control. The Football League Show tipped Steele to have another busy week, a la Forest, but I can’t remember a save he made. What shots or headers City had generally ended up in the stand. Thanks lads. Half time came, still 1-0. I asked my dad if he was coming to Huddersfield next week. (He’s one of them fans who only wants to go to Huddersfield if there’s something riding on it - sound familiar to some of you?). ‘Unlikely’ he said. (I’d already bought him his ticket).
The teams came out and the old bloke next to me wondered ‘who’d given the better team talk at half time?’ The answer came quick enough. About 4 minutes in (again) the ball is bouncing around the edge of the Hull penalty area when O’Grady lashes it into the bottom corner. My God, we are 2-0 up against a side who’ll be playing Premiership football next season, allegedly. Their fans go deathly silent. Deathly. I mean, it was like a morgue at their end as our chants reverberated around the stadium. This feel good factor feels….good. I have to say, it wasn’t like the 2nd goal Marcelle scored to get us promoted, there was no certainty the job was done, but suffice to say, conversation on the train included how bad were Hull? Were they the worst side to come to our place this season? We were on top from start to finish in the 2nd half, despite a couple of headers going close for Hull. What particular impressed me was we didn’t sit back or run the ball to the corner. We carried on going for a 3rd and even took a midfielder off (Mellis) to stick on a 3rd centre forward (Scotland). Later on, as Rose was about to come on, I wondered whether we’d finish with 4 centre forwards on the pitch. (The last manager to try this out was ‘Mad’ Mel Machin, with the legendary Liddell, Rammell, Saville, Pearson forward line. Great Days.)
It was one of the most comfortable last 20 minutes of the season. The Tigers’ fans even joined in with a couple of ‘what a waste of money’ chants, as dozens streamed out before the final whistle. (A couple of the lads think this may have been directed at the arrival of the stewards and riot police – I’m not so sure.) Whatever way, what a pathetic lot they were in the away end. Some ‘support’ for a side so close to promotion.
Being a Big Game, we also got a Big Ref – Chris Foy, loaned from the Premiership for the day. And what a load of sh*te he was. At one point I joined in with the away fans’ chant of ‘you don’t know what you’re doing’. (This after finally giving a decision our way). I think my 2 favourite decisions were the booking of Etuhu for a perfectly good tackle and then, when Perkins dragged up their player (worth a yellow) after their bloke dived, their bod grabbed Perkins by the throat (red). Verdict? A little chat and no cards administered. Must be different rules in the Prem.
MOTM:
*** O’Grady. Sponsors MOTM too. He just gets better and better. Strong, holds the ball up, capable of running at them, and then, THAT goal.
** Etuhu. You don’t miss him till he’s gone. Kelvin is (literally) MASSIVE in the centre of our midfield.
* Crainie. Him and Wiseman actually LOOK like a partnership. I’m giving Crainie the mark, cos even tho they look alike, I saw the number 25 being the one with the most clearances, tackles, interceptions. Players player of the year. I’m not surprised. (I said he was the dark horse for fans player of the year.)
Despatches:
Good f***ing job we won, cos otherwise I think there woulda been more made of our PA playing ‘Eye of the Tiger’ before the match. Lulling them into a false sense of security? Or just f***ing clueless?
The players were all super, so I’ll mention:
Perkins – player most likely to give Hull summat in the last 20, yet excellent throughout the rest. Fans player of the year. I’m not surprised. (I called it on the train).
Reuben – one particularly great run saw him slalom past 4 opponents (shame he dragged the shot wide with his favoured left). Excellent throughout, wide left.
Shuk…sorry, DAGNALL. Ran around causing mayhem yet nothing would drop for him. I can’t help but feel though his inclusion is key to OTHER players doing well up front.
So there it is. The Posh try to ruin an otherwise perfect day, but we’re still fighting. If we play like Satdy, we will DESTROY Huddersfield. But I’ll settle for 0-1. A draw and we’re reliant on Posh losing at Palace, or Millwall losing 2 games with a goal difference of minus 4 or higher. Defeat and we’re down. It all seems very simple to me.
Drink du jour: M&S vodka and orange or lager for Timmy. We cut it fine, thanks to our taxi getting stuck in traffic. There may have been words had we missed that train, what with Tim and Salisbury on the pitch after the match, while the well mannered folk sat on the minibus, waiting. Decent train ride back, with a couple of Exeter and a Gill for company. Andy Jones wanted me to mention something in today’s report, but I can’t remember what. I’ve forgotten more than most of you will ever know.
‘Dad are you going to Huddersfield next week?’ ‘Of course.’ Was there ever a doubt?
COME ON YOU REDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Being a Big Game, we also got a Big Ref – Chris Foy, loaned from the Premiership for the day. And what a load of sh*te he was. At one point I joined in with the away fans’ chant of ‘you don’t know what you’re doing’. (This after finally giving a decision our way). I think my 2 favourite decisions were the booking of Etuhu for a perfectly good tackle and then, when Perkins dragged up their player (worth a yellow) after their bloke dived, their bod grabbed Perkins by the throat (red). Verdict? A little chat and no cards administered. Must be different rules in the Prem.
MOTM:
*** O’Grady. Sponsors MOTM too. He just gets better and better. Strong, holds the ball up, capable of running at them, and then, THAT goal.
** Etuhu. You don’t miss him till he’s gone. Kelvin is (literally) MASSIVE in the centre of our midfield.
* Crainie. Him and Wiseman actually LOOK like a partnership. I’m giving Crainie the mark, cos even tho they look alike, I saw the number 25 being the one with the most clearances, tackles, interceptions. Players player of the year. I’m not surprised. (I said he was the dark horse for fans player of the year.)
Despatches:
Good f***ing job we won, cos otherwise I think there woulda been more made of our PA playing ‘Eye of the Tiger’ before the match. Lulling them into a false sense of security? Or just f***ing clueless?
The players were all super, so I’ll mention:
Perkins – player most likely to give Hull summat in the last 20, yet excellent throughout the rest. Fans player of the year. I’m not surprised. (I called it on the train).
Reuben – one particularly great run saw him slalom past 4 opponents (shame he dragged the shot wide with his favoured left). Excellent throughout, wide left.
Shuk…sorry, DAGNALL. Ran around causing mayhem yet nothing would drop for him. I can’t help but feel though his inclusion is key to OTHER players doing well up front.
So there it is. The Posh try to ruin an otherwise perfect day, but we’re still fighting. If we play like Satdy, we will DESTROY Huddersfield. But I’ll settle for 0-1. A draw and we’re reliant on Posh losing at Palace, or Millwall losing 2 games with a goal difference of minus 4 or higher. Defeat and we’re down. It all seems very simple to me.
Drink du jour: M&S vodka and orange or lager for Timmy. We cut it fine, thanks to our taxi getting stuck in traffic. There may have been words had we missed that train, what with Tim and Salisbury on the pitch after the match, while the well mannered folk sat on the minibus, waiting. Decent train ride back, with a couple of Exeter and a Gill for company. Andy Jones wanted me to mention something in today’s report, but I can’t remember what. I’ve forgotten more than most of you will ever know.
‘Dad are you going to Huddersfield next week?’ ‘Of course.’ Was there ever a doubt?
COME ON YOU REDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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