Pre-Match Thoughts

It’s a beautiful spring day down here and football was very much in the air as I travelled through central London on the tube an hour ago. I actually went through Arsenal Station and recalled the great match back in October when we turned the game round when we should’ve been three down after fifteen minutes but they had a good goal disallowed and we fought back to 2-2 before losing in the last ten minutes. There were loads of Chelsea fans on the move and I mentally wished them well in giving Bolton a good hiding so that we can maintain our sixth from bottom spot whatever happens to us today. Maybe I should’ve said fifteenth position but personally I’ve only been counting from the bottom all season and not from the top. Hopefully next season, with a stronger squad, we can start looking in the right direction. What can we expect from today’s game? A performance with a lot more bite than last week’s efforts but in terms of points probably not much. I’d be happy with a draw whatever level side Arsenal put out. I’d like to see Wallace get a game, he’d be well revved up and he did score in the first meeting. If we should manage a win and Boro lose at home to Man City by a few goals, then we’d move up a slot but I think that’s asking too much.

The teams have just been announced and I was pleased to see Wallace playing, presumably in a five-man midfield. Yorkie returned too and more surprisingly Fulop got his first game of the season. Nos moved back into the centre back position and Leadbitter started with Miller joining Chopra and Higgs among the subs. Arsenal fielded a strong side, but I don’t think they’ve got a weak one.

The Match

I got Radio Newcastle on via SAFC.com and hit the sofa. Within twenty seconds Edwards had brought a great save out of Fabianski with a long-distance effort. Five minutes or so later it was Fulop’s turn to make a vital save at the feet of Adebayor. There were some strong tackles going in from both sides and Eboue was carried off after a Collins tackle but soon returned looking hale and hearty. “Eboue is e-boo-éd back on,” the radio commentator quipped. It sounded like we were making a bright start with several chances on target and our biggest home crowd of the season were making plenty of noise. However, in the 24th minute, after switching wings with Eboue, Walcott used his pace to burst down the right and put them 1-0 up. He’d hardly had a mention till then. My computer was doing a bit of a Norman Collier and the broadcast kept cutting out and I think my brain was acting similarly as it wasn’t till the 30th minute or so that I realised Richardson was completely off the map for this game. It took even longer to notice Murphy’s absence. Wallace and Yorke seemed to be playing well with the former providing his customary mazy runs and the latter running our midfield. The stewards also came in for some booing when they broke up a conga that was heading along the side of the pitch. Just on 45 minutes Kenwyne had to go off after injuring his wrist and we played with ten men for the rest of the half. It was 1-0 at the break and all in all it was a decent performance from us.

At half-time I caught up on the Radio 5 soccer news and planted a few courgettes and dwarf green beans. It’s a wild life here in Sin City. Not surprisingly Kenwyne didn’t reappear and O’Donovan came on for him. There was a good chance for Arsenal to increase their lead when Whitehead was penalized for a back-pass and they were given a free-kick on our six-yard line but Gilberto managed to miss the goal completely. In the 65th minute O’Donovan should’ve done better, again, when he shot straight at Fabianski but the crowded continued to sound in hi-jinks. Not long after that Miller came on for Edwards and Boro went 5-0 up against City. Boro are just weird. Yorke got a great ovation as he went off for quite possibly the last time and Chops came on. With fifteen minutes to go we were still only 1-0 down and had switched to 4-4-2 so there was a chance we could snatch a draw. The game ricocheted from end to end with Arsenal youngster Randle having a goal ruled out and also producing another good save from Fulop. Three minutes of added time gave us all a boost and we soon got a corner but it was punched away. O’Donovan had his best chance a minute later but Fabianski saved well.

So, no disgrace and a much better show than last week.

I’m happy with the season as I’d have been glad to finish fourth off bottom. I won’t be very happy to finish sixth off bottom next season though. The two sides who were promoted with us last season, Birmingham and Derby, have both been relegated today and our battling qualities that brought us so many late goals made the difference in the end. For selfish reasons I’m glad that Fulham stayed up as they’re the nearest Premier League ground to my home and now that Reading have gone down we have a better chance of getting Stephen Hunt. With match-winners like him and an overall strengthening of the squad we can build on what we’ve achieved this year and turn a lot of those 1-0 defeats to the Man Cities of this world into victories.

ALS Books click here