Before
The dust is beginning to settle on Tuesday night’s shenanigans and let’s hope we can put it all behind us with a decent result today. At the end of the day we did win and as the old adage says, it’s the sign of a successful side that they can get results when they’re not playing well. We haven’t played well apart from our first two matches but we’ve won four and drawn one out of seven, which ain’t bad. Last season both Spurs and Wigan beat us in the corresponding fixtures and we made our customary First Round exit from the League Cup so we’ve already improved on that. Nos won’t be taking part today so no doubt Collins will replace him but apart from that the side should be much the same as against Boro. Villa are doing well and have won three and drawn one so far but I think we’ll get a draw and 1-1 seems most likely. Well, the sun is shining and I’m off to Euston to catch the train up to Birmingham.

Getting There
I managed to catch an earlier train than planned thus allowing time for a swift beverage or two. I didn’t see any red and white at Euston but a few young London lads asked me how I was getting to Villa Park and I suppose they must have been sons of the Diaspora. There were loads of fellow fans at New Street and on the local train up to Witton and when I left the station I was soon in the Cap and Gown slurping a pint of Woodpecker and watching the Everton v Liverpool match. It cost £2 to get in the pub and it was well segregated. It was a fair climb to the top of the Doug Ellis Stand and my seat was right at the end of the front row. The sun was blazing down, as it had there back in March, and jeans were being rolled up and a few shirts were off to absorb a few rays. I spotted Ian Todd, SAFCSA London Branch main man, sitting below me and we exchanged waves.

The Match
I was surprised to see Miller in our starting line-up and wondered where Reid was. We started off brightly and there were repeated loud chants of “There’s only one Keano!” By some strange coincidence I was sitting next to a Scottish lad with a carrier bag who’d sat next to me at the last game there back in March and he was as foul-mouthed and contemptuous of the ref as he had been then. On my other side was one of our Sikh fans and I was pleased to see him there. We took the lead in the 9th minute when Malbranque put a great ball through the middle and Cisse ran on to it before firing home. We were playing with flair and a good deal of commitment and all seemed well with the world. However, Villa got a direct free-kick in a dangerous position just outside the box in the 17th and Ashley Young slammed it into our bottom left-hand corner for the equalizer. I wasn’t the only one to think that Gordon should’ve done better. We continued to play well and Diouf was doing a lot of good stuff over on the left while behind him McCartney looked strong in defence and going forward. Malbranque, who I keep confusing with Reid from a distance, was outstanding. There was controversy in the 32nd when Villa were awarded another free-kick on the edge of the box. It did look to me that one of our lads had nudged the ball with his arm but others claimed that Carew had handballed it. Anyway, the kick was partially cleared only for it to be crossed again for Carew to back-heel it into the net. Villa began to press more and two minutes before the break we were lucky not to go 3-1 down when Miller lost it in midfield and they broke quickly and Gordon gathered well as a dangerous low cross came in from the left.

There were no changes at half-time but the sun had disappeared behind the stand. In the 59th we brought on Murphy and Reid for Diouf and Miller. Why we hadn’t had Reid on from the start was a mystery to me and I would’ve preferred to see Chopra on there instead of Murphy. I don’t even know if Chops was on the bench as we hadn’t got a mention after the Villa side had been announced. We were less effective than in the first half and Laursen at the heart of Villa’s defence was winning most balls in the air. Milner came on in the 70th and was greeted with loud boos from our end but responded by going on a dazzling run down the right wing. We brought on Stokes for the last ten minutes or so and he immediately shot narrowly over, though he would’ve done better to centre it. There were cheers when four minutes of added time were announced but though we continued to get forward a lot we weren’t threatening enough and didn’t really look like scoring again.

I was out of there like shit off a shovel and was soon pulling out of New Street on the 17.30 train. Of course I was disappointed that we’d lost but not that much. This was the best we’d played since the Spurs game and Villa are a good side so it’s no disgrace. The tube home to Ladbroke Grove was full of Arsenal fans and they’d been beaten by Hull 2-1, which made next Saturday’s fixture seem less daunting. Then, after two weeks off, we’ve got Fulham and the Mags, both of whom seem much more manageable.

ALS Books click here