Sorry for this being late. My server decided it wouldn’t let me upload anything yesterday, although it’s been sorted now. I hope. I would suggest if you’re worried about this going down in future, you sign up for the Mailing List, where I can keep you nice and informed. For some reason, and indicative of the shit I’ve had to deal with recently, last week’s report got lost somewhere. I think it went in the same place as our playing ability against H&R. It’s back up now.
As for Tiny 2 Evesham 1, I suppose you could call it a typical FAC game. At times, we could rip through them. At other points, we looked more clueless than a Franchise fan with a condom.
Be honest. When we went 1-0 up, you thought that was that. Cue idle talk about who we’d want in the next round, and whether we’d want Oxford United at home to swell the coffers, Woking away for another grand day out or perhaps the last remaining cannon fodder at KM, grateful to be on the same pitch as us, and content to go home with a heavily spanked botty.
Of course, they scored. Watching it on Dons Online, I still can’t get my head around it. It sort of just happened. Needless to say, it all went a bit shit afterwards. Evesham clearly decided to go for the draw by this stage (about 15 minutes in). We looked as effective as the British Army in Afghanistan, and as well equipped.
Come to think of it, our tactics look like they came from some disbanded regiment. Got the ball? Hoof it long, hoof it high and see what happens. Which is all very well, except when the ref considers your main striker to be porking his daughter.
As much as I like him, Darren Grieves reminds me of Alan Cork post-1986. No, I don’t just mean the hair. Nor am I referring to his Aston Villa-esque last minute scores in cup ties. Basically, when we start with him, we’re, well, crap. Actually we’re not, but something doesn’t quite tie when he’s on there at the start. Like Corky, he didn’t have the mobility to be different but doesn’t have the brick shithouse build to injure defenders. Keep him on the bench, send him on with 20 minutes to go if need be and prepare for fireworks.
OK, when PB came on, we changed. The birds started singing, the sun started shining, trees rustled happily, squirrels played with their nuts. Probably. Well, he certainly made a difference anyway. True to form, I missed his goal…..
After that, it could have been four. Actually, it should have been three, had D’insane not missed his penalty. It was also at this time that we started playing on the floor and look like we were using our brain. QED.
Enough football talk for you? I’m semi-enjoying writing more about the game these days. While that will guarantee a plummet of readership, those who remain can enjoy the following..
Plus points: Winning. Potential banana skin avoided. Could play better. PB. Steve Watson coming back for at least some of the game.
Minus points: Being shit for a sizeable part of the contest. Could play better. Defence looks shaky at times – a team better in front of goal would have knocked us out. The way we looked shocked/clueless at 1-1 until PB came on. Inability to kill games off – again.
The referee’s a…….: Apparently, he’s an acquaintance of DA. With friends like that, etc.
Them: 12 year olds doing “Easy” chants and the occasional MK quip. Nuff sed. To be fair though, they did seem quite gracious in defeat. Which is more than their cunt of a goalkeeper. Let’s see – being v–e–r–y s–l–o–w when they were 1-1 (this was in the first half, don’t forget). Rushing up in the 90th minute, pushing and shoving in the box (did he shove Frankie to the floor?), realising he got caught short, ran back, fell over the referee’s leg and acting like he’d been in a drive-by. Appeared to be a bit of a humourless wanker as well. Still, he can enjoy the next round draw…
Point to ponder: Will Steve Watson become our new Joe Sheerin/Gareth Ainsworth? High hopes and an even higher BUPA bill to boot, in other words. Hope his pointing at his groin was a precaution, or at least an invitation to a bird at the back of the JS.
Truth is stranger than fiction: (1) In true Tardis fashion, didn’t Evesham’s turnout look small in comparison to the number of coaches they took? (2) Looks like Tintin Haydon had another mascot to play with yesterday, some dog type creature. Forget who it was for, but do you think it’s beyond us to get a second mascot in? Not so much enticing the kids during the game (actually, should rephrase that) but as an option should we ever become desperate up front.
Anything else? Yeah. You know how sometimes you wonder why certain players make it and others don’t? You know the sort of thing, why John Terry made it and Carl Cort didn’t?
Well, for this game I saw the two sides of footballers attitude close up. One was Paul Barnes, who ran his reproductive equipment off and changed the game from lumpfest to lovefest. A guy who pulled back to fitness, with no known complaints and with a more-or-less guaranteed run in the side.
The other was the un-named footballer (he remains anonymous because I can’t 100% place him, although I’m 98% sure who he is) who I stood behind in the tea bar queue. Suffice to say, he wasn’t playing, whinging as hell about being dropped and ended with the quote “I can’t wait to leave, so I can get some work under my belt”. Well, he knows where the door is….
And here’s the rub. I presume this player was fed up, with comments like – as I overheard mumbling – “I don’t like that when he did that in front of the boys”. OK, he was with one of the anon “DA out” poster types that crop up after every loss, so he may have been prompted. But I think this player is on contract, and probably gets a fair chunk out of AFCW’s coffers. If he is, he does what he’s told – you get paid to do a job, you do it. I presume he’s happy to accept any cheques from AFCW, even though (assuming I’m right in IDing him) the guy is a well-considered liability. Can’t say I’ll miss him when he finally fucks off.
[SW19 note: the whinging player in question was Scott Curley]
Personally, I’d rather have a PB or a Robin Shroot in the starting XI, players who are a little bit more reliable. And I’m sure our fitness expert will be interested to hear that he was busy ordering a double cheeseburger with double bacon….
So, was it worth it? It will be when the 4Q draw is made.
In a nutshell: (Still) up for the cup.