And back down to earth again.
Two wins on the spin, growing in confidence, walking around like a hound with two penises for most of the last week.
You didn’t expect anything different, did you?
To be honest, that Fridge Raiders 1 Quorn 1 is considered a disappointing result isn’t a bad thing.
We would have undeniably lost this very fixture last year, and it’s quite pleasing we tried for the winner in injury time.
Whether it was the thought of playing Chelski this Wednesday, the forced changes, the unwritten rule of football that two good performances leads to a bad third one, I don’t know.
But it just seemed a little, well, flat.
We started well, and we do look a lot more dangerous when we attack these days. But FGR aren’t mugs, and Bass had to pull off a great save as well as them hitting the post.
Oh, and Reeves went off as well. Thankfully he walked off rather than having to be carried off, but we’ll miss him.
Mind you, his replacement was having a Ball. And yes, I’ll claim credit for that one.
If there’s one massive improvement this campaign already, it’s that we can put somebody like our goalscorer on and still don’t look significantly weakened.
Compare and contrast to so many similar situations last season and you know we’ve made a massive step forward.
Mind you, Little coming off at half time didn’t help either. Granted, Pell was OK enough, but you knew we needed a second.
I’ll come onto that later, but we were always vulnerable. And while I’d like to see the FGR goal again (to put it in its mildest terms), I’m not surprised.
To be fair to us, we kept pressing for the winner, but I’m not sure if keeping the scoreboard clock rolling past 90 minutes is a good thing.
It seems to make it better, although we’ve yet to experience this new rule when we’re desperately defending right at the end.
Looking at the clock on a scoreboard may become a legitimate cause of death this campaign.
Thinking about it, I don’t think we were in any significant danger after conceding, but it does put a downer on the previous two weeks.
Or was it the weather? Last time I saw so many people rushing towards the back of the stand, they were standing near our players doing shooting practice.
I can’t find much to disagree with JJ about here, although Reeves with a hamstring is more annoying than anything.
Could we have won it? Yes. Could we have lost it? Yes. Does it ultimately matter? Maybe, maybe not.
But these sort of games are banana skins, and in the past we’ve stumbled to defeat.
We drew today, and we’re still unbeaten in the League this season. I would have happily taken your arm off for that at the end of the last campaign.
Today might feel like a step backwards, but it’s possibly the opposite…
Plus points: We didn’t lose. Ball’s goal. Ability to put on substitutes. Pushing for a winner.
Minus points: We didn’t win. Too much sloppiness. Their goal. Reeves and Little off.
The referee’s a…: I’ll simply say this – he did us for Newport at home last Boxing Day. In both senses of the word…
Them: They went down last season, probably still licking their wounds, and weren’t the slam dunk opponents some believed they were beforehand.
Troy Deeney may not look at fit as he was, but you don’t lose that goalscoring touch. His next family dinner with his other half’s family might be awkward though.
Under 300 of them, and I saw their coach drive past the south stand at about 14h20. I think they sung, but couldn’t really hear too much from them.
Didn’t hear much whether Dale “Just Stop Oil” Vince was there, but I hope we gave him a proper sausage roll and told him it was a Linda McCartney special.
He might twig what he was eating when he discovers he could taste it…
Point to ponder: Should we talk about Ali Al-Hamedi?
I get that form is temporary, and class is permanent. We all know he’s better than what he’s showing right now.
But he must have pissed off Allah recently, given the accuracy of his shots.
The one he blasted over just before their equaliser sums him up at this moment. After being the sole bright spot from January onwards, the poor guy just can’t get a break.
It could have been worse, because the referee today was the sort who would have sent him off for farting in the wrong direction.
He needs a goal, and if/when he gets one he’ll find the net on a regular basis again. It’s not like he’s not in the right position to get them.
The thing is – what if he doesn’t?
He wouldn’t be the first striker to have half-a-season when he’s on fire, and stink the place out the next.
The longer his drought goes on, the more we might have to consider the unthinkable with him.
The problem is, he’s still by far and away the best striker at the club. Bugiel hasn’t found the net yet, and Manbun doesn’t look like he’ll get a goalscoring bonus anytime soon.
Thankfully we’re getting strikes from other areas of the field, but they too will dry up at some point.
Plus, if Barnsley are after him, is that also playing on his mind?
I do think we need another striker this window anyway, especially if somebody shows us the money we want for AAH.
And no, I don’t think Lyle Taylor is the answer. We can’t afford his wages, and if you think Troy Deeney looked out of sharpness…
Truth is stranger than fiction: 1) The PA still sounds muffled, and is too loud in the south stand. 2) Hearing Dinosaur Jr’s “Feel The Pain” at half time. Apt. 3) Anyone see that very big plane flying very slowly into Heathrow at around 15h30? 4) The thunder and lightning.
Anything else? So, Chelsea at Ponti Stamfordi next.
I think we should just treat Wednesday as a good day out and see what we can do if anything.
It seriously doesn’t matter if we lose, as long as it’s not a morale-destroying gubbing, because nothing is expected of us.
We will have to play better – a lot better – than we did today against even their second string to stand a remote chance.
And I hope it doesn’t do what the Arsenal game did a couple of years ago, namely end up being a highpoint of our season.
Perhaps having that in the back of our mind explained one or two things today? You can understand that to be the case, it’s a big fixture even if it’s the Carabao.
After all, our players will be more used to Grimsby and Crawley rather than Chelsea.
As for the fans, selling the entire allocation within about 48 hours is undeniably good, although it’s funny that’s not such a big deal any more.
Having about 4400 season tickets helps, although if you have a Stadium Card you were almost awaiting scraps for this one.
That’s the Plough Lane factor again, namely what happens when you can fit in double the amount of people we used to get at KM.
Us older heads have seen us at Stamford Bridge before (Doug Rougvie, anyone?), but many there on Wednesday will be in SW6 for the first time.
As a quick aside about PL – one of our New York branch made his inaugral visit to the new gaff, and he was very impressed with it.
We can get jaded with certain things relating to AFCW, but always remember that on any given home fixture somebody is stepping into the ground for the first time…
So, was it worth it? Maybe.
In a nutshell: Still haven’t lost since May 8th.