To be said in a south London accent…
So, the Comeback Kings, er, come back again. Frank Sinatra had less of those than what we have.
Seriously – how many times have we come from behind (fnar) this season alone? More than some sides manage to do in a whole campaign I bet.
You can’t knock that trait though, and you can’t knock getting a point in most circumstances.
True, if you happen to be 3-0 up with five minutes left, and you end up with a draw, it’s definitely a metaphoric loss.
But this was a game that nobody had much expectation beforehand, and as it turns out it’s another game where we don’t lose.
This with a weaker team than normal as well.
We all know about Ollie Palmer, and Pressley himself was injured enough not to start.
Add Marsh being out for a month, and both NGW and McCormick being pre-game doubts – just what have we been doing in training this past fortnight?
Which might make this latest turnaround in fortune one of the most impressive of the lot.
It does seem to beg as many questions as answers, like why we feel the need to keep going behind in the first place.
That isn’t unique under MR, it’s been the case more often under previous regimes than you think.
Do we just not scout the opposition properly beforehand? Do we (over) rely on the other team losing steam and us stinging them late on?
Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad we’re able to do it in the first place. It’s just that we might do it a bit too often.
But the team does have to be praised for rising from the dead again. NGW’s strike was a good one (maybe he should play up front?).
And I can imagine the roar when Rudoni equalised, in a finish that was probably harder than it looked on first glance.
Though more than a couple of people have commented about how silent it was early on in the ground.
Maybe it’s because nobody expected much beforehand, and they were being proved right?
In the Friday SW19 update, your editor mentioned having an inferiority complex every time we play a Sheff Weds type team.
Perhaps that’s one reason why we seem to start so slowly – we don’t have the self-belief from the off.
I don’t doubt Robbo (and other managers) try and make sure that’s not the case, although one does wonder if we miss a Goodliffe/Fuller/Bulman/Darius Charles circa 2016 type figure.
Many feel we need to invest in another Palmer-esque striker, and they’re correct. But we do need a bit more than that.
Then again, Wednesday did prove a long standing SW19 theory – most teams in L1 aren’t all that.
If they were as good as some people think, they would have gubbed us 4-0 without breaking sweat.
But coming back against the Owls, Oxford, Ipswich, Bolton etc etc proves that most teams can be got at if you put the pressure on.
That a young, understrength side like we put out yesterday got a point from being 2-0 down says a few things.
One of which being we might not be quite as bad as some of our fans think we are…
We get to do it again Tuesday at Lincoln (and your editor may need a lift, if anyone is driving up and back), where no doubt we’ll go behind.
While we haven’t lost in two games, we haven’t won in five, and Sincil Bank would be a good place to right that wrong.
Before then, we get the underappreciated joy of the FA Cup first round draw this afternoon.
If you’re reading this after the balls are yanked out of the sack, I’m sure you’ll be planning your trip to Franchise already 😉
If you’re reading this beforehand though, there’s some potentially interesting ties.
The thing is, anything that reminds me of Harringey Borough makes me shiver before the game even starts.
Which is why as tempting as it is to draw Bowers and Pitsea, or Pontefract Collieries, do we really want to?
Those sort of venues are the ones where we inevitably lose somebody important to injury.
It’s not like we wouldn’t get some potential gooduns if they’re from League Two either.
Salford or Harrogate away will be one for the groundhoppers, and ironically we stand a better chance of going through than a regional Conference opponent.
Of course, there’s always the possibility of going to Bromley…