Sunderland AFC……We sing this so often at matches but maybe, after the combined years of agony we have suffered supporting the lads we should change the next lyrics to “ we’re by far the most unpredictable team and don’t ask us to do anything the easy way cos we haven’t got a cat in hell’s chance”…. maybe not as catchy but far more accurate…..
I don’t know why but 3 years running I have got lost trying to find the bloody pub in Derby, for those that don’t know me I have travelled the length and breadth of the country for the last 10 years in one way or another, including London and all its glories…. for god’s sake I’ve even driven in Europe without any problem but Derby, well that’s a different matter – the irony therefore of the pubs name being THE NAVIGATION – oh how we larfed! Not that things improved any when we did find the blessed watering hole – nee Guinness, nee real ales, nee bitter…they even ran out of that fizzy lagery stuff – basically there was nowt due to a delivery driver being late (another little irony) so much to the point that we brought our own bait into the pub and they (the staff) must have been so flabbergasted by the whole situation they didn’t even bother stopping us.
The team was much as I expected with Higgy slotting in at left back alongside Evans, Nuggs & Bardsley. Kieran was back in midfield with Reid, Chopra and Whitehead. Murphy and Jones were upfront and Gordon kept goal. After about 3 or 4 minutes Murphy turned inside the area and hit a shot towards the goal which seemed to hit the inside of the post and then contrived to somehow, not go in – if only we’d all known then what was about to unfold we could have just shaken hands and gone home…. Pretty much the rest of the first half belonged to Sunderland apart from the odd break, Murphy turned inside and had a good strike on goal which was nearly bettered by a Derby defender whose effort on his own goal just flew past the post and most annoyingly, Chopra should have scored with a free header and then did score only to see his effort ruled out for offside – have to be honest here, at the time I didn’t think there was owt controversial about the non-award…. until half time when the texts from most of my normal mates and my referee mate stating that the goal should have been given – had we gone in 1-0 up we would have won that game, of that I have little doubt, which makes it doubly frustrating. We don’t even seem to get the correct decisions go for us let alone the incorrect ones (if that makes sense at all) and it’s really fucking me off now – conspiracy? No , bloody incompetence and inconsistency? Almost certainly. One more point on Mr Riley and his assistants while I am on – at some stage in this first half we won the ball in defence (despite a Derby foul) and had a really good chance of a break (we were massively on top at this stage) …. however Riley decided to blow up, legging it across the pitch motioning that an elbow had been used…. the only logical conclusion therefore was that he was going to issue a red card – nope only a yellow – so why stop the game then ref ?
The 2nd half started with the same promise that the first half ended and we pressed for the elusive winner in determined fashion. Remember earlier in the season when we seemed to epitomise our managers spirit with some stunning late shows and goals? Well, I think we’ve gone the other way now because frankly the last 20 minutes were pathetic in my opinion. Maybe it was because Richardson looked knacked by then or because Jones doesn’t seem the player we all know he is at present, or maybe it was because Reid is not match fit enough for 90 minutes yet or our skipper is nowhere near performing to a decent level. Whatever it is we just didn’t look like scoring and quite frankly I’m very worried about where the goals may come from in the crucial period ahead. Thankfully Derby managed to match our inadequacies throughout and were never really likely to score and so predictably the game ended goalless. The positives? We got a point and the team generally played well, particular mention must go to Phil Bardsley who seems to be our Mr Consistent and to Higginbotham who looked like he’d never been injured. The stark reality now is that we really must win at least one of our next 2 if we are to keep our heads above water in this increasingly edgy season.
HERO OF THE DAY: One of the lads in the car on the way back decided to go into a 10 minute rant about Bristol, Bristolians and his hate for them and how he wished they were Welsh…… he changed his tune when my wife informed him that she was born and bred in Bristol for the first 11 years of her life – priceless Lamby son, priceless!!
VILLAIN OF THE DAY: Me for getting lost (again) in Derby – even with a sat nav for gods sake!
Cheers
TAFKARLC (Paul)
