#SCFC 2 v 1 #AFCB

Phil turned up at my place at 7:30 wearing shorts and a woolly hat - you know, it's got to the point where it's not even worth mentioning to him any more....

We bundled into my "tank" as it was christened and picked Matt up. This was the same trio as for the West Ham match - surely a good omen? If we didn't believe that then the fact my Stoke supporting mate suggested we park in Wilson Road....what could go wrong?

Just so we're clear, I hate being the driver but it WAS my turn so the best I could hope for was a smooth ride and thankfully was blessed with that

Just a combination of sat nav malfunction and poor map reading in the last half mile slowed us down but after 4 hours we were parked up

Later my Stoke friend, Daryl, asked if I'd driven up in a big car and once admitted he confirmed I'd parked on the wrong side of the road and would have annoyed EVERYONE else parking there - oh well....

From the parking space we had to walk down an overgrown path, across a field, along a canal path and over a bridge - think Dora the Explorer rather than Bear Grylls.

We managed the first 3 obstacles with only a small amount of head scratching but were flummoxed at the bridge - there were 3

Of course we picked the wrong one and had to sniper up a steep, muddy embankment and over a fence but we managed it with only our pride a little battered

The harvester pub was just next to the ground and it was a good job we were there early as queues quickly formed as we smugly sat in the beer garden

There we were treated to rare form of Morris Dancing from Phil and although his movements were strangely sporadic it was a captivating performance and drew much admiration

Who knew he was that scared of wasps

Onto the ground and after Matt insisted that he be frisked while Phil and I walked through I enjoyed a steaming hot steak and ale pie while Phil fumed at the sign claiming no beer would be served at half time

The match kicked off and the first 10 minutes were even in that both sides were as scrappy as each other
Then, the pivotal moment of the game, and perhaps the season

Under the challenge of Wollscheid, Wilson went down in agony clutching his leg.

All AFCB fans held their breath - it can't be serious - surely we've had more than our fair share of injuries ? He was treated for several minutes but thankfully it looked like he'd recovered

That relief lasted less than 2 minutes as he tried a quick movement and just collapsed, only to be stretchered off with Murray taking his place

Bugger

Wilson scores goals, and although obviously important for me that isn't the bit of his game that means the most to us. He pulls defenders all over the place which creates space for others and he is our outlet ball

Without him, we just didn't look the same team we've all enjoyed over the last couple of seasons.

Despite this, though, something quite magnificent DID happen. The fans, already out-singing their illustrious counterparts, went to a decibel level that seemed to be double than before 

It was a hair rising moment and rarely dipped below this for the rest of the game - something that many Stoke fans have commented on since

While still good in defence and midfield, we just didn't seem to know what to do with the ball after that. It was almost like our style of play is now so hard-wired we couldn't comprehend what we had to do now

At 30 minutes it got a whole lot worse as an attack down our right had Francis on his arse and when the ball was pulled back' Walters was there to nudge in the easiest of goals

No recriminations from me - it was a good goal

The good thing was this seemed to wake us from our post Wilson stupor and we started to come back into it and we should have gone in at half time level but for an extraordinary decision and a great block

Brilliant work down the left between Daniels and Pugh had the ball at Tomlin's feet about 8 yards out. A striker, 8 yards out, ball at feet - just thought I'd recap that

So, instead of the shot we were all expecting, he passed it sideways to Ritchie who smashed it first time, only to see his effort brilliantly blocked.

Looking back, if Ritchie scores we'd be praising that vision but I do think that with Wilson looking like he's out of the picture for a while, I really do think we need to cut down on the walking-the-ball-in play

Halftime did have me smiling though as apparently the sign for beer wasn't right but by the time Phil realised this, queued and got to the front, the closed the till - hahaha

Half Time 1 - 0

Second half started and clearly Howe had managed to convince the team that there WAS life after Wilson as we looked a completely different side

Confident in possession and a threat going forward. Coupled with this growth was Stoke's crumbling of confidence as befits a team yet to register a win and we were by far the more confident team.

Murray had had a couple of stinging shots well saved and although King still looked ineffective with the ball, at least we did have some pace up front when he replaced the impressive Tomlin

Just 5 minutes after the swap, Gosling burst forward and after a pin-ball set of ricochets he shot from just outside the box and into the bottom right corner

Our fans erupted. Even me scraping my shins down the chair in front couldn't spoil the moment. The feeling reminded me of the last minute goal for Pugh against Forest a couple of years ago - but alas, this wasn't the last minute and there was a sting in the tale for this game

A quick free kick was worked down the Stoke right, a simple cross put over and Diouf slotted home

I could argue that the free kick looked so harsh against Murray, and the resulting free kick was taken from the wrong place - but that would be churlish at best

Fact of the matter was, for a 20 second period, Stoke switched on while we switched off - simple as that

The last 5 minutes had us having a go, but it just wasn't to be our day

Final Score 2-1

Summary - For the game itself, I think we deserved a point and could possibly have taken all 3 but we didn't get either.

We have played 7 games now and of the 4 we've lost, with the exception of  Norwich, we've come away thinking we've been hard done by

Quite frankly I'm getting bored saying that - it almost seems like I'm saying it just out of habit. Teams generally get what they deserve and for the games we have lost we haven't scored a high enough % of the chances we've created

Brilliant that we are still creating but we have to become more clinical and without Wilson, the likes of King have to stand up and be counted

This was always going to be a backs against the wall season and with the cruel, cruel luck we've had with injuries it does seem that someone up there doesn't like us. As long as we gave it our best shot, I really wouldn't have been disappointed with this season no matter how it went, but at the moment we aren't being allowed to show what we are capable of

Our destiny is still ours to make, though, and if we can create a Wimbledon-esque style spirit, who's to say we can't overcome it ?

Howe's got us further than we've ever dared to dream - maybe he's got that one extra rabbit to pull out of the hat

If he does, no manager would have done a better job in all of the Premier league years

I don't want to look back at potentially (hopefully not) our one season in the sun thinking I moaned all the way through  - I am, and will continue to enjoy this season and the roller coast ride it promises

#cafc 0 v 3 #afcb

I woke up and it was pitch black in the bedroom - I surely had hours of sleep left but just to make sure I checked my phone - it was 03:55 - the alarm was set for 04:00

 

Bugger

 

I picked Matt up at 05:00 and we were at Poole train station at 05:15 for a 05:28 train to miss the masses
 

I thought that I just COULDN'T take beers on a train for that time of morning - it would just be too common

 

I therefore compromised by putting spiced rum in a coke bottle 

 

Yeah, I really dodged a "sad" bullet there....

 

As it happened I needn't have worried as the station was full of lager carrying supporters and at Bournemouth Phil turned up with 5 beers (timed for 1 per half hour) - Marco followed Matt's good example and came empty handed

 

Just to clarify, I say Phil brought beer but it was Carling - so technically I don't think that counts

 

Gary joined us somewhere in the forest (how many stops does this bloody train make) and we trundled off to the smoke

 

On arrival, it was soon apparent that entrusting our Waterloo to pub travel plans to the Chuckle Brothers (Phil and Marco) had been a mistake as we veered across London

 

This was made worse in the pub which we EVENTUALLY found by Robbie (who we met there with Mark) asking why we didn't just follow the instructions he'd sent to Phil earlier that week......

 

Hmmmmmm

Valuable drinking time lost I feel

Still, we were only a short bus ride away and we were soon at the ground

We managed to find a Fosters queue that was relatively short (fancy only serving Fosters - yuk) and all was well with the world

We got to our seats 10 minutes before game time and the atmosphere was already fantastic

I felt sorry for my friend Josh, who had cruelly contracted chicken pox since the Bolton game and was unable to make this day - all real fans like him should be here but at least he'd seen the Monday game

Chant after chant rang round the Valley and when the players came out and a sea of inflatables were hoisted into the air - it was a noise and a sight to behold - very Tranmere-esque - we were just praying that the result wouldn't be the same

Surely with us up, the pressure was off and we would be able to play as we know we can

My only concern was the inclusion of Arter. This was bound to be an emotional return for him and we were all well aware that one more booking would mean he'd miss our first 3 Premier League games and we've seen this season just how important he is to us

The game started quite a few minutes after the Watford game and we were quickly in our stride.

Yann (yet another returning player) had a couple of shots saved either side of a Pugh effort that went narrowly wide and Charlton were finding it very hard to get the ball and when they did manage to get it, our ferocity of defence meant they couldn't keep it

I really expected a very tough game today with Charlton in good form but in the opening minutes it was obvious which team wanted this more

Sure it wasn't in our own hands to win the league, but it wasn't going to be for the lack of trying if we didn't

The away crowd was immense and with just 9 minutes gone, an almost perfect day got a whole lot better

The ball was worked out to the left and then back into the middle towards Yann

He turned and saw Ritchie steaming in and laid the ball off for him. There was a defender there and he knew what was coming so he tore after the ball, but was just not quick enough

Twenty yards out Ritchie met the ball with a curling left foot shot into the bottom left hand corner.

Charlton could have had 2 keepers in goal and it would still have gone in - as clean a strike as you are ever likely to witness

I've never seen so many awkward man hugs in the stands in my life. Jumping, cheering, crying, laughing. Old and young, not exactly knowing what they wanted to do to celebrate, but determined to do SOMETHING to make sure that this feeling would never be lost

Rather like watching a defender score and seeing a half arsed celebration, we were all thinking how we could improve our individual performances if we were lucky enough to see another goal - when we scored AGAIN two minutes later

Dithering at the back, Arter robbed the hapless defender before slamming it past the keeper into the left corner

We hadn't had time to recover from the last celebrations (I must look at my fitness regime) and yet we were at it again

I like to think I added a certain je ne sais quoi to my jumping and hugging by slamming my shins into the surrounding seats and almost taking the four of us over the row in front

You just can't teach that : 0-2

Seven minutes later it was almost 3 as Wilson waltzed through the defence, leaving at least 2 on their arses as he jinked through before having his close range shot brilliantly blocked by a flying defender

Thank f*** for that - another celebration at that stage and I'd have been leaving in an ambulance...

News then filtered through that Watford had scored

No-one cared - it's what we all expected. Nothing was going to spoil this day - a day in which history would be made and WE were there to witness it

The remainder of the half had Charlton really, really trying to get a foot-hold in the game, much to their credit, but they just lacked the quality for the final ball or shot

We looked dangerous every time we had the ball and Arter was controlling the midfield - yeah ok, maybe he should be playing :-)

On 42 minutes we went to the bar (mass brawl for rubbish beer in a plastic cup) where the queues suggested that many had long decided that this game was done and dusted

Half Time 0-2

Singing the minus 17 song in the toilets I still find a little disconcerting (I worry about people's ability to multi task) but seeing a man in a horse's outfit realise it had no fly did make me appreciate how glad I was we hadn't gone down the fancy dress route

The fact I was heading straight to family meal after the game had rather kyboshed that idea as my wife was less than keen on Batman sitting at the end of the table .....:-)

The second half started very much on the same lines as the end of the first, with Charlton a much more competitive outfit but you felt that we had another gear to move up into when threatened

Both Cook and Elphick marshalled the defence really well and Francis was showing the home crowd what they'd missed out on with plenty of marauding attacks and full bodied challenges at the back

On 60 minutes Gosling came on for Arter and that one last worry I had was gone. Next season is going to be tough (as well as brilliant) and we'd just ensured that we were going to face that challenge with our best player snarling in the middle

A header just wide from Pugh (just before blocks from Yann and Surman) was to be his last action of note before he was replaced by Smith

What a season he has had

I'll be the first to hold my hand up and say I didn't think he'd cut it in this league but to steal a quote from 'Arry, he's been absolutely outstandin' and fully deserved the cheers as he left the pitch

That swap put Ritchie on the left and it was show-boating time.

A long ball picked him out on the wing and as the defender came out to close him down he took the ball on the volley and just chipped the ball over the defender's head and ran onto the ball

If Ronaldo had done that there would be 1000 vines I could show you, but for now, you'll just have to take my word for it

The cross/shot came to nothing but that was only a slight reprise for the Charlton defence as on 85 minutes he cut in from the right (yes he was meant to be on the left but when's he's playing like this, who's arguing :-) ) and crashed a shot against the defender

The ball fell back to him and, off balance, as he was falling over he smashed the ball again and swept it into the bottom right corner

Five minutes to go, winning 0-3, getting promoted to the Premier league, it doesn't get any better than this, does it?

Yes, yes it does................

Like a Mexican wave of noise a crescendo of roaring started on the left and went through the crowd like wildfire

Why are we all screaming, I asked - I don't know, shouted all around me

We all dived to our phones - nothing had changed.

Refresh

Nothing

Refresh

Still nothing

Refresh

WEDNESDAY HAD EQUALISED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've never felt anything like it - We could see the bench jumping up and down and then Ritchie was jumping up and down while the ball was in play

Watford, after mocking our conceding of a last minute penalty against the Owls, had done exactly the same!!!

By all accounts their own fans had a hand in it by one fan running on the pitch, which delayed a Wednesday Free kick and disrupted their defensive plans

More jumping, shouting, hugging and tears - this truly was the greatest day

We lost Phil at this stage as his ill-advised standing on the chair went horribly wrong and we are all grateful to those in front for having such strong shoulders

Full Time - 0-3 : Bournemouth promoted as Champions

Summary - The game was never in doubt. The league always was. I am a VERY biased blogger - I make no bones about that. My blogs hardly ever mention the opposition because quite frankly, I don't care.

I make an exception today because I thought the Charlton players and fans alike were the classiest I have ever witnessed, allowing our celebrations in their own back yard. More than that, staying around and applauding our celebrations

I will forever hold a special respect for them for that and hope that next season, they, and Sheffield Wednesday go up :-)

Star Player - AFCB Crowd - we were magnificent and have the best year EVER to look forward to, following the best side we have ever had

 

 

#afcb 3 v 0 #bwfc

It's Monday 27th April 2015

Sky had royally screwed over the Bolton fans and moved the game to today which at the time, I was disappointed for them, but after the most ludicrous set of results known to man on Saturday, it meant we knew we had a chance to win, and get to the promised land.

All day I was a complete mess. What started as butterflies were full grown pterodactyl by 4 o'clock so I left work early - I think my colleagues were as glad I wasn't pacing around as I was

I got to the ground for just after 7 after a walk from the car which seemed further than I actually live from the ground and after politely declining the offer of a song-sheet I found the others

Nothing against the idea of the song sheet by the way - if it encourages a few more voices, why not, I say ?

Normally at this point I'd have a calming beer - but not today. I just couldn't guarantee that I wasn't going to be sick

At my seat all I kept thinking was "what if...." swiftly followed by "surely not us...." - crunch times like this bring out the pessimist in me.

I wasn't alone - many around me had a look on their face like they just wanted it all to be over

The crowd was in fine voice though, broken only by an impeccably observed minutes' silence to remember the fallen at Bradford

Neil Lennon had pronounced that they wouldn't come here to just roll over but all their plans were almost undone as early as the 2nd minute as Wilson brushed off a defender on the left, cut inside another and but for a brave save from Bogdan, would surely have calmed 10000+ nerves

The pattern of the game was quickly assumed with lots of pretty passing from us and a lot of high balls to Heskey for them

In fairness he won 80% of the high ball fairly and when that didn't work, won the other 20% unfairly.

I can't remember another player getting away with so many fouls. The trouble was that this is all that Bolton had to offer - and with Le Fondre constantly sniffing around - who was to say it wouldn't work?

After Ritchie had a shot saved from close range, Bolton's 1970's tactic almost paid dividends as a flick on (not by Heskey this time) had Le Fondre slipping through the defence and weakly heading the ball straight at Boruc

Thank God he didn't chest it down and run round Boruc - a very poor decision which did nothing for my jitters

Still, the crowd responded magnificently and soon voices as well as red and black balloons were raised

We started to impose our game more and the speed of passing and movement was impressive.

After long range (wayward) shots from both Smith and Kermit it was Ritchie's turn to smash the ball goalwards after a free flowing move

The keeper seemed to be going the wrong way as it zipped across the turf but somehow he managed to throw a strong hand on it an parry it to safety

Bloody hell - how many times have we played teams where the keeper has had the game of his life this season - this ginger ninja was going to take some beating

I blame the pitch - ANY other pitch in the land would have at least one divot that the ball could hit - the one downside of playing on a billiard table :-)

Cometh the time, cometh the man.

With less than 7 minutes left of an entertaining and BLOODY frustrating first half - the hugely impressive Smith (in for the suspended Francis) sent the ball wide right to Ritchie

The Scot (haha) then seemed to kick the ball against his other foot (on purpose - this wasn't me playing) and the trick bamboozled the defender and Ritchie was at the by-line

Looking up, he chipped the ball to the back post and Pugh collected it, trapping the ball instantly

We'd already used our first "sleeper" on Saturday (agent Grabban) and Pugh was faced with our second, Feeney

Whispering "Mitchell" at him, the code - the word did its job and Feeney was frozen to the spot as Pugh jinked past onto his left

Then, without actually taking a back-swing (or so it seemed to me), Pugh rocketed the ball into the top right corner of the goal before Bogdan (or anyone else) had time to set himself

The place exploded!!!

Old and young were jumping up and down, hugging. Tears of joy and relief were shed as Pugh performed a knee slide into the corner

We were WINNING 1-0

Once we caught our breath, as one we all thought, one's not going to be enough

Boruc had the ball 5 minutes later in his hands and after a sadly trade-mark poor clearance straight to their midfielder, the ball was quickly won back and Wilson pinned his ears back and was off

The ball through was slightly deflected which slowed it down as well as sending Wilson slightly wide on the left.

He cut back with the ball and spotting Kermit in acres of room on the right side of the box he passed the ball to him along the deck.

What happened next reminds me of 2 world cup incidents. Do you remember the one where Brazil are playing Italy and Pele seems to pass it to no-one, but then Alberto steams in and cracks it home - yeah, that!!

The ball reached Kermit and he instantly dinked the ball back into the box

Ritchie, having discarded the cloak of invisibility, ran into the box and met the ball on the half volley, punching it into the bottom left corner - an absolutely fantastic finish

World cup incident number 2: watching it back on TV afterwards, as Ritchie span away and ran to the crowd, the commentator gave us a Wolstenhlme moment with "They're turning on the style now Bournemouth" - still gives me goose-bumps

If the first cheer was loud - this one will live long in the memory

The half time whistle went and we were all still jumping up and down humming the tune from Match of the Day - hope sky didn't mind.....

At that point in my mind, we were definitely going up - by the start of the second half I was "well, the next goal is going to be crucial" - I can't help it, honest

Special mention to the dizzying half time entertainment - BEST HALF TIME EVER!!

Half Time 2-0

The second half started with Bolton clearly having got the hair drier treatment but Cook and Elphick were imperious under the bombardment - not that they were winning much in the air - but they were always there for the knock down - there's more than one way to skin a cat.....

Arter had come closest with a shot that drifted wide before Kermit tried a "Beckham" on 63 minutes

From fully 40 yards he spotted Bogdan off his line and he lofted the ball over the keeper's head

Bogdan had the look of a man watching the ball as it was sailing over the bar, but just thought he'd saunter back, just in case. I was only when it was clear, with 6 feet to go, it was obvious that it WASN'T going over, that he managed to back-track in time to tip it over

Six minutes later and it was obviously game over - surely.

A threaded ball had Wilson through one on one, only for Dervite to cynically scythe him down - penalty AND a red card

Our rivals were going to LOVE that - but to be honest  - I couldn't care less - there was no other decision

Up stepped Kermit and Bogdan started his mind games. He started on the left, danced to the right and then jumped in the middle - he looked bloody enormous

Clearly that's what Yann thought too, as he skied his attempt high, wide and mighty - Bogdan had got into his head - this game wasn't over

Pugh and Ritchie both had near misses, as I'm a kind mood, before the moment of truth at 77 minutes

Great work down the left had the ball cut back to Wilson, 12 yards out at the near post, with a defender up his backside

In one movement he pivoted to his left, dragging the ball with him and leaving the defender for dead. Without looking up he fired the ball to the near post and with Bogdan rooted to the spot by the speed of the action, it was 3-0 and time for unbridled joy

Stuff happened after that but if I'm honest I can't remember what. The singing, the hugging the jumping, the sheer, sheer disbelief

The final whistle went and the inevitable pitch invasion. As if anyone was going to give a toss about a pitch of the year award

Full Time 3-0

Summary - The best we've played for a while - goals good enough to win 3 goal of the month awards - Football doesn't make you feel any better than that

Star Man - Smith - After Sheffield Wednesday, he must have balls the size of melons. A faultless display both in defence and attack

#wwfc 1 v 2 #afcb

It's been ages since my last away game so woke up ridiculously early feeling rough with a head cold

Doesn't sound much I appreciate but you have to study the logistics carefully - firstly, I'm today's designated driver for Eloise, Matt and Marco and secondly, when you have a nose the size of mine, one sneeze can wipe out the visibility of an entire windscreen.

We reacquainted ourselves with Cherwell Services en route which meant the day was back on track with our usual game of Matt-baiting

Well, if you go to footy and spend 7 quid on sushi for sustenance then quite frankly you get what you deserve

Traffic was kind to us though (except for an old guy riding a mobility scooter in the middle of the road) and we parked up at the Civic Centre (home of the tightest car park spaces in the world) and after we'd escaped through the sun roof we walked into town

This week all my pub plans were in uproar as every time I thought I found an away fan friendly pub, I received a tweet saying "I wouldn't try there if I were you"

Surely a place the size of Wolvehampton doesn't shepherd all away fans into 1 pub - what is this, the 1980's ??

Sure enough though, each pub we passed had signs for home fans only and although we weren't wearing colours so could have probably passed the surly looking bouncers, we feared once we had to ask for a pint, the veil of secrecy would be shattered

One thing we've learned in the past -  locals DON'T appreciate you having a go at the accent - which is fair enough, now I think of it...

So off to the Stonehouse we went to be greeted by airport like metal detectors / scanners 

The beeping from that door thing must have driven the locals mad because who now DOESN'T carry change or a phone or a nine inch blade...

Now I like being roughly frisked as much as the next man but to me, this did seem a little over the top

I figured, though, that at least inside this magical, mysterious, difficult to enter place there would be wonders beyond my wildest dreams

No, no there wasn't 

In a Basil-esque moment I wasn't expecting herds of wilderbeast sweeping majestically through the plains of Wolvehampton but a soul-less, windowless bar which refused my mate entry because he'd had the audacity to travel to the game with his 13 year old son (this IS the only pub we were allowed in) was, in fairness, a little disappointing

They did have a red and black upholstered ceiling, which was a nice touch, but I'm pretty sure that was incidental :-)

Yes I guess Robbie could have left his son at home, but he was wearing his lucky socks so that just wasn't an option - and oh yes, this is meant to be a family friendly event ...

So first impressions weren't great but that could not be said of the stadium

As we descended into the bowl in which it sits I have to say it looked really impressive

I do like the newer bowl type stadiums but there is something to be said for having 4 f*** off big stands where the corners aren't filled in

The only slightly weird thing was that we were given the lower tier of what was the equivalent of our East stand, so we were right on the half way line which is usually the expensive bit of the ground

That though, wasn't the really weird bit - it was the fact that the home executive boxes were above us (not ideal for them I can imagine) and then the upper tier was home fans

I think I can only think of QPR where away fans were above home when I've before wondered why everyone else separates the fans so much

There was no trouble - how every match should be

I'd also like to mention that the stewards were excellent and having stewards specifically to look after our fans with special needs was superb

They really looked after our guys and were a credit to the club

After a rather excellent steak and ale pie we found our seats in Row A

Brilliant

I blame Matt, because it was his fault

I did however gather a small amount of amusement as someone with the tallest wheelchair on earth sat right in front of him although having to restrain him from giving the guy a little "nudge" did become a little tiresome :-)

We had a good chat with Robbie who rose further in my estimations by pretending to be interested in NFL for Matt and I saw Neil from the North stand and the guy/son I speak with in the local chippie, post home games so I was starting to feel at home

The players came out to warm up and remarked that Ritchie's hair obviously didn't like the cold as it wasn't standing to attention as usual

The teams were announced and Pitman was in for Kermorgant 

I had a good think about that and decided it was tactical genius

Normally we start games like a train and finish poorly 

By starting him, we are guaranteed a good finish by dragging him off near the end and replacing him with, well, anyone :-)

It was starting to get cold now - I blame the flag bearers causing a draft

The game kicked off and Pugh immediately had a go at there tall left back, Lorfa

I thought Pugh was going to have a field day as the gangly number 33 looked like Bambi on Ice but I had badly underestimated him

Not only did he have blistering pace to make up for falling for any tricks but going forward he was so comfortable on the ball and when he attacked we wet ourselves

The problem for us though, was that all the home side looked great on the ball and when you couple that with a hard pressing game you get a torrid first half for the travelling Cherries

In the first 5 minutes it was obvious that Wolves had a point to prove as they poured forward and both wingers were rampaging

On 8 minutes thankfully I was blinded by the sun as it appeared between the stands - it was God's way of saying "Don't watch Elphick fanny about with the ball and give it away"

My eyes just recovered enough to see Boruc fly spectacularly to his left to save a fierce drive from just outside the box

We then ran down the other end and a smart move down the left had the ball rolled to Ritchie who had a low shot well saved near the bottom left corner

Wolves were harrying well and as we'd obviously decided not to challenge in the air, Wolves were taking a grip on the game

On 16 minutes (shortly after a Pitman shot to row Z) Lorfa cut in from the left and his low bobbly shot was fumbled by Boruc and their striker ran in, took the ball and fell over putting the ball into the side netting

Just 3 minutes later it was Arter giving the ball away and it was yet another fine save from a fierce strike that kept the teams level

I can't remember ever saying this - but we were being out-footballed 

On 21 minutes Elphick went from hero (cutting out a low right cross) to zero as it was his turn to give the ball away and rely on a poor shot to be picked up by our overworked keeper

Our midfield was sitting way too deep giving Wolves space and time to power forward so every tackle we made looked last ditch, the pressure was pretty relentless

When we did get an attack going we suffered from our usual shot-itis and wanted to walk it in but these attacks were few and far between

It seemed only Arter was prepared to roll his sleeves up and get stuck in but when he got his yellow after 30 minutes for a poorly timed tackle in the middle, even he had to start reining it in

A goal for the home side seemed inevitable and on 41 minutes it came

To me it seemed an inswinging cross from the left seemed to just sneak in the far post but I heard later that Graham had got the faintest headed touch

No more than they deserved 

All too often teams that perform this well are overlooked as a result of the other team being "under par"

True we looked tired but our play I believe was as a direct consequence of how well Wolves played

As half time was blown I sighed with relief - thank God it was only 1

HT 1-0

The second half started and the hair dryer treatment had obviously worked

We looked much brighter and when Pitman was felled just outside the box the ball was nudged to Ritche he smashed the ball low and the keeper made a fine save to his right

On 53 minutes Elphick decided on a play from the same decade as his haircut by jumping at a corner and bundling the keeper into the net

The ball did go in.....

We were getting much more of the ball but on 55 minutes the away fans decided that we'd given Wolves the advantage for long enough and started singing for Kermorgant 

The team was carrying Pitman today

What I don't get is his crossing delivery isn't great and yet he takes corners and free kicks

He's a striker - why isn't he trying to score?

Arter was starting to boss the midfield, spraying the ball both left and right but it was the Wolves striker, van la Parra that changed the game

A long ball was hoofed forward from the back and Cook went to cover it 

Van la Parra at no point looked at the ball, just saw where Cook was and jumped up as Cook jumped

I didn't see VLP lead with his arm but he did clash heads with Cook

I don't believe he meant to hurt Cook but you are not allowed to jump into a player which he did as he never looked at the ball and so what he did was dangerous 

It gave the ref a decision to make 

The blame is entirely with VLP

So, down to 10 men, Wolves committed the cardinal sin against us - they sat back

If they'd studied us they would have known that if they'd carried on harrying and changing to route 1 - this was a game they could still get something from

Sitting back is just like meat and drink to us and we all visibly grew in stature and confidence

So, with them down to 10 it's obvious what we needed - a defensive substitute 

Smith came on for Daniels

What???

Well it must be an injury

Nope - what it was was a substitution master-stroke 

As soon as he came on we were a force down the left despite Pugh having a very poor game

He was fast and direct and raised the tempo of the whole team noticeably 

On 67 minutes it was he that cut in from the left and fired into the side netting - finally someone not afraid to shoot

I wonder if he's put himself in contention....

Wolves now couldn't hold on to the ball and couldn't get out of their half

We were attacking at will from both left and right and Cook almost wrote his name into Wolves' infamy by chesting down a corner and poking it narrowly over

To be fair I'm not sure why he was getting so much - even if you thought it wasn't a foul he WAS still flattened

On 72 minutes the away crowd finally got what they wanted and Yann came on ..... for Pugh

This allowed Pitman to use his blistering pace down the left

On the other hand, they are down to 10, sitting back and we now have 3 strikers on the field - yeah ok - Pugh wasn't having a great game anyway

A minute later Wolves' heroic defence was finally breached

Good play down the right had the ball pin-balling all over the place with shots pummelling the defenders until the ball was slid to Arter who thumped the ball through the crowd and into the bottom left corner, almost under the keeper

The reaction was amazing

He sprinted over to the Afcb fans and knee slid while screaming at the top of his voice 1-1

You could see the Wolves heads drop then - when you are on a run like they are this often happens

They just looked like they were beaten - we just needed to ensure that we were more ruthless than we have been in the past

And so we were

Attack after attack from left right and middle saw some of the best blocking and challenges I've seen to keep the teams level - it was simply whether they could hold out as all ideas of going for a shock win like we did with 10 against Bolton were gone

With 5 minutes to go Yann was involved in yet another clash of heads and while the home players wanted retribution, a corner was given

From this corner I saw possibly the best save from a close range header from Wilson followed by the best goal line headed clearance I've ever seen, as the ball landed to Ritchie 15 yards out

He shin-shot to the far corner and it just had enough power to beat the man on the line to make it 1-2

His celebration was ok, but compared to Arter doing his Nobby Styles jig down the sideline (something I will take to my grave) it was just pitiful

The last few minutes were professionally seen out and even though they had yet another man sent off for a horrible looking lunge on Pitman deep into injury time - it made no difference

Summary : Wolves are a very good side and thoroughly deserved to go in 1 goal up

Good skill on the ball, great work rate without the ball

After the half time b*****king we looked a much improved side but in fairness the red card was the game changer

As much as it raised our confidence, it absolutely crushed theirs

They played the last 30 minutes all wrong by letting us build up a head of steam and when we are at our best, full strength teams are challenged - this game ended as a contest on that decision 

Star Man - Arter - he's going to have to get some weights' tips from Supa because he can't keep dragging the rest of the team back into life

Got any spare change?

#ncfc 1 v 1 #afcb

Having got up at 5am to do a run on Friday, perhaps staying up drinking until 2am Saturday morning wasn't the IDEAL way to prepare for an away trip to Norwich but hey, who needs more than 4 hours sleep anyway?

Matt was prompt at 7:15 to pick me an Eloise up and off we went to get Marco 

By all accounts traffic was going to be bad so the early start was the right move

Matt's magical sat-nav somehow also knew of the potential problems as it guided us off the M25 almost immediately to God knows where

The one thing we have all learned though is NEVER doubt the sat-nav

After 3 hours though my pea sized bladder was fit to burst as we seemed intent on travelling down services free roads

Finally we found one (I couldn't tell you where we were) and as the others scoffed Maccie breakfasts I sampled a pasta salad from M&S in the open air

Once you became acclimatised to the stench of silage / raw sewerage it was rather pleasant.....

Back in the car we made good time to Norwich we parked up and started walking to the Robbie recommended "Coach and Horses"

Half way there I stopped a guy coming the over way in a canary shirt and asked if we were going the right way

He said their were 2 ways equally good but the way we were going meant that we needed to go through the train station then go down the rude

This isn't a typo - best accent I've heard at an away game by a country mile

The irony was that as we got there this guy actually walked in before us

Why didn't he just say "follow me" ? 

I suppose I wouldn't have got to hear rude though.....

The pub was excellent with a brewery on the premises and despite Matt trying to get me steaming by claiming the beer he got me was the same a his and not the obviously stronger beer (Matt - no means no) all went well meeting Phil, Ryan, Craig, Robbie and son

We weren't quite sure how to get to the ground so I decided to follow a couple of canaries

I was just telling everyone how the last time we followed a home supporter was Watford and we ended up in Boots the Chemist

As I let that hilarious gem settle the 2 canaries stopped at their car in a random car park and put their bags in it

Oh, twice then

The stadium looked great on the inside and it looked like we'd turn out in numbers

The only slight fly in the ointment was all the pre-match music so loud and largely unnecessary - it wasn't as if it encouraged the crowd to sing....

Grabban got his first touch in the first minute as the ball was played up to him but he wasn't able to control it and the lines were cleared

Good to see that not everything had changed

AFCB then started to press and 5 minutes into the mar Francis reminded us what we'd been missing with a lovely run and cross down the right which had to be headed skilfully away

Gosling then had a shot over the bar and this good start had clearly rattled the hosts who committed foul after foul, including one on Stanislas that got the yellow it deserved as he was stopped from running clear

The travelling fans were rightly annoyed but it did make me think "are we too nice?"

Would we be clever enough to take one for the team / maybe they were just showing the necessary killer instinct

That instinct was put to good use on 14 minutes when, against the run of play, Norwich took the lead

Their speedy right winger made Daniels look like he was dragging Addison behind him as he swept past him and put a cross to the near post

There was Grabban to simultaneously raise both feet - yes folks, he jumped, and he headed the ball past Camp

Who knew Grabban could actually head the ball - he'd not shown that at dean court so perhaps that is why he was so unchallenged

Their crowd cheered but ours did a curious double take

Initially we groaned then a fair proportion gave a wincing smile as it was clear their bets had paid off - well, it was bound to happen, wasn't it?

We then tried to get back in the game by keeping hold of the ball which I admit looked quite pretty, but we had no guile or cutting edge to make anything happen

I understood why we'd gone with just Wilson up front but he received no accurate balls over the top and those hoofed to him were rarely held up for the rest of the team

It was like playing Wilson in the Kermorgant role - curious

This was how it went for the next 15 minutes until Norwich finally woke up and had shots from Grabban and Lafferty go wide and over respectively without us having troubled the keeper

Camp was forced into 2 good saves in 3 minutes from the 38th minute mark - first from a stinging near post free kick and then sliding at Lafferty's feet as he was through after Arter had been robbed

In 45 minutes Eloise's genetically small bladder could last no more and off she ran - only to miss AFCBs best move of the game

Good work in the middle was rewards by Francis being played in on the inside of his full-back and he slid an inch perfect low cross in for Wilson to smash home

In fairness, the keeper almost stopped it but the shot's ferocity from close range was too much

Upon returning we asked Eloise if she wouldn't mind staying in the loo for the second half as it seemed to help - she politely declined

Half Time 1-1

I thought Norwich would throw everything at us at the beginning of the second half but in fact the game was very even

Clearly the late goal had buoyed us

The only stat Norwich were leading in was fouls and some like the ones on Stanislas and Arter were bloody awful and got the cards they deserved, rather than the ones the away fans were baying for

Ritchie came on for Fraser on 60 minutes and that seemed to inject some purpose into the side with shots from both Gosling and Wilson going close

Pugh came on for Stanislas 5 minutes later and the game slowly changed to Norwich attacking and us counter-attacking

On 75 minutes an unnecessary Francis yellow card had Norwich pressing forward with the free kick and a number of corners and despite being better in the air than us they were unable to get the ball on target

With 10 minutes to go Wilson burst through and as he was tackled the ball fell to Ritchie who pinged the ball to Pugh on the left of the box

A slight mis control had the ball bounce up so he volleyed I at goal and the keeper saved but spilled it - a shame no-one in red was there to pick up the pieces

With 3 minutes to go an wen better chance went begging as Pugh again was put through to the byline and unselfishly pulled the ball back to Ritchie

As he was about to pull the trigger a brilliant last ditch slide nipped it of his toes and Norwich went in the attack

Arter ran back to cover and just outside the box he was adjudged to have fouled - much to his obvious displeasure

As we all held our collective breath the shot was powered in but luckily it was right above Camp's head and he was able to tip it over

Final Score 1-1

Summary : Lots and lots of lovely possession and pretty play but far too reminiscent of the Groves era - tippy tappy with no end product

Francis was a colossus at the back and showed what we had missed - Daniels was so far off the pace it just wasn't funny

Stacking the midfield seemed to work although I was a bit disappointed with Gosling - rather anonymous

Wilson worked tirelessly on his own but if he is to do that role regularly away from home I think he will need a few Kermorgant pills to beef himself up so that he can hold onto the ball better

Overall, the team's fitness and work-rate were excellent and they were very good slur for a point - but deserved no more

Star Man : Francis



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