Another season, another county cup final. Yup, Tangerines 1 Lemons 2, and suddenly the talk isn’t of unbridled woe but cup finals, trips to Woking/Sutton/Imber Court, flags and putting one over on Ks.
What a difference from Saturday. OK, it wasn’t the world’s greatest game, and until Urse’s wonderstrike we still looked devoid of confidence. But we needed to step outside the RP pressure cooker for a little bit. We’re sure as hell going to be in there right until the wire.
People really needed to feel good after Saturday, and this was a damn fine way of doing so. Had we waited until Ricky, things could have got a little fraught. You know how a bad performance can linger in your mind for a week, then you maybe try too hard to rectify it the next week. Right now, I feel a little bit more confident about the rest of the season.
And yes, so it’s a “tinpot” cup, and while I like going, it ain’t the playoffs or the FA Trophy. But people enjoy the cup finals, and isn’t football about enjoyment? The fact that it’s against Ks gives it an extra spice, though I wonder how many of their fans will boycott because we’ve taken over their ground? 😉
The game? Oh, we conceded yet another iffy penalty thanks to the invalid we had from Saturday (and I don’t mean Steve Butler). The ref from now on will be known as the Slaphead Cunt, I can’t bring myself to dignify him with his proper title. We looked nervy, bit out of confidence, perhaps because we knew that if we got within 15 feet of a tackle, we’d be done. It was only RU’s wonderstrike – and no exaggeration here, it was pretty god damn special – that lifted us. Second half, we scored with SS’s header. Dwayne P should have added a third but he hit the post, and that was really it I guess.
At the end, DA had a MASSIVE row with the Slaphead Cunt. It seems there are two stories about this : either one of our players went to shake his throat hand, and DA pulled him away, or we were celebrating for more than three seconds (remember, this is a semi final victory) and he tried to pull everyone off the pitch. Anyway, you just know the Slaphead Cunt will take immense pleasure reporting us. Hell, he may even try and get six points deducted off us.
As for the rest of it…
Plus points: A win. Away. Cup final beckons. Grew in confidence. RU’s goal. SS’s second. Cleaning Saturday out of our system. Could go up a gear if needed.
Minus points: Defence. Mickey Woolner’s injury.
The Slaphead Cunt’s a….: I gave up writing on him after about half hour. I’ll give you an abridged version with choice quotes : Equine molesting cunt. One eyed, biased, make-AFCW-lose-at-all-costs arsehole slaphead. Broke up semi-final victory celebrations because he wanted to rush home to see if his “Child’s play” DVD from Amsterdam had turned up. Excessively underdeveloped reproductive organs. Pervy kicks about reporting DA after game. Will watch DonsOnline with glee over decisions. Will deliberately crash DO because he wants to destroy everything to do with us. Failed. Kill yourself. Cannot wipe arse without adult help. Denis Donaldson. Genital lice. M25 central reservation. I think you’ve got the jist now.
Them: Pretty much up for it, can see why they’re doing well in the league. Coaching staff had far too much to say for themselves (see below). Personally, I’m glad we won because I must be the only AFCW fan who (occasionally) works in a place where they not only know about RP but actually follow a team. One of the bosses has a soft spot for….. Ashford Town. And he promised to make my life a misery had we’d lost 😉
Playoff victims watch: Hampton and Richmond 0 Heybridge Swifts 5. Now do you believe me when I say there’s more shocks to come in this league yet? Seems like there’s a one-point gap between 4th and 7th. Come to think of it, second isn’t exactly out of reach. Of course, we would all like to finish fifth….
Point to ponder: Heard this a couple of times recently. Are we lacking in fitness? I’m not sure if we’ve got a fitness coach now, which says a lot if true. I don’t know whether it’s just bad planning, circumstances or just inability to get the right people in*, but to me it’s as important as a new player. We have a goalie coach, and it shows. I think we’re pretty OK up front, but somehow we need that bit extra. Wonder if Ian Dowie (DA’s mate) has anyone spare from SP…?
* – and I don’t mean incompetence, it’s getting somebody to do a practically full-time job on part time wages. Something I still think too many of our fans have quite grasped about this level.
Truth is stranger than fiction: (1) It’s an April evening in BST, so you would expect pleasant spring evenings, lambs gambling in the field, daffodils blooming, that kind of thing. So why did it feel like Margate? I’m sure a polar bear came on, though he was booked within 5 minutes by the Slaphead Cunt for breathing on an opposition player. (2) Why does Ashford Town (Mx) play in the Surrey Senior Cup? Mind you, Palace play in it as well, and they’re really from Kent.
Anything else? Yes. This is how not to do crowd control. An argument between one of our fans and the mouthy Ashford manager (and his demented assistant) ensues. Nothing more than a couple of verbals. Anyway, coppers and steward get involved to calm down situation. Police calm down, but steward gets a little too close to an older gentleman. After questioning steward’s handling, the increasingly stressed steward yelled at the top of his voice, “you fucking arsehole I’ll fucking throw you out”. Or something like that, but he deffo said “fucking”. Cops immediately take steward to one side, who had a hissy fit by throwing his dustman stewards bib on the floor and acted like the whole world was against him. OK, it was piss funny at the end, but he was lucky it was us he was gobbing off to. And people complain about our bibbed lot…
So, was it worth it? It’s always worth getting to a cup final against 12 men.
In a nutshell: We’re the famous AFCW and we’re going to, er…. Imber Court.