So, our not-that-local rivals from deepest darkest Black Country-land came to visit, crowing from their lofty top of the table perch. Which Skyblue team would turn up we wondered before the game? The Giants from QPR or the defenders of the Alamo from Torquay? SBJ was in his usual seat, myself and little Jim were up in the posh seats, while Matt was on a eat-all-you can hotel trip and Kev was making sure an illegal alien was successfully placed on a plane at Heathrow.
Bigfoot, Inda Carlisle and Jaffa McCake all made their Ricoh debuts, with Oh Lord not even making the squad. Injured or out of favour we wondered? No matter.
A bright start, with Inda Carlisle looking particularly threatening in the first half. More Reasons turned his marker smartly and toe-poked the ball past Hennessey, for Mrs Doyle to pounce on the post-rebound from a yard out. Cue celebrations and the immediate thought of whether we could hang on for the next 60 minutes.
We got to half time, and looked pretty good. After half time, Wolves went at us with more vigour and invention, with Jarvis down the left wing giving In the afternoon a torrid time. Vivienne flapped at a couple of corners before being rooted to the spot as Vokes powered in a header from beyond the back post. This was when we'd see what the boys were made of - would they roll over and let the Wolves steal all 3 points, or could we hang on?
Unusually for us this season, the equaliser spurred us into action. Bigfoot had a volley from 12 yards when unmarked that he should at least have got on target, and Duke scooped the ball high and wide when one on one. Then a moment of creative genius that's been sorely missing so far this season, Bigfoot slid a glorious through ball to the Duke, who finished beautifully to give us a deserved lead. Now we had to hang on.
And hang on we did, until the 94th minute, when during a last ditch scramble Ten Burners neatly won the ball, only for the referee to remember his 2-2 correct score bet. Dodgy penalty, massive protests, a yellow card, and the chance for an equaliser.
We held our collective breath, and hoped the League's top scorer would bottle the chance under pressure and create one of those pivotal moments in a team's season where table topping turns into an ultimate failed play-off campaign. Ebanks and Blake scuffed their shot low and Vivienne pounced like an RBS banker on a bonus cheque. Cue mad celebrations and an evacuation of the away end.
Final whistle followed seconds later, and the points were ours.
Sets up Blackburn away nicely, as the Villa did us a favour by ending Big Sam's unbeaten run. Apparently we are 5-1 to win at Ewood Park, but that sounds way too long, I for one am feeling confident we can get a result on Saturday now we have width, pace and confidence in the team, and several thousand fans gunning for Cup glory.
PUSB - 22 years of hurt could still be ended, and my 125-1 Cup winning bet is still alive.
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