The romance of the cup! Today we face a team a couple of division above us. No cause for concern, we all know what can happen in cup ties. The form book often goes out of the window and it's what happens on the day that counts. As favourites - do they think they must win? Will they underestimate us, or do they know enough not to? Do we go out and play like we know we can, or do we let a little bit of nerves creep in? Does that little bit of luck go for us or against us? Does their keeper have a bad cold? Did our attackers have an early night?! So many factors can influence a game, and this is not FIFA Championship Manager (or whatever) and a computer will have no bearing on what will unfold today.
Well, the sun shone and the pitch at Lightwood was lush and green. Anyone who has ever been in a game up there with puddles all over the pitch and a howling wind blowing sleet in your face will know that's a big plus. We had Chris Sykes available for the first time, and a full squad to choose from. With a few adjustments to the starting line up, we took the field bright eyed and ready to go.
Charnock were strong and disciplined. They didn't rush headlong at us, and, because of that there was space to exploit if we could. I won't write a great deal about the game - unfortunately I had to miss some of it, but Neil gave me the lowdown later.
They took an early lead on 5 minutes through a defensive mis-read that most of the time means nothing, but today cost us. Not deterred, we pressed forwarded and fought to contain them on the break. We were rewarded with an excellent long range goal from Chris Sykes and there were other half chances that might have gone for us.
But... as I said earlier they were disciplined and patient and ended up with five goals to their credit. No cup run for us this year, then.
Always look on the bright side; their organisation and the way they went about taking us on, brought food for thought and highlighted some areas to work on that can only do us good, long-term. Monday night at Spinkhill beckons!
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