Watford v Tottenham Hotspur
Saturday 28th October
The day after WFC held on to a 2-1 victory over Hull, or 65 and a half hours before this match started, Spurs put 5 past MK Dons, England’s first franchise club, away at their hockey stadium. Defoe and Mido got a brace each and Keane got the other. So, just before coming to the Vic, Tottenham’s misfiring strikers (as a team, only Sheffield United have scored fewer) all get goals. Great. The draw the same night put us home to Newcastle in the next round of the Carling Cup, to be played 7th November, a work night. I’m going to have to sort something out for that night and the Sheffield United game 3 weeks later, also on a Tuesday evening.
On Tuesday, Joss had the inspired idea that we could cycle to and from the stadium from his (mum’s) place. I thought I was supposed to be the genius. I’d noticed bike-stands near our turnstile, so that is what we did. The 10 minutes saved, however, was offset by the fact that we couldn’t really talk, though Joss was chatty again. For the second game in four days, we only got to our seats as the game kicked off. In the first half, Shittu was getting forward a lot and it was he who tipped a seemingly-too-long ball back from the touchline for Tommy Smith to blast over from 2 yards closer than Henderson last Saturday. Later, Young had what looked like a legitimate goal disallowed for offside, though the shot that hit the back of the net was not that good and I led a chant of “dodgy keeper” to Robinson, “England’s number 2”.
At half-time we looked for and caught up with my brother-in-law Matt and nephew (Joss’ cousin) Jake, but what stuck out before we got there was how many other people were meeting up. Since Curly hasn’t been there for the last 3 home games at least, our familiarity with faces is very limited, though the Sikh teenager in the front row stands out. My next task as a fair-weather-fan must surely be to ingratiate myself with some of the rest of the rookery. OK, it’s a goal. Like Bridget Jones, I shall set targets that I can measure. Non-related fans talked to: 0. Very Bad.
Spurs certainly had their chances, but it was Aaron Lennon, rather than the midweek goal-scorers, who seemed the most dangerous. Foster's saves earned him several more rounds of "England's number 1". Neither team was able to do what counts, though, and despite Rookery calls for Priskin to come on, Henderson (our villain of the season so far) saw out the 90 minutes. Another 0-0, but it moved us up a place to 17th, as Sheffield United lost. If we finish in that position, the season is a success. I celebrated the fact that we played as well as we have this season (but didn’t win) by spending nearly £50 in the club shop. After the email reassuring me that all clothes were ethically manufactured, I felt like a T-shirt and a fleece; and if a cup found its way to the till, well so be it.
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