Well, I’m still feeling the effects of a late night but boy was it worth it…
Minty and myself, along with Nick Jones from St James’ Place, made the journey up to Anfield to see Liverpool play Reading in the F.A. Cup 3rd round replay.
Minty rarely gets the opportunity to see his beloved Reds and when he got the email offering him tickets to the game he couldn’t afford to miss it. Opening the offer up to the rest of us, only Jonesy and me took him up on it. I saw a chance for some Minty baiting (who could turn that down) providing the result went the right way.
We arrived at Anfield and proceeded into the closest drinking establishment to the stadium and enjoyed a swift pint before joining the masses entering the Kop, 15 minutes before kick off. I was quite pleased to realise I had an aisle seat as leg room in the famous old stand is at a premium. Before the teams were lead out, Liverpool paraded their new signing, Maxi Rodreguez, in front of the fans, to a less than rapturous reception, perhaps the fans are starting to doubt Rafa’s transfer prowess. “You’ll Never Walk Alone” on the other hand was belted out by those around us, leading to me joining in for the chorus, well when in Rome…
Needless to say and those who watched the game on TV will know, the first half was rather dull and the goal celebrations were rather subdued, clearly the home supporters were expecting a win. The best part for Nick and myself was Minty leaving the action to spend a penny, moments before the ball hit the back of the net. Mike is making quite a habit of this apparently.
The second half saw Reading kick on looking for an equaliser and the home fans becoming more agitated as the Reds missed more and more chances to finish off the Championship strugglers. Then as the board indicating 3 minutes of injury time was displayed, Reading had a dubious decision go in their favour and former Shrew, Gylfi Sigurdsson, slotted home from the penalty spot. Jonesy and me could not resist a quiet dig in Minty’s ear, leaving him smiling through gritted teeth! However my joy was short lived when I realised this meant extra time and possibly penalties, this was going to be a late one.
Extra time started how the second half finished, Reading were not frightened by a less than average Liverpool side that had seen star players, Gerrard and Torres, substituted earlier in the game due to injuries. The Royals wanted to win and thanks to some skilful play by Gunnarsson to round Insua and cross the ball, Shane Long headed past Cavalieri to silence the Kop. Liverpool pressed for an equaliser but never posed any real threat until Yossi Benayoun broke through and was one on one with the ‘keeper but an average effort coupled with a great stop from Federici, denied the Israeli the chance. With that Minty’s shoulders slumped and crowds started to pour out of the gates and with 30 seconds left on the clock he gestured towards the exit. There was no way in hell I was going to miss the fans display of dissatisfaction towards the players so I slowly made my way down the steps to the exit. I was not to be disappointed when the final whistle blew, the boos rang out and I must say it was rather pleasing to hear.
Back at the car Minty was less than cheery (surprisingly) and quickly got us away from the ground. We listened to “ScouseFM” whilst stuck in traffic and the to amusement of me and Jonesy, Mike hadn’t taken the result well at all and was slamming Benitez’s track record in English football. Not long after the conversation edged away from football and I drifted off and we arrived back in Bayston Hill around 0.45am! Unfortunatly for Mike though, his ordeal was not over. This morning Lewin and Mark were circling like sharks waiting for the wounded Red to return. Upon his arrival, Minty was immediately on the defensive as footballing banter was hurled across the office in his direction, leaving me with a rhye smile knowing the next time Wolves get knocked out of the cup by a lower league side, I’m wearing ear plugs.
