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Evidence Of Enjoyment Found In Accrington
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It does happen, then!
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By:
Eric Hitchmo
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02/12/2009
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More On Accrington Stanley
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Who's going to honestly hold their hands up and say they enjoy their trips to Accrington from our North London suburb? I struggle to believe that anyone can do so, keeping a straight face. I'll level with you, I hate going there, hence why I was utterly disgusted by a very silly person pairing us in the FA Cup.
However as trips to this dump of a town go, this wasn't bad at all. The Crown Pub is cosy and welcoming and does a bloody good pie for very little of your Pound Sterling. In fact two drinks and pie cost me the grand total of £5. I could almost get used to this.
With pies demolished and several pints dispatched, it was quite literally a hop skip and a jump to the stadium. Now I know Underhill isn't a picture but to call this a stadium is pushing the phrase a little far. I was quite glad to find that we'd be behind the goal rather than being dumped on the side where I now found a solitary row of seats adorning the once terraced area. That's one row of seating.
Now my understanding is that Stanley have had very little help from the local authorities regarding the upgrade of this ground to the level of acceptability in the Football League, however you can't help but chuckle a little bit at this unique arrangement. Does ANY ground in the country have an area with ONE ROW of seating? Quite brilliant.
After Tuesday's effort at Cheltenham, I had little hope of this game returning much. It didn't even feel like a cup tie as I took my place on the partially populated away terrace. Though this is more than we usually bring here, so well done.
And indeed, Accrington started brightly on a horrendous pitch. I've played on better on Saturday mornings in the supporters' games. Though the groundstaff did do well to get the game on, it looked bad. Jake Cole made a fine save from a deflected long range speculator, but could do nothing about a neat looping finish that found its way into our net via the crossbar and post.
Goalbound chances were few and far between from us, with Accrington still continuing to speculate away like the battling little souls they are. They do love grinding out results they really shouldn't do don't they Stanley. A regular fixture in this league they could be. Our chances were helped somewhat by a red card for an alleged stamp on Yakubu. The ref was pretty sure at the time as he reached straight for the red, though I was unconvinced at the time and remain so on viewings since. Still, take it though!
It smacked of another disappointing performance that wasn't really going anywhere at half time, but two minutes into the second half we were level. Good work from Jarrett, who again had a very good day on the wing produced a fine cross which looked like it was going straight in, but Yakubu made sure and nodded in at the far post. Oh good, a nice little celebration behind the goal greeted the occasion and we were back involved.
No sooner had we got ourselves back had we shot ourselves in the foot again. Poor marking by someone allowed an accurate long pass to find its way to Michael Symes who with two wonderful touches, had put Accrington back in front. Oh well that dampens things a bit. Time to roll the sleeves up and dig right in.
We did exactly that as Accrington sat and attempted to soak up the pressure. Clear chances were on the way but balls would not just bounce for us, or the final ball lacked that cutting edge. However, John O'Flynn did squander two very good chances, one smartly saved and one sliced over the bar with frustration beginning to show both on the pitch and behind the goal.
Albert Adomah came on for Bolaise and his most meaningful run resulted in being felled in the area pretty blatantly. No penalty said the referee. A very poor decision.
That said, deep into injury time after it looked like all of our pressure would be repelled, albeit with a healthy degree of very well practiced gamesmanship in the form of basic cramp, we had a penalty. Dubious I'll admit, but the one before was just so blatant that we could have done with a bit of luck, and that's what we got. Jake Hyde was pulled back in the box, the referee initially didn't want to know but the linesman was there to give it. Fantastic. 90+5! John O'Flynn at our end! How exciting!
Oh but the wait was horrible. So so tense. It helped that it was so late and being in the cup. I was convinced it wasn't going in. I was strolling around with my head in hands. It was horrible. He stepped up and smashed it in. Bollocks of steel John! We all went mental and ran around a bit, towards the front where the players had amassed. Great stack, great moment, still in the cup.
Well we were a little excited when we got back in the car. I'd actually had an enjoyable moment at this place. And we were in the hat for the third round draw. We were so excited that some of us turned the car round and went to Nottingham for the night. Y'know Nottingham, we ALWAYS go there
Highly highly satisfactory then in the end, via some massive drama. Magic of the FA Cup and all that kind of thing. The draw the next day was almost too exciting for words. I don't know what it is about the draw that is just so ridiculously exciting. Maybe it's when you're one of four team left in the hat, and Man Utd are there as well.
I'm sure we were all screaming MAN UTD at the top of our voices when we (and Accrington) were the first of those four balls drawn out. Number 50. Bloody Gillingham. Well you can imagine my reaction. Utter despair. The only consolation is, that if we beat Accrington, their away record is hilarious. So let's have some more cup fun, please.
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