Once again I must apologise for the lack of recent blog entries. My last ever set of chemistry exams and the drinking that followed them has held me back somewhat. Hopefully I’ll make up for it with these final few entries.
The day of the Rushden Vs York match started badly. Despite not being very far away at all, the railway network required me to change twice and fork out over twenty quid for the privilege. I expected that Coventry train station would be running replacement bus services for the first leg of the journey, due to the same maintenance that has been going on for the past fifteen years. (Not an exaggeration). Unfortunately, the bus driver that came to take us to the relative train-laden haven of Nuneaton decided that his bus door was broken, and that he’d have to go and fix it. This didn’t take a long time, but long enough that it meant that I missed my connection from Nuneaton and my subsequent connection from Leicester. Thank you Travel Coventry.
Luckily enough Jake had managed to blag a lift from his housemate Courtney’s ‘friend,’ Jack. They managed to navigate the one-way nightmare of Leicester city centre, to pick me up at the train station. We raced down towards Rushden, arriving at the ground just in time to hear the whistle blow for kick-off as we approached the turnstiles.
Public transport based disaster successfully averted, Jack and myself got on with watching the football, whilst Jake got on with trying to eat his own body weight’s worth of processed meat. On the pitch, it didn’t take long for York to assert their dominance, forcing the Rushden ‘keeper into a few early saves, albeit comfortable ones. Off the pitch, it didn’t take Jake (who claimed that he hadn’t eaten all day) long to polish off a steak and kidney pie.
Despite a few forays into the York half, the home side were behind before half time. One of several corners being headed home from close range by the impressive York centre half. At this point I should apologise for not being able to give more detail about the match. It was a long time ago in truth, and it was far too cold to think about writing down any notes, or even storing them on my phone.
The locals were starting to get restless by half-time. They were clearly frustrated by the lack of goals for the home side, despite a few decent opportunities. One forward in particular coming in for a huge amount of donkey related abuse after mis-hitting a lob straight into the goalkeeper’s hands. Half-time also saw Jake consume a disappointing cheese burger, and half of Jack’s tray of cold chips.
The second half started in the same way that the first finished, with York looking the classier side, but with Rushden pressing hard for an equaliser without having much luck. The home fans were still restless, but in good voice. As the half drew on, Rushden started to look more and more likely to score, as York seemed content to hang on to the 1 – 0 scoreline. My exams were due to start in a week’s time and the prospect of a draw, and a midweek trip to York started to fill me with fear. The longer the game went on, Rushden looked more and more likely to score, and the more that I dreaded a replay. We’d missed enough games in the competition already. A draw would mean yet another one or a massive amount of time spent not revising. Stood right at the front of the increasingly irritable home fans trying to suck the ball into the net, I was silently cheering every scuffed shot and wasted freekick. Meanwhile, Jake struggled his way through the glamourously titled ‘Diamond Burger’ which turned out to be a disappointing cheeseburger, topped with disappointing bacon.
Deep into injury time and the equaliser nearly materialised, with a scramble in the box somehow ending up with the ball cannoning off the crossbar and being cleared. The throngs of angry home fans vented their frustrations at the final whistle, whilst I clenched my fists and punched the air as discreetly as I could.
Not only had the dreaded replay been avoided, but York is a much nicer place to go than Rushden, and the two legged nature of the semi-final ensured a trip to at least one nice place in the next round. We sneaked out of the ground quickly and drove off back up North looking forward to the semi-final draw.
Attendance: No idea
Final Score: Rushden & Diamonds 0 York City 1
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