Chasing the Cup

Tonight saw the 1st semi final to the Polymac cup between Chasetown and Leamington FC - well basically the lowest two teams in the 1st round of the FA cup this season. After a quick jog along the canal with Debbie, something to eat, and a quick shower, we were on the way up the motorway on an unusual Tuesday night jaunt to cheer on the Team. On the motorway, we encountered briliant sunshine, rain, snow, and wind - looking at my footwear, I expected it to be a repeat of Saturday, loads of mud and monsoons.

We bumped into the friendly familiar people, chinwagged and got ourselves hot drinks as the temperature started to tip towards zero. As soon as the whistle went to kick off, we were under the cosh and an early sub bringing Leon Morgan on, give us a huge amount of strength up front, to hold the ball. We went in at half time 1-0 town, and most doom and gloom mongers expected a trashing, and a hell of alot of work to do in the home fixture to get into the final.

The second half, we came racing out the traps, managing to equalise, then go 2-1 up - to the frustration of the home manager (Mr Charlie) and the local fan (well, an OAP who told me to shut up - because I was giving the lino some correction abuse). We managed to seal the first match of the round by Josh Blake being pulled down in the box by their keeper, the keeper being sent off and us scoring a pen from the foul. One of their outfielders had to go in goal as it appeared that they didnt have any goalies on the bench, or they made their full 3 subs at least. I thought at this point, we would have sealed the tie, maybe scoring a couple more, but to be fair to chasetown, they didnt just sit back, they kept us under pressure for the final 10 mins.

Final Score - Chasetown 1 - Leam FC 3. 2nd half of the tie, next Tuesday.