halfaperson
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Crewe (A) 14th Jan 2008“All that way, 20 quid on a Monday night to watch a game that’s on telly. Scumchester rush hour traffic, in the pissing down rain. You must be off yer head”
That was the parting words I was given as I left work. The non football fan (in this case one of those fanatical scum fans who has been to OT once to see The Stone Roses) has no concept of following a team. What they do have however is an ability to separate fun from plain stupidity. The two of us contemplated that as we completed a 360 degree tour of the Scumchester ring road after we missed our M56 Turn off adding a full hour of misery to an already unpleasant journey.
I’ve never contemplated getting a sat nav but after yesterdays performance by the twat nav next to me I think I might  .
Incredibly we made it just before kick off. Too late for the team line up so we had a few minutes establishing who all the new faces were. Crewe are always a difficult team at Gesty road but it is more difficult with virtually an entirely new team. What was clear from the start though is that Wise has brought in young energetic strong characters. We were literally a kung fu kick away from the touch line and could see the effort and commitment from them.
What a fantastic turnout from the whites as well. About 2000 for a game like this on a sky Monday Night match is fantastic.
Our new players immediately established themselves. We were very busy in midfield, a brand new line up of Kilkenny,Hughes, Prutton and Sweeney were all playing short passes, eager to win back lost possession and quick to close down Crewe. I expect most people will have seen the game on TV so ill try to give a perspective you might have missed.
The last time i saw us at Crewe we were totally outplayed two years ago by a Crewe side that played neat triangles, got the ball quickly to the feet of the center forwards who in turn quickly laid it off and darted into a receiving position. It was the same last night only this time we more than matched them for passing and movement. Prutton was getting plenty of space down the right and Parker and Sweeney were linking up like they had played together all season.
Great chant from a few Leeds Fans that i hope catches on.
Sweeney, Sweeney. De der derra de de de derra. To the tune of Sweeny in case you’re wondering. (An Old Cop Show in case your still wondering  ).
Amazingly the area that was letting us down was up front. Beckfords first touch was letting him down and Flo looked sluggish as he scuffed a good shooting chance lamely wide. We could easily see the anguish on his face as he knew he wasted a chance he should have at least got on target.
Far too many times Pruttons delivery into the box was easily cut out. Parker and Sweeney were getting good balls into the box but Flo just doesn’t have the Arial robustness that Tres has. Hughes hit the bar from a corner and generally it was good to see us finally getting midfielders breaking forward into attacking positions. Beckford cut inside once and had a good effort saved but he had his chance when some good interplay just in front of us from Parker and Sweeney resulted in the cross. The goalkeeper seemed to be in no mans land and Beckford looped in to nod us in front. 1-0 its the keepers fault was the chant behind the goal.
Overall it was as good a half as we have had all season especially away. The tightness of our passing and control in tight midfield situations was a treat to behold from our position almost on the by line. You could hear the slush of boots on turf and the sound of the ball as it skimmed from foot to foot. The only worry was the last few minutes when Beckford drifted out wide left just in front of us and was clearly limping, showing signs of discomfort.
Half time and a little wander round the back of this very shallow stand. A solitary pie stall was trying to serve the needs of a thousand pie craving fans who had obviously gone without their teas. The smokers gave up trying to conceal their gratification and about six urinals groaned at the onslaught.
Second half started and thankfully Beckford was full of running again. Richardson was denied a penalty but from my position it clearly looked like a chest. Wasnt the only decision that went against us either. This was another referee who seemed a little more keen to penalise Hughes for every little piece of contact but was prepared to let little Crewe get away with exactly the same thing.
Frazer also had a god effort easily saved and by enlarge we were looking good. Until Flo started to wane that is. Crewe seemed to sense this and mounted quite a lengthy piece of pressure. Corners, free kicks and Long balls were flying in towards our back four. A little unusual for Crewe to play like that but they certainly tested our new defence. Occasionally they found too much space down their right when Parker had got forward but the young lad has enough pace to make good recoveries. Only once did the look like scoring from there but Casper made a great block which is becoming his trade mark. The pressure was beginning to look like we might concede and we were fortunate when they hit the bar from yet another corner but that seemed to signify the end of their domination. Johnson came on for Prutton and we suddenly tightened our grip on midfield. Flo faded into a passenger and Tres came on. The expected Home side onslaught never came as our back four remained solid and we kept possession reasonably well right throughout the Four Minutes injury time.
With incredible judgment we left our seats for a quick getaway the moment the whistle went. By the time we had evaded the blockade of coppers in front of the coaches and walked past their end and main stand we could hear the fans massive response to the teams huddle. Must admit it sounded great and accompanied us very nicely down the main street to the car.
Got to say a few words about Crewe and their fans. I think they are fantastic and a credit to the game of football. If there was any justice in the football world they would consistently be in the Championship and get an occasional Prem Place. But of course there is no justice. Otherwise we wouldn’t have played them last night. The original Plan was to meet up with my Leeds fan Mate from Crewe and have a day on the lash on the Saturday as it was my birthday Sunday. So if You were all glad to see it on Sky spare a thought for poor me eh?
Oh in case your wondering the twat nav got his act together for the journey home and we made it in 1 hour ten minutes  .
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