After another long day at work, I was very much looking forward to the game on this lovely January evening.

To my disappointment, Neil quickly informed me that we were picking so I knew I was going to spend the evening in goal as tradition dictates, resulting in a missed opportunity to burn off a few calories after a heavy Christmas (too much wino et fromage ... again!).

Anyway, back to the game. 

With a very strong group of players, I decided to go for the extra man rather than 1st pick. To my surprise Neil did not go for the obvious choice (must be a family thing!) so I not only ended up with the extra man but I also had Gary!

Being 1 up from the 1st leg, I went into the game extremely confident in my team selection.

And oh boy did the Whites do well! It was like watching the mighty Blues back in 1986-87! With ball possession approaching 90%, the Whites deservedly went in front thanks to a neat finish from new dad, Chris. The Whites' domination was such that I lost track of how many opportunities we had to increase our lead. 

With absolutely nothing to do in goal, I managed to keep myself occupied for 5-10min by nursing a self-inflicted nose bleed after trying to punch one of Richie's powerful throw-ins but completely missing the ball.

The Yellows were still showing very little but surprisingly were still in the game. Richie did try to remind everyone what a great player he was many years/stones ago with a dribbling masterclass in his own half but that was about it. 

But then, completely out of the blue, a neat one two between Dave and Richie tore open our (until then immense) central defence and Dave did what he does best. 1-1! 1 chance 1 goal, football can be cruel sometimes. The Yellows' tactic of parking the bus was paying off.

Fortunately, I was still one up on aggregate and really could not see the Yellows scoring again.

The last 10 minutes would have just been a formality without Ross's losing-the-head moment that almost changed the tie. 

Having just gone in goal (after getting injured chasing Richie...), he almost instantly produced real drama by completely scuffing Jonny's cross which ended with the ball bouncing off the post!!

Very glad to hear the final whistle. 1-1 on the night and 4-3 on aggregate.

MOM could have gone to any White player for the fantastic football played but Noel had a particularly good evening on his left hand side.

Bravo et a bientot.

Sylvain