So Tuesday 25th March saw Yeovil Town away at league leaders Leicester City. Due to a
work lunch I had to drive to this one, not a bad journey, a quick
drive by of the stadium to get my bearings and then I found a free on
street parking space about 10 mins walk from the ground. Joining the
thousands of Leicester fans streaming towards the King Power I was
thinking to myself – this could be an interesting walk back if we
did pull off a surprise result.
So to the stadium – one
of the better away grounds I’ve been to – good facilities, prices
weren’t too high and a healthy home crowd who actually seemed
prepared to make some noise. The away fans are allocated a corner
area of the stadium but the view of the pitch was great and the 245
travelling fans showed their intent to make themselves heard over the
27,000 home fans. As the teams came out onto the pitch I know that my
definition of success was set at not being ripped apart by a team
looking set for the Premiership next season.
From the kick off it
looked as if Yeovil were definitely facing an uphill task with
Leicester applying the pressure early with Vardy breaking through in
the opening minutes only to strike a tame shot straight at Stech
whilst looking for an offside flag which wasn’t shown. As Yeovil
fans collectively breathed again the team continued to soak up the
pressure. Then, 22 mins in, Tom Lawrence was upended whilst making a
strong break and Joe Ralls stepped up to curl the ball passed
Schmeichel to give Yeovil an unlikely lead. The team continued to
play well and even had a chance to double the lead. Leicester did
however look dangerous with shots from Mahrez and Drinkwater going
wide of the target and Yeovil fans delighted to hear the whistle.
The second half also
started brightly and Yeovil had further chances to extend their lead
but failed to beat Schmeichel keeping the score at a precarious 0-1.
Leicester continued to press and Stech pulled off a true worldy to
deny a long range shot from James. On 85 minutes Yeovil fans were
daring to believe – could this be the day we managed to seize some
unexpected points to keep the relegation scrap wide open? Sadly, once
again, it was not to be. In stoppage time Schmeichel came forward for
a corner which was successfully cleared by Yeovil with the ball
spilling upfield with the Leicester net gaping wide. The Yeovil
players were too slow to respond and Leicester swept the ball back
towards the Yeovil goal. Schmeichel had stayed up and it was the
Danish keeper who met the cross with a thumping header which
rebounded off the cross bar and was turned in by Wood with both
Leicester players claiming the credit for rescuing the point. When
the final whistle went there was a mix of relief, disappointment and
disbelief amongst the Yeovil crowd with the fans applauding a valiant
fight by the lads. The Leicester fans also stayed to celebrate their
late equaliser and the stadium remained crowded well past the final
whistle.
And then the walk back to
the car ...
I decided to face things
head on and introduce myself to some of the Leicester fans around me
and ask their opinions on the match. The general consensus was that
we were far from the worst team to visit but they were disappointed
with their performance on the day. Our defence was described as well
organised and resilient but the general feeling was that we lacked
bite in attack. And so my walk passed with no problems, some good
natured banter and a number of mentions for a certain Danish goalie.
The gloss was further
eroded from the evening by the news of other results with Charlton
and Barnsley both picking up 3 points in the fight to stay in the
Championship. How was it possible that my feelings had changed from
“let’s not lose too badly” to “we let that one go” in the
space of 90 minutes? But that is why we turn out week after week.
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