QPR 15/3/14
Today saw the Green and
White Army head east to the capital for a clash with a QPR side
hoping to bounce back to the Premiership following a season in the
2nd tier.
The South Africa Road
Stand
The GWSC were kind enough
to pick me up on the side of the A303 (pre-arranged!!) giving me an
extra hour in bed, not that I got much sleep – maybe a touch of
excitement setting in. A pretty good run up to London saw us arrive
on time to catch the England match at O’Neils in Shepherds Bush
punctuated with periodic blasts of “Allez Allez Oh”.
The 1,388 travelling fans
then packed into the cramped upper tier of the School End of Loftus
Road with the noise building before kick off. Before the match itself
got underway there was a minute of applause for Alec Stock which was
enthusiastically embraced by the entire stadium, in fact it was
probably the most enthusiastic the QPR crowd got all afternoon.
It was a very different
looking Yeovil to the team beaten at home by Ipswich on Tuesday
night. Not only did the team look lively and completely up for the
match but a Palazuelos injury during the warm up saw Ayling pushed
forward into central midfield and Lanzoni starting at right back.
And our newest midfielder
came close to opening the scoring – minutes in Ayling lobbed keeper
Green only to have the goal disallowed for a foul by Hayter which
frankly only the referee saw.
This should have warned
us that it wasn’t going to be our day and so it proved. Ayling
pulled another shot just wide of Green’s goal and Stech saved from
Morrison as Yeovil refused to be intimidated by their opposition.
Things did go wrong for Yeovil about 25 minutes in when West Ham
loanee Ravel Morrison shot home past Stech from just outside the box.
Goal music blasted out effectively masking the lack of response from
the home fans.
Gary made an early
substitution, bringing Dawson on for Holmes after only 30 minutes and
this looked to be a good move with Dawson bringing power and running
to the Yeovil right. However we were unable to make a dent in the
score line. Despite their lead the QPR fans were very quiet and a
loud away contingent continued to out sing them as half time came
with a 1-0 deficit.
For a former Priemier
League stadium Loftus Road was disappointing. Restricted views, a
long thin seating area that spread the singing contingent wide apart
and a tiny concourse where it was virtually impossible to move. It
was also hard to catch up with other fans as the stewards (who on the
whole seemed pretty relaxed where I was) were strict about only
allowing you into the section printed on your ticket. Prices were
high too.
So after that little
break back to the action....
Yeovil again came out
fighting but as has often been the case they lacked that extra bite
in the final third and good build up play time and again came to
nothing. Stats later showed that the Glovers only managed one shot on
target in the entire match, easy to see why of our 29 points, 20 have
come in games where we kept a clean sheet. Lawrence was unlucky not
to make that 2 shots on target when he hit the woodwork on 57 minutes
with a cracking shot that left Green watching and hoping. The
woodwork at the other end also got a pounding as Jermaine Jenas hit
the crossbar, the look of relief on Stech’s face was mirrored by
the Yeovil fans just above his goal. It was not to last; QPR made us
pay again when a great break down their right by Junior Hoillet lead
to a cross which was met by Bobby Zamora to double their lead.
Undaunted the players
continued to try to push forward and the fans continued to sing with
some good natured banter being directed at the one QPR fan who seemed
to be truly enjoying himself despite being almost lost under a
ridiculous sombrero. The layout of the stand also lent itself to a
blast of right side/left side although there did seem to be two left
sides at one point there.
As time ticked away
players again appeared in unfamiliar roles with Webster appearing to
double as front man and centre back (impressive) whilst Miller played
a wider role over to the right. Nothing was running for us though and
into stoppage time QPR added a rather flattering third to their tally
from the boot of Morrison to give a score line that didn’t quite do
justice to Yeovil’s efforts.
So time for the visiting
support to squash once again into the tiny concourse and file slowly
towards the exit, lots of people commenting on the lack of space and
possible implications in an emergency. Luckily we all made it safely
back to the waiting coaches.
The packed concourse
Heading west into a
rather glorious sunset most pinned their sporting hopes of the day on
a French victory in the RBS Six Nations that was playing on the radio
as we left the ground. However to cap a not so brilliant day the
coach radio faded out with France edging towards the try line only to
fail at the final hurdle, hand the title to Ireland and disappoint us
once again.
Mission Survival
continues at Wigan on Tuesday night. COYG.
Wigan 18/3/14
Just 3 days after the
trip to QPR, Tuesday saw Yeovil away at another of last season’s
Premier League clubs, Wigan Athletic.
A beast of a bus journey
for a Tuesday evening did not put off 223 (well 3 turned out to be
Bolton supporters who just like to watch Wigan lose!) of the Glovers
faithful who travelled hoping to see the team cause something of an
upset against an in form side, on an 8 game winning run, whose recent
victims included Manchester City.
The journey was passed
with general Glovers chat, a re-run of our last meeting with Uwe
Rossler and a quick round of guess the score (I went 0-0). On finally
arriving we drove straight past the entrance to the stadium before
parking on a waste land up the road. Scrabbling down a small bank,
heading round the back of the retail estate took us to the stadium
and then onwards to the pub before heading to the match itself.
The fans returned to
their usual formation (sit at the front, stand at the back) whilst
the team lined up in a slightly unusual formation with Ayling taking
his place in a 5 man midfield which frankly failed to give us any
width what so ever and we looked poor both going forwards and in
defence. Luckily Wigan didn’t look much better and a rather lack
lustre first half ensued with only one real incident of note when
Wigan were awarded a very soft penalty which was saved by Stech
diving to his left and getting a strong hand to the ball which went
out for a corner which Yeovil then went on to successfully defend.
Half time came and the
Yeovil contingent spilled into the huge concourse of the DW and
bought reasonably priced pies and beer to see them through the rest
of the match. Rumour suggested before the match that Paddy Madden had
travelled to watch his old team mates and I got to meet him during
the break and wish him luck in his current league 2 campaign. Shame
he declined an invitation to join the noisy bunch at the back of the
stand.
The second half started
with more of the same and it proved to be very hard to get an
atmosphere going. The stadium was huge and open corners and an upward
sloping roof let the wind in and the sound out and an unconvincing
performance on the pitch did little to inspire.
On 56 minutes the evening
got worse with Nick Powell nodding in a McArthur cross and there was
no sign of where any Yeovil goal would come from. The midfield
continued to be narrow and Miller seemed disinclined to chase any of
the deliveries that landed in his vicinity. Then after 71 minutes
Gary made the change that proved to be key; Moore on for Lanzoni, 2
up front and Ayling returning to his more familiar right back
position. The difference was almost immediately apparent with Yeovil
showing more width and more attack. 11 minutes later Miller hit home
for the equaliser followed in quick succession by a second strike
which sent the travelling fans into near delirium and some Wigan fans
to the exits. Could it be that Yeovil would pull off a shock result?
The game, however, was far from over and chants of “we are staying
up” were abruptly silenced as Beausejour crossed from the left with
McArthur slotting home to draw the home side level. Despair set in on
88 minutes when Beausejour sent in another cross which Byron Webster
was only able to help into his own net.
Those who were at the
Ipro were suffering from a severe case of Deja Vu but, unlike
Derby, Wigan had left Yeovil a precious 7 minutes to save the day.
The lads never gave up and 3 minutes into time added on the entire
team, including Stech, went forward for a corner which was swung in
hard by Lawrence to a packed box where Stech in his bright yellow kit
distracted everyone and allowed Ayling to tap the ball home for his
first ever league goal and a precious equaliser. Cue a return to
delirium in the North Stand, tempered by a fear that a final Wigan
attack could still rob us of that vital point. We hung on in there
and spilled out into the freezing northern night our happiness
somewhat tinged by news from the Valley that Charlton had snatched a
late winner to stay above us.
So was it 2 more points
thrown away or a point snatched back from almost certain defeat? For
me it was a point well earned and my faith in survival is alive and
well, let’s face it, pre-match I would have settled for a 0-0!
Next up Bolton at home
and then another Tuesday night away day at league leaders Leicester
City. COYG
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