Valentine's Day Heartache

I was initially amused by the appearance of a Valentine's day-themed streaker at last weekend's FA Cup match against Blackburn. Not just for his dedication to the role (the bow and arrow, the roses he was giddily dispersing - those ain't cheap around Valentine's, y'know...), but for his sobriety in keeping his underwear on. A decision which spared us all, but failed to keep in spirit with streaking etiquette. Perhaps he felt he didn't have the necessary anatomic qualifications to belong to that crowd, or maybe it was just too cold.

His appearance was the prelude to Michael Doyle's refreshingly lucky goal that gave City the lead. But soon after the match, when the true despair that arises from conceding stoppage-time goals had truly set in, I realised that it was plausible, if not fair, to blame this impromptu character for our team being pilfered of a quarter final place.

Now, it's not that I think the whole psuedo-streaking episode gave Blackburn the extra few minutes they needed to score that goal. No, the match length wasn't altered. But there is a big difference when time gets taken out of 'normal time' and added to 'stoppage time'. Because when a fourth official holds up his board and it indicates 3 added minutes, that's pretty normal. But hold up the board with 5 minutes on it and it's a different story.

When the big 5 was displayed the dulcit and dreary Blackburn fans were suddenly galvanised and erupted in an orgy of cheers at this news of their team being given a lifeline.

"5 minutes! Cor blimey, we can actually win this thing!"

The team, on hearing their fans newfound belief, were all of a sudden of a similar mind that all was not lost, and that one final push might salvage something.

It bloomin' did. I won't go into details.

The closest thing to a comforting thought that I can cling to is that this team feels as peed off about it as I do. I knew when my head was down after the game, their heads were down with me, chewing over the cold determination that justice would be served in the replay. I know this because only a team that cared that much could give that kind of gladiatorial performance.

Next time it'll be at our place, and we don't indulge in letting morons onto our pitch.