Soup, Steam and Stuffing

In the classic zombie flick Dawn of the Dead, the walking stiffs converge on a shopping mall. Inside one character says, “What are they doing? Why do they come here?” Another responds, “Some kind of instinct. Memory of what they used to do. This was an important place in their lives.”

And in a similar spirit 53 Poppies shuffled up to Aggborough to watch our penultimate away match. We couldn’t quite remember why we were there, some buried memory of happier times? Perhaps it was the soup.

Anyone looking at the result would conclude this was a regulation hammering to add to our collection this season. However for half the game this latest contender for worst Poppies XI in recent memory actually put on a pretty decent show, watched in silence by the home crowd and probably earning the Kiddy team the mother of all half time bollockings.

Clearly intent on not wasting any decisions on a doomed side, the ref awarded Kiddy the softest of penalties to cancel out Ben Ford’s opening strike. Less obvious dives generally earned JP a booking. No one expected us to hang on to our lead, but to snatch it away so clumsily seemed a little rude. After the break normal service was resumed as the scoreboard rattled up, at times too fast for texts to be sent before another flew in.

And so a game which was evenly balanced until halfway ended up with one of our worst ever scorelines at this level. The Kiddy fans clapped and sang along on cue like kids at a bloody Gang Show, and gave each substituted player an ovation like he’d won the World Cup, rather than belatedly bullying a team containing Max York.

In the away end, no one walked out early or got steamed up. If you wanted steam, there was the occasional puff from beyond the new stand – and none other than Thomas the Tank Engine chuffed by as we wandered back to the car. Though after the last 45 minutes of football we had experienced, it would have been appreciated if he didn’t look so sodding happy.





All right there's no need to gloat