Wednesday, 28 March 2018

It's all too exciting!

Standing in the drizzle, watching non-league football on a bobbly pitch, sometimes lacks the glamour and excitement usually associated with the "beautiful game".  The upside for the Latimer Park attending Poppies supporter this season is our fantastic home record.  19 games.  16 wins.  Only 1 defeat (despite our best efforts against Dorchester last night...!)  Three goals short of 100 in the league this season.

At the weekend we face the two teams directly above us.  Two wins and we could be second in the table.  One eye on the stumbling Hereford.  The other eye (yes, Diamonds fans, some people have two of them) considering a second place finish and a home draw in the play off semi-final, and potentially the final.

Exciting times.  And yet.

At the moment, our average attendance of 644 is fully FOUR people more than we averaged three years ago playing in the division below this one.  Was bullying pub teams with double figure crowds really as exciting and fulfilling than the football we are seeing now?
Celebrities greeted Kettering's third goal
against Frome with little fanfare
As statistically satisfying as thumping lesser teams is, are those games as exciting as the ones where you have to fight for that last minute winner?  

Case in point.  Saturday's 3-0 win over Frome was blandly comfortable.  The ground wasn't exactly rocking.  Unless you count the hundreds of individual conversations taking place while the two teams completed the regulation 90 minutes with as little fuss as possible.  

The win, a couple of days later over Dorchester was a completely different Kettering of Fish!  They dared to try to outplay us.  They dared to score goals.  They dared to make us try harder.  They made us cheer ourselves hoarse when we scored our late winner.

The Dorchester game will be discussed, or at least remembered for seasons to come.  The Frome game?  Already I can't remember who scored!

Football needs to be a bit unpredictable.  A bit annoying.  Even a bit threatening (who will forget our games with Royston this season?)  Easy wins may look good when listed on the Internet, but they don't exactly set the pulse racing at the time.

Last minute winner?
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGHHH!!!!
YYYYEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSS!!!!

(c) Peter Short





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