Doncaster Unpacked

Yep ok, it would have been amazing to pull off another win to reach Round 3, but could our heads (and wallets) have handled another 6 weeks of giddy anticipation?  Could Allez Allez Oh t-shirt sales have met demand or would we be sending out to China for another shipment? Would going to Hull have made all that less of an issue? Whatever, think of the emotional crash landing when it was finally over, the Christmas decorations had come down, Blue Monday was looming and it’s Redditch away next week!

The run was exciting, huge fun and all the better for being far beyond anyone’s expectations, but it’s probably best that it’s over at this point. Getting lucky with two televised games plus all the spin off benefits has probably earned us as much as a decent 3^rd round draw, plus rebooted wider interest in the club. Going further could potentially have been a distraction when it will now be a major disappointment if this season doesn’t end in promotion.

But before packing away our tinfoil FA Cups until the next time, a few thoughts on a day when everyone associated with KTFC did themselves proud and Billy Sharp did not.

Off the pitch

Preparing Latimer Park for easily its biggest day so far was no mean feat. There was no crib sheet from previous occasions where we hosted live tv, a capacity crowd and VIP guests at what is still, despite many improvements, a distinctly unglamorous field of dreams chiefly known for mud and bobbles. Everyone involved had a planning challenge that I think we can say was fully met.

Some recent practice at getting there early paid off, with no particular congestion.  The ground was filling up a full hour before kick off, leaving fans plenty of time to discuss exciting new features such as portaloos, extra seats and an actual working scoreboard created solely to record aggregate Cup goals since the 19^th century. A most unusual idea, somebody must think it’s significant somehow. We also very much enjoyed speculating on whether the cameraman atop the Tin Hat, almost overhanging the pitch, would be dinged off his perch by a wild attempt on goal.   

 New to Latimer Park, Alex reflects on her brave wardrobe choice

Everything seemed to work about as well as it could have done, so huge credit to the officials plus army of volunteers who pulled it off. However you know how it is. You try to think of everything, then the game very nearly gets under way with two orange training goalposts still firmly stuck in the hallowed turf. Obviously left there by the Doncaster warm up crew - we may only be part time, but we do some things better.  The referee didn’t notice (not the last thing he failed to spot), the nearby lino didn’t either, nor any of the players.  Had an early ball down the wing encountered the same poles covering the left back position it could have been a viral moment. Training apparatus stops play - another first for the mighty Poppies!

As for the classic cup tie ingredient of a roaring atmosphere, somehow the memo didn’t reach Doncaster. Back when Donny visited Rockingham Road a few times in the late 90s/early 00s, their fans had that extra volume that you only usually heard from pro clubs temporarily down with the likes of us. This lot mostly watched in silence.  On the other hand, the home fans gave it their all. Maybe a good chunk of them were new or returning faces but they certainly sounded like they cared, which is half the battle. 

Memories are made of this

Now what counts is how many come back again. 2,000 against Biggleswade on Boxing Day?  Why not?  Lavs seems to have the knack of willing certain crowd sizes into being, so go for it.  One of the many good things to come out of the cup run is that the idea of a large crowd squeezing into LP no longer feels (a) highly unlikely or (b) a big logistical headache.  We’ve had a crash course in how to manage it, both as a club and as paying punters. Ideal preparation for our return to the next level!

On the pitch

Our hustling style of play against opponents who were expected to be faster and fitter, combined with the heavy pitch, must have been exhausting and in extra time we ran out of gas, but what an effort. A very good team at this level met a good team from 3 leagues higher. The result was closer than it might have been, we competed to the very last minute, no one left an ounce of sweat in the tank, as supporters we couldn’t ask for more. Maybe the one disappointment was that our celebrated ex Premier League trio didn’t pose enough of a scoring threat, though they didn’t exactly spurn easy chances. Jonny Edwards with something to prove would have been interesting, but it’s academic. He wasn’t available.   

Controversial opinion alert**  Isiah was quite clearly the player of the match. He not only scored the best goal, he rampaged all over, harried, tackled, won the ball, fell over, lost the ball, chased, extended a telescopic limb, won it back, and kept driving forward until he dropped or, in Sharp’s case, was elbowed. He was incredible. Even collapsing in pain and having to hobble off was just a temporary lull. What desire from the young man. We have an absolute diamond here. The fact he wasn’t picked as MoM is just one of those weird quirks, like Joe Dolce keeping Vienna off the top of the charts. I imagine Troy Deeney was somehow involved in rigging that too, which is probably not what actually happened, but let’s assume he was. Sharp did what good strikers are paid to do but was a total dick with it, whereas Isiah is so likeable you want to give him a big fat hug.

So very well played, rest up, bank the good memories and go out there and win this bloody league.