Crowd 4487 (146 away)
The first round of the Capital one trophy, (formerly the Carling cup, the Worthington cup, the Coca cola cup, the Rumbelows cup, the Littlewoods cup, the Milk cup and originally the League Cup) and the Cod Army were in town. Well 146 of the Cod Army were in town. To be fair it's a long way to come for a Tuesday night game in a somewhat insignificant competition. Vicky and I decided that it was a little colder than of late so we would wear jumpers and take coats. We took a risk and decided to park in the small car park on Wellgate between the Hare and Hounds pub and the dodgy looking Polish supermarket as Chris couldn't drop us off. We arrived the stadium and Jostled for position, neither of us girls wanting to risk getting behind Ian in the queue. We took our seats in our usual spot, the twitchers were already there, and a lone man was sat on the end of the row next to Ian.
Steve Evans had taken the opportunity to make some team changes and give a few players a rest, notably Pringle, Frecklington and Revell, giving the new additions a chance to show off their skills.
Due to the small crowd, the South stand was completely closed and the Cod Army housed in a small section of the East stand.
The players and officials took to the field and it appeared we were in luck, the referee was our own Howard Webb, or at least an excellent imitation. A look at the programme told us it was not our Howard, but a very close second, Mr Miller!
Mr Miller
Our HowardThe game kicked off and for an hour and a half almost nothing happened. The Cod Army did their best to get behind their team, very loudly considering their paucity of numbers. The twitchers discussed the merits of allowing a rapist like Gary Madine back in the team. Then realised he was only a thug, Ched Evans is the rapist. They discussed a few of the Fleetwood players and where they played before. They discussed the Twitcher boss and what an idiot he is. They discussed the fact that the Fleetwood chairman had put Rotherham United in his sat nav and ended up at the Don Valley Stadium (or Don Valley demolition site). On the pitch nothing much happened. Off the pitch the temperature dropped. The Cod Army sang on, the Millers fans couldn't really be bothered.
Half time arrived and we were too cold to move. The Millerettes arrived right in front of us and, perversely, despie the cold, Ian's paedo glasses turned dark. Not good when watching small children dance with Pom Poms.
The players reappeared and play resumed in exactly the same pattern as the first half. Nothing happened. Vicky and I did notice that Ian and the twitchers have exactly the same views on the team. Usually one makes a comment behind us, then Ian makes a similar one from the side. Be interesting to see how this pans out over the season. The temperature dropped. The players who had come in to the team in order to show off their skills hadn't, so Evans subbed some off to bring on Pringle , Revell, and Derbyshire. The temperature dropped some more.
A sudden horrific thought struck me. What happens if the game ends 0-0. Vicky searched on line and our worst fears were realised, it would indeed go to extra time and penalties. Fleetwood threw on their secret weapon in a last desperate attempt to avoid this. A very small, very ginger striker, who's life history was supplied in full by the twitchers. The Cod Army tried to gee them on as the temperature dropped to what must have been the coldest August night since records began, but to no avail. The clock ticked on to 90 + 2, and Mr Webb-Miller blew for time. The lone man left, obviously not made of stern enough stock. At least thirty more minutes to endure.
Extra time was no better, the first 15 mins passing in a teeth chattering haze. The teams swapped ends for the final time and with the Millers kicking toward the North stand the clock ticked down. Then came the one true moment of class in the game. Marty Derbyshire got in front of his man in the area, tried to turn, bumped into him, fell over, and Mr Webb-Miller quite rightly gave a penalty. Up stepped Kieran, 'look at me I want a transfer' Agard, only to have the ball snatched away by Derbyshire, Kieran tried to grab it back but Matt was too strong for him. Alex Revell managed to hold Agard back long enough for Matt to slot the penalty home, then the arguing began again. One assumes that Agard is not happy. But we Millers fans were ecstatic, a goal at last and not long left. The Cod Army got right behind their team for the final few minutes but quality won out and the Millers were through to the next round. Thank god we could go home and warm up.
Man of the match
Ian - Paul Green
Jackie - Paul Green
Vicky - Paul Green
Quote of the day
'Gary Madine is just a thug, not a rapist'
Funniest moment
The Millerettes
Ian's award
Matt Derbyshire brought down in the area and no penalty given.
As a footnote I have just sat and watched the 2nd round draw and we are away at Swansea. One away game to which we will not be going.
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