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Wemberleeeeee!
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Bizarre
by DJ Johnny B on 21/05/2007
DJ Johnny B gives us some of his thoughts following the fabulous Conference play off final at Wembley. |
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Faintly... no, wait... Totally Bizarre!
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DJ Johnny B gives us some of his thoughts following the fabulous Conference play off
final at Wembley.
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New Wembley
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 What an awesome stadium the new Wembley is!
And what a great match we saw over the weekend (and it certainly wasn’t the overpaid professionals on Saturday providing all the entertainment!) It was a thoroughly enjoyable day yesterday made even more memorable by 2 excellent sets of supporters, a comfortable seat with leg room, a great view, a 22 year old referee (really??) and even an acceptable hot dog!
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Is it just me?
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But is it just me or was the event somewhat odd in its conception?
There were the 2 teams walking the pitch pre match in new suits a la every cup final you can think of, national live TV coverage (9 out of 10 for McIlroy’s slip and throw technique shown on terrestrial news bulletins later!), the privilege of playing at the new Wembley and even a trophy presented in the royal box at the end.
But it was all for second place!! True the prize (place in the Football League) is the same as for the champions but do we have to have a trophy for everything – the Conference equivalent of coming 4th and qualifying for the Champions League perhaps!
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Strange
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It actually felt strange sitting there watching all this and I shared my thoughts with 3 Crawley fans sat next to me. They agreed and suggested that Dagenham
& Redbridge should have been there and been presented (possibly for the 2nd time true) with the (real) Trophy and had a little lap of honour - laps are of honour are only for champions after all!
At least the match day programme had some references to us as champions (although you had to search a bit) plus a page devoted to John Still’s thoughts on the Final.
 On the Conference stats page it was illuminating to see that, of all clubs, we won most corners last season (but we didn’t score from that many did we?) and also that the most assists, again of all teams, were provided by Sam
Saunders (left). That’s a stat I would like to quote at the several ‘fans’ near me after the Ebbsfleet game who actually booed Sam when receiving his medal – quite, quite unbelievable! Goodness knows what sort of a mood they’ll be in when we lose a few games next season.
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Well done Morecambe
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 But back to yesterday:
At least the higher place team won on the day although, much as they provide an exciting and financially lucrative end to the season, I remain a strong opponent of play offs – it’s a season long league for goodness sake!
I realise this is old ground I’m treading here but, back in November, I could see the ultimate play off nightmare scenario coming true – stranded in second place miles clear of 3rd and losing in the play offs. Thankfully that didn’t happen and we are on our way to League 2 – still takes some believing, doesn’t it?
And well done Morecambe!
Much as they were under pressure for much of the second half, they did well after conceding that early goal to recover and more than match their opponents who for all their neat passing had no incisiveness up front. Ironic that after all the intricate passing triangles a hopeful long ball clearance (don’t knock route 1 all the time!) caught the defender napping – but what a spectacular goal!
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