A crowded ten minutes

For me the weekend was dominated by The FA Cup. I saw Redbridge cause a classic upset by beating Ebbsfleet United, three levels higher, in their Fourth Round Qualifying tie on Saturday and then watched the First Round draw on ITV1 at Mum’s flat yesterday.

A clash on Saturday between The FA Cup and AFA Intermediate Cup was a problem, because I’d hoped to take in a tie in every round in both competitions this season. Redbridge’s Oakside Stadium is literally next door to Barkingside tube station and Old Parkonians v Lea Valley in the Intermediate Cup was being played at a ground a minute or two’s walk from Fairlop, the very next stop on the Central line.

The respective kick-off times were key. The Motormen’s match was at 3pm and I’d seen both 2pm and 2.30 quoted for Old Parks. If it was the former, I could amend my season’s ambition vis-à-vis the Intermediate Cup from ‘seeing a tie in every round’ to ‘seeing action in every round’.

So I got to Fairlop for what I’d hoped would be the early start but the chaps had only just arrived with their kit bags. Waiting for 2.30 and then dashing off after about five minutes’ play would’ve been absolutely Barkingside.

I chose Redbridge v Ebbsfleet for my 395th FA Cup match as I had a feeling the home side would sneak a win against all the odds. They are currently 17th in the Isthmian League’s Division One North and haven’t managed a home victory in the League so far this season. Conference Premier Ebbsfleet have recently drawn with Luton and beaten Grimsby.

I went into the clubhouse and could hardly get through the door as so many ‘Fleet fans, pint glasses in hands, were watching the Chelsea-Arsenal match on the big screen. The previous weekend they’d had a crowd of 92 there for an FA Trophy tie against Needham Market; on Saturday they had 442 through the turnstiles.

In the first half, Ebbsfleet attacked and Redbridge defended. Somehow the Motormen, who’d entered the competition in the Preliminary Round, kept their goal intact as the crosses, shots, corners, free-kick and throw-ins rained in from all angles. I stood behind the goal that Redbridge were attacking in the second half, on a kind of elevated terrace, but was expecting most of the action to be at the other end.

I was wrong. The underdogs started to make some useful forays down the right flank as they seemed to be playing with some belief that they could actually win the match. In the final quarter they forced a series of corners and I could see a goal coming. One was cleared away to the left wing and immediately fired over to the far post where the Redbridge No.9 nodded the ball down into the bottom corner. The home players went crazy; the away fans fell silent.

The man next to me said he couldn’t bear to watch the last nine minutes and walked off to the clubhouse. But improbably it was 2-0 on 86 minutes, via a brilliant shot from the No.10, and no way were Redbridge going to give up that lead. At the end, with the coaches and subs rushing like lunatics onto the pitch, I heard several people mutter ‘Sheffield Wednesday away’ as their preference in Round One.

The man on my right had been giving someone a running commentary on the last ten minutes on his mobile and I suggested it would be good to avoid Barcelona in Sunday’s draw. He looked at me as though I’d gone completely mad, which of course I had. It’s what The Cup does to you.