Sorry! Because I am so far behind (having had a crazily busy couple of weeks) I have several matches about which to write and for simplicity am going to put them together in this one post.

Scunthorpe 2 – 4 City (FA Cup 4th Round)

This was an away game and was on TV so I watched at home Being a life-long City fan and knowing my team’s foibles, I was wary of an upset, but happily, City came through without treading on any fruit peelings. Petrov’s opener was beautiful, though Scunthorpe didn’t drop their heads and continued to play football – and were rewarded with an equaliser. It may have been offside, but I couldn’t really begrudge them the goal – they deserved it. It was great to see Ned back and I was pleased for him getting a goal. Boyata looked pretty good (despite the own goal) and Silvinho did the first impressive thing since coming to the club by scoring a hum-dinger of a goal. Robinho put a bit of effort in for once, and bagged a goal at the end. I really took to Scunthorpe’s manager, players and fans and feel they did themselves proud even though we did win.

NUFC 2 – 0 CPFC / MUFC 3 – 1 MCFC

Newcastle 2 – 0 Crystal Palace Palace being mum’s team, Newcastle being Billy’s, it being a local game and on a weekday evening, I arranged ages ago to go to this match with Billy. Mum couldn’t make it so I said I watch her boys for her and send her updates. I also hoped to see some of my Palace friends for a drink (though in the end, they got held up so didn’t make it.) Nevertheless, it was lovely to see Billy’s football friends again and we had an enjoyable drink or three with them. The game itself was terribly poor, it has to be said. However, it was clear that despite the awful predicament their club was in, Palace were not going to let it get them down, and they put all their heart into the match. Newcastle were guilty of poor passing and no pace, but they happened to take their chances when Palace missed theirs. The result was a fair one in the end, and though the ref was appalling, he didn’t affect the overall outcome, being equally poor for both teams. Palace fans were incredible apparently, though the roof above Billy’s and Ian’s seats (where we were sitting) meant that we couldn’t hear them too clearly ourselves. Home fans, by contrast, were very quiet.

ManUre 3 – 1 City As ill-luck would have it, this game ( having been postponed due to weather pushing back the first leg,) clashed with the above match for which I already had my ticket. Billy did say he’s understand if I decided to stay home and watch my match instead, but I don’t like to mess people around (Billy and Ian who had sorted the ticket, and my Palace friends whom I had hoped to see.) In the end, I think maybe it was no bad thing that I had the distraction to spare me from horrendous nerves, and I was utterly convinced that we were going to lose. (Had the second leg been at CoMS I’d have fancied our chances, but not with it being at the Swamp.) I had arranged to receive text updates all evening and every time there was a text, I could barely bring myself to look. For all the goals, I was receiving 4 or 5 texts so every time I peeked at my phone and saw multiple texts, I knew something had happened and nearly died of fright before looking. Ian and Billy, seated either side of me, were very good and followed the text updates with me. (A fair few other Newcastle fans around seemed to be keeping up with the game too.) From what I can gather, my boys did me proud and played well against a strong ManUre side. Noted for playing just their kids in this cup, in which they have no interest, they changed their tactics and went for it. That, and the fact that we ALMOST took the match to extra time, shows we had them worried and gave them a good scare. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and I can feel justifiably proud of City, and patient for a little longer as we slowly grow stronger. When we left St James Park, the game looked to be going into extra time and Billy was already insisting that if that was the case, we would stay in the pub and watch, missing the last bus home and somehow finding the money for a taxi. By the time we got back to the pub (5 minutes walk) Rooney had scored the winner – which was a relief in a way. If we were going to lose, it may as well be in normal (stoppage) time as after a tiring extra 30 minutes and/or pens. At least the agony was over for me and I could just enjoy a commiseration drink with sympathetic friends. Just keep looking over your shoulder, United! Oh and…… Come on VILLA - for Dunnie as much as anything else.

City 2 – 0 Portsmouth

At last! My first home game for a month, thanks to the weather! I couldn’t wait to be back at CoMS It was a Sunday lunchtime kick off so I spent the night before at Mum’s and since I had to leave too early for us to have Sunday dinner, mum made us a cooked breakfast instead She also made me a picnic and a flask of coffee to guard me against the cold and I thought I’d have it before the game whilst it was still hot. As it turned out, I got to the ground in good time – but the car parks was once again in chaos. Yet again, the entrance I use was blocked off, with nothing to tell one until arriving at a barrier! Yet again, a 3 point turn to go back to the other entrance – and a queue to get in. Yet on gaining entry and driving up to the other end – the barriers had been removed! THEN the piled up snow (from last time) blocked the usual through-routes and took away some parking, and cones with barrier tape further hindered movement. Eventually, a single stream of cars were herded down he same path, with the odd free parking spot – often too small to actually get a car (if you wanted to be able open your door to get in/out!) I found a spot eventually, that I thought I might manage and pulled up ahead of it, stuck my indicator on and prepared to reverse. As I started, the huge 4×4 behind me screeched to halt and drove round me gesturing madly. Erm – did he not see my indicator and reversing light? What did he THINK I was doing? Nerves not a little frayed, I began reversing – and struggled to get into the tight spot. The car behind me was waiting and I started to panic and feel I’d never get parked, but the driver of that car was very patient and waved acknowledgement when I apologised to him. Eventually I did get in with just 20 minutes until kick off, and felt very frazzled. I was also desperately in need of the loo and went to the tennis centre as usual, only to be turned away but some stuck up Tae Kwondo (Sp?) official who told me gleefully that I couldn’t use the loo that day because of the huge competition going on. Again – nice of anyone to tell us! I hurried to the loos where the City Museum used to be and finally made it to my seat just minutes before the game. I’ve been feeling very delicate lately as we’ve had so much stress and worry, and to be honest I was on the verge of tears by this time.

Luckily, my team managed to turn a very poor display into a narrow victory to cheer me up a little. The game itself was awful, though entertainment was provided by ST neighbours who held their own commentary throughout, including commenting on how Micah was playing – though actually, he wasn’t even there! Portsmouth fans were few – though they still managed to bring that irritating drum of theirs and seemed unable to sing without it.

When I returned to the car, I was amazed to see how well I’d actually parked it – perfectly straight and perfectly within the lines – wow! I was frozen through as usual, and decided I’d see if by any miracle, the coffee mum had made at 11am still had any warmth now at 4pm. Second pleasant surprise of the day – it was pretty hot, very drinkable and very welcome. (I suppose it helps that it’s just black coffee, no milk to cool it down.) It set me off for a very smooth and enjoyable drive home and I felt a bit calmer at the end of the weekend than I had at the beginning.