Yellows 4 Ebbsfleet 2

I got back to the car yesterday’s 4-2 win over Ebbsfleet to find all hell had broken loose on the radio. It seems there’s quite a lot of fuss over a short corner. Like someone being stabbed for questioning whether the shot putt is part of the decathlon.

To summarise. Wilder hates the ‘boo-boys’ and the Milk Cup, the Oxford Mail Stand hate the toffs in the South Stand who, in turn, hate the bumpkins in the Oxford Mail Stand. Nobody seems to hate the North Stand. Which makes them Switzerland.

In reality, the booing was a bit half-hearted, probably because we had a two-goal cushion and a man on a hat-trick; it wasn’t vitriolic. The post-game reaction was overwhelmingly one of warm, appreciative applause. It wasn’t primal screams of pleasure, but few teams will push us to that at home this season. Furthermore, not everyone in the South Stand is a toff with a blanket on their lap. Nor is the Oxford Mail stand full of bumpkins who sing in unison for 90 minutes and support the team unflinchingly. The North Stand, on the other hand, are all racists. Each and every one of them.

Perhaps there was a little more to it; despite never looking like we were going to struggle, it was clearly a battle. Perry injured himself within a couple of minutes of the start, and we ended with a back-four of which only Creighton was a regular playing in position. It seemed odd that neither Foster nor Deering even made the bench whilst Creighton and Perry seemed a bit touchy with each other. At half time there was an uncharacteristic huddle that Perry refused to join. Has something been said? Maybe this week has been a tricky one behind the scenes, which might be why Wilder was frustrated.

So, was he doing a Clough or a Keegan? Will we be the first team to blow a championship because of a short corner? History will tell us, I guess. Maybe they’ll show These Are The Days Of Our (non-league) Lives on SKY in 20 years time. If they do, I suspect Alfie Potter will bounce around on the settee, telling us how much fun it all was, such is the joi d’vivre with which he plays. Sadly his brilliant performance yesterday was totally overshadowed.