Rain and a pitch which reportedly resembled Skegness beach at high tide put pay to Boston's trip to Stafford Rangers; not unexpectedly, it has to be said. There was doubt about this game from as early as Tuesday when Stafford's mid-week clash also fell prey to the conditions. So it was that, while hopeful the game would be on, several of us set out with back-up plans at the forefront of our minds.
With confirmation of the cancellation coming just after 10 a.m. the discussion on where to go began in earnest. There were a couple of non-league options but all were either off or in severe doubt. That only left the higher league clubs... great. One suggestion which was quickly shot down was a trip to MK "franchise FC" Dons, I am not going there! The other options within easy reach were Leicester vs Coventry, Wolves vs Blackpool, Walsall vs Rochdale and Aston Villa vs Blackburn. Leicester was too expensive; Wolves wasn't appealing and was, as More in Hope than Expectation later found, inexplicably sold out; I'd already been to Walsall so that left a trip to Villa Park.
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| The players line up before kick-off |
The Premier League is pretty tight near the relegation spots and both Villa and Blackburn were nervously glancing over their shoulders at the start of the day. A win for Villa would propel them to mid-table and above their rivals. Blackburn were looking for three points from the teams ninth meeting in two seasons, to cement their mid-table status and stave off relegation fears. Meeting up with the other Pilgrims at Villa Park it was apparent that it's a nice enough ground and, from our £23, back-row seats, we could definitely see plenty of it!
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| Villa attack the Blackburn goal. |
Sadly, the view was largely wasted for the first 45 minutes as the "greatest league the world has ever seen©" produced one of the worst first halves I have ever seen. There were only two points of interest; only one of which was football related. The first point was how any club could pay £24 million for Darren Bent; through on goal with only a prone 'keeper to beat, he walked it right into the 'keepers hands. The second was the hilarity of, possibly seated, Villa fans in the Holte End singing "stand up if you love Villa" eliciting absolutely no response from any other Villa fan in sight. Clearly the fans aren't that enamoured with their club! Villa did muster the odd shot, mainly thanks to some woeful Blackburn defending. Luckily for Blackburn the Villa efforts were equally poor and were easily kept out.
The second half produced some entertainment. Blackburn had an attack straight from the kick-off. However, within minutes of the restart Ashley Young was hauled down in the box after the defender was reluctant to get rid. The penalty was duly dispatched past Paul Robinson in the Blackburn net by Young. Blackburn seemed insistent on returning the ball to Villa with every pass. Ten minutes later and an own goal (Hanley) was followed closely by a good run and finish from Downing to put Villa three in front and cruising.
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| Young about to convert the penalty. |
Villa were controlling the game and Blackburn had only managed one shot on target until the 80th minutes when a heavily deflected Kalinic shot foxed Friedel in the Villa goal to make it 3-1. Blackburn's fledgeling comeback was very short lived as Young made it 4-1 with a good shot from 20 yards almost straight from the restart. Both Kalinic and Emile Heskey, or "the Premier League's Danny Davidson", put shots narrowly wide in the closing minutes. Blackburn's woeful performance was capped when Nelsen was sent off for bringing down Young inside stoppage time.
So, the first half was awful but five goals and a sending off in the second period partially made up for that. After all, it could've been much worse; we could've gone to Walsall!
Next up: Boston United vs Droylsden
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