First let me start by stating what a brilliant match that was last night. Chelsea beat Brentford 1-0 away but my Brentford boys could have done better. I think the Bees treated Chelsea with too much respect in the early stages. I know that you have to "stay in the game" and maybe being defensive early on was the right approach.
For the last 25 minutes of the match, though, Brentford hammered at the Chelsea goal and SHOULD HAVE SCORED. I am very proud of my lads for being better than the league leaders for a good third of the match, but by that time Chelsea were merely managing the match and they did succeed in holding on to the lead given them by Ben Chilwell.
It was fascinating for me to see what appeared to be a biased referee as far as the fans in the ground were concerned as Chelsea got the decisions time after time but there were subtle differences that the referee spotted and accurately assessed. Brentford had all the fire and the enthusiasm that go with a newly promoted team while Chelsea had the control and knowledge of professional fouls that go with experience in the top flight.
The most fascinating battle took place between Ivan Toney and Trevoh Chalobah. Chalobah kept Toney in his pocket and the one time there could have been a penalty Toney had strayed offside so the obvious foul had been superseded by the offside decision. Toney worked tirelessly but the dominant Chalobah knew just when to block and when to throw his boot in.
A fantastic match to watch with Brentford losing 1-0 but deserving of at least a draw.
Now for the reason it is a great day. The draw for the F.A.Cup First Round takes place just after 1:00pm and I intend to be watching.
Back in the day, as a child, I would watch as my Southend United lads received their first team opponents in the most famous competition in the world. There would be a number of teams that came from "somewhere else" but they would soon be out of the way and we would dream of Division One (now Premier League) opposition if we made it through two rounds.
My favourite memory is of Queens Park Rangers coming to Roots Hall and Southend going 2-0 down and I know that memory does strange things to the mind but I have a lasting memory of tiny Kevin Cunningham rising above the giant centre halves of Rangers to head in the equaliser. The crowd went wild. The jumping and cheering meant that I could not see the pitch for about 5 minutes.
Nowadays I follow the F.A.Trophy and F.A.Vase as well as the F.A.Cup so I know where those other teams come from and as I am English I love an underdog and want to see the big boys beaten unless they are my beloved Arsenal.
So to the draw. I shall be looking out for the following numbers:
80 = Southend United, my first passion.
11 = Cheltenham Town, my League One pick.
16 = Exeter City, my League Two pick.
37 = Salford City, the Gary Neville owned club, having watched them on television.
75 = Yeovil Town or Weymouth, my National League pick.
77 = Bowers & Pitsea, one team now but two teams when I was younger from near home.
78 = Dover Athletic or Yate Town, because I despise the way the F.A. treated Dover.
So, with Arsenal not playing until tomorrow and the Ladies on an International Break I have only this draw and a couple of Premier League matches to keep me entertained.
Everton v. West Ham and Newcastle v. Tottenham are the Sunday offerings from that company owned by the bloody billionaire that does not pay taxes in Britain.
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