Fulham away 2005 0 - 6

[MC Fearfull 0]

Any memories of that day for those who went? I remember travelling down, parking up on the outskirts of London somewhere and going overground in then underground then to the ground, had a burger under the stand, went and sat down and looked on. Was a very bad day though :/

[curly_whirly_tipz 0]

err yea I was there and remember crying! Do we have to talk about this depressing day?! I hope it isnt repeated this season....

[TIL 1010 5,246]

Should this not be the 2004/5 season?

[TIL 1010 5,246]

[quote user="TIL 1010"]Should this not be the 2004/5 season?[/quote]

Oops dodgey thread title,thought you on about 2005/6 and see you mean 6-0.[:$]

[Tim Allman 1]

I wrote a report of the game for the old Capital Canaries Site, here it is: -

 

The week of waiting was over. The build up to the game was getting bigger and bigger by the day. “SURVIVAL SUNDAY”, as it was billed by Sky Sports, was to be beamed, live and exclusive from Craven Cottage. Could the Canaries pull of a great escape of Steve McQueen proportions or were they to be shot down as they made a dash for Premier League safety…….?

 

At the start of the game Norwich needed to equal the best result of the three chasing teams, but could afford to lose or draw if other teams did not win. With Southampton, West Brom and Crystal Palace all just below in the table, the chances were that one of the chasing pack would get three points, so it was vital that City contrived to win away; something that had proved impossible in the previous eighteen away games.

 

Having wisely anticipated that this game might go to a ballot for away tickets, I phoned Fulham for some neutral zone tickets for Gemma and myself as soon as they were available and managed to obtain a pair near the back and at the side of the block next to the Craven Cottage. A wise choice as we spent the whole of the game standing, but Gemma stood on her seat and managed to get a decent view of the game.

 

For those of you that don’t know Gemma – she is only 6 ½ years old, but already an ardent City fan. She knows the names and numbers of most of the team, and she appreciated the significance of Sundays game, insofar as that if City lost the chances of her seeing us play the “big teams” next season, as she calls them, would not be good.

 

We had a good journey to the ground via the Bakerloo line, Waterloo and Putney station. An essential part of an away trip is the location of the local McDonalds and after having done my research on the internet, there was a convenient stop-off in Putney for a Happy Meal and a Fruit Shoot.

 

Meeting at the appointed pub, the Dukes Head, we were taken aback by the sheer number of City fans, the noise and the huge queue for a beer. The Capital Canaries theme for the day, in honour of our Scandinavian contingent, was a something to do with Vikings. Those who were dressed up seemed intent, not on rape and pillage, but on only demolishing barrels of lager, but at a rate of a pint every ten minutes. Impressive stuff.

 

We watched the boats go by for a few minutes and set off for the ground at 1.45pm, stopping in the middle of Putney Bridge to take in the view and the sun. Heading off to the ground via the park, we heard the masses outside the Dukes Head in fine voice. The singing grew louder as the consumption of lager increased and we cut through the park back to the pathway next to the Thames where we saw a sea of yellow shirts on the other side of the river. It was a great sight.

 

We took our seats at 2.45pm and a few minutes later the teams entered to a cacophony of noise, well at least from the Putney End. City were unchanged, but Fulham had the bonus of the returning Papa “The Wardrobe” Diop who was to play a significant part in the game.

 

City started well, roared on by the vocal away support and looked lively, but not that threatening in the first ten minutes. Huckerby had a shot that was deflected round the post, but from the resulting corner Fulham broke away, by-passing the out of position Drury and McBride ran on to a though ball, past a seemingly asleep Damien Francis to fire the ball past Green.

 

It was not the start that City wanted, but undeterred by the early setback, they fought back into game lead by Safri, Huckerby and Ashton. The game turned on four decisions by referee Steve Dunn who disallowed a perfectly good City goal, where Ashton was stronger than Knight in a challenge for a cross, and two penalty decisions, the second of which, would not have been begrudged to Andy “5.9” Johnson, which saw Huckerby upended in front of the rotund referee. The fourth of these incorrect decisions gave Fulham a free kick after Boa Morte had been felled by a freak gust of wind and Diop curled a brilliant shot over wall into the top corner. At 2-0 down after thirty-five minutes it was looking very bad for City, as Safri, who was doing the work of two players in centre midfield, had just limped off to be replaced by Holt.

 

The game went from bad to worse as the “Oles” rang out from the Fulham crowd who were awoken from their comatose state by the second goal. You only sing when your winning was never more appropriate than at this time. City somehow managed to preserve their two goal deficit up to half time thanks to a number of brilliant saves by Green, but by now the writing was on the wall. With Francis not interested, Holt not wanting the ball, and Bentley looking like a loan player who was about to go back to his club it was just a matter of time before more goals went in.

 

Early in the second half, a calamitous defensive header presented Zat Knight with a chance that he buried and despite some attacking intention from Norwich, the Fulham defence looked pretty secure. Further goals from McBride, Cole and Malbranque only heaped more suffering on City and it was a relief when the final whistle blew.

 

The only smile of the afternoon was provided by Gemma who after hearing “Come on Lets be ‘avin you” for most if the second half enquired who the new Norwich player was called “Avin you”. Well I thought it was funny.

 

With West Brom winning to secure another season of top-flight football, Crystal Palace were relegated after again throwing away another lead, along with Southampton who lost at home to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Reserves.

 

I saw a few tears around me, and one of the lads behind was biting his lip to try to hold back the crying, but to no avail. He was partially consoled by after I told him that I probably would have cried if we had won. He laughed but it seemed to be of little comfort. I was just numbed by our bad luck in the first half and the ineptitude and lack of effort from some of the team in the second. The whole afternoon had been such an anti-climax to a weeks worth of build up. And I had to face everyone at work on Monday.

 

Gemma and I managed to get out before the crush and enjoyed a picnic in the park before setting back, in rather subdued fashion, back to Kenton.

 

At least next season we will have eight more games to go to, and the prospect of a victory away from home to look forward to.

 

Capital Canaries Men of the Match : The Fans.

 

 

[curly_whirly_tipz 0]

Nice report Tim :) Is Gemma still a big fan?!

[BW 0]

I remember it well me and a mate had a ticket each got into london early remember getting offered 300 quid for each ticket should of taken it haha. One the saddest days i have been to a match remember someone throwing a flag at a policeman when the final whistle went. The only highlight of a awful day

[Tim Allman 1]

[quote user="curly_whirly_tipz"]Nice report Tim :) Is Gemma still a big fan?![/quote]

 

Yes, Gemma is still a big fan and we are both season ticket holders in the River End upper tier, she''s now nearly a teenager.

 

[curly_whirly_tipz 0]

oooo u must sit near me then!! I sit in n&p upper too area T! Been there bout 12 seasons I think. That is scary when I think how quickly those years have gone! Im 23 now but was 10 when I got my first season ticket. Wouldnt change it for the world. I remember when I got my first season ticket the lady in the ticket office said "nice to get some female supporters"... there are many more females now than there were then :)

[Excited Canary 19]

[quote user="Tim Allman"]

I wrote a report of the game for the old Capital Canaries Site, here it is: -

 

The week of waiting was over. The build up to the game was getting bigger and bigger by the day. “SURVIVAL SUNDAY”, as it was billed by Sky Sports, was to be beamed, live and exclusive from Craven Cottage. Could the Canaries pull of a great escape of Steve McQueen proportions or were they to be shot down as they made a dash for Premier League safety…….?

 

At the start of the game Norwich needed to equal the best result of the three chasing teams, but could afford to lose or draw if other teams did not win. With Southampton, West Brom and Crystal Palace all just below in the table, the chances were that one of the chasing pack would get three points, so it was vital that City contrived to win away; something that had proved impossible in the previous eighteen away games.

 

Having wisely anticipated that this game might go to a ballot for away tickets, I phoned Fulham for some neutral zone tickets for Gemma and myself as soon as they were available and managed to obtain a pair near the back and at the side of the block next to the Craven Cottage. A wise choice as we spent the whole of the game standing, but Gemma stood on her seat and managed to get a decent view of the game.

 

For those of you that don’t know Gemma – she is only 6 ½ years old, but already an ardent City fan. She knows the names and numbers of most of the team, and she appreciated the significance of Sundays game, insofar as that if City lost the chances of her seeing us play the “big teams” next season, as she calls them, would not be good.

 

We had a good journey to the ground via the Bakerloo line, Waterloo and Putney station. An essential part of an away trip is the location of the local McDonalds and after having done my research on the internet, there was a convenient stop-off in Putney for a Happy Meal and a Fruit Shoot.

 

Meeting at the appointed pub, the Dukes Head, we were taken aback by the sheer number of City fans, the noise and the huge queue for a beer. The Capital Canaries theme for the day, in honour of our Scandinavian contingent, was a something to do with Vikings. Those who were dressed up seemed intent, not on rape and pillage, but on only demolishing barrels of lager, but at a rate of a pint every ten minutes. Impressive stuff.

 

We watched the boats go by for a few minutes and set off for the ground at 1.45pm, stopping in the middle of Putney Bridge to take in the view and the sun. Heading off to the ground via the park, we heard the masses outside the Dukes Head in fine voice. The singing grew louder as the consumption of lager increased and we cut through the park back to the pathway next to the Thames where we saw a sea of yellow shirts on the other side of the river. It was a great sight.

 

We took our seats at 2.45pm and a few minutes later the teams entered to a cacophony of noise, well at least from the Putney End. City were unchanged, but Fulham had the bonus of the returning Papa “The Wardrobe” Diop who was to play a significant part in the game.

 

City started well, roared on by the vocal away support and looked lively, but not that threatening in the first ten minutes. Huckerby had a shot that was deflected round the post, but from the resulting corner Fulham broke away, by-passing the out of position Drury and McBride ran on to a though ball, past a seemingly asleep Damien Francis to fire the ball past Green.

 

It was not the start that City wanted, but undeterred by the early setback, they fought back into game lead by Safri, Huckerby and Ashton. The game turned on four decisions by referee Steve Dunn who disallowed a perfectly good City goal, where Ashton was stronger than Knight in a challenge for a cross, and two penalty decisions, the second of which, would not have been begrudged to Andy “5.9” Johnson, which saw Huckerby upended in front of the rotund referee. The fourth of these incorrect decisions gave Fulham a free kick after Boa Morte had been felled by a freak gust of wind and Diop curled a brilliant shot over wall into the top corner. At 2-0 down after thirty-five minutes it was looking very bad for City, as Safri, who was doing the work of two players in centre midfield, had just limped off to be replaced by Holt.

 

The game went from bad to worse as the “Oles” rang out from the Fulham crowd who were awoken from their comatose state by the second goal. You only sing when your winning was never more appropriate than at this time. City somehow managed to preserve their two goal deficit up to half time thanks to a number of brilliant saves by Green, but by now the writing was on the wall. With Francis not interested, Holt not wanting the ball, and Bentley looking like a loan player who was about to go back to his club it was just a matter of time before more goals went in.

 

Early in the second half, a calamitous defensive header presented Zat Knight with a chance that he buried and despite some attacking intention from Norwich, the Fulham defence looked pretty secure. Further goals from McBride, Cole and Malbranque only heaped more suffering on City and it was a relief when the final whistle blew.

 

The only smile of the afternoon was provided by Gemma who after hearing “Come on Lets be ‘avin you” for most if the second half enquired who the new Norwich player was called “Avin you”. Well I thought it was funny.

 

With West Brom winning to secure another season of top-flight football, Crystal Palace were relegated after again throwing away another lead, along with Southampton who lost at home to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Reserves.

 

I saw a few tears around me, and one of the lads behind was biting his lip to try to hold back the crying, but to no avail. He was partially consoled by after I told him that I probably would have cried if we had won. He laughed but it seemed to be of little comfort. I was just numbed by our bad luck in the first half and the ineptitude and lack of effort from some of the team in the second. The whole afternoon had been such an anti-climax to a weeks worth of build up. And I had to face everyone at work on Monday.

 

Gemma and I managed to get out before the crush and enjoyed a picnic in the park before setting back, in rather subdued fashion, back to Kenton.

 

At least next season we will have eight more games to go to, and the prospect of a victory away from home to look forward to.

 

Capital Canaries Men of the Match : The Fans.

 

 

[/quote]Enjoyed reading that!

[SwindonCanary 457]

I remember the day well. I was sat in the seats right next to the cottage, at half time Neil Doncaster came up to the fence and as I was listening to a radio he asked me how everybody else was doing, I told him the scores and to my amazement he asked what it all meant to us and would we stay up. I knew but the club''s chief executive didn''t !