Sometimes you just have to hold your hand up and say that you were second best. I will never do that because when it comes to football I’m a bit of a child and a romantic that let‘s his heart rule his head and I like myself for that.

. I once had a bet with a mouthpiece Liverpool fan at a factory where I worked in Annfield Plain (no pun intended with the name) that Newcastle would get all the way to the FA cup final. The year was 1991 and we went out in the fourth round to Forest who actually did go all the way to the final. It was one of those low years supporting a piss poor mid table Second Division (Championship in new money) Newcastle but I still believed.

On Monday Brail Nil had 5 outfield players all very comfortable on the ball, pretty much all good two footed natural footballers and all very mobile. They’d beaten Nexus 5-1 and beaten the Spuds 1-0 despite Spuds whingeing, threatening and kicking everything upside down. We knew we were going to be in a game and absolutely no mistakes in key areas had to be achieved to give us any chance of winning.

On watching from the sidelines, I felt that we were doing just that with another slightly weakened line up. We went with 2 at the back and a long spine through the team with Smeggy up front with Andy Fury. It looked like we might hang on till half time after restricting them to long shots and us keeping the ball. Unfortunately Gary Coyles tried to dummy it in a dangerous position after a string of passes, the lad didn’t buy it and he duly nipped in and scored. A goal down and heading for half time. I brought myself on with not long left of the first half and I got first hand their off the ball running. Smeggy doesn’t do chasing back and I joined him in that club when they broke forward right at the end of the first half. Five lads bearing down on three almost made it two nil, I faced Billy’s bollocking without any protest as we scrambled it clear for a corner. 1-0 half time and hanging on by our fingernails to any kind of parity.

The second half was a little different. It ebbed and flowed and we started to knock it about as we do. Smeggy put in Andy Fury who squared it to me well from a tight angle, I twisted and then shot weakly wide, that’s something that goes in your 40s, any kind of traction or fizz in your boots. Women’s shots aplenty from the veterans!

We changed it around. I went to the left back berth and Soupy went up front. We could take a run at them. It almost worked, he rattled the bar again just like last week after Smeggy put him in. It looked like we might take it to the wire, mind you they were looking strong on the break and we looked like we were outnumbered such was their slick pass and move style.

It looked like our, at some times desperate defending was enough until a strike that was as good as any against us in the two years I’ve been playing 6s got pulled out by one of their players. He caught it sweet about 15 yards out but pulled the trigger as myself and Billy were closing in on him. It went in between us and into a small corner of the net giving Andy Cooke no chance. Ironically Cooky could’ve perhaps got to it had he not have been unsighted as a result of me and Billy closing the lad down. Honestly it was one of those shots that had he spent all night on the same set piece, he wouldn’t have put it in. 2-0 but still a bit of torture left to endure.

The old cliché of it not being our night was very apt as we then fell apart after that bit of bastard luck. I don’t really remember the third or the fourth truth be told, I just remember us losing the ball a lot of times and them queuing up to score goals. Billy said that it was his fault for one of them, I don’t care who’s individual fault it was, we were out manoeuvred by a team pushing it round the pitch and making space like minesweepers detecting where we are and playing three and four point passes like Barca to get beyond us.

After losing a third then a fourth, we still kept playing the football and a great combination with Soupy and Smeggy got the latter through on goal with one man to beat. Would you believe it, he jinked past him and pinged it against the bar. You couldn’t say we weren’t unlucky in our quest to get goals, it just seemed like we didn’t get any breaks as well as being tested to the max by a really good side.

We’ve hit the buffers it can’t be denied. A good point last week gave way to a comprehensive defeat this week, one that I’ve not been on the end of for quite a while. We’ve got Spuds Boys next week, we need some big performances and some big hearts. It’s still in our hands. Howay lads let’s make next week a legendary one.

Well this one seems to have stirred up more on line post match debate than any other and do you know what, I fuckin love it! It seems we have players in our team that give a fuck about this tawdry rag tag group of comedians and mates of comedians and their Monday night leisure activity more than Premiership professionals do about their club that pays them 50 grand a week plus! I’m one of them by the way. I would’ve sooner shot my granny than dropped points on Monday night, but against one of the better teams in the league and with their oldest player younger than our youngest, a draw is something I’ll settle for, especially as we were the better side and we now maintain another unbeaten run which stretches for four games with only 2 conceded in that four game run.

We started the game with two on the bench. We had nearly a full squad. This can be as much of a hindrance as a help to be honest, but we started with I’d say was our best and most mobile line up which was Andy Cooke in goal, Billy Scott right back, Gary Coyles centre back, Adam Campbell left back, Kai Humphries and Micky Smith up top with myself and Andy Fury on the bench.

I thought the best thing to do would be to keep the back three the same all game and to just rotate the forwards so we had fresh legs every few minutes but you know what thought did. Things aren’t helped when you go a goal down after about 5 minutes. A ball played short to Billy left our senior ex semi pro exposed and one of their players muscled him out of it and was away. He still had a bit to do but ran the length of the pitch and squared it for one of their other young lads to score. A great finish but we had some work to do to get back into it.

The rest of the first half was a warts and all performance shall we say, some bad passing, some great stuff played as we exchanged marauding, swashbuckling, Keegan-esque attacks in a great ding dong game to watch from the touchline. Not long later we equalised. A three man move and a great unselfish pass from Smeggy to Kai who despatched it sweetly, this was now set up for a winner takes all, next goal the champion type match.

The big blow though was Billy limping off. I felt that we had the shape and the mobility to do them but Billy coming off meant that the rest of the first half had me at right back and Smeggy and Fury up front (Kai had took himself off) . Nowt the matter with their ability but about as much pace to frighten the young’uns as a Dunkirk veterans over 90s forward line. We ended the first half at 1-1 and then felt like we needed to shuffle the pack. I went up front with Smeggy which in retrospect was another mistake with two holding forwards rather than a pacy one with a holder and chaos all over the pitch eschewed. Billy announced that he was okay and came on, Fury took himself off, Kai came on. I think Smeggy went off at one point in the first half can’t remember who for. Gary went off, Fury came back on. I think Soupy was the only one who played the whole game. To be honest it was keystone cops substituting and I should’ve stuck to my original forward rotating plan. At the end we had our two strongest, most athletic players kicking their heels in frustration on the touchline in Gary and Kai such was the barmy conveyor belt of changing players.

Having said all that we could’ve won it several times. Andy Cooke made some great stops again, he held stuff, got ones away with his feet and got down low to stuff that rattled either side of him from distance. He was probably our best player and this gave us an opportunity to go up the other end and win the match. We carved out some good chances, Smeggy got one caught in his feet, Soupy shot one across goal, Smeggy squared one to me and I caught it sweet but the keeper tipped over. The best one came to Soupy who, after a move he instigated, thumped it on the volley and it bulleted against the crossbar. It was such a cannonball strike that it shot right back off the bar and into open play on the halfway line! Right at the death Soupy put me in with a great pass, I stopped it with my right, side footed it with the left and the keeper seemed to tip that one round as well. A couple of moments later Smeggy and Kai shot when a pass was on. You can’t blame them for having a crack, they do score goals but we were that close to nicking it, a lay off would‘ve got us three points instead of one.

Looking back it was another great game, well refereed as well unlike the music hall prick we had officiating last week. They’re a good side and have beaten us this season in one of only two defeats for us. I’d say despite losing discipline on substitutions and not being able to pass fuckin water in parts of the game, we more than matched them and weren’t far away from a great win. As Kai said at the end, it’s good that we’re disappointed with a draw.

Next week we’re up against a team that hammered this lot 5-1, Brazil Nil. Hopefully it’ll be another crazy Brazil v Italy 1982 game like this one, who knows what to expect but keep up the online inquest on what was a good draw lads, you’re the sort of gadgies I want to play football with. United we stand. Up the Administration!