Angles and colours
By Mary Grimson
This felt soooooooooo good for many reasons.
It's a long time since I have been able to pack life's niggles into a box
and keep the lid on it all the way through a Watford match. For me, going to
football used to be all about leaving the outside world behind for ninety
minutes, and immersing myself in a world of yellow and red. Somewhere along
the way, the boundaries came down, and the world seeped in; the colours lost
their brightness.
But tonight was different. The crowd was in a receptive and supportive mood
and, more importantly, the players were up for it. Where previous games have
seen at best what has been described as 'fanny football' and at worst an
uncohesive mess, tonight was about angles. Sharp, crisp angles. They were
all over the pitch. One and two touch football; first time balls; control
and pass. There was always a player making the angle. He may have been three
yards away or thirty yards away but he was there, and he was wanting the ball.
Man of the match was Allan Nielsen and he had a tremendous game. A fit
Nielsen is someone who should always be in the team, and he was everywhere;
tackling back and flinging himself at balls in the box. Superb.
For Allan Nielsen, read everyone in a yellow shirt, not forgetting Alec in
the silver. They all played well. They gave their all - and at the end of
the game, Nielsen called them over to salute the Rookery with him.
I am sitting here smiling at the screen. It's a long time since I've done
that after a Watford game.
