November 20 2005

Jobi McAnuff

Revenge is sweet. Brighton's win at Selhurst (Oct 18) was avenged by a 3-2 away victory on Sunday. A jubilant Jamesey reports

I confess that I watched the game on the big screen in The Falcon, Clapham Junction.

No excuses, really - I have already forked out for a Carling league cup trip to Middlesbrough (Nov 30) and that's my November away budget spoken for.

In the first half, we looked indifferent and constantly reverted to our traditional habit of giving the ball away too easily.

I was beginning to wonder, on the standard of this away performance, whether my decision to travel to the north-east had been a wise one.

As yet another Palace ball went unerringly to a blue and white shirt, I counted the cost: Hotel (a lot - I don't like cheap accommodation); travel (reasonable - if you book in advance on specific trains, rail travel can be surprisingly cheap); Riverside Stadium ticket (negligible - £5 concession).

Having said all that we did come back from behind twice and, in the second half, had some impressive spells.

To concede a goal and lose the game in the dying moments moments of stoppage time is one of the most gut-wrenching, bile-poisoning, gorge-raising and cosmic scream-inducing experiences in football.

On the other hand, to score a goal and win the game in the dying moments of stoppage time is one of the most orgasmic, ecstatic, heavenly and joy-invoking experiences in football.

Thanks a million Jobi McAnuff!

And when it's away to a club with which you have a long and unpleasant history of dislike and rank rivalry, you can crank up the feeling by many more notches.

Briefly, on another topic, Simon Jordan's fortnightly column in The Observer makes excellent reading.

I well remember, when Simon was writing a Chairman's Comment page in the match programme, that the illiteracy and garbled language were downright embarrassing.

I advised Simon to get his notes edited but, what a surprise, that didn't happen.

But, of course, you don't write for top-echelon newspapers like The Observer without being edited and Simon's prose now sparkles like gemstones in the moonlight.

And, more than that, the common sense and intelligence that his views reflect make me proud that he is our chairman.

Email Jamesey with any of your comments to Jevans3704@aol.com

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