Paying the penalty…
My sporting week has been one distinctly influenced by penalties. A last minute (97th minute!) winner for Cardiff City midweek, followed by a last minute penalty miss by Stephen Jones against Ireland on Saturday and then a penalty conceded by City in the first 25 minutes of the Sheffield United game, with an associated sending off, that basically destroyed our chances for the match (the fact that I thought Gyepes won the ball fairly with a great tackle is here nor there).
I suppose this reminded me that sport and sporting success can exist on the thinnest of margins at times. It means that when the chances are presented for you, you need to take them with both hands. Though it helps if you’ve got an incompetent ref presenting chances for you, doesn’t it Sheffield? (Bitter? Me? No!!).
Inevitably we look at the what ifs. If Ross McCormack had missed on Wednesday then City would have a disappointing draw with Watford and another waste of one of our games in hand. Instead of the thrilling victory that meant I barely slept on Wednesday night because I was so hyper after the match.
If Jones had slotted that admittedly very difficult penalty on Saturday then Irish eyes wouldn’t have been smiling and Wales would have come 2nd in the 6 nations instead of 4th. And we’d have got to play pantomime villain for denying the Irish a grand slam, maintaining their reputation as bottlers on a par with the South African cricket team.
Had Cotterill missed for Sheffield United yesterday then City would have had the option of playing a backs to the wall rearguard action to hold out for a 0-0 draw, rather than having to chase an equaliser leaving gaps all over the pitch. Though this would not have been helped by Ross McCormack getting sent off (I’m not entirely sure what for, the angle was bad from the Grange End where I was standing, and have decided to write this before reading the match reports).
As I said, thin margins indeed.
I suppose this reminded me that sport and sporting success can exist on the thinnest of margins at times. It means that when the chances are presented for you, you need to take them with both hands. Though it helps if you’ve got an incompetent ref presenting chances for you, doesn’t it Sheffield? (Bitter? Me? No!!).
Inevitably we look at the what ifs. If Ross McCormack had missed on Wednesday then City would have a disappointing draw with Watford and another waste of one of our games in hand. Instead of the thrilling victory that meant I barely slept on Wednesday night because I was so hyper after the match.
If Jones had slotted that admittedly very difficult penalty on Saturday then Irish eyes wouldn’t have been smiling and Wales would have come 2nd in the 6 nations instead of 4th. And we’d have got to play pantomime villain for denying the Irish a grand slam, maintaining their reputation as bottlers on a par with the South African cricket team.
Had Cotterill missed for Sheffield United yesterday then City would have had the option of playing a backs to the wall rearguard action to hold out for a 0-0 draw, rather than having to chase an equaliser leaving gaps all over the pitch. Though this would not have been helped by Ross McCormack getting sent off (I’m not entirely sure what for, the angle was bad from the Grange End where I was standing, and have decided to write this before reading the match reports).
As I said, thin margins indeed.
posted by Hagg at 9:57 am
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