I have to say I thought peterborough was a lovely day out. That Charters for some pre match beers was absolutely great - fans of both teams mingling in the sun with no trouble at all and just a good bit of atmosphere building. I have to say I’m surprised by the attitudes of their fans on that forum and social media. I spoke to a few Posh fans yesterday and they all seemed thoroughly pleasant and reasonable, all predicted a tight game or an Oxford win - not sure this ‘how much will we win by’ attitude was reflected in the fan base more largely.
They also, to their credit, contributed to making a hell of a din for much of the match. That atmosphere was absolutely crackling, comfortably the best I’ve ever experienced.
That said, and I know it’s been said to death but just to reiterate, it really cannot be overstated just how monumentally stupid it was to lob the three smoke bombs onto the pitch after their goal. Not only contributed to the stoppage time we scored in, but also gave us time to regroup and the momentum in their crowd to ebb. If they’d kicked off immediately I reckon we’d have conceded a second before the interval. Hope whoever threw them enjoyed their moment of cosplaying being a Boca fan in the Bombonera, because it probably cost their side a place in the final.
Plaudits are rightly going to the likes of Cunming, Brannagan and Moore, but a word for McGuane. Asked to play 60+ mins in that atmosphere and in a pretty highly specialised position I’ve not seen him play before and slotted in (after an absolutely lunatic early back pass) seamlessly. All our work off the ball was absolutely superb. RR and MM did an incredible job of cutting off the passing lanes to their dangerous wingers and stifling that midfield.
There is just a weird feeling that, despite not being as good as some of the KR OUFC sides, I think, and despite putting in some honking performances for what felt like months, things are just falling for us. Momentum and fate seems to be with us. Those scenes at full time were special. Bolton are, probably, a better side than us, but there is a growing feeling that this team has that intangible X factor of a team that is going up.
I’m off to watch the highlights for the 10th time and listen to wasn’t at the game. See you at Wembley.