Terriers make it tense

Huddersfield 2 Foxes 3, Saturday 4 October 2008

This sounded like a cracker of a match – clearly better seen than heard. At half time I kept telling myself not to worry – we would score. So when Fryatt shot us into the lead I felt pretty pleased with myself. This turned to enthusiastic pacing around the room after the penalty conversion for our second. But then the tension really started.

First Huddersfield got a goal back. The Radio Leicester commentators were full of excitement, I took to biting my nails. Then disaster – Huddersfield equalise. As posession was won and lost, I started flicking through my partner’s magazine in an effort to calm my nerves. But not even a rather fetching photo of Rachel Stevens could do the trick. So back to pacing around the room.

And then, just as I was getting used to the idea of a draw, Lloyd Dyer hits the winner in injury time. Brilliant!

Advance immediately to the top of the table

Colchester 0 Foxes 1, Tuesday 30 September 2008

Take three points and advance immediately to the top of the table.

According to Radio Leicester, the Foxes were the only team in the first half; and far from sitting back, they started the second half with even greater determination. The goal from Lloyd Dyer on 48 minutes sounded well deserved, and only some excellent goal keeping kept Colchester in the game. Indeed, Matt Piper said that Leicester were “obliterating” Colchester.

Oh yes, this pint of cider is particularly refreshing. As the song goes, “when your smiling…”

A complete contrast

Foxes 1 Hartlepool 0, Saturday 27 September 2008

What a complete contrast to the Millwall match. Both teams determined to play proper football, and a joy to watch. Leicester deserved the victory and proved again that when they pass and move, they create chances. For once we had very few long balls; and so for most of the match the game flowed nicely. Hartlepool themselves must take some of the credit. They too wanted to play rather than foul their way through the game.

The early strike for Matt Oakley promised a possible goal feast. Sadly it was not to be, but we did see some penetrating runs from Dyer, and a solid performance by Chris Powell. The only player who didn’t seem quite that bothered was Howard, so no surprises there!

Despite Leicester being the better team, I still managed to give my nails a good bite. After all, history shows us that a one-nil lead is usually not good enough. But my anxiety was not necessary. The sun was shining, the fans were in good voice, and my motorbike was parked right outside the stadium.

In fact the only downside was the bloke who has started sitting in front of me. He clearly likes pies, and as a result, his seat strains under the excess weight (what I mean he is fat even for a pie eating football fan). This means I have even less leg room than normal due to him preferring to sit back in his seat. So my dilema is this: Do I tell him to sit forwards? Do I ignore him, or do I continue to give him the occasional accidental kick in the hope that he gets the message?

I’ve no idea what the JPT is…

Foxes 0 Lincoln 0, Tuesday 23 September 2008 (Foxes win on penalties)

I was too ill to actualy switch the radio on for this one. My lack of enthusiasm was shared by many other fans as apparently only about 9000 turned up to the Walkers. The trouble is, I have no idea what the JPT is all about, except that it is only for clubs below the Championship. Still, can’t complain about the result.

Oh the pleasure

Leyton Orient 1 Foxes 3, Saturday 20 September 2008

Just when it sounded like Leyton Orient were going to take at least a point, if not all three, so Leicester up their game and come away easy winners. Clearly when we find the room to pass the ball around it pays dividends.

Not only was this an important victory after a bad performance against Millwall, but it was a victory over my bosses team! Of course he says we were lucky, but frankly I don’t care. I get to be all smug while he has to make excuses. Oh the pleasure!

Manager of the Month Curse Strikes Again

Foxes 0 Millwall 1, Saturday 13 September 2008

You know the rules Nigel… Win manager of the month and then watch your team lose their next match.

Sadly though, it was more “careless” than “curse” that cost us this one. A stupid defensive error and a fluke goal was all it took, as Millwall seemed happy to watse their other chances. Indeed, their tactics appeared to be foul-your-way-to-victory. The game never really got going as every time Leicester had the ball a Millwall player would trip/push/hit/pull/hold/obstruct/kick etc. (delete as applicable) our player, leading to a free kick.

The problem was we had no answers. As Millwall muscled their way through the game we ran out of ideas. Fryatt seemed one step behind, Gradle didn’t realy get into the match, and our defenders seemed content to just kick it long. By the end of the game we had four strikers on the pitch but we still never troubled their keeper.

So were there any good points? Well my Pepsi Max was very refreshing, and it was a nice sunny day. I also had a good ride to and from the ground. That’s about it.

When You’re Smiling

Cheltenham 0 Foxes 4, Saturday 30 August 2008

Oh the joy of walking out of a ground having seen your team win 4 – 0. On the way back to the car people were stopping to ask the score, only to walk away in disbelief (apart from a Hereford fan who was nearly as overjoyed as us).

We arrived in good spirits, having had the traditional bag of chips between the car park and ground. It was a hot summer’s day, and the local stewards and police made us feel welcome. OK, the coke was warm but this was after all, a League one football ground. Then three minutes into the match Dyer shoots us into the lead with a strike so powerful it had bounced back out before we realised it was a goal.

That set the scene for much loud Leicester singing, and we barely heard anything from the home supporters.

But the first half didn’t quite live up to the promise of that early goal, so we  were looking forward to something better after the restart. We weren’t disappointed. Leicester took complete control and we celebrated four more terrific goals (although one was disallowed). Amid the goal spree, the singing got louder and more silly. Towards the end, and in the absence of any noise from the Cheltenham fans, we had to tell each other to “sit down shut up”.

Still, by the time that whistle went we were really smiling. And when one of our party walked into a tree afterwards, we enjoyed a further round of joyous laughter. It was a great day.

Flukey Fulham Fabulous Foxes

Fulham 3 Foxes 2, 27 August 2008, League Cup 2nd Round

Full time report: A fabulous performance against a team two divisions higher. For most of the second half Fulham were outfoxed. Play like this in League one and we will be promoted. PS. Dickov, King and Gradel should all be starting our next match.

92 mins: Oh no! More bad luck as Fulham scape a winner from yet another deflection. It’s a cruel game at times.

91 mins: Fulham’s twelth player disallows a Howard goal.

83 mins: Balls! Fulham get a second despite being second best this half.

48 mins: Goal! Dickov creates a goal for Andy King and we take the lead. Delirium time.

46 mins: Goal! Dickov equalises for the foxes. Cue scenes of great joy in the kitchen.

First half report: It was, according to Radio Leicester, a wicked deflection that gave Fulham the lead. In fact, John Sinclair said it was an own goal as it was going straight at our keeper before Morrison put a foot out. But let’s look on the bright side. City seemed to have a good amount of the ball, and they were trying to pass and move rather than kick it long. All this against a premier league side. Then there was the penalty that never was. Despite a torn shirt the ref wasn’t convinced that Morrison has been pulled back. Talk about obvious, I could see it was a penalty from my own kitchen!

Text Me The Score

Foxes 3 Tranmere 1, Saturday 23 August 2008

A long standing family commitment meant I missed this match. I had to rely on text messages and Sky Sports to keep up to date. But what a result. We are now second in the table (OK, I know it’s only after three games but hey, we’re not used to this many points out of nine) and the club from Yorkshire are currently mid table.

To make up for missing this home game I’ll be making the trip to Cheltenham next Saturday. Bring it on.

I’m a supporter, get me out of here

Foxes 1 Stockport County 0, Tuesday 12 August 2008, League Cup 1st round

“Oh dear”, as my 20 month old grandson would say. “Oh shit” as I would, and did say. This was extremely hard work.

For the first 20 minutes we hardly had the ball. Only some wayward shooting by Stockport kept the scores level. Things then improved slightly, but not before the visitors had a player sent off. Shortly after that we scored, leading most of us to assume the extra player advantage would see us through without much trouble.

Wrong. Quite frankly we were rubbish for the remainder of the game. With just one stand open for home fans, and a couple of hundred Stockport fans, it seemed more like a reserve match. The trouble was, the football was really poor. We will need to up our game on Saturday when we play Stockport again in the league.

As for the highlights, well obviously our goal, and Dickov’s excellent two shots in the second half showing just how good he can be (he needs to start a match rather than keep coming on as sub). The only other good bit was the final whistle, and my pint of cider afterwards.

On the other hand we did win our second match in a row, not something we are that used to seeing! Let’s hope our performance was just a blip (although if we keep on winning…)