Doubters Decline As Faithful Frolic
Admit it
, we thought there was going to be a hangover, didn't we? For the first time in ages (I think in fact the first time this season??) less than half of us predicted we'd win
. And I suspect some of us who did keep the faith didn't really believe we'd be right
, I know I had serious doubts myself. So we only go and blow one of our last two rivals for the title away
.......
Curiously, nobody thought we'd win by 4, or even 3 come to that. So not for the first time, 4 points or 3 turned on whether you had faith in Aaron as well as the team*. And what a stunning save he produced at 0-0 ....
. Alone of the leaders, Tom D had that faith, so stretched his lead over Leylandii to 3 points. Outback Ozzy didn't have
any faith
, so dropped off his shared podium place into 4th, only holding that because AndyD was equally faithless
.
In the bottom half of the Top Ten, DaveinGermany, AccyMad and Cashman benefited from bonuses, DiG staying 6th but moving to only a point behind AndyD, and the other two passing bonus-less Div3North to take 7th and 8th. And Wynonie, even without a bonus, pushed faithless NigeB
out of the elite again by stealing 10th. The only other bonuses saw MikeA up from 15th to 12th, and me staying put in 17th
. Elsewhere, the order stayed unchanged.
With 3 games to go, it's now only the Top 9 who can become the Top One. And I don't see AccyMad, D3N or Cashy predicting the 3 1-0 defeats which might do it for them
.... but you never know.
So roll on Newport. Now we have to go and win the crucial last point on a rugby pitch in south Wales
, so you non-exiles can all watch a trophy presentation following the Lincoln game next Saturday
. Will we do it? Course we will!
On Stanley On!!
* P.S. I know it's not just Aaron that wins clean sheets, but it's a nice line to use - especially as there were a few doubters back in the day ....