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Everton 4 v 0 Wigan
By Dennis Stevens |
GOODISON PARK 5th April
2009
Sadly,
I hadn’t been up to Goodison yet
this season, having not been there
at all last season – so when Eddie
advised that the club were offering
Junior tickets for only a fiver I
figured this was my chance to take
my twin boys, Zak & Theo, on their
first pilgrimage to the sacred site.
However, I first had to get approval
from “the committee” (a.k.a. “wifey”)
to drive all that way & back – time
was I would only rarely be allowed
out of the county for fear of my
falling asleep at the wheel!
We had
a pretty good journey up, with just
one major delay on the M6 due to an
accident, until we got into
Liverpool & I took a wrong turning &
found I was heading out to Aintree!
After an interesting spell of
driving ‘round on instinct,
including a trip past Walton Prison,
I suddenly realised we were on the
County Road. My anxiety about the
availability of Car-parking at the
Elm proved unwarranted as there was
still ample room, even for one who
parks as badly as myself (I have “a
woman’s parking”, apparently).
The
boys were quite hungry so we
immediately made our way along to
Goodison, or rather the takeaways on
Goodison Road. Following our chips,
we made a circumnavigation of the
Grand Old Girl, pausing to admire
Dixie’s statue before entering the
hallowed ground & riding the
escalators to the Top Balcony.
Although we were in a good half hour
early, the boys were completely in
awe of the stadium & whilst I raided
the snack bar they were chatting to
the stewards & quizzing them about
Goodison & Everton. I must say, I
thought the pitch seemed in pretty
good condition for this stage of the
season.
We took
our seats & watched the pre-match
build-up. I was glad to see Hibbert
out there & wondered what the odds
were for him to score the first goal
– or, indeed, any goal! As the game
approached & the ground started to
fill up Zak & Theo recognised a few
of the Everton songs I’d subjected
them to on the journey north. Then
those drums started that distinctive
rat-a-tat-tat & we were all on our
feet cheering the blue boys on to
the Goodison turf – yes, even in the
Top Balcony! With the kick-off
everybody settled down to watch the
match - one of the reasons I’d
chosen this part of the ground is
that there tend to be less
disruption due to people standing up
every five minutes.
Everton
seemed to be in control right from
the start & although Wigan showed
some nice touches here & there they
didn’t look likely to pose any great
threat, other than a tendency to
arrive late to the tackle & to leave
a foot in after getting there. It
was nice to see some degree of
fluidity in the midfield, with Osman,
in particular, having a good game.
Hibbert made a good comeback from
his injury lay-off & hopefully will
be fully fit for Wembley. Neville
had a very effective game in that
defensive midfield slot he now seems
so comfortable in. Meanwhile,
Fellaini had one of his best
performances yet since we signed
him, although I’m rather hoping
there’s still much more to come from
the lad. Cahill was clearly not at
his best but still exerted a
positive influence on proceedings.
Nice to see Jo get a couple more
goals – if only he could do as well
on the road.
Despite
the good performance & the
comfortable scoreline Goodison
seemed a little subdued to me,
although the twins were somewhat
knocked back by the noise – good job
they weren’t in the Gwladys Street
end! Moyes must have been pleased to
be able to make some changes
reasonably early in the second half
so as to rest a few players a
little, however, i felt that Rodwell
& Gosling both failed to really get
into the match after their
introduction. Hopefully we can
depend on our senior players to get
the result we need in the Cup
semi-final.
With
the final whistle we let the crowd
disperse before departing, lingering
over a last view of Goodison &
taking the opportunity to point out
the tin-mine across the park. Upon
leaving the ground I had to suppress
my joy at seeing the club shop
closed & promised the boys we’d go
there next time. I’m not too sure
how much football they actually
watched, how many goals they really
saw or how much they appreciated
what was going on around them, but
they were certainly enraptured by
the environment & the atmosphere.
All in all a most satisfactory day,
albeit a match-day without the aid
of alcohol!
Forever Blue,
Dennis Stevens
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