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The first signs of nervousness start around 3pm when you realise the game has started, and the butterflies really kick in as you approach half time. As the half-time vidi printer starts to warm up, you have no idea which way the game is going. There is no goal-flash teletext, and phoning the ground runs the risk of some dickhead giving you the wrong score. As you tell yourself you expect to lose (Newport were unbeaten at home at the time) you’re prepared for the worst. Finally it comes though, “Newport County 0, Havant & Waterlooville 1”! Oh my God! We’re winning! The next hour is spent in a state of near paralysis. Your hands are clammy, you feel violently sick and are unable to move or even speak. There is still no indication of how the game is proceeding. At least if you’re at the match you can see what is happening, good or bad. You wish you hadn’t seen the half-time score because the “I expect a defeat” line doesn’t kid you anymore. After winning at half-time, anything less would be painful. After what seems like an eternity it is a quarter to five and the final scores have started to appear. You don’t take any of the other scores in as they filter through, holding your breath each time the line starts with a “DML”. By now you’re desperate. Finally, here it is… “DML NEWPORT COUNTY 3…” Shit! It’s as if someone has kicked you in the ribs. For the couple of second it takes to print “…HAVANT & WATERLOOVILLE…” you’re slumped back in your seat. Then, incredibly, the screen prints out another “…3”. You stare at the TV, scarcely able to believe it. 3-3. Three-all. Three each. Now there is a void. Should you be happy – after all, three seconds ago you had lost – or, bearing in mind the previous hour, sad, as victory had been stolen. You have undergone 90 minutes of emotion in 30 seconds. After about thirty minutes, my heartbeat returns to normal and I’m nearly human again. I’ve rationally decided that it is a good point – that is unless I find out later in the evening that we’ve done something stupid like throwing away a three-goal lead! Chris Hardyman back to index |