The hand that stole the fairy tale away from Mansfield Town

The magic of the FA Cup lies in the unlikely and unpredictable fixtures which arise between top flight clubs and lower ranked opposition.  There has been much talk of top sides not taking this vintage Cup as seriously as their Premiership ranking and I have to admit I have felt a little swayed by all the chat.  Having enjoyed Chelsea’s 5-1 win over Southampton on Saturday and the West Ham v Man U tie, I didn’t expect to be drawn back into the competition on Sunday.

I tuned into Swansea v Arsenal at half time just in time to see Michael Laudrup (one of my rated managers and not just for his good looks!) bring on the firing power of Michu to help win him the game.  Michu did not disappoint by starting off the goal scoring.  Wenger responded by bringing on Podolski who also scored.  The match ended at 2-2 and I look forward to the replay. 

Having gorged myself on McDonald’s, (My younger daughter is a lover of McDonald’s and though I should be ashamed to admit this, I take full responsibility for her disposition as I used to take both girls there every Friday after school as a weekly ritual – I might add neither have ever been over-weight though sadly I can’t say the same about myself!) I was ready for a lazy Sunday afternoon nap when the coverage of Mansfield Town v Liverpool started.  I’m not sure if it was the glamorous CEO of Mansfield Town or her rather shabby looking older Chairman husband or the tour of the basic and tired changing room filled with sprightly players which grabbed my interest most.  Even my older daughter who was with me and extremely hung over after a weekend of revelry couldn’t tear herself away, especially after she caught a glimpse of a Mansfield player’s bare bottom – he was pulling down his shorts when the camera’s entered the changing room and thought he was hidden by a pillar, but enough of his flesh was exposed to be spotted by a keen eye!

So began our love affair with Mansfield Town FC!  They started the game as expected, in awe of the fact they were sharing their ground, which resembled a mud wrestling pit in places, with the Red shirts of Liverpool.  They were tentative and careless and gave away a number of easy chances.  Fortunately the newly signed Sturridge could only capitalise on one, scoring in the seventh minute.  The Stags started to grow in confidence and by the beginning of the second half were making Liverpool look the more vulnerable side.  Brendan Rodgers responded by bringing Suarez off the bench and then came the controversial hand ball and second Liverpool goal.  I don’t want to get too wrapped up in condemning  Suarez, it’s the referees who I blame – it was a blatant handball and the goal should not have been given – even if Mariner’s view was blocked, the fourth official told Brendan Rodgers that the handball had been seen but construed as accidental – shocking decision.

The newlywed and Birthday boy Mansfield manager, Paul Cox was more than gracious in defeat.  The sassy CEO was less forgiving, saying the replay had been ‘stolen’ from them.

Why am I writing all this? Well I guess I want to share with you my renewed faith that although times are changing, the FA Cup still provides unexpected and heart warming tales to see us through the cold and grey winter days and also that if I was a football club with some money, I may look into buying a couple of the promising Mansfield players on the cheap...  namely Mr. X  (Exodus Geohaghon) Mansfield’s  towering centre-half, whose throw ins were as long as I have seen, as well as the scoring Matt Green.