Game Seventy Three - Histon v Torquay

4 May 2009

Third game in three eventful days and this time a trip to Cambridge to see Histon take on Torquay in the Blue Square Premier Semi Final 2nd leg. With Torquay two nil up from the first leg, Histon had it all to do but for one day only, they had the support of me and Samantha... what more could they want (other than two goals)?

After a really nice day looking around Cambridge, we headed over to Histon to pick up our tickets, just as the dark clouds started to gather over head.

The stadium itself is basic enough with terracing and seating areas (although for some bizarre reason, the seating area seemed to be closed to your average supporter. Even old folks who struggled to walk were turned away. Odd!)

The main stand is quite nice for non-league though and we had a little wander around before getting something to eat from the little hut and taking our position up behind the goal with the home fans.

We picked out Knight-Percival as the man to watch... just because we liked his name really... and waited for kick off nattering about all random bits and bobs. And look who turned up to join us...

.... Katy and Fez had had taken in both play off games that day, starting with Cambridge in the morning before heading over to this one and they joined us behind the goal just before the teams came out.

Four Leicester fans watching Histon v Torquay... crazy scenes.

Histon started brightly and looked eager to reduce the advantage held by Torquay from the first leg. There was no point in sitting back as they needed two goals and they needed them quickly. A couple of half chances came and went with little success, one effort in particular being fired clean over when at the very least should have made the keeper work. Then, on 16 minutes, the deficit was halved. A deep cross bounced around the box and Neil Andrews smashed it across the keeper and into the net. Game on.

Histon continued to apply the pressure and wasting chances, heading over and putting the ball wide of the target more often than not.

Knight-Percival's corners were proving difficult for the Torquay defence to deal with and in the swirling wind, a couple nearly found their way straight into the net without a touch.

Torquay's only real efforts on goal resulted in a brilliant double save from the Histon keeper to keep his team in it.

The score remained 1-0 up until half time when the heavens opened and with no roof over the area we were standing, we found ourselves getting more and more wet, which we all took in different ways. Katy decided to embrace it:

Sam didn't find the weather amusing at all:

And I just kind of accepted it as a factor of the job.... which also seemed to make my hair go very odd:

After the break, Histon again pushed forward and missed a glorious chance when a cross was volleyed over with the goal at the mercy of the striker. Awful miss and one that could prove costly.

From then on, Torquay shut up shop and the game turned into a dull midfield battle with chances few and far between with us just amsuing ourselves more than the game doing it for us.

The last 15 minutes proved very tense as Torquay continued to sit back and occasionally counter attack and a couple of times they nearly caught Histon napping to seal the game but the keeper was alert or the poor pitch resulted in miss-controlling the ball at crucial times.

As the game moved into stoppage time, we were almost praying for no more goals so we could head home out of the rain and dull game that we were having to stand through. But fate was almost against us as a blatant handball was missed in the Torquay area and from the resulting corner fell kindly to the Histon captain, 10 yards out, but his volley was brilliantly saved onto the crossbar by Poke to send his team through to the final at wembley. Brilliant finish, undeserving of the awful second half.

The Histon players fell to the ground at the final whistle, disappointed to miss out on the trip to the main stage and a possible place in the league. Another ground ticked off for me though and it also gave Sam a boost in her figures too. For once, I think getting another ground out the way was better than the game..... sad but true. At least I got another fun filled day with the girlfriend though so Histon can't be too bad can it?

And it's not over there..... two more games ahead before the end of the season. Two trips to Manchester to see how two of the biggest clubs in England can finish off their seasons... Man Utd v Arsenal and Man City v Bolton. Cannot wait.