JUVENTUS HOME. OCTOBER 23RD.
By Mark Deeks
October 25 2002
JUVENTUS HOME. OCTOBER 23RD. A great victory for the Toon and Griffin has left us still with a chance of progressing to the next round of the Champions League.

JUVENTUS HOME. OCTOBER 23RD.

GRIFFFIIIINNNNNNNN..........?????!>!>!?!>"?

YYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!

Now come on then, how many of us (me included) would have expected that line to come out of any
commentator's lips at any time, let alone against
Juventus?

Get in there. At last! Some luck. Still only a
fraction of what we've deserved in this Champs League campaign but a good start.

I got a new car 4 months ago. I'd had an old Polo for years and never had any trouble, bumps or scrapes. I got my new car and scratched it within three months.

Twice.

So seeing as this week was half-term for us
hard-working (!) teachers, I decided now was the time to get the old paintwork seen to. So train tickets were dutifully booked for the Juve game. Cheaper than the petrol would've been an' all! Anyway, I'd never sampled the delight of the UK's train service for quite some time, so I was actually looking forward to it. My old walkman was hunted out and a pack of batteries bought. Wakefield to the Toon in an hour and three quarters without me having to do anything.
Marvellous. Or so I thought.

I bumped into Jeff, another Mag I know, on Wakefield train station. We were due on the same train at 1:18 p.m. Due into Newcastle at a little after 3. We got chatting, the train seemed to be running on time and everything seemed fine. Then the immortal words. "Message for passengers on platform 2, the 1:18 train for Edinburgh via Newcastle and Berwick is now not due until five-to-two...." Great. "...And will today terminate in York...."

WHAT?!? How can a train that isn't supposed to be
going to York, terminate in York?!?

"...This is due to landslides north of Berwick."

EH?!? Sorry lads we can't go to Newcastle today cos of some mud north of Berwick!!!! In typical British Rail fashion, the station staff had no idea why a train had to stop 100 miles short of a landslide but there you go. "Do you have to travel today?!?" said the lady. Well yes actually, we do. Sorry, but the phone call of
"Bobby would you mind waiting till tomorrow cos Mark and Jeff are stuck in Wakefield?" didn't seem to be the likeliest!

Luckily Jeff is a seasoned train traveller. He seemed to think we'd be fine. Oh, and I wasn't in the least bit patronised by the woman going on the phone and being heard to say, "Yes, I need to find out what trains are going from York to Newcastle today. I have two passengers needing to get to the match tonight and it seems very important to them!"

Damn straight it was very important!! Anyway, the
original train arrived an hour late, and we caught an everyman-for-himself-style connection to the Toon from York and made it with loads to spare, but on Saturday for the Charlton game? I'll see you on the A1!

As for the match, I can rarely remember being so
relieved and feeling so strongly that we had finally got some luck that we deserved. I don't care that our goal was a bit of a fluke (it was a fantastic burst into the box in the first place from the lad Griffin, who regular readers will know I'm a bit of a fan of). I don't care that they rattled our bar at the end. I don't care that, with a bit of composure, Nedved could've made Harper look like a bit of a goon. I reckon we deserved it. Juventus, although very strong at the back, didn't seem to be as frightening going forward as I know they can be, and for the most part we looked, at the very least, stable. And as for the 15 minutes after we scored, we battered them. If only Nobby's belter of a top corner drive had got round Buffoon's hand then we really would have been able to shut up those whining "Flukey Geordie" comments.

Also, the attendance was pretty good considering the small fortune we've been asked to fork out. And as for the celebrations after the goal? I can rarely remember hugging so many people except for New Year's Eve and goals against the mackems. In all, pretty fantastic. We've given ourselves something to aim at, and if another three points are forthcoming next week against Kiev then it really is game on for the final game in Holland.

Finally, I reckon that was a brave decision by Bobby to drop Shay. And Steve did extremely well for the most part, with at least two top class saves. I hear that Shay's back on Saturday. I can't help feeling a bit sorry for our Stevie Harper. But fair play to him for coming in and doing a job, getting his head down and grafting.

For the record, the train journey back on Thursday was easy. Hour and forty minutes, £7.50. Just how it should be. Keep the faith.

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