Blimey, what a start that was. Today's first game had everything you would expect from football, including the full range of emotions ranging from despair to elation. The second half was a roller coaster ride for everyone as Oxford struggled to come back from a goal behind. My son was the calmest person in the stadium as he sat there blissfully ignorant of what was going on. He has much to learn about football and his dad's faltering attempts to explain the offside rule [seriously, does anyone really know what it is?] don't help him much. However, he greatly enjoys the spectacle and I am hoping a love of the beautiful game will seep in somehow.
When the late equaliser went in we went mad along with everyone else and the winner almost caused me to have a coronary. It was a brilliant finish to our first 'proper' game and we cheered the team off the pitch before retiring to a nearby bar. Even a cooling beer and milkshake followed by Queen at full volume in the car on the way home couldn't really calm our nerves and we were buzzing for a good few hours afterwards - just the way it should be!
The best aspect of the game for Oxford must surely be that they fought back and got the result after a less than convincing start. York looked the more likely team for much of the game but Oxford workd hard throughout.
At the bar we enjoyed reflecting on all the miserable sods who had left before the last three minutes had turned the match around. I hope they all got home in good time to learn that they had missed all the fun. You have to wonder what the point of turning up was.
The other thing which riled me was the half wit in front of us who spent the whole game screaming hideous abuse at the ref and getting angry about the slightest thing. Sheesh, the ref has an impossible job and the personal abuse he was subject to, which I'm sure he could hear at some points, just can't be worth the money he gets. I'm new to being a 'proper' fan but it seems to me that if you are going along to enjoy a good game of football it would be a lot better if you got all your angst out of your system beforehand and gave the poor sod in the black a break, accepting that he isn't going to get it right all the time and a fair share of bad decisions are likely to go your team's way.
However, all told it was a truly superb day and a really inspiring start to the season.
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