Having made his 199th start (and Sam Barratt his 100th) in our plucky home defeat to Notts County, Remy Clerima – our fantastique Frenchman – would have to wait to become the 39th man since 1919 to join the MUFC 200 Club due to the postponements of both our midweek NL trip to Altrincham and originally scheduled Trophy tie vs the Tudors
Even though Remy's potential landmark appearance was the main reason for me making the relatively short journey to Vauxhall Road (for the first time since a soporific 1-0 defeat under Drax on New Year's Day 2007), I was also pleased to be willing and able to take in a final game of 2022, and a pre-Christmas one to boot (with all that this entails); after collecting Chris Rad. from the train station, then pumping up my car's tyres at the Esso on Cookham Road before getting Craig, we were motoring up the back roads to the M40 (and ultimately the M25 and M1) while covering topics such as Outnumbered, an embarrassing Berks & Bucks Cup defeat, and favourite songs by The Specials (RIP, Terry Hall)
Maidenhead took an early lead, but Hemel (featuring former MUFC Youth teamer Bayley 'son of Dereck' Brown – "legs up to Will De Havilland's nipples" – in midfield) equalized when a long-range effort inexplicably beat a static Alexis Andre Jnr. (Phil W condemned our Tik Tok superstar by likening the goal to one he had carelessly conceded while donning the gloves for a Ministry of Justice team in a Civil Service six-a-side tournament at Barnes rec in 2011.)
Exceptional – in the unusual sense – ground (small pitch surrounds with dangerously large drop-offs in places, AstroTurf on the terracing by the sizeable scoreboard, etc.), and it was something of a relief that we were attacking the decent bit of covered terracing in the second half; two quick-fire goals from Kane Ferdinand (his second) and Ashley Nathaniel-George put the game to bed (Hemel's consolation came deep into added time), meaning we could work our way through McKendrick's Twelve Days of Christmas and concentrate on serenading le modèle masculin
Less said, the better about the shouting match between Stacey the Steward and Macleod (M) shortly – the critical point – after the final whistle (in Carneyesque darkness); neither that nor the fact we now face Dagenham and Redbridge (AGAIN) in the last 32 could spoil a night featuring ticks for most, if not all, boxes (including photos with Remy ... taken by Rene!)
(Advertiser report; match highlights)
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Favourite part of the match was 20 minutes of @MUFCYorkRoad fans signing
— Danny Siggers (@DannySiggers) December 20, 2022
- Full rendition of 12 Fosters of Christmas
- ‘Clerima’ in the Tequila beat
-Singing “We’re not singing anymore” when Hemel scored a consolation goal in the 92nd minute
Fair play Maidenhead 🤣 https://t.co/L7RLmeLmtc
