This FA Cup draw (as in the balls out of the bag, not the result on Saturday) seemed like a good one – "cracking," wrote Macleod (M), "except for my wallet and liver" (the Magpies would play their fourth away game in five Saturdays, and we'd journeyed up and stayed over in Solihull for Steve H's 60th birthday party after the home defeat to Halifax) – but the timing wasn't the best; as I met with Macleod (M) for the walk to the station ahead of the 08:30 train, I felt concerned there was 'After the Lord Mayor's show' potential, further to last week's win at Southend ("arguably our best/ most satisfying away day in the National League"), plus we were both rather tired after spending Friday night with Macleods (C + P) and Willie T. in Oxford trying to find a car parking space watching the mighty Goldie Lookin Chain at The Bullingdon on their 20th-anniversary tour ("Youknowsit, clart")
Ale House for pre-11 o'clock pints (meh) and cooked breakfasts in the sunshine, as Macleod (M), TWS, Chris Chad., CB, and I were joined – in due course, and one-by-one – by Somerset Mag aka JJ McClure, Cornwall Mag, and Chris Rad.; then across the road (literally) to meet with the Batemans in the otherwise deserted Plough Inn, where Chris Chad. showcased his musical prowess by playing the riff from 'Mundian to Bach Ke' on the piano, Cornwall Mag was the Trivial Pursuit quizmaster ("Port of Spain!"), and some of us debated the topic of underrated bands (with nominations for Talk Talk, Oasis [!] and Bloc Party)
Unfavourable first impression of the Coal Orchard due to a sizeable shattered pane of glass in the front door, but it was only £2.60 a pint, while Macleod (M) appreciated the art deco style and TWS enjoyed a go on the pinball machine; I was similarly pleased to get seated out the back of the Wetherspoons, overlooking St Mary Magdalene Church, in – more-or-less – the same spot as when the wife and I had stopped off here, en route to Cornwall on holiday, ten years previous
Tannoy announcement that flags should not cover the advertising hoardings prompted Macleod (M) to pull one end of the Union flag back by millimetres and immediately preceded the dominant if largely toothless Magpies opening the scoring when the Taunton goalie – who we would later chat with, briefly, in the town centre – failed to keep out Smith's 39th-minute effort; MUFC continued its ultimately-ineffectual control of proceedings until well into the second half but was unable to kill the game off, and, after the Peacocks had equalised following a long throw that neither Craig Ross nor his defenders dealt with, the hitherto passive home side and crowd belatedly came to life and justifiably sensed a come-from-behind Cup upset
One-all was the final score, though, thanks to a noteworthy double triple save from Ross, so as the travelling horde hit Wetherspoons again for more sub-two-quid pints, we were left to ponder a Tuesday night replay with an increased awareness of the U.S. sports adage about "kissing your sister"; TWS won big (ish) on an appropriately-named horse in the 17:27 at Chantilly, meaning that someone, at least, had something to celebrate
Nine-minutes-and-fifty-three-seconds-long post-match whinge by the Slough Town player-manager, who blocked me on Twitter after I quote-tweeted the video with an additional link to a Boney M song; similarly cranky was the woman in our carriage (Nb. not a quiet one) who complained about us playing – not particularly loudly, in our defence – songs from the MUFC jukebox (new entry: 'Every Little Thing She Does is Magic') because she'd "had a bad day" ... prompting someone to put on Daniel Powter! (Bad day? Nah, but by no means a great one.) (Match highlights)
