Reds Fluff Lines on Oakwell Finale

I nearly didn't make it to our last home game of the season yesterday. Our journey to Oakwell was more frustrating and disappointing than anything the team served up on the pitch. I know that's hard to believe.

Everything had been going perfectly to plan all morning. The sun was out, it was perfect day for football. The last few weeks have been getting harder and harder to feel motivated for, but yesterday I was really looking forward to it. And I really fancied us to win the match too.

For all the dreadful performances and results we've suffered through recently, the table still made for good reading before the game. A good win could have moved us several places up the league and made it look more comfortable for us than it feels like it has been. Even Donny were still within our sights, and I wouldn't have minded finishing above them this season. If they're the Arsenal of this division, surely finishing above them would make us Chelsea...?

We set off earlier than normal, giving ourselves plenty of time to get our West Brom tickets and get to the pub in time to catch the Man Utd-Spurs match. Nothing beats being in the pub, watching the football with a nice cold pint in the summer months. It was the perfect plan. Nothing could possibly go wrong.

Or so we thought. But what we hadn't planned for was somebody pulling straight across a junction and ploughing into the side of the car in Cudworth. Nobody was hurt thankfully, and she accepted fault straight away but it didn't help the matter. At 1:15, when we should have been sat in the pub watching the Man Utd game with our West Brom tickets safely in our pockets, we were in Fulton's car park waiting for a tow truck to get the car, which wouldn't even start. The game was off for us at that point, and I was gutted.

After much deliberation, we agreed that if the car was picked up and taken quick enough, we'd head to the game anyway and see as much of it as possible. Now we were at the mercy of the tow truck.

Luckily, the tow truck was quick in getting to us, giving us plenty of time to get to Oakwell. The only downside was that we had to carry a child booster seat with us all afternoon, from the back of the car. I can imagine it's the strangest thing ever taken to a football game, although I'm happy to be corrected.

We flagged a taxi and, car seat in tow, headed towards Oakwell. I felt a bit of an arse walking around with it in my hands. It's not particularly easy to miss; it's big, black, plastic and very, very noticeable. But it's a small price to pay to make the match when it had looked so ominous just half an hour before.

We headed to The Mount and got ourselves a quick pint before kick off. We were met with quizzical looks from punters and staff alike as they tried to figure out what the Hell we were carrying. Someone even suggested it was a lunchbox. Luckily, the bar staff in The Mount were very helpful and allowed us to save our big, black, plastic car seat behind the bar and come back to collect it later.

I love standing in The Mount car park with a pint during the summer. It reminded me of Wolves at home in our last home game of last season, only with nowhere near as much tension surrounding the place. Everyone seemed much more relaxed than they had the last few weeks. Maybe everyone was feeling as confident as me. Or maybe everyone was just taking in the atmosphere of the last home game, in the knowledge that in a couple of weeks we'll probably all be pining for next season to start. The World Cup is nice, but it can't replace the Reds for me. By the time we'd finished thinking about this, it was almost kick off time, so we slung our pints down and briskly headed to Oakwell, for the last time this season.

And so with about 30 seconds to spare we made our seats, ready for the final home game. The sun was blaring, the atmosphere was quite carnival and we were hoping for a final send off to a season which could have ended in disaster, and yet has ended with success. It's a strange feeling going into our last home game not particularly needing anything.You could argue it makes it boring, although it's much nicer than Wolves at home last season.

Throughout the first half, the game was pretty even, and we should have gone ahead pretty early when Hume got free of the last man. I've not seen it back yet but it looked like Hume should have done better. That also applies to Macken, who missed a great chance after a good save from their keeper. Not that the visitors didn't have their moments too. Antonio German must have felt sorry for Shefki Kuqi last week and decided to produce his own 'Miss of the Season' contender. Being sat directly behind the goal in the Ponty End has its benefits, and in this case it was a perfect view of just how bad that miss actually was.

If the miss was bad, then the only goal of the game was well worthy of winning it. It was an unstoppable strike from Mikele Leigertwood, and the round of applause from the Ponty End said enough.

At half time, the players awards were handed out. It was a strange decision to announce the winners before the game rather than waiting, but I do think Colace was a fair decision. In all honesty, it was a tough choice to pick because nobody has truly stood out. Well done to him all the same. The break gave Dicko a chance to get out and warm up. I watched him lark around with Toby Tyke, sign autographs and almost get a drenching by the sprinklers, and it actually cheered me up. We need him back. Get him signed up Robins, we all want him back. He belongs at Oakwell.

In the second half the game, much like our season, fizzled out. We had enough chances to get something out of the game, but finishing again was the difference. It's something that has haunted us all season, and is probably MR's biggest challenge this summer. There was nothing to inspire the crowd today, and the biggest cheer of the day was the flashing Wednesday score on the scoreboard, which says all that needs saying.

It was nice to see Dicko get on. It was also nice to see him at his passionate best when one of the visiting players threw himself to the ground to win a free kick in front of the East Stand. They'd been at it for most of the second half, with the referee constantly being conned by it. Dicko almost executed the perfect comedy kick up the backside, but managed to restrain himself at the last minute. It was probably just as well he did, although it would have been funny. The ref had kept quiet in the first half, but he lost it a bit in the second.

It was also nice to see passion displayed by MR when a marginal offside call went against Martin Devaney, roughly 20 minutes after the original ball had been played through. I thought for a minute he was going to the stands, but the referee gave him a talking to. Good to see someone still caring enough about this season, because most of the players have been on holiday for some time now.

As the full time whistle approached, the usual warnings about entering the pitch were played out on the tannoy, and duly ignored. To be fair, there were plenty of police officers around, although standing them in front of the scarcely filled away end was a strange decision. Needless to say, the whistle was greeted with a pitch invasion, meaning no opportunity for the players to do their planned lap of honour. It's a shame, because aside from these last few months, the season has been a success. We've stayed up, and that was the only goal when MR took the job.

We didn't stay to watch people running aimlessly around the pitch. We'd just sat through 90 minutes of it; I didn't fancy any more. We simply headed to The Mount, collected our car seat, and headed for home, with mixed feelings about the whole day.

We'll still be at West Brom next Sunday, hoping to see something to cheer but not expecting anything. In fact, that 7-0 from a few seasons ago is still fresh in the memory and not totally beyond the realms of happening again. It's a shame that the miserable end of the season has put a real downer on what should have been an enjoyable few months of the campaign, with safety assured and no pressure on. It has shown that we have a lot of work to do in the summer. But MR has earned his chance to undertake the overhaul we need, so lets give him it and get behind him. I still feel very confident he can change the fortunes of our club.

Thanks for reading.