They say a week can be a long time in football, and this week has certainly been long. In the league, all the good work that lead to victory against Barnet and a draw at Lincoln evaporated in the face of two horror shows.
With the form County were showing, matches against Hereford (at the time bottom of the league) and Morecambe (4th bottom) should have yielded at least 2 points. As it was, they yielded nothing - except maybe significant (some would say terminal) damage to our goal difference. At any time, a 5-0 defeat is crushing, but to suffer two in a week can totally transform a team's season.
So, with this weekend being the first round proper of the FA Cup, you would think that would be a welcome distraction from the current troubles being experienced in the league. Or it would - if the visitors didn't happen to be high-flying and free-scoring Peterborough United from League 1.
Many fans had predicted that the match would be another heavy defeat, and there were loud murmurs that it was "pointless to turn up for another humiliation". Despite this, I boarded the 12:50 departure from Milton Keynes feeling slightly optimistic: today was FA Cup Day - a day for magic and maybe, just maybe - this could be County's day.
On arrival at Edgeley Park, it was apparent that the attendance was going to be fairly poor. The Cheadle End was sparsely populated, while there were very few people in either the Main Stand or the Pop Side. Even Peterborough didn't appear to have brought many along. As it was, the game kicked off in glorious autumn sunshine with most in the ground simply hoping for a decent performance.
And boy, did we get one.
From the off, County didn't let their higher league opponents have it all their own way. Tackles were snappy, and although the passing wasn't exactly crisp, it was certainly good to see County players finding each other as opposed to opponents. despite a scare when the lively Mackall-Smith had a chance for Peterborough smartly saved by Glennon, County created the better openings. As it was, County took the lead their battling performance deserved when smart play between Turnbull and Fletcher saw the latter play a great cross into the 6-yard box, where Griffin was waiting to head the ball home. That was County's first goal since Donnelly's second against Barnet - 4 matches ago. It was very nearly 2 moments later, when Poole should have done better when presented with an open goal. Moments later, a smart, curling effort from Williams looked to be heading for the top corner until Peterborough goalie Joe Lewis pulled off a spectacular save.
This seemed to spur Peterborough on, and they were gifted an equaliser when a hopeful cross into the 6-yard box was dropped by Glennon onto the head of the challenging Maclean and bobbled into the net. To their credit, rather then being subdued, County continued to work hard and certainly warranted the standing ovation that greeted the half-time whistle.
As darkness fell over Edgeley Park, the second half kicked-off with County attacking the Cheadle End. As with the first half, the match took on a real ebb-and-flow: County looking to press forward and use the pace and effort of Donnelly and Fletcher, while Peterborough were always looking dangerous on the break with their pacy forward line. Once again, Glennon saved County from going behind with another smart save from a Peterborough forward; but to be honest, this was the last, real effort that Peterborough seemed to have. County started to gain the upper hand, with chances falling to Fletcher, Turnbull and Griffin in quick succession. With the increasingly vocal backing of the home crowd, County continued to create decent opportunities but either stumbled with the final ball or found the killer touch was lacking. In the end, even the brief cameo by Barry Conlon failed to yield a wining goal. At the final whistle, the standing ovation was well warranted. County go into the hat for tomorrow's draw, but will have to get through a tricky replay before even dreaming of Round 2.
So - what were the highlights? Aside from a much improved, committed performance from County, much credit has to go to the 2,001 who attended. This is the lowest ever FA Cup crowd at Edgeley Park, but at times during the second half - particularly during the last 15 minutes - the noise was absolutely fantastic. At one point, the Cheadle End, Main Stand and Pop Side were all in unison with "Paul Simpson's Blue'n'White Army". Given all that has happened this week, that was great to hear.
On the pitch, Turnbull and Pulis finally seemed to impose themselves in midfield, while Griffin and Williams continued to link up well down the left. Donnelly was his usual busy self up front, ably assisted by Wes Fletcher - he may still be waiting for his first goal, but his effort and willingness to chase and close opponents down cannot be faulted. Glennon once again showed his value to the side; and his willingness to scream at Rose & Assoumani is a welcome change to the silence associated with Owain fon Williams. Choosing a man-of-the-match is really difficult, but I would probably go for Turnbull, who really played with a pride and passion befitting the captains armband.
All that's needed now is for the same pride, passion and commitment to be shown in the league - starting with next week's derby at Bury.
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