Best Fans?

[DmanDmythDledge]

We knew things were bad for Waterford when Tom (who has always hated us) said before the match on Friday that he hoped the Blues won. Maybe that's why we won. Maybe he controls the league. That said, he confirmed his madness by shouting "Pats for the League".

Last season at a league game in Belfield he announced the League Cuup semi final draw before it was announced in the media or before anyone else knew.

Not to mention the time he knew our game in Longford was off before it was announced.

That's definitely it then. Tom runs the league. It all makes sense now.

Not that Mad Tom, this one's waaaay crazier. Trust me.

Please tell me about him as I'm in stitches reading the above and want to hear about the other one if he's madder.

[David]

We did a pretty good job of it in Windsor........

Already acknowledged in this thread that I feel you have been the best from supporters coming to Windsor. Against Drogheda our support was superb but to be honest (and I know this is self praise) the best I have ever witnessed is Linfield at Tolka for the first Setanta final. It was incredible. I spoke to one of our players who was a sub that night and he said that at times he found it difficult to watch the match as he could not stop watching the crowd such was the atmosphere we were creating.

[bluemovie]

This is from an English site squarefootball.net:

Eircom League: The Blues Lifted in Inchicore

There has always been something tribal about supporting a football team. Nowhere was it better exemplified than Richmond Park on Friday evening.

In the wake of Waterford United’s first victory in twenty one league games, a smattering of their hard-core fans stood (including one particularly brave shirtless youth) and sang songs about 1968 and being blue until they die. The noise from the drums that they had beaten relentlessly for the previous ninety minutes reverberated around a ground that had been quickly vacated by the Saint Pat’s faithful. A red flare burned as brightly in the middle of The Blue Army as the hope that has been restored by new boss Gareth Cronin. This was support in its rawest form.

That anyone had bothered to make the long trek to the capital to support a team that had lost its last three league games on the road by 5-1, 4-0 and 3-0 scorelines defied all logic. Following United anywhere this season has been as enjoyable as chewing tin-foil. In fact, in their away games to date, Waterford had taken just a solitary point; that on the opening day of the season against Friday’s opposition.

The bookmakers were offering attractive odds on a repeat performance. The Blues were 11/4 before the game to hold Pat’s and 6/1 for the win that still didn’t look likely when Alan Cawley seemed to take an age to coolly deposit the ball in the left hand corner of Barry Ryan’s goal after just 45 seconds.

Stunned into action, Saint Pat’s dominated the remainder of the first half. It didn’t stop The Blue Army who, despite their numerical disadvantage, put the home support to shame. Those clad in red and white frequently looked towards the far corner of Richmond Park’s Main Stand to see if such a small number of South Easterners were really capable of making so much noise.

Meanwhile, Cronin prowled the touchline and barked instructions at a side with clearly brittle confidence. Miskicks and shoddy passing abounded but wherever it did a team mate was there to dig the offender out. When you’re in the perilous position Waterford are, work-ethic counts for far more than Fancy-Dan trickery.

Time and again in the first half, heroic goalkeeper Ben Spicer was the victim of Cronin’s verbal assaults for firing his goal kicks into no-man’s land. No matter, Waterford reached half-time clutching a lead they had garnered before the game had even rolled out of bed.

A more adventurous Pat’s side emerged for the second half. Trevor Molloy spurned several good chances, while Spicer pulled off numerous saves. Some young home fans had, by this stage, wandered into the Waterford end and taunted the away support until an alert steward removed them. A humorous chorus of “Cheerio” accompanied their ejection.

Pat’s dominated as the Waterford fans, amazingly showing no signs of hoarseness, continued to loudly support their team whose grip on the lead was becoming more tenuous. Spurred on, the Waterford back-four stood firm while Alan Reynolds patrolled the area in front of them like a rottweiler.

Displaying the self-effacing humour that is synonymous with the Deise county, the Waterford fan’s rendition of “The Eircom League is Upside Down” (sang to the tune of “London Bridge is Falling Down”) visibly tickled the funny bones of the home support.

As the game neared the finishing line, frustration ambushed the home side. After 80 minutes, Trevor Molloy, all powder-puff snarls, was pulled ashore by John McDonnell much to the delight of the travelling fans. A real sense that this could be that coveted first league victory began to pervade amongst them.

As expected, Pat’s pressed hard trying to rescue a point. The ball repeatedly pinged around the Waterford area, but Spicer was not given anything to tax his considerable ability too much. The fourth official’s board, that signalled four minutes of torturous injury time, was greeted by the away supporters with anguished groans.

When the full-time whistle eventually arrived, it was to the Waterford fans what cheap publicity is to Paris Hilton. Cronin immediately ordered his players to show their appreciation to those that had given up their Friday and travelled north to support his new charges. The celebrations began in earnest. If a football club is only as good as its support, then perhaps the Eircom League is upside down.