My birthday was on Friday, and normal people celebrate it and generally have a good time at the anniversary of their birth. This time round however, I was rocking back and forth in a ball wracked with nerves ahead of our first ever play off campaign. In fact the occasion is so big that I needed to add something onto the end of the usual generic title to commemorate it. After all, it was the first leg of our semi final tie against Notts County, the home one, with the Ricoh backing, and really, the one we needed to win.
Arriving at Coventry Arena train station 3 hours before kick off is quite something even by my standards, so once I'd settled my erratic heartbeat with a still not quite legal pint of Carling I went back to some more rocking in a ball. The walk back to the Ricoh was like some form of tsunami, my new coat was taking a right beating, as was the Ricoh pitch. Watching the ball travel on certain parts of that was honestly like a swamp, on other parts it was ice. In fact that game was barely playable. Just getting the excuses in early here boys and girls.