Sweet Caroline

Anything yellow and blue
Kairdiff Exile
Mid-life Crisis
Posts: 707
Joined: Mon Jun 17, 2013 3:59 pm

Re: Sweet Caroline

Post by Kairdiff Exile »

Interesting to see from this thread how many of the users of this message board go to games - much lower than I'd have thought, even for a crucial game like Saturday's. Not a dig by any means, just surprising. I suppose many of us are exiles, which is probably why we have to use a message board to discuss OUFC rather than being able to chat to other fans in the pub or workplace.

I thought Saturday was wonderful. I was genuinely confident from the moment I woke up that we would win, and within five minutes of the game starting I was sure it would be fine. Even at half-time, I never doubted that once we scored we'd kick on and be comfortable. To finish runners-up was a bonus, and a fair reflection on how good we've been. I wouldn't have swapped our season for Northampton's for all the tea in China - nice though it would have been to have had promotion wrapped up weeks ago, our cup runs have been legendary. and the final day drama just added to the sense of this being an exhilarating season.
neilw wrote:Also, I never thought that soulless stadium could be brought to life to that extent. Credit to the banner / flag boys. It looked and sounded amazing at 3:00pm
Spot on with this comment, Neil. I can only hope that next season, with more and more Proper Clubs™ (and Sw*ndon) visiting, we'll fill the place enough times that such atmosphere becomes the norm rather than the exception. Having (nearly) 11,000 Oxford fans making such a racket was truly wonderful.
Kernow Yellow
Grumpy old git
Posts: 3075
Joined: Thu May 11, 2006 5:16 pm

Re: Sweet Caroline

Post by Kernow Yellow »

Kairdiff Exile wrote:
neilw wrote:Also, I never thought that soulless stadium could be brought to life to that extent. Credit to the banner / flag boys. It looked and sounded amazing at 3:00pm
Spot on with this comment, Neil. I can only hope that next season, with more and more Proper Clubs™ (and Sw*ndon) visiting, we'll fill the place enough times that such atmosphere becomes the norm rather than the exception. Having (nearly) 11,000 Oxford fans making such a racket was truly wonderful.
I echo this too. I still hate our stadium, but it has been a pleasure to be in a few times this season. Those banners at the back of the East stand really help the place feel like home. For those that are interested there is a paypal account where you can donate to help them buy materials etc - there's a thread somewhere on The Other Place with the details.
Geoff
Middle-Aged Spread
Posts: 1751
Joined: Mon Jul 31, 2006 4:11 pm

Re: Sweet Caroline

Post by Geoff »

"Even at half-time, I never doubted that once we scored we'd kick on and be comfortable."

Wycombe played a very high tempo game for 30 minutes but they were very much a 'blunt instrument'. Sercombe and Lundstrum must have had stiff necks watching the ball bypass them during that period. Even then I thought Wycombe would never play at that pace for 90 minutes. By half time we were just showing signs of playing some football our way. I also was strangely calm at half time, believing we would score before too long and hoping for two to settle the issue. Never dreamt we would score three! This has been the most enjoyable season for many years, performance wise as much as results, and would settle for a mid table position (and a cup run) next year. Thank you Darryl Eales, Michael Appleton and the squad. Ian Lenagan also deserves some credit for starting the ball rolling a few years ago.
Kairdiff Exile
Mid-life Crisis
Posts: 707
Joined: Mon Jun 17, 2013 3:59 pm

Re: Sweet Caroline

Post by Kairdiff Exile »

Having said all of the above, if you'd told me after watching that Newport game that we'd win our next three 2-0, 2-0 and 3-0, I'd have had you sectioned!
slappy
Grumpy old git
Posts: 2884
Joined: Mon Aug 27, 2007 3:52 pm

Re: Sweet Caroline

Post by slappy »

An enjoyable game, think i'm going to have to switch off BBC goal alerts on my phone for next season. Seeing Rovers go one down and then equalise within minutes makes a distraction from our own match.

Impressed that the club managed to free up a few more seats at the end of last week (the seats in front of the disabled area North Stand), and I heard the segregation got moved a little too. Not quite enough to beat any of the attendance records (total fans, home fans, league game).

I didn't go to the rugby club pre-match, but looks a good option for the future.

First goal, great to see Dunks powering in - we've missed a big centre back like Duberry, Creighton for these set pieces. The penalty i didn't see what it was for, but that put the game to bed, and Callum's goal was the icing on the cake, could have gone down for a free kick / pen, but got back up to score the third - will it be his last for us? Also will Roofe be tempted to jump two leagues to the Championship?
Radley Rambler
Grumpy old git
Posts: 2249
Joined: Fri Jun 30, 2006 4:36 pm

Re: Sweet Caroline

Post by Radley Rambler »

slappy wrote:An enjoyable game, think i'm going to have to switch off BBC goal alerts on my phone for next season. Seeing Rovers go one down and then equalise within minutes makes a distraction from our own match.

Impressed that the club managed to free up a few more seats at the end of last week (the seats in front of the disabled area North Stand), and I heard the segregation got moved a little too. Not quite enough to beat any of the attendance records (total fans, home fans, league game).

I didn't go to the rugby club pre-match, but looks a good option for the future.

First goal, great to see Dunks powering in - we've missed a big centre back like Duberry, Creighton for these set pieces. The penalty i didn't see what it was for, but that put the game to bed, and Callum's goal was the icing on the cake, could have gone down for a free kick / pen, but got back up to score the third - will it be his last for us? Also will Roofe be tempted to jump two leagues to the Championship?
One league now 8)
Mr T
Brat
Posts: 185
Joined: Sat Jan 15, 2011 8:17 pm
Location: Cheshire

Re: Sweet Caroline

Post by Mr T »

As one of the exiles living far away from the dreaming spires I have only managed 3 games this year, but a 100% record of away wins (Accrington, Morecambe & Carlisle) is a wonder indeed. I felt the momentum that we built up at the tail end of last season, in particular the 3-0 at Tranmere, was carried over into this, and I am going to have to save up big time as the number of 'local' games is far greater in league 1. My son has travelled down to several home games this year, and usually returned dejected, but Saturday was a most pleasant change. If only we could get that consistency going at Grenoble Rd then even a Play Off position next year could be a possibility. The set up, and feel good factor that has been created off the pitch, plus all the praise from outside of the club, is wonderful to see; credit to Mr Eales and his team. Everyone now deserves a well earned break before the next adventure...
Bring back the black away shirt!
Yorkie
Toddler
Posts: 46
Joined: Thu Jun 08, 2006 11:25 pm
Location: York

Re: Sweet Caroline

Post by Yorkie »

As one of the exiles living far away from the dreaming spires I have only managed 3 games this year, but a 100% record of away wins (Accrington, Morecambe & Carlisle) is a wonder indeed. I felt the momentum that we built up at the tail end of last season, in particular the 3-0 at Tranmere, was carried over into this, and I am going to have to save up big time as the number of 'local' games is far greater in league 1.
Like Mr T and Isaac, I've seen very few games this season - just two in fact, York (very local) and Hartlepool - and none at home. Just other commitments including family with 2-year-old grandson now living close. I'd intended to go to Carlisle but balked at the excessive travel time from York (3 hours each way by rail via Newcastle because of the west coast line engineering work. I can get to Oxford as quickly, via London.) I subscribed to Yellow Player specifically for the Wycombe game, and appreciated the commentary. Usually Dave Hoare's excellent text updates in the Facebook Oxford United Exiles group serve the purpose, but he doesn't do them when he actually goes to a game ...

Like other northern exiles, I'm looking forward to watching the Us more often in League One at grounds within reasonable travelling distance.
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