It’s that time of year again, the bit where we can
forget league positions for a week or so and turn our attention to that grand
old lady The Football Association Challenge Cup Competition. In a move welcomed
by us old traditionalists the draw for the first round was shifted from it’s
Sunday afternoon slot to Monday evening and life for those of us in the lower
divisions was suspended for the few minutes it took for our favourites to be
pulled out. Like most of us, I suppose, if we were to be drawn away I wanted it
to be at a place I’d not previously visited and if we were given a home game
then I didn’t care who our opponents might be. It wasn’t long before ball
number forty five appeared and seconds later we knew that we’d be facing the
lads from Salop again and I would imagine their fans felt as underwhelmed as we
did at the prospect of a repeat of last season’s first round fixture. Last time
around, to be truthful, I can’t recall the game as being much of a spectacle so
a more entertaining game this time around seems fairly likely. All being well
there will, of course, be a bit of spice added by the Tom Bradshaw factor as he
faces his hometown club and no-one who’s regularly seen him play for us this
season will be in any doubt as to his importance to us. When he plays we look a
far more complete team than when he’s absent and he’ll no doubt be relishing
the chance to knock in a goal or two against his former employees and they’ll
be determined to see that he doesn’t. The initial reaction to the draw among
our fans revealed a certain level of what amounts to complacency, we played
them three times last season and won all three without conceding a goal as the
Shrews endured a pretty wretched season that saw the club ultimately return to
League Two. Therefore we’ll prevail this time, won’t we? Maybe, maybe not. The
Shrews have made an excellent start to life in the lower division and currently
occupy one of the automatic promotion places, meaning we’ll be facing a side
high on confidence and scoring goals at an impressive rate. I’m sure the
players won’t be regarding the result as a foregone conclusion but it seems
that some of our supporters are seeing it in exactly that way and I really
don’t think they should be. Our home form of late has been excellent so let’s
go into the game in a cautiously optimistic mood but let’s take nothing for
granted. Life as a Saddlers supporter is such that the moment we think we know
what’s coming next often turns out to be the moment something silly happens. Talking
of silly, what about Mr Hazard and his comments about the difficulties Chelski
faced when coming up against ‘Strawberry’? If he’d made them off camera then
no-one would know but there’s no getting away with a gaffe like that these days
and he’ll no doubt have had to endure his fair share of leg-pulling in the days
since. You’d think, wouldn’t you, that a bloke with a name like Eden would know
a bit about fruit?
Personally a game against Shrewsbury always evokes
memories of facing them at Fellows Park in the third round of the Milk Cup on
our way to the semi-final in the 83/4 season. A bumper crowd turned up to see
Mick Kearns come out of retirement to help with our goalkeeping crisis and what
I remember as an entertaining game was delicately poised at one-each as we
entered the last ten minutes. I can recall thinking that I’d be happy with a
replay as I’d never visited Gay Meadow at that time but, as was usual under
Alan Buckley, we went for the jugular and a packed Street End roared the lads
on as they kicked toward us. If my memory serves me correctly we won a corner
and the ball eventually arrived at the feet of little Gary Childs on the edge
of the penalty area, from where he blasted it into the top corner for one of my
favourite ever Saddlers goals and the one that sealed that legendary trip to
Highbury in round four. What wonderful times those were as we progressed to the
only major cup semi-final we’ve ever reached, facilitated by a style of
swaggering attacking football that those of us present frequently recall in
many a moment of misty-eyed reminiscence. It’s about time we had a cup run of
that ilk again so let’s hope that Saturday’s game turns out to be just the
start of a run that those still around will be speaking fondly of in twenty
five or thirty year’s time.
How great would that be?
In the latest of his regular offerings Bescot Banter columnist Hillary Street-Ender takes a look at this weekend's FA Cup First Round tie with between Walsall and visitors Shrewsbury Town, and looks back at past encounters along with thought's on what potential impact former Shrew Tom Bradshaw might have on the tie.