Quarantine Save Season 2 Second Half

Rochdale are poised for an epic latter half of the season – current table toppers, League Cup quarter-finalists and the chance of a decent FA Cup run – things are looking good. Catch up on the first half review here.

Straight in with a sacking! Southampton, bottom of the Premier, ditch Alan Ball in an attempt to get themselves out of trouble and appoint York City’s Alan Little, leaving the club mid table in divison 2. Not sure that’s the best move for either party!

We start off the second half of the season playing the B’s – Bristol, Burnley, Bournemouth, Blackpool, and then Bradford in the FA Cup, comfortably seeing them off 3-0 and drawing Doncaster in the next round. Then it’s time to host our Yorkshire league cup opponents.

We’re being thoroughly outplayed in the first half, but Paul Williams scores on the break to give us the lead before Gary Speed equalises. Just before the break, Williams is at it again and we go in 2-1 up! We’re under seige in the second half and finally give away a penalty, which David White tucks away and we head to extra time. It’s end to end stuff, then that man Williams does it again, the Northern Ireland International getting his hat-trick goal and it’s 3-2! It get’s even better as Captain Carter chips one in at the end to make it 4-2, cup shock achieved and we’re through to the semi finals and we get… Arsenal!

There’s a brief league interlude against Swansea as our tired team scrapes an away draw, and we’re back in cup action against Donny. The games are taking their toll and we hold on for a 0-0 draw. Straight to the replay and we struggle again, 0-0 at full time so we’re into extra time again. We show a lot of character and score 3 quick late goals! And the reward… Liverpool at home!

We see off a couple more B’s – Brighton and Brentford – Then it’s back to the cups, Arsenal over two legs with Liverpool in the middle! We start at home in the first leg and hold the Gunners off until half time, but in the second half Ian Wright gets away and slots home, then Steve Morrow scores to give them a 2 goal advantage to take back to Highbury and seriously dent our hopes of getting to Wembley.

And now Liverpool come to Sandy Lane, and they didn’t come to play nice! Early in the first half they target Carter, injuring him, and Matteo gets away with it! Rob Jones then scores for Liverpool, but Andy Howard quickly equalises before half time. Second half, the tackles continue to fly in and our sub Simon Collins gets injured too, this time Paul Stephenson, recent signing from Luton Town as a back up striker, doesn’t get away with it and recieves a red, finally! It finishes 1-1 and we get to go to Anfield!

The replay, in front of 27,000 people, starts off the same, strong challenges from Liverpool, with Russell Beardsmore getting booked and Ruddock seeing red after taking out Betts. It’s goalless at half time. Early in the second half Captain Carter finds a way through and scores, then Andy Howard follows suit and scores again in another man of the match performance against the reds. Nigel Clough nicks one back towards the end, but we hold on for a famous victory and another cupset! Our reward – reigning Premier League champions Aston Villa in the quarter final.

Back to Highbury for the league cup semi final second leg. Carter leads the way, breaking through and scoring to give us hope of reaching wembley, a 1-0 lead at half time. Arsenal shift it up a gear in the second half and Merson scores easily, before they take their foot off the pedal and see out the game comfortably to give them a 3-1 aggregate victory. A great league cup run for Rochdale comes to an end in the semi finals.

It doesn’t let up as next we go to Villa Park. We get off to the best possible start, Karl Connolly scoring in the opening minute! But have we “scored to early”? It starts to look that way going in drawing 1-1 at the break, with Championship Manager Legend Nii Lamptey scoring for Villa. Dean Saunders puts Villa ahead in the second half and despite Jamie Pollock seeing a red card for headbutting Carter, Villa hold on for the win and we’re out at the quarter final stage after another fantastic cup run.

So it’s just the league run in now. We win 9 out of the last ten games, drawing one, to finish the league 20 points clear having scored 107 goals and lost just one game all season, Kenny Betts, the 19 year old gamble finishing as top scorer with 29 of them, definitely found one for the future here!

Middlesboro, who were keeping pace with us for 2/3rds of the season and haven’t been out of the top 3, have a poor run in, winning just one of their last four games and get pipped to second place by Brighton, who follow us up a divison again. Boro then go on to crash out of the playoffs to eventual winners Hull!

Elsewhere there’s more final day drama as Blackpool, who have been in the bottom three for most of the season, beat fellow strugglers Southend to send them down and rescue themselves, Reading and season long bottom club Rotherham filling the remaining relegation slots. Preston and Huddersfield replace them along with Playoff winners Barnet, who scraped into the playoffs on goal difference in one of the tightest races for the playoff spots I’ve ever seen!

Liverpool pick themselves up after losing to us in the cup and go on to win the premier league title, Newcastle coming runners up again. Arsenal go on to win the League Cup after beating us, defeating Spurs in a North London Derby final, but too focused on the cup, the Gunners slump in the league and get relegated, along with Southampton, whose manager change didn’t work, and Norwich!

In shocking news, Exeter City are relegated from the football league, taking Championship Manager Legend Dean Gordon with them! Other big names dropping out of the football league with him are Alan Tonge, Stuart Storer, Jimmy Quinn, Steve McMahon and Jason Cousins!

Elsewhere, Tranmere win the Anglo-Italian Cup, Oldham lift the FA Cup, Porto retain the Cup Winners Cup as Milan do the same with the Uefa Cup and Bayern Munich are the Champions of Europe after losing to Red Star in last seasons final.

We get all three Yearly Awards, Carter getting senior player, as well as supporters player, and Andy Howard recieving young player.

Over the summer Alan Shearer moves to Inter for a bargain £3.2 million, as Marc Hottiger goeas to Kaiserslautern for £2.8 million! Viv Anderson calls it a day and I get another pay rise!