Over Land and Sea

by Wessexbrony

Back to the Daily Grind

Saturday 28th October

Chelsea (5th) vs Bolton (4th)

“So do you want the good news or the bad news about today's fixture first?” I asked, as Dinky, as per every weekend, lay curled up next to me.

“Er...the good news, please,” Dinky answered.

“The good news, we're at home, against Bolton.”

“And the bad news?”

“It's the early kick off, 12:30. Mind you, it could be away and a 12:30 kick off.”

“...Sam Allardyce has defended his side's physical approach, claiming that it has reaped rewards in recent weeks despite a higher-than-average number of yellow cards. Meanwhile, Mourinho has said that the defeat at Middlesbrough was an anomaly, and...”

“How would you set us up today?” Dinky asked, as I switched the kettle on.

“Look to keep Anelka out of the game and hit them on the counter,” I replied, “If you remember their 3-2 win over Portsmouth last weekend, Anelka was involved in all three of their goals and they looked vulnerable every time Portsmouth went on the attack. Isolate him, and we take out their main threat.”

The day had dawned crisp but clear and, come 11:40, the two of us had met up with Rainbow Dash and were on our way to the ground.

“If we attack early, we'll win,” I said, as we entered the turnstiles. “Impose ourselves early on and keep Anelka quiet.”

“...it's high-flying Bolton for Chelsea to deal with today as the Blues go back to the daily grind of the League,” Kick Off explained as, at Stamford Bridge, the two sides walked out to The Liquidator and, in the Travellers Rest, Derpy and Twilight took their usual places. “Mourinho starts Essien, Lampard and Ballack all in midfield, whilst Joe Cole makes his first start of the season following the injury he sustained at the World Cup.”

“Good to see him back,” I said. “He was brilliant last season.”

The game kicked off and it became clear that Mourinho had the same ideas as I did as Chelsea looked to attack early. As early as the sixth minute, Drogba looked to latch on to a long ball, but failed to control it and Jaaskelainen let it run out for a goal kick. In the twentieth minute, Drogba was able to control the ball, but he fired wide.

In the 25th minute, however, things changed. As Bolton looked to play the ball out of defence, Bolton defender Tal Ben-Haim was caught out by Drogba, who took the ball into the area before firing it under the outstretched arm of Jaaskelainen to give Chelsea the lead. Two minutes later, Drogba chipped the ball to Robben, whose cross was fired over by Joe Cole.

Chelsea continued to attack, and in the 32nd minute an interception by Ballack set Arjen Robben away down the left. Robben crossed the ball into the area, where a stooping header from Drogba sent the ball past Jaaskelainen to double Chelsea’s lead.

The home side then looked to deprive Bolton of possession, and played a short passing game to the delight of the home fans. A good passing build up found Joe Cole, who fired the ball wide.

Four minutes before half time, Joe Cole was sent away down the right and crossed into the area for Drogba, who took the ball down before firing past Jaaskelainen to complete a first half hat trick.

“Game over,” Rainbow Dash said confidently as the teams left the field at half time.

Mourinho seemed to think the same, and opted to take Drogba off at half time, replacing him with Salomon Kalou. Chelsea’s dominance continued, however, and early in the second half Robben fired a shot high and wide.

If the result had still been in doubt before half time, it wasn't just before the hour mark. Wayne Bridge tackled Anelka and passed to Lampard, who passed the ball on to Michael Essien. Essien passed to Salomon Kalou, who fed in Joe Cole. Joe Cole's shot beat Jaaskelainen at the near post to further increase Chelsea's lead.

Chelsea, by now practically assured of victory, took their foot off the pedal, and the game entered a quiet phase for the following twenty minutes. However, with a little over ten minutes left, Bolton broke down the left flank and Kevin Davies hit a long, high ball to Kevin Nolan, who beat the offside trap to head the ball past the outstretched arm of Cech to grab a consolation goal.

Chelsea looked to have the final say on the game, however, and with four minutes left Joe Cole crossed the ball in for Kalou, whose shot was tipped behind by Jaaskelainen. The resulting corner was met by the head of Robert Kovac, and a goalmouth scramble saw Kalou hit the side netting.

Chelsea 4-1 Bolton Wanderers (Drogba 25, 32, 41, J. Cole 58; Nolan 79)

"You know, we really need to get a good run together now," I said, as we headed back. "Watford away, Arsenal at home, Sheffield United and Everton away and Aston Villa and Manchester City at home; I'd expect sixteen points from that at the very least."

It was a good result for Chelsea, but the Blues were still off the pace. Manchester United had reacted to their loss to win their next two, and sat five points clear at the top and eight points clear of Chelsea.

November arrived, and the nights were drawing in as the two of us set out the following Saturday. Watford sat second from bottom in the table, and an easy three points were expected after the match against Bolton.

“Of course, that's what's expected,” I said, as the two of us boarded the Southern service to Watford Junction at West Brompton, “But given how much expectation has differed from reality this season...”

“You ready to watch the match with us, Rainbow Dash?”

Rainbow Dash looked around to see Twilight and Derpy pass by on their way to watch the game, which was the Saturday evening kick off.

“Not today, I'm afraid,” Rainbow Dash replied, “I promised Scoots I'd watch it with her at her aunts' place.”

Despite what most had predicted, with just over half an hour remaining, it was turning out to be a very drab game. Watford had looked to defend from the off and the score was still goalless as the hour mark approached.

“Well, once again, Chelsea have not been at their best here,” Kick Off said, as the ball went out for a throw-in. “I'm not sure what it is that hasn't clicked, but it seems to have Mourinho stumped as much as the rest of us.”

“Indeed, Kick Off,” Full Time agreed. “And I mean, Watford are second bottom. They shouldn't be posing a threat at all.”

Lofty sat on the sofa with a large grin on her face. “We're going to do it, you know,” she said.

“I'm going to say Lampard to score next,” Scootaloo retorted.

“Scootaloo!” Holiday replied. “You know full well it's going to be Robben.”

“Drogba,” Rainbow Dash put in.

“Oh, you of little faith,” Lofty said. “I have full confidence that-”

“...and he's found Fontana,” Kick Off commented, “and Fontana plays a square ball to Drogba. Drogba goes for goal from the edge of the box, and it's there! The deadlock broken at last, Foster had no chance saving that, and it's Watford nil, Chelsea one!”

“Told you so,” Rainbow Dash replied smugly.

“Took them long enough,” I snorted, as Drogba celebrated.

Chelsea's dominance seemed to have paid off at last, as they began to breach the Watford back four. Ten minutes after the goal, Drogba passed to Fontana, who found Robben. Robben played in Drogba, whose shot was tipped over by Foster.

With two minutes left, however, the final blow came. Joe Cole took off down the right, and passed to Drogba. Drogba cut inside and, from the edge of the area, sent a diagonal shot into the opposite corner to seal the points.

Watford 0-2 Chelsea (Drogba 63, 88)

“Well, it came eventually,” I said, as the two of us joined several supporters on the train back, “But either we have to grind results out sometimes, or it's a worry that we can't take an earlier lead, especially with Bayern and Arsenal coming up.”

Premier League Table

1 Man Utd 31pts
2 Liverpool 26pts
3 Arsenal 25pts
4 Chelsea 23pts
5 Bolton 22pts
6 Tottenham 19pts
7 Portsmouth 18pts
…
16 Sheffield Utd 12pts
17 West Ham 11pts
18 Sheffield United 9pts
19 Watford 8pts
20 Charlton 5pts

Author's Note:

Sam Allardyce was the Bolton manager at the time, and his side played a very physical game. They went from relegation candidates to challenging for Europe, but slipped down the table when he left. Nicolas Anelka would, ironically, join Chelsea in January 2008 in real life.

Allardyce has since drifted from club to club, and even managed England for about three months in 2016 (just after the loss to Iceland in Euro 2016) before leaving the position after being filmed telling fictitious businessmen (played by undercover reporters) how to get around ownership rules. Gareth Southgate (who, in the timeframe of this fic, was manager of Middlesbrough) took over, and the rest is history.

Comments

[Mystic Sunrise]

Okay normally I don't comment on these. But I'm going to since I used to like the Premier League. Why lump the two together?

Derpy's thing with F.P.S. could be used without dragging real world stuff into it.

[Bronycommander]

Things look Good for dinky.

[Wessexbrony]

9444406
Part of the basis for this was the extremely-depressing "Today, Tomorrow, and Forever", but another part was the Sky One drama "Dream Team", where the fictional football team often had to play for extremely high stakes; one season had the club having to qualify for the Champions League to avoid ceasing to exist. The story itself begins "after the fact", as it were, with Derpy being thrown a (very slim) lifeline, and the F.P.S. aspect adds tension which wouldn't be there if Dinky was simply in London on an exchange program. In addition, I've always liked the idea of writing about extremely high stakes; one of my favourite adverts was Nike's "The Last Game" which was made for the 2014 World Cup.