Steve gave me a ticket for this match. I was very grateful as we had nothing else organised for the day.
The match kicked off at 2 pm so a relatively early start to watch a game. Arrived at the usual parking place and eat my lunch of fruit and kefir. Set off and sat in my old seat with Steve and Mark.
Before the match began Bob Wilson read the poem For the Fallen by Laurence Binyon.
They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn,
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables of home;
They haver no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England’s foam.
The bugler then played the Last Post. The first two notes always catch me with a lump in my throat. They make such a moving sound. The crowd were all very respectful of the ceremony.
The game ran as usual with Arsenal dominant but unable to finish off the opposition. Scored early on but it was disallowed for offside. A penalty awarded for the gunners, but Aubameyang passed the ball to the goalie who gratefully hugged it to his chest. I’ve never thought he should take the penalties. When he does score it always seems that the goalie has dived the wrong way rather than he has placed it in the top corner.
In the 2nd half Smith-Rowe scored controversially while one of the Watford players was lying on the field. Aubameyang touched the shot that was going in. As a result the goal was disallowed again for offside. Not a good day for Pierre-Emerick.
After that Watford came back at Arsenal and could easily have equalised even when they went down to 10 men. Final score 1-0.
I noticed all small changes since I last visited the stadium. Gunnersaurus has disappeared from the pitch both at half-time and at the start of the game. we didn’t have kids trying to score penalties and club mascots had vanished. The score board displayed the team sheets completely differently. All small things but they soon add up.
