Make Me Proud, That's All I Ask

Luton Town v Hendon

Saturday 29^th October 2011

FA Cup 4^th Qualifying Round

Kenilworth Road

Around about this time two years ago I fell into a big trap that was fully signposted ‘Idiots jump here’. I don’t consider myself an idiot especially, and I’m certainly not an idiot lemming that would willingly plunge into an abyss of pointless optimism and hope. Yet in the build-up to Hendon v Woking, our first FA Cup 4^th Qualifying Round appearance under Gary Mac I became strangely reckless in my thinking. Almost dreaming, you might say. Because I thought an upset was genuinely on the cards (no pun intended). Suffice to say, those hopes were washed away with the autumn rains within a quarter of an hour of kick off as we found ourselves 2-0 down. 2 became 5 and I felt well and truly humbled. At least I had the consolation of a pint being bought for me by Danny Dyer’s dad to assist my sorrows towards an overwhelming conclusion.

In our previous appearance in the 4^th Qualifying Round under Tony Choules at Stevenage I had no such illusions of grandeur. I went expecting a hammering, I came away with expectations fulfilled. (I’m not going to start on the woeful lack of respect and discipline shown by some of those on the pitch during the afternoon, it’s too embarrassing). I’m reasonably confident that we’ll end tomorrow afternoon with 11 men on the pitch, discipline has improved markedly from last season, never mind the Choules era where finishing matches with a full compliment was the exception rather than the rule. I’m less certain about the chances of not being well and truly outclassed though.

In spite of that, I’m looking forward to the game and the occasion, even if it won't be as big a day as our trip to Ruislip a few weeks ago. Both clubs should be applauded for keeping prices reasonable, £12 appears to be about par for Blue Square South Football and as a result, fans of both sides ought to be feeling like they’re receiving good value for money tomorrow afternoon. In addition to that, I’ll be going to a ground I’ve never been to before and part of what for us will constitute a big crowd. Games like this always bring out idle speculation as to who and how many are going to attend. I’ve seen some claim tomorrow will attract 6,000, others just 2,000. I’ve seen some claim that 600 Greens fans will make the trip to Kenilworth Road, the realistic number is more likely to be 250-300 at the most. That may sound like a disappointing figure to many readers and of course, we’d all love there to be double or triple that number in the away end, but I don’t like figure masseuses for whatever reason.

Will Forever be known as The Hendon End after tomorrow. Maybe.

Luton’s are perhaps the most illustrious name to have found themselves dropping into the Non League game (maybe Oxford United’s fans would disagree) and the reasons behind their demotion from the Football League have been well documented in other places so I won’t try and explain the complex run of events that very nearly tore the club in two. That they survived is a testament to their supporters, the next step – and it doubtlessly will be – is to re-establish the club back in the League. The man charged with achieving promotion this time around is Gary Brabin, the man who led Cambridge United to the play off final in 2009, and if the Luton messageboard is to be believed (although I suspect the sentiments expressed occasionally contain extra tongue in cheek) then the jury is very much out on the Liverpudlian’s time in charge so far.

On the pitch, the Hatters can boast a squad almost as large as Hendon’s, albeit with infinitely more Football League experience. Scanning down their squad list, a number of names jump out at you. Fancy having Mark Tyler and Kevin Pilkington as your goalkeeping options for example, that’s well over 700 professional appearances between them to begin with. Add in a sprinkling of Keith Keane, Danny Crow, Tommy Wright, Shane Blackett, Jamie Hand and Janos Kovacs amongst others on top of various other names of relative repute presents a pretty daunting prospect for the Greens.

Nick Owen: A key figure in stabilising Luton Town

But, and yes, this is a big Queen Latifah sized but, bigger shocks have happened, and there will be a few upsets this weekend. Maybe fate will decree that the XI Green and White shirts will have 10/10 days whilst Luton may go the whole hog and field Easyjet employees in their orange kit. In all seriousness, I don’t think Brabin will be doing us any favours in terms of team selection and even if he was to leave players out, he’s got a wealth of experience and talent waiting in the wings. I would be surprised to see many changes in the Hendon line-up. Dewayne Clarke will be cup-tied so the big question is whether Gary Mac keeps faith with 4-4-2 or whether he reverts to 4-5-1 bringing in an extra midfielder.

As I say, I’m not confident of getting a positive result, I’m not even that confident that we won’t get turned over, what I am very confident about though, is that unlike the games against Stevenage and Woking, I will come away from the ground feeling proud of the lads’ efforts. They’ve got nothing to lose, they’ve had a great start to the season and ought to relish the chance to play at a proper ground in front of a good crowd against a good side. Any player that cannot motivate themselves for a day like tomorrow shouldn’t be in the game at any level quite honestly. For inspiration, we only need to look at the efforts of Oxhey Jets four weeks ago and just how difficult they made life for us, how close they came to nicking a replay. The gap in levels between them and us is more than the gap between us and Luton, so why not?

People have been asking me this week what the best I can hope for is. The answer is simple. ‘We win the game and draw one of the Sheffield clubs away from home in the 1^st Round.’ They laugh and reply

 ‘Realistically though, what is the best you’re hoping for’. To which I give them the same answer. I mean, realistically, we could win tomorrow and we could go to Bramall Lane or Hillsborough in the next round. It may seem unlikely, and it does seem unlikely quite honestly, but if could happen. I suppose from a financial point of view, going out after a replay would hit the button. All this is idle speculation of course and pretty pointless except for giving me something to do on an early Friday afternoon.

Is that Hendon? Is that Hendon or Luton? Please don't be Luton.

So with just under 24 hours remaining until what is arguably the club’s biggest match since Blackpool away a dozen years ago, memories of those glorious away days of the late 90s at Ninian Park, Meadow Lane, Twerton Park, Bloomfield Road and particularly Brisbane Road are beginning to resurface. Gary, Freddie and Junior all played pivotal roles in some of those trips (particularly again, the win at Leyton Orient) and will be able to pass on that experience to the players. The feeling after the final whistle at Orient was simply amazing and something I’ve never felt since in my time as a Hendon fan. Were we to pull off the unlikely tomorrow, I think I will be getting pretty close to similar feelings of elation. I daren’t dream of that though. Just make us proud tomorrow afternoon, don’t let us leave and not be able to hold our heads high. Good luck. And altogether now…

In Dublin’s Fair City….