Lineker’s smirk disappears as Beeb gamble backfires

By Allen Cummings

Now the excitement of Sunday’s game has subsided (I jest of course), it’s perhaps time to consider who were the biggest losers after that less than scintillating draw.

Was it West Ham? Was it Shrewsbury? Was it the BBC, (or the Biased Broadcasting Corporation as I like to call them.

Travelling up on the morning of the game, neither my two sons or myself were exactly confident of a victory. Not with our track record of F.A. Cup banana skins.

We were the Premier League team of course, which should have made us favourites, but we haven’t exactly been setting the world alight this season. Shrewsbury, on the other hand, despite being two divisions below us, were on a roll.

Just three defeats all season, second in the table and looking well placed for automatic promotion. Consequently we knew it could be a difficult day.  With home advantage for The Shrews, plus it being our third game in six days, an upset wasn’t out of the question.

The BBC were clearly willing visitors to New Meadow for just that reason, and that reason alone. They weren’t really interested in anything else. They were looking for a headline! A cup upset at our expense. It didn’t happen of course.

So who went away most disappointed? Our own at a draw and another game we could have done without was tempered by the fact that we didn’t play well. But despite that we’d got a reprieve, and earned another shot on our own patch.

Shrewsbury, on the other hand, must have been disappointed not to have capitalised after having by far the better of the game and the clearer chances. But their compensation came in the shape of a second chance to grab glory, plus an opportunity to top up their bank account.

 So the big losers on the day must surely have been the BBC with their investment gamble completely backfiring. They didn’t get the giant-killing for which they were desperate  and they certainly didn’t get the 90 minutes of value-for-money football with which they might have consoled themselves.

The usually smirking Lineker was left subdued and somewhat silenced which was more than enough to put a smile on my face at least.