Cup Exit for the Addicks

All good things come to an end. And at this stage in the competition the disappointment is obviously harder to take in and just when we were allowing ourselves to dream a bit. A Sixth Round replay with the tantilising possibility of a Cup Final beckoning just 2 games away is the furthest we have progressed since our Victory in 1947, 59 years ago. A long time to have to wait for such disappointment.

We can seek to find excuses - that we should have scored when we had the early opportunities, the penalty so obvious to the studio panel that the referee failed to spot and the bad defending that finally let us down.

The higher you climb the further you fall. The fans and management want sucess, the players wanted the medals so everyone in the club will be facing the day with a heavy heart. But life carries on and the Most Important Thing for Charlton is that we, or rather the players, can raise themselves and approach the next game on Saturday against Fulham with a determination to prove that we are not just going to fell sorry for ourselves.

I was maybe the first to get home after the game last night, I had to watch from a bar just up the road. I got home in three minutes and sunk down depressed on the settee. Turning on the TV what should be on but the last few minutes of the Spanish Cup Final and there starring back at me, or rather into space, were the miserable fans of the more fancied Zaragoza losing 3-1 to little Espanol with just 5 minutes to go.

It was like looking into a mirror and just to twist the knife another turn their misery got even worst as a minute later a fourth goal went in. Zaragoza, who had knocked out Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid to reach the final and just expected to turn up to win were beaten 4-1 and had to watch as the second, and inferior, team from Barcelona lifted the Cup.

The scenes made me feel a bit better for a few minutes and today is another day. Its all part of supporting your local team and the success when it comes will......

Well, whatever. I´m off to the bar to raise my spirits a bit and hope that Curbs is better able to shrug off his disappointment than me.